Switching Back To Salt

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xRage10

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2010
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Lake Mary, Florida
So after quite a bit of thought, I've decided that going back to saltwater in my 55 gallon tank is what I want to do. I still plan to keep freshwater, just in a smaller 29 gallon tank next time Petco does their dollar per gallon sale :grinno:

So I do have a general idea of what I would like to do. I currently have two 250 watt MH's, as well as four 54 watt T5 blues, so corals are absolutely a must. I've had live rock sitting in a spare tank for months, so it's all still cured and ready to pop in. You all have no idea how excited I am to get back into saltwater :D

I ran into problems on my last shot, particularly after my first water change. It just stressed all of my fish out way too much, and killed off everything but one lone damsel. Proud to say I still have him to this day in a 54 gallon corner tank that will soon be the freshwater aquarium. I also have a domino damsel (very small so not aggressive currently) and a falco hawkfish in a ten gallon tank right now that I plan to add (the domino going when it gets a bit bigger, of course). Last time I did salt, it wasn't that I stocked too much, but I didn't stock smart. Any tang will greatly increase your bioload, and I had a pretty big sailfin in my tank. Not going to happen this time around, I've learned my lesson. Thus, here are the fish I'm thinking I want to add to my aquarium this time around.

2 Damsels, maybe 1, because...
2 Clownfish
2 Reef-Safe Wrasses
1 Falco Hawkfish
2 Spotted Cardinals
1 Pinkbar Goby
1 Dwarf Angel, possibly a Flame Angel or Lemonpeel. To be added last to tank.

Only coral I know I want to include is frogspawn. However, I know Dwarf Angels aren't the greatest reef dwellers. Will either the Flame Angel or Lemonpeel be ok with frogspawn? The sooner I know the quicker it happens :) I was thinking some polyps too, but they're pretty much out of the question since I'm about 95% positive any Dwarf Angel I get will pick at them.

I have cycled saltwater along with cured rock, so all it takes is draining the freshwater and putting in the sand. Hope to be done soon. Any responses to the question above is welcome in the meantime :)
 
From what I've read on dwarf angels being reef friendly it's very hit or miss. I've seen some in LPS tanks that pay no attention to corals. Others, I've read destroyed anything that had soft tissue, so the frogspawn would probably be a target. I did a lot of reading myself because I would love to have a flame angel, but my tank is predominantly LPS - Frogspawn, Hammer, Acans, Candy cane, of course all soft tissue.

I personally was not willing to risk it.
 
Yeah, I've read that they go after things like polyps and such, but that's all I've ever really gotten out of most material.

With that said, anyone have any other recommendations for a "centerpiece" fish? Preferrably nothing that gets bigger than 6" or so, may be willing to go to about 8" because I may be upgrading within a year or so.
 
Wiggles92 said:
How about a fuzzy dwarf lionfish?
Click to expand...

I would LOVE a fuzzy dward lionfish. However, I have a few problems there...

1) Like bigger lionfish, it'll still eat just about any fish that'll fit into it's mouth. I'll have some reasonably small fish in my reef.
2) Are they even reef safe? I know Live Aquaria says they are "with caution", but is that just because they'll eat things like shrimp and crabs, as well as small reef fish? Just wondering. My mom loved my dad's Volitan and I'd love to get another lionfish, I just want to be careful and sure it'll be alright before I go off and get one.
 
The thing is, lions have bigger mouths than you may realize. They could actually probably fit a 3" fish or so in it's mouth when it's full grown. I don't know, though. I'd love one, just don't want even a few of my fish eaten. It's a definite possibility, though.
 
I think you will be fine getting a dwarf angel. I have a Coral Beauty and it doesn't bother any of my corals at all. I know every fish is deifferent. I would say go for and if it doesn't work out exchange it for a different fish at your LFS.
 
I was thinking the same thing. Start out with just one or two corals, introduce the dwarf angel, and see where everything goes. If he goes after the corals, then like you said, return him. If not, then it's a win-win.

So many choices, still have to get the tank set up, though. It's drained and empty, but I still wanna clean it before putting anything in there. I've got time on my side, always a plus :headbang2
 
I don't want to haggle, just warn - By 'trying out' a dwarf angel, you may very well lose those corals. l mean in a perfect scenario you would introduce the angel with a few corals already thriving in the tank and a few days after the angel is acclimated and comfortable you'd see him gently nipping at the frogspawn. You'd then remove him. But lets be honest, it rarely works that way. You may very well wake up that next morning to destroyed corals that won't rebound and then you have to catch that little SOB - still a win win?

Sorry, not trying to be negative. Just want to make sure you see the reality.
 
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