Help me stock my new reef

For those of you that missed the drama, my 210 FOWLER got hit with Velvet Ick when I was out of town and was a total write off. It is now 5 weeks since the last death. The tank has been fish free since then so the Ick Parasite should have run through it's life cycle. (knock knock) I am now going to start the restocking process and since I have a clean slate will start my first reef. Lets see if this old dog can learn some new tricks.

So, from the fish standpoint any favorite Wrasses, Clown, Dottybacks, Blennies etc.? (Man I'm going to miss my Angels and Triggers. I guess I still have my 72 FOWLER for a couple.)

What about corals? Since this is my 1st go at it, I'm planning on easy soft corals and Zoanthaus. Maybe some LPS?

Clams?

Lastly, inverts? I still have about 50 blue leg hermets that survived the plague, but that is it.

Now just to make matters more complicated, I just finished varnishing the stand of a new 300 that is sitting in the garage that at this time will also go reef. It's going to take me about a month to finish setting it up (I have not put together any of the lights, filters or pumps etc.) and another month to start the cycling process. Adding in my normal "I have better things to do with my summer" procrastination factor I should be stocking that tank in about 3 months. :

Whew... I don't even want to think what this is going to set me back.

So, any opinions?

Thanks,

Bruce

 

SAILFIN BLENNY!...um ass for corals, what kinds of lights u have?

PS: Bruces ROCK!

 

I'm changing things around a little. The plan is for the 210 to get a new 650w Icecap VHO split 50/50. I might bump it a little. There isn't room in the hood for MH. The 300 will take over my 6 month old 2x220w Jebo PCs changing to 100% actinic and adding 2x250 MH that I used on my old 130.

It sounds about right, doesn't it?

 

Gee, you guys are no fun...

I guess I'll go it alone.

 

wait so on ur 210 its 650w? and 2x250mhs? thats sounds like enough

 

Not sure how many total watts your system will have when you're done rebuilding but clams will require a lot of light, but you probably already know that What corals you keep will also be determined by your lighting.

IME/IMO dottybacks are too aggressive to be kept in a "peaceful" aquarium setting and the fact that they tend to attack and eat most decorative shrimp doesn't help either.

With your sized tank, you could easily keep one or two tangs so if you like `em, go ahead and add `em.

Clowns are a welcome addition to any fish/reef tank. Maroons and cinnamons are very aggressive though so if you want to add that type of clown, I'd add them last.

I don't trust wrasses because they also go after shrimp and there are a few that will do severe damage to certain corals and clams. I recently had to remove one that was eating my sps corals and that wasn't in the least bit fun

 

No MH on the 210. There is no room in the hood for MH. There will be a total of 650W of VHO.

The new 300 will get the 2x250 MH and 440W of PC.

 

A couple of tangs are manditory. I need a few big fast movers. I wasn't aware about the potential problems with the dottybacks.

Thanks,

Bruce

 

twin spot wrasse or red coris wrasse... i love mine.

 

OK, back in biz.

Last week I added:

12 Mex. Turbos
2 Diamond Gobys
Flame Angel (I know it's a risk, but I really like angels. Plus I can move it to the 72 if necessary.)
large Colt Coral
Medium green button
Meduim green frilly mushroom

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

The next addition will be a Royal Gramma Basslet.