Miles' 60 Gallons Tank.

My 60 Gallons Reef Tank, I recently redid the aquascaping, making bigger caves and openings for better water flow.

The inhabitants are: Yellow Tang, Flame Hawk, 3-Stripes Damsel, 4 Blue Damsels, 2 Bannerfish, 2 Pakistani Butterflies, Lunar / Moon Wrasse, Six-line Wrasse, 2 Blue Diamond Gobies, and a Maroon Clown fish.
Plus a few inverts, including Feather Dusters, Turbo Snails, Hermit Crabs, etc...

The Set-up: PowerFilter Whisper 200 (Hang-on-side), InstantOcean Skimmer (Hang-on-side), Canister filter 200 Gallons per hour, Two PowerHeads and a Current USA SunPod HQI 2x150 watts plus White & Blue LEDs.

I do not have current pictures but I'll sure post some fresh ones later on. For now, here's a video. Hope y'all enjoy!

 

you said 60 gallon tank right? IMO you have way too many fish for a tank of that size!!!! looks good, just too many... I counted 16...am I correct? you might want to take a look at the fish calculator here http://www.3reef.com/aquarium_calculators/

 

I can have between 16 to 17 inches of fish. Though, I'm not sure what it means?

Thanks!

 

did you do the fish calculator? The only reason why I ask is that if you overload with fish, you're going to have constant problems with nitrates. Fish poop gives off a lot of junk and increases your bio-load.. Remember, those fish will grow too and the Tang, Maroon and the butterflies will grow to 4+ inches each.... That's a pretty small tank for those big of fish. The recommended size for even one Tang is 75 gallons. If you ever plan on keeping corals, you'll probably want to get rid of the butterflies. Are you going fish only? Just a concerned citizen, sir ;D

 

I did the fish calculator but it came up with "Your Saltwater tank will most likely be at capacity with 16.6 inches of fish." and I do not know what exactly it means.

Regarding the nitrates, they're stable to Zero since two months now, as I do a third water change every week and give a good attention to the rest.

I do not plan on keeping corals, fish only, just a big fat rock full of zoos for my butterflies LOVE 'EM!!

Cheers 8)

 

OK then... You've got great husbandry skills! Sounds like you are very dedicated, which is great!! How long has your tank been up?

The 16.6 means that when your fish grow to 16.6(or even just before), you're probably going to start having water quality issues and you'll end up doing more water changes. Eventually, having to get rid of some of your fish.

Glad to hear you're going FOWLR and that you put in some zoa's for your Butterflies! That's awesome!! I bet they love you!

I started out FOWLR, but switched after 5 years, because all I ended up with was a green tank full of unhappy fish. That was bad on my part. I didn't do like you did and do the water changes each week. Keep up the good work!!

I was concerned that maybe you didn't understand the whole thing on bio-load, but I see you have that well under control! Oh and, your tank looks really good!!!

Karma comin' to ya!!

 

Why thanks! I do my best but yeah, I religiously change the water every week and clean my canister two - three times a week.

My tank has been up since April 2008.

Ooh I see.. That doesn't sounds good..

Well I did have a reef only tank filled with beautiful corals back in September, but I left a week for vacation and asked the neighbor if he could feed my fish. The problem is that I didn't have a lot of fish due to reef-safe restrictions and the neighbor overfed them, and when I came back the nitrates were up to 150, the sand was covered in brown algae, the fish survived but I lost all my corals. and the anemone too, that did not help..

So for a few months I left the tank the way it was to recover gently, and now I changed the live rocks, made bigger openings for good water flow and removed a few extra pieces. Then I decided to go fish only and was able to get my bannerfish (love their behavior) and some other guys I always wanted, All smooth 8)

Thanks again, I'm really glad you like my tank!