Shawns 55!

Hey everyeone!

Instead of posting all my random questions and observations of my tank in seperate threads i figured ill just have one for it all. So basically here is how my tank has gone so far and what i plan on doing. Look forward to this thread and everyone who follows it .

Tank was given to me by my cousin who had upgraded to a 120g in October. Tank finished cycling by mid november and had 2 damsels, a chromi, and a cleaner shrimp in it once it was safe. Then i began adding more and more live rock slowly untill i was happy with the amount i had. Then tried aquascaping the tank 10 million different ways and now i finally found something i like (maybe...). Ever since then ive been adding some fish here and there. Anyway i noticed my tank was getting a little crowded and decided id hold off on getting anymore. So i started buying a few corals and i now have a purple mushroom, torch, and a brain coral.Then my lfs got a purple tang and a kole tang and my moms eyes almost popped out of her head. My mom instantly wanted them and we got em. Me and her LOVED them. They got along with everyone great and seemed to like the tank. Turns out i bought the tangs to soon and the whole tank got ich. within a week we lost... 2 wrasses, 2 tangs, an anthias, 2 damsels, and a clown. The chromi was the only survivor and today he died . So basically thats my tank from the start to now.

What i plan on doing is going with a different approach. Having a coral dominated tank instead of a fish dominated tank with a few corals. I would like to have both LPS and SPS corals in my tank with mated clowns and maybe another fish of some sort. I dont have any plans for corals other than i want them everywhere. I dont want to over do the corals though because i like the way they look when they mature rather then having them overcrowded. Those are the intentions I have for my tank

Building sump soon since my SWC 200 is comming shortly ;D

Equipment:
penguin biowheel 350
heater i got from my cousin (dont even know the brand or model but it keeps the temp steady so oh well haha)
koralia 2 (1) -i plan on getting 1 or 2 more


ps: can i keep more then one mated pair whom are different species?

 

Sounds like it should be a nice build. I'm with you growing coral from small pieces looks so much more natural. It's just too bad it takes so long.

 

Haha yeah it looks much more natural but takes years!

 

If mine grows out before yours, I'll let you know if it was worth the wait.

 

In a 55 it depends what type of fish you are referring to as far as mated pairs. Two tangs, two wrasses, and a couple others is a pretty big bioload and not a lot of space for the fish in a 55...JMO

I would ditch the biowheel entirely once you get the skimmer.

Good luck!

 

Yeah im gunna take the filter out once i get my skimmer. I may use it on another tank, who knows. For pairs i would like to have different species of clowns. pair of perculas, pair of black and white perculas, and maybe another. That too much?

 

There just isn't that much space in a 55. Two mated pairs would take up a lot of room because they are so territorial. I have a pair and they pretty much own a quarter of my 55, and I don't have any other clowns in the tank...a couple other damsels tho and they can't go near my clowns without getting harassed. I would be careful with two pairs because it will limit how much room your other fish will have.

 

yeah thanks for telling me that. i was thinking of putting my nem in the middle. but you said your clowns wont let your other fish in their territory? So will my other fish be harassed each time they swim accross? or is your fish being so territorial rare?

 

Don't bother with more than a pair of clowns in that size tank because even the clowns have a possibility of madly harrassing each other. Only possible scenario is for u to introduce two pairs together and they may by slim chance get along but with the size of the tank it's very doubtful. Stick to a pair of clowns and some interesting small specie fish for that size tank. There are lots of small interesting fish in the hobby. Just my 2 cents

 

m_hsiao i think im gunna go with your idea. Just stick with the one pair and smaller fish. Also i really want to give the clowns a nem but im going to wait at least another 6 months. Will they still host it that late?