My 75g "Mixed Reef"

[JBallPython]

In request from JonT's thread here are a few pictures from my 75 gallon tank.


Older Shot:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/JKreef/New%20tank%20pictures/100_1546.jpg

Pictures from a few months ago, only change is the pulsing xenia moving in to a few different spots.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/JKreef/New%20Tank%20Shots/Tank01.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/JKreef/New%20Tank%20Shots/Tank02.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/JKreef/New%20Tank%20Shots/Tank03.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/JKreef/New%20Tank%20Shots/Tank04.jpg

And two of my favorite shots:
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/JKreef/New%20Tank%20Shots/Tank05.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b14/JKreef/New%20Tank%20Shots/Tank07.jpg

Hope you enjoyed!

-Jason

[BoaMan Jon]

Awesome photos! I love your corals... that last one is incredible. How many fish do you keep in there... dosen't look like many.

I'm thinking about getting into a reef setup in the next year and I'm interested in knowing what kind of livestocking methods you use in reguard to coral vs. fish per gallons of aquaria... if that makes any sense?

[Thomas Jones]

That tank is smoking. very nice.

[JBallPython]

Awesome photos! I love your corals... that last one is incredible. How many fish do you keep in there... dosen't look like many.

I'm thinking about getting into a reef setup in the next year and I'm interested in knowing what kind of livestocking methods you use in reguard to coral vs. fish per gallons of aquaria... if that makes any sense?

When I had it fully stocked there were 7. Mind you, two being surgeonfish (Blue Tang ~12in. and Kole Tang~7in.) I wanted to leave room for their growth. As of now I have two fish in there...long story about a 6 year old "free" Tomato Clown going homicidal. She actively killed the blue tang, kole tang, my 9 month old psychedelic dragonet, and my two year old pair of true percula clowns. For some reason she doesn't have issues with the Lamarck Angel in the tank...

I then tried to make it into an "agressive reef" by adding a pair of blue throat triggers....within two days the male was ripped to shreds, and the female was ripped up and died a few days later....

I've tried everything but tearing the tank apart to get this fish, she just sits in a cave that I cannot access...very net shy. I don't want to resort to tearing the rock out of the tank, I finally acheived the natural look I was going for. Her number is up...the Lamark is grazing on natural algaes, but I'm waiting the clown out until it comes to the surface to feed out of desperation...cruel, maybe....but she's killed over $100 worth of fish.

To the second part of your question...placement of corals is key when keeping mixed reef. You put soft corals too close in proximity to LPS or SPS and they'll create some nice chemical warfare.

In terms of bioload, I try to stock lightly and skim heavy. Corals you can add to your hearts content, minimal impact from them on the tanks bioload...so there really isn't any coral per gallon rule. I generally feel that I want to give things in my tank a chance to grow in naturally so I stock lightly with corals as well. Personally I started of with coral frags and let em' grow out, much cheaper.

When stocking fish the only advice I can give you is to add fish in the order of aggression. Here's how my stocking list was compiled:

Lesser Aggressive>Most Aggressive
x2 True Percula Clowns (I made a point to get one much larger than the other, helps them to establish a dominant fish (larger=female).
x1 Lamarck Angel
x1 Blue Tang
x1 Kole Tang
and x1 Psychedelic Dragonet (Added him at ~6 month mark of tank being established, picky feeders that require live foods in the tank..i.e... amphipods and copepods)
Lastly I added the Tomato Clown....

Biiiig mistake. Never mix species of clowns unless you have a massive tank (180g+) I was "doing a favor" for someone.

If you've got any other questions I'm definitely glad to help, otherwise I'm sure Jon will be as well.

-Jason

[BoaMan Jon]

Thanks for all that info!

Sorry to hear about that psycho clown

[JBallPython]

Not a problem Jon! I hope you have tons of success if you start a reef tank, I'm sure you'll have plenty of livestock to pick from down in FL...that's where a ton of the distributors are located.

-Jason

[JonT]

Jason-
Very nice! That gorgonian looks VERY happy!!! What are you running for a light fixture?
Have you tried a hook for the tomato?

[JBallPython]

Jason-
Very nice! That gorgonian looks VERY happy!!! What are you running for a light fixture?
Have you tried a hook for the tomato?

Thanks!

I'm running a 48" 2- 150w HQI MH 2-96w Actinic PC fixture.

I've tried several sized hooks, left them in overnight with krill, also have used treble hooks of various sizes and no go.

[recycling goddess]

i have a friend who has 300 and 400 gallon salt tanks in his house and what he does is trains his fish to eat out of the net. once or twice a week he feeds them their favorite frozen/thawed food and they have to swim into the net to get the food.

then, whenever he needs to catch a fish... he just has to feed the tank and wait for the right fish to swim into the net and VOILA he's got the fish!

gorrrrrrrgeous tank!!!