You know I've always wondered how that works exactly. If you're usuing distilled or RO/DI water that is pure water and doesn't contain any trace elements, then how does it replenish your tank of those trace elements?
Huh.
I appreciate it. I think I'm gonna upgrade to the 55 gallon to avoid too much maintenance. I don't need a crazy amount of fish, nor do I need big fish. But I like color, coral, and biodiversity. In fact, the reason why I switched from freshwater to saltwater in the first place, wasn't so much because of the colorful fish or even the corals, but the fact that you can have so much more biodiversity (stars, shrimp, crabs, sponges, clams, feather dusters, etc.) compared to freshwater, whose cleanup crew is generally limited to just shrimp and snails.
What say you about a 55 gallon tank in terms of aquascaping capacity?A standard 100 won’t really give you much more to work with than a standard 75 considering they’re both 4’ tanks, I said an 80 is better than a standard 75 because my version of the 80 adds an extra 2” in width, going from the 18” width of the standard 75 to 20” so hopefully the extra 2” would be a bit better for the aquascaping. What my version of the 80 “sacrifices” compared to the standard 75 is about an inch in height but IMO height’s not nearly as important as Length and width.
My version of the 100 gives 60” or 5’ of swimming space over the 4’ of the standard 100, while adding a further 2” in width compared to my version of the 80. 18” height IMO would make it a shallow tank but again height’s not all that important IMO unless you’re keeping some larger and taller fish.
It depends on what risks you’re willing to take with corals, no angel or butterfly I’d say is 100% guaranteed reef safe but the Genicanthus angels and some of the butterflies I mentioned are about as close as it gets. If I were you I’d be willing to accept that risk for what are some really nice looking fish.
Another route to go, if you are willing to get a nice and tight fitting top, would be quite a few wrasses. Evolved has pretty much a wrasse only tank. Many Fairy Wrasses, pretty much all Flasher Wrasses, and all the smaller Halichoeres would be fine for a 100. However in terms of fish families that would mean less variety.
If you see a couple of species that interest you feel free to keep us updated.
I want to get a tiger conch for this upgrade and I know they like a lot of sandy room. In your experience, what would be the best tank size and dimensions that would allow for this after aquascaping? Keeping in mind I'd like a tank on the smaller size (ie between 55 and 80 gallons) to avoid too heavy water changes/maintenance
No worries lol. The advice you gave previously was helpful enough.
With my tank, as I've shown it at the beginning of this forum, do you think the sandbed is good for a small tiger conch?
Got it. Thanks!
