Reef or Fowlr Aquarium

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Fluval FX4 should work just fine. I would probably recommend a Tidal-75 as the HOB complement.
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Yep, thank you!

Fluval FX4 should work just fine. I would probably recommend a Tidal-75 as the HOB complement.

Yup, will there be enough algae for the urchins

 

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Yup, will there be enough algae for the urchins

Wait one more thing, are tube worms considered reef level

 

[Copingwithpods]

So will a 40 stocked with three Pyrimad butterflyfish, 2 clowns, 5 Blue Green Chromis, 5 Trochus Snails, 3 Nassarius Snails, Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Blood Red Fire Shrimp, 4 Peppermint Shrimp, 2 Pincushion urchins being fed a cube of mysis a day and pellets and flakes with monthly water changes, HOB Refugiom with some chaeto for the copepods, fx4 and a sachem tidal 75 and a pair of current USA IC pro lights Bluetooth be sufficient for all these creatures

Those butterfly fish get huge, not suitable for a 40. And again too many shrimp. 2 urchins is a stretch too, I have one in a 29 and I suppliment his feeding with mysis and nori sheets as he runs out of algae on the rocks, I'd say one max, one turbo snail will do just fine for algae control and won't starve as easily.

 

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Those butterfly fish get huge, not suitable for a 40. And again too many shrimp. 2 urchins is a stretch too, I have one in a 29 and I suppliment his feeding with mysis and nori sheets as he runs out of algae on the rocks, I'd say one max, one turbo snail will do just fine for algae control and won't starve as easily.

So one urchin, one fire shrimp and a cleaner shrimp? I might find a nocturnal fish so the fire shrimp can clean fish to and maybe 2 Trochus and 3 nassarius, I have a deep sanded and I want to keep
it clean so I don't get cyano, that toxic gas thing and algae etc or maybe 4 nassarius and no Trochus?

 

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So one urchin, one fire shrimp and a cleaner shrimp? I might find a nocturnal fish so the fire shrimp can clean fish to and maybe 2 Trochus and 3 nassarius, I have a deep sanded and I want to keep
it clean so I don't get cyano, that toxic gas thing and algae etc or maybe 4 nassarius and no Trochus?

Sorry, I just really love inverts, Urchins Shrimps and snails, defiantly urchins though.

 

[Copingwithpods]

So one urchin, one fire shrimp and a cleaner shrimp? I might find a nocturnal fish so the fire shrimp can clean fish to and maybe 2 Trochus and 3 nassarius, I have a deep sanded and I want to keep
it clean so I don't get cyano, that toxic gas thing and algae etc or maybe 4 nassarius and no Trochus?

Don't expect either shrimp to do much of any cleaning, they won't. The are opportunistic feeders. They won't clean the fish or the tank. If aquariums they are pretty much just ornamental. Cyano bacteria is avoided in totally different ways. If you are going to keep a deepish sandbed you either leave it alone and never ever touch it or you vacuum it routinely to avoid anorexic areas. There are tons of inverts you can keep just note that some are more involved than others and some require you to feed them daily and make sure they are eating.

 

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Don't expect either shrimp to do much of any cleaning, they won't. The are opportunistic feeders. They won't clean the fish or the tank. If aquariums they are pretty much just ornamental. Cyano bacteria is avoided in totally different ways. If you are going to keep a deepish sandbed you either leave it alone and never ever touch it or you vacuum it routinely to avoid anorexic areas. There are tons of inverts you can keep just note that some are more involved than others and some require you to feed them daily and make sure they are eating.

What inverts do you suggest? I already have a single nassarius

 

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Sorry, I just really love inverts, Urchins Shrimps and snails, defiantly urchins though.

Don

Don't expect either shrimp to do much of any cleaning, they won't. The are opportunistic feeders. They won't clean the fish or the tank. If aquariums they are pretty much just ornamental. Cyano bacteria is avoided in totally different ways. If you are going to keep a deepish sandbed you either leave it alone and never ever touch it or you vacuum it routinely to avoid anorexic areas. There are tons of inverts you can keep just note that some are more involved than others and some require you to feed them daily and make sure they are eating.

Don't I need a clean up crew to sift the sand, eat detritus and eat algae?

 

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Don

Don't I need a clean up crew to sift the sand, eat detritus and eat algae?

Should I go and do some research if you guys wanna leave, I like variety so I might go and find suitable clean up crew.

 

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Should I go and do some research if you guys wanna leave, I like variety so I might go and find suitable clean up crew.

Is anybody still here?

 

[Hugh Mann]

Nice aquascape, I got a 15" width so I have limited options and my LFS has no dry rock and dry rock is expensive shippin
g so how can I stop pests on the rock.

Mine isn't much more than that if I recall. Most of that rock is stacked in a narrow line along the back of the tank, leaving enough gap to prevent it from touching and so fish can swim behind it. Leaves lots of swim space at the front of the tank.

I bought my dry rock off Amazon, free shipping for 40lbs. Mind you that was prior to Covid, so it's probably different now. Only live rock I bought was that flat green piece. Which actually as I discovered later, had a tiny crab living in it. Got another 40 when my buddy downsized his system.

If you wanted to eliminate pests on live rock, you could basically nuke it and turn it into dry rock and restart. Or leave it sit in a dark, fishless system feeding only ammonia to keep the bacteria going for at least 76 days.

 

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Mine isn't much more than that if I recall. Most of that rock is stacked in a narrow line along the back of the tank, leaving enough gap to prevent it from touching and so fish can swim behind it. Leaves lots of swim space at the front of the tank.

I bought my dry rock off Amazon, free shipping for 40lbs. Mind you that was prior to Covid, so it's probably different now. Only live rock I bought was that flat green piece. Which actually as I discovered later, had a tiny crab living in it. Got another 40 when my buddy downsized his system.

If you wanted to eliminate pests on live rock, you could basically nuke it and turn it into dry rock and restart. Or leave it sit in a dark, fishless system feeding only ammonia to keep the bacteria going for at least 76 days.

Could I put it in high salinity and get rid of the bad pests: Mantis Shrimp, Spiders, Aptasia etc

 

[Copingwithpods]

For example here is my CUC, keep in mind this is an astablished crew in a tank with plenty of rock and algae to eat, not a new tank. Also keep in mind these were added slowly over the course of a year not all at once.

1 sand sifting star
1 red sea star
1 lettuce nudibranch
1 longspine urchin
1 pistol shrimp
4 scarlet hermits
4 blue hermits
3 Halloween hermits
2 blue tip hermits
4 baby hermit (for the pistol)
2 trochus snails
2 astrea snails
2 spiney star snails
1 super Tongan snail
4 bumblebee snails
2 turban snails
1 fighting conch
1 emerald crab
1 pom Pom crab

Now here's where it gets tricky

From all of those we can break them down into 3 groups.

Group #1 just dump in the tank and never worry about

Group #2 they need a big tank or special care

Group #3 require special care/extra feedings

Let's start with Group 2, the sand sifting star, the urchin and the red star. These require much bigger tanks with a higher availability of natural food sources that my tank cannot natural provide. So, I have to manually feed all 3 each day or every other day and make sure they eat something. If I don't feed them they will slowly starve, just like fish.

Group 3,the pom pom, emerald and pistol shrimp. These again need to feed as the tank does not produce enough natural food for them. Feeding the emerald nori supplements the bubble algae they naturally eat which my tank does not have. Feeding the pompom mysis and krill keeps him from lashing out and keeps his anemones healthy.

Group 1 is everyone else, as long as there is enough uneaten food and algae the crabs and snails are happy. Even so every week I will give the hermits (specially the bigger Halloween hermits a mysis shrimp each.

As you can see its not all dump and prey, if you plan to keep alot of inverts be aware that some if not all require their needs being met by either your tank or your hand.

 

[...]

For example here is my CUC, keep in mind this is an astablished crew in a tank with plenty of rock and algae to eat, not a new tank. Also keep in mind these were added slowly over the course of a year not all at once.

1 sand sifting star
1 red sea star
1 lettuce nudibranch
1 longspine urchin
1 pistol shrimp
4 scarlet hermits
4 blue hermits
3 Halloween hermits
2 blue tip hermits
4 baby hermit (for the pistol)
2 trochus snails
2 astrea snails
2 spiney star snails
1 super Tongan snail
4 bumblebee snails
2 turban snails
1 fighting conch
1 emerald crab
1 pom Pom crab

Now here's where it gets tricky

From all of those we can break them down into 3 groups.

Group #1 just dump in the tank and never worry about

Group #2 they need a big tank or special care

Group #3 require special care/extra feedings

Let's start with Group 2, the sand sifting star, the urchin and the red star. These require much bigger tanks with a higher availability of natural food sources that my tank cannot natural provide. So, I have to manually feed all 3 each day or every other day and make sure they eat something. If I don't feed them they will slowly starve, just like fish.

Group 3,the pom pom, emerald and pistol shrimp. These again need to feed as the tank does not produce enough natural food for them. Feeding the emerald nori supplements the bubble algae they naturally eat which my tank does not have. Feeding the pompom mysis and krill keeps him from lashing out and keeps his anemones healthy.

Group 1 is everyone else, as long as there is enough uneaten food and algae the crabs and snails are happy. Even so every week I will give the hermits (specially the bigger Halloween hermits a mysis shrimp each.

As you can see its not all dump and prey, if you plan to keep alot of inverts be aware that some if not all require their needs being met by either your tank or your hand.

What tank size?

 

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What tank size?

Also I live in Australia so invert wise we suck

 

[Tamberav]

Don't do a tang ..swapping it is a good way to being in velvet and kill your tank.

Linkias will die... Don't bother. A chocolate chip starfish may work...you won't be able to add corals with one.

I would do a pair of cleaners or a pair of fire shrimp. They don't generally play nice with peppermints...at least mine did not.

Some of the fish you chose can not go in a 40. Consider 1 dwarf angel (maybe a lemonpeel?) or something like a filefish for a FOWLR if you want something unique that generally isnt reef safe.

 

[Hugh Mann]

As for a cuc, honestly, you don't really need one if you feel like doing all the work yourself.

Leftover food, scoop it out.
Algae on the glass and rock, scrape it off.
Vaccum out the sand with your water changes or go bare bottom or go deep sand bed and never touch it. Ever.
I legit only have 3 nassarius snails because my eel makes a mess when he eats. And will soon have a tuxedo urchin because scraping algae constantly is a pain in the butt.

 

[Copingwithpods]

What tank size?

It is a 29g mixed reef

 

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Don't do a tang ..swapping it is a good way to being in velvet and kill your tank.

Linkias will die... Don't bother. A chocolate chip starfish may work...you won't be able to add corals with one.

I would do a pair of cleaners or a pair of fire shrimp. They don't generally play nice with peppermints...at least mine did not.

Some of the fish you chose can not go in a 40. Consider 1 dwarf angel (maybe a lemonpeel?) or something like a filefish for a FOWLR if you want something unique that generally isnt reef safe.

Yeah I would go fire shrimp but they are 200$AU compared to $110AU for cleaners. I would love chocolate chip stars but I cannot find them

 

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It is a 29g mixed reef

All of that and will Halloween hermits Klay nice with nassarius snails