Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey there was a post earlier about Reef tanks, since that is my other love besides chameleons I'd like to restart that part of the post...who else has chameleons and reef tanks?

I have a 46 bow front with LPS, SPS, and softies! how about you?
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veiled
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther
1.1 Ambilobe Panther

I've always liked marine aquariums. I am going to get a nano cube and start a nano reef. Can I put any fish in it. I know the reccomendation is 2 inches of fish per 10 gallons or something like that. The nano cube is 12 gallons but if I get some live rock and some coral going can I a fish in it?

12 gal...you can put a few small fish in it. maybe 2 damsels, or a pair of false percula clownfish. I would not recomend anything over 2 fish and keep them small fish. Good luck with your nano
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From Sunny Florida
Jovana's kids listed below
1.0 Veiled
1.1 Ambanja Panther
1.1 Tamatave Panther
1.1 Ambilobe Panther

I have a 90 gallon tank with mainly sps and will hopefully be setting up a Marshall Island deep water biotope tank in the next month. The new tank will include deep water corals, other deep water inverts, hopefully a school of 6-8 ventralis anthias, helfrichs firefish, five bar mystery wrasse, multicolor pygmy angel, and a rhomboidalis fairy wrasse.

Stevie, two small fish in a nano cube is just fine, just watch out for dottybacks and other small aggressive fish in such a small tank. A lot of the smaller gobies, clownfish, flasher wrasses, firefish, jawfish, and royal grammas are all good options. I would stay away from damsels in such a small tank, except for maybe an allens damsel, due to aggression issues. Also, in such a small tank with a fairly high fish load, water changes become very important. JBJ is supposed to come out with a new nano cube in the next couple months that will have two 24 watt power compact bulbs instead of just the one, so it might be worth waiting for that if you are really interested in corals.

Hi all, this sounds interesting so I thought I'd jump in with a few q's. I personaly would be interested in something in this range of size. Do they come a little bigger, whats the initial investment going to cost, any links or other details would be welcomed. I definately could admire a small setup like this in my home. Also, what is the maintainance on something like this. Thanx people, Clint.

Nano reefs are usally the smaller sized aquariums. Anywhere from 2.5G to 15 or 20G setups. Costs...LOL....there is no "set" cost (it's like saying it will cost you so much to keep a chameleon)..the costs vary depending on size, stock, etc.

It is an expensive hobby, both in money and time. The rewards are awesome when you finally get an aquarium going, but it takes a LOOOONG time and a lot of time to get there.

Start with reef central, check the nano thread there and get an idea of what it takes.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/index.php?s=
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.17 Jacksons babies
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

yea, you can easily keep a couple of small enough fish in a 12 gallon tank, just make sure they're fish that enjoy a sedentary lifestyle and won't get stressed from the lack of space. Good choices are some of the smaller gobies such as the small watchman, rainfordii's, and simimlar things. Or just get two small blue damsels. Remember, the size fish you see at a pet store are not nessecarily the adult size, plan ahead before you pop one in, stress it out, kill it, and so on.

I kept reef tanks for many years and some good advise was just given to you. I also worked in a retail store and built/maintained other peoples tanks on the side. Advice is a good thing exp. is another. The store that I worked in was one of the better known in my area on reefcentral the owner sponsors a forum. Out of the five people who worked in the store 3 had marine biology degrees. Every person in the store had a different idea of how a tank should be set up and maintained. Every person that worked their had a very successful tank at their home and we had several nice tanks at the store. Every employee was given a tank that they set up and maintained all had different styles. When a customer asked how to set up a tank we told them how we did it and sent them to talk to one of the other guys. We also told them that their is no set in stone method of keeping tanks. I had lyretail anthias that lived and bred in my tank. I had a gigas clam that was purchased at 3 inches and was over 14 when I gave him to the store. What worked in my setup may of not worked in yours. What I will offer is keep this in mind when buying a fish, they come from the ocean. They have all the swimming room they want even if they dont use it. A single dominant female clown will claim a spot bigger than most peoples closet in the wild. Some host anemones will grow to larger than my computer desk and will host a single female with her males. I had a tank that was 8 ft long and 30 inches wide, and this is probably the reason my anthias lived so well that and the fact that I fed them 4 times a day, skimmed the water with a custom built precision marine skimmer and had a water change machine that changed the water for me constantly. Reef tank costs can add up fast even at the wholesale cost I was paying I stopped counting equipment costs at 10k. Small tanks are a lot less forgiving than large tanks. My answer to how big of a tank do I need is the biggest you can afford. Again this is just my 2 pennies worth.

I have a 90G all fish marine tank and a 55G reef setup. I have Tomato, True Percs and Maroon clowns all living together in perfect harmony in the reef. Yes, I know everyone always says they can't get along but I have proven that, at least in my setup, they can.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.17 Jacksons babies
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Wraithy, what size tank are all of your clowns in and how large are they? If still immature I wouldn't doubt that they are living fine together, but I have seen some nasty 6 " maroon clowns that would constantly attack the hand that feeds them.

Just to clarify, Nano Cubes are 12 gallon glass tanks made by JBJ, who also makes Power Compact lighting fixtures, bulbs, and chillers. As of now they are available in only one size, but they are coming out with a larger one in the future. The nano cube comes complete with a top, 24 watt power compact light, and filter, which you dont need if you are doing saltwater and use live rock. The whole tank costs $100 and there are stands for them that cost about the same. All in all they are great little tanks except that the ballast for the lighting is prone to breaking, but JBJ does replace it for free.

The clowns are in the 55g tank. The tomatoes are 3 years old (approximately) so they are definitely not immature. I got lucky and got good tempered tomatoes.

The rest are about a year old. Also not immature. The 55g should be plenty of room for them.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.17 Jacksons babies
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

Good luck with the clowns, but I still wouldn't be too surprised if the maroons get much nastier after another year or so, especially when the female reaches her full size or is ready to spawn. By the way, how big is the female maroon now? My female maroon killed my potters leopard wrasse and beat the crap out of my male Lineatus fairy wrasse in my 90 gallon tank. In fact, the only fish she didn't harass was the yellow tang and she is still fairly small at about 4.5"

can someone e-mail me or say here what the basics i need for a reef tank?
I have empty 30 and 50 gallon tank and in the end of july i am getting an acrilic 60 gallon with some type of canister filter i beleive i haven't sent it yet(payment for bird sitting)

anyways i would like to know what i need to set up on in either of these and which would be easiest.

There is a ton of info out there for Reef Tanks. Keep in mind that the most important part of reef tanks is in the setup and conditioning. There is no shortcut to this. Plan on spending weeks, if not months before you can even introduce any corals and invertebrates into the tank. You will spend a long time conditioning the tank before your levels even out and it's finally safe to introduce fish and other life. Unlike fresh water aquariums that can be up and running in days, marine setups require a lot of patience, money and upkeep. It's not very easy nor cheap (sort of like chameleon keeping...LOL).

Read as much as you can about it before starting it. A good place to start is by reading through the forums at reef central.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/index.php?s=

Good luck, it's very addictive.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.17 Jacksons babies
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too

I agree with wraithy and most of the others in the fact that it is fairly cost prohibitive, but so is any other scenario where you're trying to reproduce mother nature fairly accurately for an animal you wish to keep.

I don't agree, however with the fact that it takes so long to setup. I have set up many nano, micro, mini, small, medium, large and jumbo reef tanks, as it is my career. I own a live coral farm. It all hinges on buying quality products from quality people. Integrity is key. And DON'T MIX ADVICE!!!! That is the best peice of advice anyone can ever give you! You won't get a tank like one of mine by doing what Jo Schmo is telling you to do, and vice-versa. Pick someone's tanks you like and listen to what they tell you.

I have built many reef tanks that are beautiful, for others and myself, that I've put corals and fish in within 2-3 days. Get quality CURED live rock from a reputable dealer, or cure it yourself in a garbage can with salt water and a powerhead for circulation. DON'T cure it in the tank. You'll know it's mostly cured by the sniff test. Then you can run an amonia test. If you're buying "cured" live rock from a local dealer/shop, ask them to run an ammonia/nitrite test in front of you with a quality test kit. If they don't have anything to hide they won't be offended, they'll actually give you kudos for thinking of that. There's tons of things I could ramble off to you aimlessly. If you have specific questions I'd be more than happy to talk to you about them. You can also check out my website where you'll find how to get ahold of me if you want to talk on the phone (instead of getting carpel tunnel syndrome). Have fun, and good luck!
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Doug.

0.1 Veiled Chameleon
1.3 Ambanja Chameleons
1.1 Blue bar Ambilobe Chameleons
1 marine reef aquarium (home)
1 marine aquarium store

In general, the larger the environment, the easier it is to mantain. I would say the 60G setup would be the easiest to maintain.
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Raf

1.2 Jacksons Adults (Frank, Patty 2, Lucille)
0.0.17 Jacksons babies
1.1 Nosy Be's (Mars and Roja)
1.1 Bearded Dragons (Diego and Consuelo)
1.1 Adult Sulcattas (POOPIE and George)
0.0.2 Baby Sulcattas (frick and frack)
1.0 Home's Hingeback Tortoise (SPEEDY)
0.0.2 Red ear slider babies (Hingis, Dingis)
1.0 Yellow Footed Tortoise (Alfred)
1.1 3 toed turtles
1.0 Red Siberian Husky (Harley)
0.1 Black Lab (Krissy)
0.1 English Bulldog (Alice)
0.1 Blue Merle Great Dane (Wednesday)
Saltwater Fish and Inverts too