The Predator Hangout Tank.

[puffermike]

So my new winter project after tearing down my 110 brackish tank was to turn it into a FOWLR tank.

Farewell to my old mangrove setup. I have a different idea in the works for another waterfall/land aquarium.

Seeing as the brackish tank was very high in salinity I was able to go through the cycle very fast. I took a couple pieces of live rock from my other tanks and got it started. After a couple weeks I got some starfish.

The tank runs 1300gph powerhead, HOB filter with purigen + chemi-pure and an Eshopps PSK100 HOB skimmer. Lighting is just a 48" power compact Orbit fixture that I use to use on my Chameleons free range.

 

[DaveK]

It needs a lot more LR or dry base rock, but looks like it's off to a good start. Long term you may want better lighting and filtration, but what you have will get it going.

 

[puffermike]

That fixture has 2 - 10k Whites and 2 - 7100 Blues. I don't think orbit is the "greatest" light by any means but this one has been keeping my Condy anemone going for a month with no probs. I'll be moving my AquaticLife 4 Bulb T-5 down here onto it soon though. I like the built in timers... These things are pretty old school. There's a plug for each set of bulbs... That makes 3 with the LEDS and having a timer on them sucks.

I'm upgrading to LED's on my reef but from what I've heard ATI sells the best bulbs for T5 lighting. I wonder what everyone goes with here if they use T5 HOs?

 

[puffermike]

Here are some pics of the current tank. Those last shots are a couple months old.

And I got a good mugshot of Picasso!

 

[DaveK]

Your lighting might not be enough for SPS corals or clams, but it should be fine for what you have. Personally, I don't see that much difference in bulbs from different manufacturers. Put in what you like. My chouce would be 2 14000K bulbs and 2 actinic, but plenty of other combos are fine. I don't think it's worth the investment in LED lighting here, unless you plan high light SPS corals or clams.

 

[reefle]

ooo what else are you planning on putting in there?

 

[puffermike]

Your lighting might not be enough for SPS corals or clams, but it should be fine for what you have. Personally, I don't see that much difference in bulbs from different manufacturers. Put in what you like. My chouce would be 2 14000K bulbs and 2 actinic, but plenty of other combos are fine. I don't think it's worth the investment in LED lighting here, unless you plan high light SPS corals or clams.

I just recently put in some daisy cloves and I'm thinking about trying out some Xenia. I really don't care if it takes over. The two larger starfish in their will mow it down accordingly or kill it before it has the chance.... so SPS is out of the question. My future upgrade is my 180. On another note, what other filtration would you recommend Dave? A bigger skimmer? Before the skimmer my nitrates were at around 15-20. Ever since day one of the skimmer I watched the NO3 plummet to 5 and it generally stays around there. So far I've got some small fish in there that will grow very large. Whatever filtration I buy next I want to make sure it will go good with my 180.

ooo what else are you planning on putting in there?

I'm already finished adding fish for now. I'll get some good shots of them soon.

Humu Humu Trigger
Volitan Lionfish
Porcupine Puffer
Target Fish

Thinking about a Red Coris Wrasse.. but I want to see how stable the tank is with these hogs in it for a while.

Inverts
2- Chocolate Chip Stars
1 - Red Knob Star
1 - Rose Urchin
1 - Condylactis Anemone


I'm probably going to transfer over my tube anemone once the tank matures a bit more. I've been trying to find a giant conch and I'll add maybe a couple more Condy Anemones... they are bulletproof in my setups and none of the preds in here bother them at all.