hey reefers

[hootie51]

hey guys,
My name is Steven and I'm new here. I just got my 40g stretch hex set up and will post pics soon. I'm hoping that this site will become an important source of information for me as I'm a little scared but also very excited about my new reef. Alright here's the specs on my system:
Oceanic 40g stretch hex
72lbs LR
25lbs LS
VHO Hamilton lighting system (195w total)
10g sump
Sealife in sump skimmer
Mag Drive5 returm pump
2 penguin 550 poweheads
DESIRED LIVESTOCK:
LPS, shrooms, and zoas
wrasse (six line or fairy)
clown (maroon or true perc)
basslet (black cap or royal gramma)
coral beauty
Please feel free to always suggest, advise, impart your wisdom, etc.
THanks,
Steven

[Travis]

Welcome Steven! Sounds like a pretty nice setup.

A couple notes on your livestock choices:

Sixline wrasse over fairy wrasse for a new reefkeeper. Sixlines tend to be hardier, and the fairy wrasses have a huge tendency to be jumpers, so you'd have to have the tank well covered- which can bring its own issues.

For the clown, I would say go with the perc, Maroons can get big and mean, and you're looking at a bit of a crowd for a 40 as it is.

Basslet, again, given your experience level you should get- and enjoy- the Royal Gramma. One of the best reef fish ever in my book, they're hardy, peaceful, good eaters, all around great fish. Black caps can be a bit more delicate (and expensive!).

Coral Beauty- just so ya know, any pygmy angel poses a risk of nipping at your zoanthids and other corals. More often than not a well-fed coral beauty will behave, but be prepared to tear down your tank to get rid of it if you get a nipper.

My opinion, of course. I'm sure others will chime in

Travis

[Craig Manoukian]

Welcome, welcome, welcome hootie51, aka Steven!

Great input from Travis as always.

Even with a stretch hex your fish choices will be somewhat limited as fish are lateral swimmers. The Sixline over the Fairy for that reason. Royal Gramma seconded as well for your setup. Ditto on any apygmy angel fish choices as they are always a risk for nipping.

A Sixline, Royal Gramma and a pair of Pink Skunk Clowns would be a real nice reef community and not over crowd your tank. Pink Skunks are smaller and less aggressive than the majority of cloewn fish, but will be pricier.

Enjoy the reef addiction!

[Witfull]

Bienvinedo~

[hootie51]

thanks for the advice guys. I know that angels always prove risky in a reef and can be aggressive but I have heard of success stories. It's not important right now anyway as I wouldn't even add it til much later (certainly not at the beginning). Craig I appreciate your advice on the pink skunk. I'm not familiar with them. Do you have any pics? I will definitely look into them. Now what would some good beginner corals be? So far I have thought of a mushroom colony, candy cane corals, trumpet, or a brain. I really appreciate all the reply...keep em coming!

[Craig Manoukian]

hootie51,

These will be the next pair of clown fish I get.


Amphiprion perideraion

The Pink Skunk Clownfish (and the other skunk clowns) have a distinguished look from all the other clownfishes. Can you guess why they are called "skunk" clownfish?

This is one of the smaller clownfish with a general pinkish coloration and a white "skunk" line extending down it's back. The Pink Skunk Clownfish is a hardy little fish.






The Pink Skunk Clownfish, also known as the Pink Skunk Anemonefish or False Skunk-striped Anemonefish, has a peach-orange base color with one white stripe behind the head that runs from the nose and down the entire length of the back. Another contrasting white stripe is located just behind the eyes.

It is semi-aggressive towards conspecifics and may be intimidated by boisterous tank mates. A 30 gallon or larger aquarium with many hiding places is desirable. An anemone host such as Stichodactyla mertensii or Heteractis crispa is preferred.

It will breed in an aquarium with or without an anemone host.

The Pink Skunk Clownfish diet should include meaty food items such as chopped shrimp, and frozen herbivore preparations.

Approximate Purchase Size: Small: 3/4" to 1-1/4"; Medium: 1-1/4" to 2-1/2"; Large: 2-1/2" to 4". Prices from small, $7.99, to large, $24.99, per fish is what I found on-line at Dr. Foster & Smith.

[addict]

If you're set on a pygmy angel, probably the best-behaved one is the Potter's. They're pretty docile fish, and mine doesn't nip at any of my corals at all... it just constantly pecks at the rockwork.

I have heard, however, that their success in captivity is hit or miss... so far mine seems to be doing great. It's about 1-1/2" long and a juvenile, and it's eating great. I added a Coral Beauty at the same time (since I have a 120 it wasn't 'supposed' to be a problem), and the CB was an aggressive little bugger, and chased the Potter's all over the place until it hid in one spot and wouldn't move.

So, out came the CB, and in went a Flame Angel, and the tank is once again happy. The Flame and the Potter's get along great (for angels), and while they edge sideways up to each other on occassion (their 'territory' thing), it never comes to nipping, and for the most part they just leave each other alone... a much better scenario than what I was experiencing with the CB.

One thing I noticed, is that you have a lot of rock for a 40g hex. While this really isn't too big of a problem, you might want to leave a bit of room for the fish to swim around.

Otherwise, welcome to Reef Sanctuary... we're all ready and willing to help however we can.

[Woodstock]

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary~~

Ditto to everyone else except my favorite clowns are ocellaris and perculas. They stay on the small side and are not very aggressive.

[hootie51]

reefer addict...72lbs does sound like a lot of rock for only a 40 but I have plenty of room for swimming and have some nice cavework. I'll try to post a pic of the aquascaping so yall can see. It doesn't look like 72lbs!

[cheeks69]

My experience with the Potter's Angel is that it constantly nipped my zooanthids, Trachyphyllia and Clams. Mine was an adult and really the most beautiful Centropyge I've ever had but they are very delicate and as you can see with my experience there's certainly no guarantee, the constant irritation in particular to my Clams led to their demise.

[Rougiem]

Welcome to RS! I like your sand! Ditto again on the gramma! I have one a love em!

Cheers!

[addict]

My experience with the Potter's Angel is that it constantly nipped my zooanthids, Trachyphyllia and Clams.

I can confirm the clam part... as of late, my juvenila Potter's Angel has taken to nipping my clam mantles on occassion, but nothing serious (he's not trying to take a bite out of it). From what I've gathered in my research, in the wild they like to graze the slime from clam mantles as part of their diet.

Usually when I see the Potter's doing that, I know it's time to feed, and then it stops for a few hours until it's hungry again. I'm hoping that since it's a juvenile, it'll figure out sooner or later that there's better eating with what goes into the tank, rather than what's already in there.

I've found that so far Centropyge are like puppies... they're well-behaved for the most part, but at times they like to be mischevious and do all the things we don't want them to... for instance, my Flame Angel doesn't touch the clams at all, but occassionally it'll nip a little at my brown/purple Acro stag for a couple seconds then move on. The Potter's is exactly the opposite... it doesn't even touch the SPS, but occassionally likes to get a taste of clam.

It's nothing serious, but it sure drives me nuts sometimes.

It doesn't look like 72lbs!

I'll agree with you on that one... it must be pretty dense rock. I figured 72 lbs. would be a lot larger mass.
It does look really nice though... nice job!

[cheeks69]

All of my dwarfs would eat all day, they would graze on the micro algea on the LR constantly. The nipping is natural and as you mentioned David it's not usually serious enough to damage the Corals or Clams but if they're stressed for some reason like my Clams with PM it'll put them over the edge.

Of course there are exceptions my Bi-color had to be removed because he wasn't nipping he was actually trying to rip into my Zooanthids.

[addict]

Originally Posted by cheeks69

All of my dwarfs would eat all day, they would graze on the micro algea on the LR constantly. The nipping is natural and as you mentioned David it's not usually serious enough to damage the Corals or Clams but if they're stressed for some reason like my Clams with PM it'll put them over the edge.

Of course there are exceptions my Bi-color had to be removed because he wasn't nipping he was actually trying to rip into my Zooanthids.

I see what you're saying Robert... I wasn't trying to disagree with you, or trying to minimize what you were saying, just offering my own experiences so far with Centropyge behavior in a reef setting. Having lost several clams to pinched mantle now, I understand exactly what you mean that extra stress only hastens their demise.

That's crazy about the Bi-Color... though from what I've read over at WWM (WetWeb Media), Bi-Color's are probably the least safe of the pygmy angels, along with Lemonpeel's. I added one fish a long time ago that taught me a lesson that even though you're told a fish is 'reef-safe', doesn't necessarily mean it is so... a Pearlscale Butterfly. Like your Bi-Color, it tore up my zoanthids to the point that they were afraid to open anymore, and then it started terrorizing everything else in the tank. It was the first time I tore down a tank simply to get a fish out, it was so bad.

My one saving grace with the Potter's is that the Flame has decided it's the dominant angel in the tank, so it tends to chase the Potter's away from the clams when it sees it... nothing too aggressive, just enough of a chase to tell it to 'move along'.

[cheeks69]

I wasn't trying to disagree with you, or trying to minimize what you were saying, just offering my own experiences so far with Centropyge behavior in a reef setting.

Not taken that way at all...just figured I should elaborate a little more on what I meant
Anyway here's an old pic of mine I miss that guy