[benjamin]

After having a few chats with jason and lindsay at my lfs about how my tank was running, we came up with a few ideas on how to have an sps tank that isnt just about colour. So between us we are trying a few things out, to try and make tank as natural as possible in a small area.
The tank is only 35g but jason has built a new double decker sump that should up the system to 50g.( ill get a photo of it when its installed).
The lighting is 250w 10k and the sump will house a refugium, a cryptic zone and a MCE 300 skimmer.
The fish at the moment are 2 clowns (which i would rather have out but the kids wont let me), 3 damsels ( which will be added to) and a yasha goby. The thought is to have lots of small fish to help feed the corals with their poo and to help the tank look bigger.
Today the scaping has been changed and a few sps added. But its very early days yet, as this is a long term project may take a while to show its appeal.
Its a bit of an experiment so we dont know how it will go and ill try and update each time month or 2.
This is the tank before the change,

and this is today, and yeh it looks worse in some ways but it should look a lot better in a few months. i really dont want the clowns as they ruin the perspective, so ill see if i can talk the kids round,lol. i will be adding more yellowtail damsels, maybe a yellow wrasse and one or two more small gobies

[Dre]

Your yellow tail damseles may not tolerate your new yellow tails.Nice clown by the way.

	Balistapus Conspiculum- Balistapus Conspiculum-Clown An aggressive trigger that get more aggressive the larger it gets, can reach about 20" or so. Do well in a FO or Fowlr and very aggressive tank mates. Unlike most other triggers it needs very good water quality, low nitrates. The quarter size ones that show up every year need to be feed a lot. If feed correctly they should grow from 1" to 4"-6" in a year.

[benjamin]

yeh that is a worry but i was thinking of putting in about 10 more, so that may spread out the aggression a bit

[Dre]

Quote: Originally Posted by benjamin yeh that is a worry but i was thinking of putting in about 10 more, so that may spread out the aggression a bit

A royal gramma or a fairy wrasse would be nice those damsels can be aggesive especially the males 13 is too much for that size tank take it from me maybe if you had no rocks in there.They are very territorial another one of my favorite fish i have some spawning at the moment.

	Gramma loreto- Pseudochromidae/Dottybacks/Basslets This is a great group of fish that no reef tank should be without. They do well in reef tanks and usually get along with most other fish. They can be somewhat aggressive, so you need to be careful with some of the group as they will become very territorial and chase and pick on other fish, and may attack shrimp and other inverts. They may fight with small wrasse or hogfish, like the six line wrasse as they’re similar in size and shape. They like to move things around the tank and some will pick up sand and drop it on you rocks and corals. They need a good amount of rockwork in a tank and you’ll see that a lot of them will hang upside down below rock faces. They are very hardy and will usually eat almost anything you feed them. They are usually very funny to watch, and they’re very active, as they never seem to lose the wild nature in them as a lot of other fish do once housed in a tank. They do jump from time to time, so you need to take that into account when keeping one. Gramma loreto-Royal Gramma A fish that does very well in reef tanks and in nano tanks also. Can be keep with most fish and with other Royal Grammas as long as there are hiding places in the tank. Some larger sizes do show up from Brazil and need to kept in larger tank, like a 55gal.

[ClosetFishGeek]

Nice....Good luck with your setup....I agree with dre....13 is way to many for your tank....

[TOTAL AQUARIUMS]

Besides 13 being too many (as they do grow) why waste the room on damsels? I always try to steer people with small tanks away from damsels. There are sooooo many small fish that can fit in smaller tanks comfortably that to stock it with damsels is bloody mad. But, I also lump yellow tangs into the "why waste the space in your tank" group, so I guess if damsels make you happy, then damsels make you happy.

[sjsoto]

my daughters love the clowns i have as well... didnt really like them but after a while i was starting to like them also... go with the royal gramma i have one and adds color to tank nice fish to have.../

	Gramma loreto- Pseudochromidae/Dottybacks/Basslets This is a great group of fish that no reef tank should be without. They do well in reef tanks and usually get along with most other fish. They can be somewhat aggressive, so you need to be careful with some of the group as they will become very territorial and chase and pick on other fish, and may attack shrimp and other inverts. They may fight with small wrasse or hogfish, like the six line wrasse as they’re similar in size and shape. They like to move things around the tank and some will pick up sand and drop it on you rocks and corals. They need a good amount of rockwork in a tank and you’ll see that a lot of them will hang upside down below rock faces. They are very hardy and will usually eat almost anything you feed them. They are usually very funny to watch, and they’re very active, as they never seem to lose the wild nature in them as a lot of other fish do once housed in a tank. They do jump from time to time, so you need to take that into account when keeping one. Gramma loreto-Royal Gramma A fish that does very well in reef tanks and in nano tanks also. Can be keep with most fish and with other Royal Grammas as long as there are hiding places in the tank. Some larger sizes do show up from Brazil and need to kept in larger tank, like a 55gal.

[benjamin]

ok thanks guys, maybe ill try another 5 damsels instead. this tank is a bit of an experiment so this is why im not stocking common, or the usual, fish , if you see what i mean.
grammas are nice though so maybe

[sjsoto]

what is the purpose of experiment? im intrigue...

[benjamin]

to try and have an sps tank that doesnt have too many species and without trying to get the colours too 'fake'. i see a lot of sps tank that look the same and, imo, unrealistic. fine if you like that sort of thing but i want to make mine a bit more natural looking if possible.
that sounds like im putting down other sps tanks but i really dont mean it like that. i know there is a lot of skill and work in keeping any reef tank, let alone an sps tank