Fish and corals do not mix

[lynn53]

Well I think what Paul is saying is that it's more difficult to maintain the proper water parameteres for a reef tank when you have fish in it as well. As the fish ( depending of course on how many and what size etc.)are going to add to your bio load. The key phrase here is "size of tank, size of fish, quantity of fish" in tank. That is what is all relative. I'd have to agree if you had a smaller size tank and were housing eels, lionfish, hippo's etc along with you corals. But I think in most tanks they probably benefit from certain type of fish. I know that my rabbitfish and tang are constantly eating algae from the rocks...I have never had a algae problem in that tank where they are housed. I definitely atribute them to helping keep the tank clean. This is something that almost can't be argued...because there are just too many variants to it.
Just my humble opinion

 

[Sk8r]

nanofish are an asset.

 

[Scooterman]

Yep I do agree you need some choice fish in your tank to poop & to help nip at racks etc.

 

[Paul B]

Scooterman, If you are saying that 11 fish in a 100 gallon reef is too many and that I am hardheaded, well, you would be totally correct
My 11 fish, may be even 15 but who's counting. Actually all of my fish are very small except for the Idol which as I said is way too large and the bangai cardinal which is, well, bangai cardinal size. The Idol weighs way more than all the other fish put together and when he croaks I will not get another large size but i will put in more gobies, bleenies, pipefish etc. I would rather a tank with many tiny fish than a few large fish but my tastes have changed over the years from eels, puffers, triggers, cowfish to tangs, angels, butterflies and now I prefer smaller, rarer fish. I would much rather get something that I hardly ever see than a yellow tang which I see 100 of every day. My only problem is my fish all live over a decade so I can't change them much. I like my moorish Idol and I would like to see how long he will live but he is a real pain to my water.
Have a great day guys.
Paul

 

[aquariumdebacle]

Paul, put a resovoir in the ceiling and let it drain to the main display with an overflow to the refugium. use a cut-off switch attached electrically to the other pump an if you lose power to one both will stop. $.02

 

[Paul B]

Well Dan that would work because my RO/DI is mounted above the level of the tank in another room but my hung ceiling is only dropped 4", not enough for a refugium and a light. I want it at the same level as the tank because I put all sorts of animals in there that I collect and I don't really want them in my reef. I have it almost worked out, I am just making it failsafe.
Take care.
Paul

 

[Scooterman]

Paul that was a general statement not directed at you but in general newer reefers do these things, we're all guilty of that at one time or another.

 

[aquariumdebacle]

Paul, you don't need the Refugium up in the ceiling; just a sump. Pump the water up to an extra resevoir and let the overflow go to the Main display and an extra overgflow to the refugium. Then pump both coming and going to the ceiling resevoir. that way if you lose a pump the water keeps flowing. The pumps would still need to shut-off simutaneously to prevent burn-out

 

[brady816]

Sorry to butt in but i have a question for you all. I have 55 gal with 2 fuzzy dwarf lionfish and 2 fire clowns is that 2 many fish. I have xenia, zoo's ,hammer coral, frogspawn a clam and thats it

 

[Paul B]

Scooterman, don't apoligize, I am hard headed

 

[Paul B]

An update on how fish and corals do not mix. (OK they do but it causes problems)
The last time I really cleaned my reef properly was two years ago, the time before that was 27 years ago. It is due for a good cleaning again and it is all because of a fish that grew too large. (moorish Idol)
The last cleaning I removed all the rock and corals so I could stir up the gravel and clean it well. It is very hard to sustain a large fish that needs to eat three or four times a day and corals in the same tank which is too small.
I will try to accomplish this this weekend if I have the time.
I have been changing 5 gallons of water every other day to try to hold off on cleaning but the time has come. My bubble coral has shrunk and a couple of gorgonians lost some branches. I also have too much rock and the longer the tank is set up, the more rock collapses on itself thereby creating pockets of stagnant water which just collects wastes and makes it very hard to maintain water conditions.
Luckilly, I don't see this as a chore. Just part of my hobby. I am also interested at what I will find slithering around under the rock. The last time I found some fairly large crabs and a 6" worm. In some places the gravel seemed to be made out of tiny red tube worms.
Have a great day.
Paul

 

[Salty D-O-G]

First off I don't know what kind of fish you have but 11 fish in a 100g tank is way too many for me to keep up with, don't like the added cleaning, I don't care if they were all small, they all poop! People put way too large fish in their tanks I agree, if most would stick to smaller fish that stay small at adulthood, they would have less problems but people are hard headed in that way & just have to keep many fish in their reef. Then you see them pop up threads wanting help with their algae problems LOL!

Scooter brother I have to agree by learning the hard way.

Jerry

 

[ecobalance]

huh?

Isn't the whole idea to create a small piece of a reef?Areef tank void of fish is like a forest void of birds,deer,bears squirels,racoons,lizzards,chipmonks..........................ok i'll stop now

 

[Paul B]

Ecobalance. You are entirely correct. I diden't say that we should not keep fish in our reefs I just said that it makes keeping the water as healthy as possable harder. I always have and always will have fish in my reef and I am fairly certain that I will also have too many of them.
Paul