Help me sort this out please.

[TimSchmidt]

Ok I'm doing a 10g with a 10g sump and want an Indo-Pacific reef tank with a max of two fish, one that swims more towards the top and one that stays on the bottom. I have been reading online and reading books and now have TOO much info and am having trouble sifting through it all. HELP :scratchchin:

I have the current orbit 20" 80watt fixture for lighting and currently plan on using my RIO1300 (return pump from sump) for my water movement. If I have dead spots I'll add a small power head. I plan on ordering Fiji pink sand for my substrate and using a mix of LR Fiji, Tonga, etc...

I really would like a reef setup that includes a Sun Coral, frogspwan, and Red Open Brain. The trouble I'm having is making sure all the inhabitants will get along. I'm getting the impression that online distributors are telling me anything so I'll buy from them. Please help sort out the liars. :maitre

I originally wanted those three corals above with some "filler" corals that are hardy and require minimal maintainance like a Colt soft coral, Yellow leather soft coral, and Xenia. But my wife seems to like Ricordia and Clove corals. Are theses all able to co-exist without problems ( the Frogspawn will be about 3-4 inches away from anything else).

For fish I originally was looking at a Firefish and Red Sea Mimic, but now I'm thinking that the Firefish won't be so reef safe. So maybe a Scooter Blenny and some other fish any suggestions for a swimmer??

Thanks for any help.

Tim

 

[sadielynn]

The lighting would be good for lower light corals shrooms some zoas the sun coral and the open brain all sound good ....the frog spawn should be ok if you suppliment its feedings with cyclop-eeze or the like...... Frogspawns can pack a powerful sting however their sweepers are not likely to go more than 2 inches however I am not positive on that .......I am not versed on the colt, yellow leather and the xenia I cant grow in my system for others it is as bad as a weed , clovecorals are a bit on the difficult scale IMHHO and the Ricordia should be fine with the others . I personally would work to keep the frog spawn as far away from the others as possible as for the red sea mimic I am not to fimilar with them Fire fish are reef safe and jummpers . It sounds like you are on the right track with what info you have ....Hopefully others will give you some other pointers as well
:mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

most of those corals with the exception of the sun should be fine but i personally wouldn't recommend some of them:
frogspawn way too aggressive and capable of very long sweepers for a small tank, of course small frags can be found but they grow fast and need a lot of room - a candy is a much better choice
colt - can easily outgrow a ten gallon, plus is very noxious as far as alephathic compounds go - capnella or something similar would be better
yellow sarc is my personal favorite leather and is a good choice - smaller and "prettier" then most leathers but still will get to be 6" in no time so cannot be considered a "filler" coral - it needs a space of its own
trachy also not a bad choice but needs open space on the sandbed - if you don't have a lot of open sand faviads, and mussids would be better options cause they can be placed on rock
zenia can be a rapid spreader so be advised if it likes your tank it will take over - i have erradicated mine!
most mushrooms including rics are great and can be used to fill some gaps as well as zoanthids. both of these can make an awesome display on their own
as far a fish a bottom dweller like a shrimp goby would be better then the scotter - much hardier and a great swimmer for small tanks is the royal gramma - all time classic - solid as a rock and pretty.

 

[Jennie]

If you are planning the 10g tank, I think that with caution all the corals that you would like to keep will be fine. Please research the Clove coral as these are not a beginners coral. Space them out and just keep an eye on the sweeper tenticles on the frogspawn and you'll be ok.

Like John stated, the Candy Cane is a good alternative to the frogspawn.

If you are planning on keeping a Tomato Clown, then I'm sure that you are aware of the territorial issues with this particular species. A good choice if you stick to your plan on not adding any other fish.

 

[TimSchmidt]

trachy also not a bad choice but needs open space on the sandbed - if you don't have a lot of open sand faviads, and mussids would be better options cause they can be placed on rock

Hmm I assume you are referring to the Red Open Brain... I'm not too familiar with all the different names a single piece of coral can have.

Tim

 

[Anonymous]

yep awesome corals but really need a lot of sand bottom so if you want one scape your tank with that in mind and then realise they can inflate about 4 fold so even a 2" one needs at least 4" all around it

 

[skipm]

I can't remember for sure why but I do recall that scooter blennies are not the best choice for reef fish, maybe a polyp biter? A firefish is a good choice or a court jester goby or even the royal gramma as already mentioned. I would either go with a goby/pistol pair or a small blenny for the bottom dweller. You will probably want to stay away from sand sifters because they make a mess out of you sandbed and move it all over thae tank. Clown gobies are also great little fish that perch on the rocks and corals from the bottom to the top of your rockwork. I would probably also stay away from corals like xenia, colt, and others that are rapid spreaders. Star polyps are a good choice as long as you isolate them on a rock surrounded by sand to keep them from spreading to much. Ricordias would be great as would mushrooms and zoanthids. A 10 is a little tight to have to worry about sweeper tentacles so you may want to rethink any corals with them.

 

[TimSchmidt]

Thank you all for the responses. Guess I will have to wait for my larger tank before I get my frogspawns, bubbles, hammers, and torches huh? :lol: Ok thanks for the tip on the Star Polyps (don't these have that neuro toxin though? Would the same trick work for xenia? I do plan on having my LR shaped like a C in an atoll fashion so the open brain should have enough room. As far as my bottom dweller is there a blenny similiar to the lawnmower blenny that stays smaller? I would love the lawnmower :cry: but 6 inches is way to big for my 10g...

Thanks,
Tim

 

[skipm]

The neuro toxin is in zoos and palythoas (look like big zoanthids). Youi may be able to use the same trick on xenia but if it can lay down after growing tall enough and touch the other rocks it can attatch and spread.