Month Old 80 Gallon

[BlondeNasOU]

Hey everyone. Brand new to this site and this hobby. Just wanted to show you all what I've got so far and hear some imput on what would be good to do next. Have a good one.
My livestock is:
blonde naso tang
bicolor foxface rabbit
sailfin tang
redscooter blenny
coral banded shrimp
2 emerald crabs
sand sifting star
15 hermits
10 snails
white haitian anemone
colt coral
cabbage leather coral
green star polyps

 

[Bifferwine]

Looks good, but I will warn you that the sandsifting star won't survive long in a new tank. They feed off the fauna in the sandbed, and new tanks don't have enough living in the sandbed to support them. So they often just starve to death.

Your animals look really healthy, congrats on a nice setup.

 

[RyanG]

Very nice set up. The stand and canopy arent run of the mill I like it

 

[cthegame]

Thats a tall stand. I like it. Cool setup!

 

[reeffreak]

Red Alert!!!!

Sorry,I found that pic on another forum.A Naso is really too large of a fish for an 80g.Many don't recommend them even for 150g tanks.They do grow over 1.5'.It will outgrow that size tank in no time.I agree with Biff on the sand sifting star.Otherwise,its a beautiful looking system.

 

[jhnrb]

Thanks for the pics, keep us posted on the progress. as for whats next. just sit tight and let your system mature for 4 or four months, if you can keep everything alive, your on your way, if not, let the system balance out and your on your way also. looks good.

 

[Alexander]

looks good... just want to agree with reeffreak and suggest you find someting else for the blonde naso. it really will not have ample room for swimming in that tank

I also like your stand and canopy quite a bit

 

[Bifferwine]

Red Alert!!!!

 

[LionFish]

good pic reef !
looks like something I would do

as for the NASO feel free to send it to KY I have a nice 220 for him,

Everything else is lookin good,

 

[reefer2b]

very good looking tank and stand.

 

[BlondeNasOU]

Thank you guys for your responses. As for the Naso, when he gets over a foot im going to set up a 250. Kinda just using this one as a practice tank. All the parameters in my water are perfect so everything is going well so far. But its still just month number 2 now. Im getting more coral in there shortly so I will post new pics of them. Have a good day. Oh, and I have a Haitian Anemone, and he's been roaming looking for his "spot," will he harm my soft corals if he comes in contact with them?

 

[Bifferwine]

Yep, the anemone will probably sting your corals. Anemones will roam if they are not happy with the light. Do you have enough light to keep an anemone? They usually require at least 8 watts per gallon, and are more demanding, light wise and water quality wise, than most corals.

 

[BlondeNasOU]

I have a 10,000k and a mid day with 2 actinics right now. everyone else in the tank seems to be happy with the light. I've only had the anemone for a week so i guess hes still just adjusting and getting comfortable.

 

[Bifferwine]

The intensity of the lights is what's important, what kind of lights and how many watts?

 

[BlondeNasOU]

coralife 40watt for all. is it bad for the corals to reconfigure the aquascape of the aquarium? i like the way it is now sort of, but i'd like to try and pyramid it up to each of the back corners. im messin around on paper with it right now to see how each rock would fit. i just want to make sure its safe to do.

 

[Bifferwine]

Each bulb is 40 watts and you have 4 bulbs? If so that's only 160 watts for your whole tank, which equals about 2 watts per gallon. Not nearly enough for an anemone (which need at least 8 watts per gallon), and not enough for 99% of corals.

It's safe to rearrange your rocks. It may kick up some detritus and gunk, which could cause some spikes in ammonia, nitrites or nitrates, so be prepared to do a water change if your levels change.

 

[BlondeNasOU]

i will look into different bulbs. the corals right now are going great. the green star polyp has been fragged twice and is spreading on the rock and the colt and cabbage look better in my tank than in the LFS (which probly isnt big news at all). i noticed a huge spike in my nitrates when i moved it around a little for the coral a 2 weeks ago and had to do a huge water change. but thanks for the imput about the bulbs. i want to increase the number of fish i have in my tank. how many fish do you suggest for my tank? i have 4 right now.

 

[Bifferwine]

It's not the bulbs, you'll need a new lighting fixture altogether. Look into getting T5s, as the lighting fixture you have won't be able to support more powerful bulbs. Leathers (like the cabbage and colt) and green star polyps are low light corals and do okay under your lights, but anemones and any other corals besides zoanthids and mushrooms won't do well under your lights.

In an 80 gallon tank, you can probably keep around 10 fish. Depends on the size of the fish too.

 

[BlondeNasOU]

ok. i will check those out. is 110lbs of LR too much? it seems like its taking up A LOT of the swimming room in the tank. right now i have a 9" Blonde Naso, a 5" Fiji Foxface, a 2" Sailfin and a 2" Red Scooter.

 

[Bifferwine]

1 to 2 lbs of rock per gallon is fine, so yours sounds perfect. It may look like it takes up a lot of space, but your live rock is your main source of biological filtration. Keeping 1 to 2 lbs per gallon is a good amount to keep your water quality up.