Kalib

Yes definintely, shrimps are good choices for small tanks. I'm not really sure about starfish, from what i've read seems that some of them that are typically offered in the aquarium trade feed on natural foods(like worms, pods). They may not do so well in such a small tank and starve to death eventually. There are also some that get a little too big for a 2x1.5x1.5 like the chocolate chip starfish.

For FOWLR of this size, a $500 budget is possible. To cut costs further(in terms of electricity, initial setup), you can use normal fluoroscent bulbs instead of PLs. I would like to make some suggestions regarding the stocking. I would suggest skipping the Tangs entirely and keep something else. Tangs are active fishes and a 2x1.5x1.5 is too small to keep any of them long term. The smallest you should go is 3x2x2, the bigger the better. Maroon clownfish are aggressive, if you intend to keep two, I would suggest buying them as a mated pair(usually from reefers or a trusted LFS) and adding them last of all. Buying any two maroon clownfish and keeping them in the same tank would be disastrous if the fish don't pair up, it is likely the two fish will end up fighting. Instead of the Tangs, if your looking for fish that stay out in the open, you can look at fishes like chromis, cardinalfish, firefish. These are generally easy fish that do well in a 2x1.5x1.5(even long term). I would suggest avoiding the colourful damsels as these fish are too aggressive. I would suggest not getting any sand from any of our beaches as it is illegal. There's also a risk of pollution as our coastal waters are not that clean.

If your talking about those large blue fibreglass tubs, should be feasible. I've seen a similar setup on Reefcentral. Since its indoors, you don't have to worry so much about the outside weather. The principle in setting up and cycling should be similar to what we do in a typical glass/acrylic tank.

Better not to add. From what I know about this fish, its not reef safe. I have one myself in my FOWLR.

When i resetup my 4x2x2 FOWLR, I filled the tank with tapwater first then treat the tapwater with water conditioner. After that, I slowly add salt to the tank until i get the desired SG. I have the pump & wavemaker running to mix the salt properly. Do remember to only add in the sand and liverocks after the salt is added and the desired SG is achieved. Mixing salt while the sand is in the tank is a recipe for disaster as the salt can get trapped with the sand and be undissolved. This could raise SG beyond recommended levels overtime.

You can check out this site, quite a good gallery to ID stuff from.

The fleas/bugs that you observed are most probably pods, mostly harmless inverts that make good natural live food for your fish.

Definitely would grow back so long as the fish is healthy, mine had a tear when I first got it and it healed in around one week.

LRs serve a very important function in the marine aquaria. I only have LR(around 10kg) and protein skimmer for filtration in my 2x1x1, current livestock only 1 pair of false percula clownfish. In the long run, for a 2ft tank, it'll be good to stock it with small fishes that won't grow beyond 3" or 4". How much livestock your tank can hold depends greatly on how much swimming space you are going to give your fish and the actual dimensions of your tank. In general, you should not go too wrong stocking no more than 5 fishes that don't grow beyond 3". If its a 2x1x1, I'll suggest no more than 4fish that don't grow beyond 3". And last but not least, like what dragonfly_sg has mentioned, do stock up slowly as the tank needs time to adjust to the new bioload everytime you add fish. If stocked too quickly, you can experience an ammonia spike which can cause a tank crash.

What's the size of your tank? It'll help us to recommend fishes to start off as some of the easier fish for FOWLR also requires a decent sized setup(Eg. 4x2x2 and above). For a start, you can look at these fishes as their suitable for both small(2x1x1) and larger(Eg. 2x2x2, 3x2x2, 4x2x2 etc..) tanks: - Firefish(Purple firefish, red firefish) - Cardinalfish - Clownfish(False percula, True percula, tomato, maroon, clarkii) - Chromis - Royal Gramma, Brazillian Gramma In general, it'll be advisable to start stocking with the more peaceful fish first and adding the more aggressive species last.

Thanks for sharing. Yup, i'm aware that some butterfly fish are obligate corallivores and should be avoided. I've seen AM bring in chaetodon melannotus a couple of times. Still giving some thought as to which one to keep but would definitely keep your advice in mind when considering.

I see.. thats good. Read before they don't readily accept pellets and aren't such easy fish to keep. I've been toying with the idea of a semilarvatus(though I don't know who may bring these fish in),an Auriga or Chaetodon melanotus though I haven't really made up my mind at the moment. The saddle butterflyfish is also very nice, though i don't know how hardy(though literature says it would be ok) it is in an aquarium setting.

It could have been gill flukes rather than parasitic isopods. Heavy breathing is one of the symptoms of having flukes in the gills and this problem is common with wild caught fish. Try treating with prazipro or a freshwater dip.

Did you have long term success with the copperband? I read on some forums some hobbyists don't have any long term success with this fish.

Well yeah, sort of a typo as I wanted to write bannerfish but ended up typing butterfly instead. Actually, i've been toying with the idea of keeping some butterfly in there but yet to decide.

I just leave the detritous as it is, but the tomini tang and butterfly constantly turns the surface of the sandbed while in search of food. This helped keep the sandbed relatively clean, this was clearly noticeable after introducing the tomini tang. You can try using a sea cucumber as well, their supposed to keep the sandbed sparkling clean but I would advise protecting any filter/pump inlets in the tank, they can get stuck and die. Once stressed/dead, sea cucumbers release toxins into the water. My foxface which is supposed to clear hair algae is doing absolutely nothing(in fact, it doesn't eat much of the filamentous algae even), so i would have to manually remove the hair algae myself periodically.

From the pics, I don't think he has a wavemaker, i think his referring to his hang-on filter. IMO, can leave it as it is.

You should measure the pH rather than just dose the pH buffer and assume it will keep pH around 8.3. You can overdose and raise pH beyond 8.3. I used to use the Seachem Kalkwasser, it mentions it maintains calcium so i happily follow the recommended dosage written on the bottle and assume it maintains my calcium. In fact, unknown to me, one fine day when i test my calcium & kH levels, they are way above recommended levels due to the dosing of the kalkwasser. So from that time on, i periodically test my calcium & kH whenever i dose these additives to make sure i don't dose too much.

Its unusual the fishes still die despite putting in the new measures like using anti-chlorine, acclimatization. Maybe need to look one step further to see what might be the cause. The few fishes that I mentioned in the earlier posting are in general easy to keep and relatively hardy. -How did the fish die? Like any symptoms of disease, stress, refusal to eat. -Another important point is, did all the fish come from the same LFS? Sometimes, its a problem(like rough handling, improper collection methods) on the supplier side that caused the fish to die and there is really nothing we or the LFS can do. Hate to break it to you, but the recent corals added are neither very hardy nor very easy to keep either. As mentioned, the goniopora in general don't do well. The clam is easier but requires good amounts of light & properly maintained calcium & kH levels. The clam should be facing upward towards the water surface and not facing forward towards the glass. When placed this way, it would not be able to receive the maximum amount of light. What lighting are you using currently? Clams in general need quite alot of light, your lighting needs to be strong enough or the clam will not survive long term.

I maintain mine around 1.023

Happy new year all. Some pics for the new year. Most recent addition, Bristletooth Tomini Tang. Pic of my 4 remaining cardinalfish, all in 1 shot.

Did you measure pH during the lights off period or when lights are on? During the lights off period, its normal for pH to dip slightly.

Read before that leaving the rock in a covered(to make sure its dark) pail of tank water overnight, it'll encourage the critters in the liverock to come out. Don't know if it'll work though as I've never tried. If you know which hole the worm is hiding in, you can inject freshwater or concentrated kalkwasser into that hole to try to flush it out. It may kill the worm too, this would minimize the loss of organisms on the rock.

I would suggest having only 1 Banggai Cardinalfish(Unless your able to obtain a mated pair). From what i've read, unless you keep only 1pc or a mated pair, it can be a disaster. They may not pair off and could end up fighting and killing each other till you only have 1pc left, especially so in such a small tank.

Generally, for fish high nitrates(>50ppm) is not recommended. What sort of filter media are you using? They do play a part in nitrate levels. I used to use bioballs in my previous 4ft setup and face high nitrate problems, now i only use sand + liverock, i don't face any high nitrate problem anymore. You can invest in a denitrator to reduce nitrates or get some biohome as filter media. Biohome is designed to allow dentrification to take place which reduces nitrates.