My saddleback clowns are getting bigger, and progressively meaner. They're shredding fins, biting their own reflections, and generally causing havoc in the 65g. We thought about giving them up, but I just can't do it. They're vicious, but somehow I've gotten rather attached to them. It took some doing, but after they killed one of our gobies I managed to convince my husband to let me set up just one more tank (he's a very patient soul 
) for the clowns.
We've got several reef tanks going, I wanted to do something different with this one and keep it on a tight budget. I thought a black and white theme would be neat, so here's what I came up with:
2 b & w saddlebacks
Hawaiian hermits
zebra turbos
nassarius snails
Astraea snails
white sand
black background
black sun coral
The tank is a Hagen Waterhome 'Euro-Pro' 21g (24"L x 14"W x 15"H) with a dual NO fluorescent canopy. I added 5lbs of Aragonite left over from another tank, 20lbs of live Bahamas Oolite sand and 5lbs of Fiji LR. Then I stole one of the Maxi-Jet powerheads from the 65g (there was a bit too much current for some of the corals' liking anyway), put some established bio media into the HOB filter that came with the tank, and presto! A new home for my little beasts. Thanks to the live sand and media, the cycle is coming along nicely; there are still traces of NO2, but no NH3 present. I think I'll be able to move the clowns in a week or so, which will be none too soon. Once they're in and settled, I'll see if I can order the sun coral from the LFS - they said it could take months to come in, but that's okay with me.
I don't want to eat up bandwith with all sorts of pictures, but here's a little one just to show you the tank:
I'll update as things progress
) for the clowns. We've got several reef tanks going, I wanted to do something different with this one and keep it on a tight budget. I thought a black and white theme would be neat, so here's what I came up with:
2 b & w saddlebacks
Hawaiian hermits
zebra turbos
nassarius snails
Astraea snails
white sand
black background
black sun coral
The tank is a Hagen Waterhome 'Euro-Pro' 21g (24"L x 14"W x 15"H) with a dual NO fluorescent canopy. I added 5lbs of Aragonite left over from another tank, 20lbs of live Bahamas Oolite sand and 5lbs of Fiji LR. Then I stole one of the Maxi-Jet powerheads from the 65g (there was a bit too much current for some of the corals' liking anyway), put some established bio media into the HOB filter that came with the tank, and presto! A new home for my little beasts. Thanks to the live sand and media, the cycle is coming along nicely; there are still traces of NO2, but no NH3 present. I think I'll be able to move the clowns in a week or so, which will be none too soon. Once they're in and settled, I'll see if I can order the sun coral from the LFS - they said it could take months to come in, but that's okay with me.
I don't want to eat up bandwith with all sorts of pictures, but here's a little one just to show you the tank:
I'll update as things progress
When I researched these guys everything I read said they'd do best with 'equally agressive' fish, so I'm crossing my fingers that he'll get along with the clowns. The clowns are still trying to take over the 65g, they have NO idea what's about to happen! I know 21g is a bit small for them, but I think they'll be less stressed without 7 other tankmates to worry about. 