new habitant advise & such

[merlin0883]

I have 55 gal reef with several corals, emerald and lightfoot crab, lawnmower blenny, hippo tand, flame hawk, and a 6line wrasse. Thinking about purple lobster, fire shrimp, skink shrimp, coral banded, peppermint,strawberry crab, clown goby, watchman goby, blue neon goby, yashia goby, 2 bangai cardinals, a fire fish goby, and atlantic pygmy angel. Is the lobster going to fight with my shrimps? Will the shrimp get along? Will the lightfoot kill the small fish and shrimp? The emerald? Has anyone had bad experiences with the small gobies starving to death? Any other complications in fish compatability that yall can see? Also, my girlfriend has a 5.5 nano. She wants a metal halide. Any suggestions? I want a metal halide for my 55 and a really good skimmer. Any suggestions? The skimmer should be hang-on. I was looking at red sea prism pro deluxe for 300gal tank. Anyone had one? I have large eheim wet/dry cannister, backpack filter/skimmer, large powerhead, and sea clone 100. Would like to get rid of sea clone and possibly backpack too. Any advice or thoughts appreciated.

[erikharrison]

Ernest (villjr) is selling a Coralife Super Skimmer rated for 65 gallons for 50.00. Check it out! They are great! For that sized tank, if you want a hang-on, alot of people will tell you to get an AquaC Remora or Remora Pro. If you want a REALLY good skimmer, look into a Deltec, EuroReef, or a Bubble King! I would not get the red sea prism, I have read alot of bad things about them. To light that 55 a 250w DE (HQI) would be perfect. For the smaller tank a 70w Viper would probably be the cleanest looking and the best bet. You will probably be bombarded here shortly! :)

[RayAllen]

A good skimmer is essential as mentioned by Erik. The brands he mentioned are expensive but well worth the money. Now with that said not everyone can afford them so look for used ones on here or on reef central. There are others though that are great and in the medium price range ASM, Octopus skimmers, Tunze are just a few to name. If you want a hangon check out the Octopus Hang on or the Aqua C's...

[merlin0883]

Ok, so I checked out bubble king, ER, and deltec. All great, esp deltec and bk. I willing to pay for it, but not that much. Also, they can be external, but not hang on. I like the octopus, but don't know if i should get the hb100ss or hb300. The 100ss is $119.95. Has one pump, one catch cup, and a surface skimmer. Rated for 90gal. The hb300 has 2 pumps, 2 catch trays, and no surface skimmer. $139.95 for it. So, prices compoarable. Would it be more efficient to have the surface skimmer and one collection cup/pump, or two cups/pumps. I know that both are actually an overload for my tank, but I want pristine!!!!!! and no worries!!!!! My backpack works great, but it's just not large enough. The sea clone ejects massive quantities of bubbles into my tank when I feed the coral and fish, and doesn't work half the time, not matter how much I adjust it or clean the pump/venturi.

[RayAllen]

Go with the bigger hb300. In this hobby more is usually better. Plus if you were ever to upgrade to a 75g-90g youd still be able to use it.

[txstateunivreefer]

i would agree with the larger you will be able to handle any unplanned events, or the stocking of the fish that you just couldnt leave the store without

[lhoy]

Regarding the smaller purple lobsters, I have never had problems with them killing and eating fish. I have kept them with small and medium fish with no problems. Wish you could see them out in open more often though!!


A coral banded shrimp will at times kill and eat some of the other cleaner shrimp, but not always.

Now, the flame hawk will probably kill all the shrimp and the smaller crabs.

Lee

[erikharrison]

Also, during feeding time you might want to leave the skimmer off for about an hour so it doesn't skim like mad.

[erebus]

I have the hb300, and it does a good job on my 90G.

[merlin0883]

Regarding the smaller purple lobsters, I have never had problems with them killing and eating fish. I have kept them with small and medium fish with no problems. Wish you could see them out in open more often though!!


A coral banded shrimp will at times kill and eat some of the other cleaner shrimp, but not always.

Now, the flame hawk will probably kill all the shrimp and the smaller crabs.

Lee
Maybe that's what happened to my peppermint shrimp. It disappeared, and I blamed the Sally lightfoot crab. Who knows.

[MissT]

the sally lightfoots can tear some stuff UP! It very well could have been either one.