Fish Stock Help!

[ksj88]

Okay, this is a longish one. Please bear with me, as I try to give as much info as I can before I ask the question. :biggrin:

I'm a newbie to reef aquariums, this will be my first saltwater tank, and first fish tank ever. Well, I did helped my old man setup his fresh water community tank last month and we done a pretty good job together, everything survived and are happy, no sickness or fighting. Anyways, I have been reading and reading and reading for the past 3 month, and got all of my equipments at the highest quality that I could afford (still in school). Now, I'm making plans for stocking the aquarium once it's done cycling.

Please let me know if I'm trying to bite more than I can chew ;):

I've a 35gal display tank [30x12x22.5], with one 250watt metal halide 140K (100k in the future) two 65watt power compact actinic for lighting (awesome deal from ebay), and one Hydor Koralia #4 for movement (it will be pointing up and towards a wall).

1.) My first question, will this light system be much light, putting too much stress on my fishes?

I have a 29 gallon sump/refug beneath the tank, with a Kent Nautilus TE protein skimmer (got it at an unbelievable price) rated for 150gal or 300gal depending the websites or manual... if either true, and a Mag9.5 return pump. It will be about 25gallon of actual functioning water.

Stocking list:

one sixline wrasse [3.5in]
one yellow watchman gobie [3.5in]
two clowfish[4in]
one dwarf angle (cherub[3in] or coral beauty [4in])
(and maybe, just maybe a chromis[3.5in]? a green or blue one if i can)
couple of shrimps, some hermit crabs and snails for cleanup crew

2.) So I'm looking at 14in to 15in of adult fish without the chromis over a 60gal total system. Is that too much? Or can indulge on a chromis.

As for the sump/fug. I had it set up for a maximum refugium volume, but that ended up putting too much micro-bubbles in the system.... So I'll be tearing it down, and set it for more volume in the "bubble trap sections" maybe 5-6 dividers. This will leave me with a 5-7 gallon of refugium at best... and It will most likely be the last two section of the bubble traps, thus with very high flow... ~600g/h. SO

3.) Can I keep anything there? cheato? rock ruble and sand? Or should I just leave it as sump only? I could find a 10gal and add it to the system as the fug, but that just means more plumbing and even tighter space under the cabinet, which I'm reluctant to do. But it can be done, if you think the benefits out weight the tight space.

4.) Also, anyone here have any experience with the Kent Nautilus TE protein skimmer? good, bad, meh so so? there isn't a lot of reviews on the web, nor much forum talks the product. sad.gif

5.) And finally, this doesn't worry me as much as the other things, but since you've read so far... Mag9.5 return (pointing at the surface) + Koralia #4 (pointing at a wall and surface) = 1800gal/hr, is that too much flow for a 35 gallon? Will the fishes have problem swimming it that?

Thank YOU for reading and helping out. PLEASE let me know what you think!:beerchug:

[hypertech]

5 active swimmers in a 30 gallon is probably too much. There is no inches to gallons rule - ex, if I was allowed 10 inches of fish - couldn't I get a 10" Naso tang for my Biocube? See, it just doesn't make sense.

You are definitely on the right track, I think your lighting will be fine. The dwarf angels are iffy on coral eating and they can be bigger than advertised. If you took that off your list, you are probably in good shape.

That turnover will be fine. For my 40B, I have a 500gph return and 2 maxi mods putting out 1400 gph for 3300gph. I'm almost thinking of adding another - maybe - to keep the bottom clean.

[ksj88]

oh wow, that is a lot of gph! Do you think i should up mine? What kind of fish do you keep in your 40B?

[hypertech]

Right now, none, its still cycling. My plan in a mandarin, a flame angel, and maybe a Kole tang.

I think your flow will be fine. 50x turnover is good. It depends on what you want to keep (and how many rocks are in the way) how much you need.

[ksj88]

Cool, a mandarin. That's one fish that I really wanted but couldn't due to the tank size issue. The mandarin and a lionfish..... too bad. How are you going to feed your mandarin? Do you plan on buying or growing your coepods? Maybe a refugium for the coepods? Your tank souds really cool!:beerchug:

[hypertech]

I'm buying one from Wes that eats and I'm setting up a 15 gallon gravity fuge for supplements.

[wes]

I'd skip on the coral beauty at least for now. the cherub might be alright. Remember to stock slowly and with intent--least aggressive to most aggressive.

I better go feed that mandarin--he's still skinnier than I'd like him to be, I imagine he'd be better if I could feed him every few minutes, but I'll do what I can.

[ksj88]

Hey Wes, how are you? All moved yet? I didn't realize you had a mandarin, or at least I didn't see him when I can to pick up that canister filter (working fine). Where did you get the little guy? Do you feed him coepods? if so how do you grow your pods?

[wes]

nope, not all moved yet. glad the magnum's workin' for you. those things are pretty solid, so I didn't think there'd be any problem. If you want to swing by tonight I can get you a frag. Otherwise much of my system is going to be emptied out over the next couple days.