[ben]

After having a few chats with jason and lindsay about how my tank was running we came up with a few ideas on how to have an sps tank that isnt just about colour. So between us we are trying a few things out, to try and make tank as natural as possible in a small area.

The tank is only 35g but jason has built a new double decker sump that should up the system to 50g.( ill get a photo of it when its installed).
The lighting is 250w 10k and the sump will house a refugium, a cryptic zone and a MCE 300 skimmer.
The fish at the moment are 2 clowns (which i would rather have out but the kids wont let me), 3 damsels ( which will be added to) and a yasha goby. The thought is to have lots of small fish to help feed the corals with their poo and to help the tank look bigger.

Today the scaping has been changed and a few sps added. But its very early days yet, as this is a long term project may take a while to show its appeal.
Its a bit of an experiment so we dont know how it will go and ill try and update each time month or 2.

This is the tank before the change,


and this is today, and yeh it looks worse in some ways but it should look a lot better in a few months,

[ben]

i will try and get the kids to let me remove the clowns, as they look too big and it ruins the perspective imo

[Social D]

Some green digi would look great on the left side rock growing up i reckon, Be careful of that Firecoral it will quickly cover all your rock and sprout new branches left right and centre, Nice if you like that effect but it tends to cover everything including coraline algae, It wont harm the corals just looks unsightly a bit.

The clowns will look better when its all grown out but you could always kill them if they look too big

[ben]

thanks tim , ill keep an eye on the fire coral.

yeh i could kill the clowns but i dont have a black heart like you,lol. ive got a feeling they will be comming out soon.

[TrevC]

Watching with interest Ben.
Any idea on the fish stocking level?

[ben]

not sure yet trev, the algae bed will be a good size for the system, plus as the the cryptic zone matures the filter feeders will help a lot.

im thinking of 10 more yellowtails to start off with.

[Social D]

10 more yellowtails!!! Can i pop down with some popcorn and watch the action ... Might have more realism than a stallone film!"

Good luck tho thats some project

[ben]

yeh it might get a bit busy lol, but its an experimental tank so i need to take a chance or 2 to stop it being boring. however, maybe 5 will be enough

[Social D]

Yeh busier than Thursday morning at aldi with every old age pensioner trying to grab a cucumber for 29p ... I think 5 is enough

[lindsay]

Looking good so far m8,will be good to see what types of sps you end up putting in.

[jason@jasonsaquatics]

Looks like a top start Ben and if your plans pay off it will be a stunner,nice one m8

Will be good to see how it looks when you add the montipora and the acros in ,keep us posted with fresh pics m8



jas

[ben]

a few more corals added over the last few days, with a bit of adjustment of the ones that were already in. starting to take shape very nicely. and i have removed the clowns which makes the whole picture look a bit bigger imo.

[BOM8ER]

I'm not one for small tanks myself but I must admit your tank is looking like a piece of a natural reef, well done mate

[lindsay]

Very good m8 .

[ben]

thanks,
as usual its hard to see it in a photo, but im very happy with it. as it grows out it should be very interesting.

far from finished yet though

[dave14]

Yea i like it ben

[jason@jasonsaquatics]

Looking great Ben ,will look stunning once its grown out some

Nice one m8

jas

[TrevC]

Like it Ben looking nice.

[Kevang]

I liked it in the first couple of shots of the new layout

Its even better now you've got some sticks in though

to the clowns I guess

poor kids what a cruel and heartless dad they have got


Kev

[jason@jasonsaquatics]

lol