Fiji Lagoon Biotope

So my system crashed back in november and I'm now in the process of re-setting up the system. This time I decieded to do something a little out of the ordinary and try my hand at a fiji lagoon biotope. People say that fiji is the soft coral capital of the world and the corals that are best suited for my system are soft corals. naturally it makes sense I would be drawn to this kind of a set up and after a friend of mine showed me pictures from a dive in a shallow saltwater lagoon in fiji I knew I had to try and replicate. He showed me pictures that featured ocellaris clowns, green chromis, tiger jawfish, and a flame angelfish so I had part of my stocking list right there. I also redid the rock work to make it much more open and eventually I would like to add seagrasses and other marine plants to the sandbed/rocks. I will post some pictures soon. here is my current thoughts on a stocking list.
5-7 green chromis
1 flame angelfish
2 tiger jawfish
2 ocellaris clownfish
1 longnose hawkfish
1 midas blenny (I love midas blennies and I know they are from fiji but I believe they are found more in the drop off area, can anyone confirm or deny this?)

What size/dimension tank are we talking about?

It's a 72 bowfront.

Everything sounds good to me Alex! Here's a link on the midas blenny. It's in the area! You're good to go!

http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Ecsenius-midas.html

Sounds like it's going to be one awesome tank!

I had a midas blenny once, and he was AWESOME! They have such great personalities Can't wait to see pics!!

I do know that midas blennies live in fiji but I think that an algea blenny or something of this sort would be much more common in the habitat I'm trying to replicate.

Originally Posted by rgrking

It's a 72 bowfront.

Everything sounds good to me Alex! Here's a link on the midas blenny. It's in the area! You're good to go!

Ecsenius midas, Persian blenny : aquarium

Yea I have had two before, unfortunantly the tank crashed on them! thanks, I'm really excitied about getting the corals and fish and plants in there!

Originally Posted by LadyOfIreland

Sounds like it's going to be one awesome tank!

I had a midas blenny once, and he was AWESOME! They have such great personalities Can't wait to see pics!!

it does sound like a lot of fish for a 72 though..... and chromis' are a pain in the butt to keep.... I'd take them off the list as they will just be the target of aggression from the clowns, plus, your tank will be overstocked and asking for another crash!

If he added them slowly, I think it would be ok. They are pretty small fish overall, but you would definately need to wait a good 2-3 weeks between fish.

So here are the pics



and this was the old rockwork

Originally Posted by estanoche

it does sound like a lot of fish for a 72 though..... and chromis' are a pain in the butt to keep.... I'd take them off the list as they will just be the target of aggression from the clowns, plus, your tank will be overstocked and asking for another crash!

Alright if the chromis are gonna be too much of a headache I can do without them. the guy at the LFS said he would order like 20 for me and let me cherry pick the best ones so thats why I figured I would try it but I don't want to overstock the tank

Originally Posted by rgrking

If he added them slowly, I think it would be ok. They are pretty small fish overall, but you would definately need to wait a good 2-3 weeks between fish.

I usually wait that long anyway but if it's gonna cause a problem I just won't add the chromis... NBD!

What other equipment are hooked up to the tank? What size sump and skimmer? The fish you listed don't seem anywhere near overstocked, they are all fairly small fish even as adults. It all really depends on what other equipment you have on the thank though.

I have heard the chromis are a pain too, they always slowly kill each other off.

I can do more than tell how bout' a picture?

so the protein skimmer is an extreme cone 120 and I'm not sure about sump size but I think its about 20 gallons. do you think even I cherry picked the more mild chromis they would still present a problem?

Well it looks like you have a great skimmer Its a tossup with damsels, the one plus is that they are cheap.

I got 3 chromis 18 months ago as my first saltwater fish, 2 of them are still swimming in their 3rd tank.

I got 3 more when I started my 2nd tank, 2 of them are still swimming about 15 months later.

They are cool fish with a good personality. When I start my next tank I will get 3 more.

so it sounds like you have had success keeping them in captivity and that I could go ahead with them.

Originally Posted by Pat B

I got 3 chromis 18 months ago as my first saltwater fish, 2 of them are still swimming in their 3rd tank.

I got 3 more when I started my 2nd tank, 2 of them are still swimming about 15 months later.

They are cool fish with a good personality. When I start my next tank I will get 3 more.

So, i forget if we've talked about this before, but do you always keep the glass lids on your tank?? Do you leave them open all the time, or closed???

Originally Posted by estanoche

So, i forget if we've talked about this before, but do you always keep the glass lids on your tank?? Do you leave them open all the time, or closed???

Yes I always keep glass lids on the tank and I usually leave them closed... Why?

Many will argue that leaving the lids shut locks in CO2, causing your PH to crash.... inevitable causing drastic tank crashes.... and I believe them

I never use glass lids on my tanks!!! If I need a lid to keep fish from jumping, I'd add some eggcrate, or bird netting, that way air can still get to the top of the tank

I thought you and your dad was making a screen top? I wouldn't have them on there either. If you do have them, you might be able to point a fan down under the glass to go across the water.

Originally Posted by hotshotdevil32

so it sounds like you have had success keeping them in captivity and that I could go ahead with them.

I would. I had 3 chromis for a year and a half, and none of them killed each other off or even picked on each other. They all got along just fine - and they're pretty cool

Originally Posted by estanoche

Many will argue that leaving the lids shut locks in CO2, causing your PH to crash.... inevitable causing drastic tank crashes.... and I believe them

Well crap - I have a glass lid on my 4 gallon right now because my clown jumps >.< Now I have to DIY some sort of netted lid for it. Oy vey!

What bugs me the most with keeping glass tops on is the condensation that builds up on the glass and cuts down light getting through.

Originally Posted by estanoche

Many will argue that leaving the lids shut locks in CO2, causing your PH to crash.... inevitable causing drastic tank crashes.... and I believe them

I never use glass lids on my tanks!!! If I need a lid to keep fish from jumping, I'd add some eggcrate, or bird netting, that way air can still get to the top of the tank

I have 1 piece of glass on top of each tank. I use the smaller half of one of the glass lids that came with the tanks.

It's a great place to put stuff while I'm working on the tank, but doesn't block much of the top of the tank.