18g tall fowlr build

[oscarchic11]

As some of you may know, i was recently given a mated pair of clowns, and salt to starts a nano sw tank. The clowns are doing great but are only in a 10g right now. Their permanent home will be an 18 tall, but first i have to reseal it as the previous owners had resealed it and i dont know it it was tank safe sealant or if there are any toxins lurking in the silicone so im just gonna redo it. In this thread i will be chronicling my new adventure into the world of sw!!! I have also been given by a different person about 20 lb of lr, 2 turbo snails, a bunch of micro brittle and astarina stars and am getting a cleaner shrimp from them. Once my tank is better established i will also be getting an emerald crab, maybe 2... sorry for the long winded post but wanted to make sure i included all the info. Will post about filtration and stuff later as its time to head to work now...

 

[oscarchic11]

So today im starting the project of stripping and resealing the 18 tall. Also the specifics of the filter and such. Filter is a marineland penguin 200. Will prob buy a small skimmer as the project progresses if anyone has recomendations feel free to give them as this is all new and kinda confusing... tank is heated, and just has stock lights right now. For anyone who hasnt heard of an 18 tall, they have the same footprint as a 10, but are 21.5 inches tall so ill be able to do a nice deep sand bed and still leave them a bunch of swimming space.

 

[oscarchic11]

Got the 18 stripped and resealed, now to lug it to the bathtub and test it. Ill post pics in a few... on a side note, i fed the conch a silverside last night since he recently killed and tried to eat one of my turbo snails, and this morning saw a bristle worm, and proceded to pull it and 4 of its buddies off of lr. I know they can be good, but i also know they can harm reef systems and eventually i want to try reef so i removed them and they will soon be flushed.

 

[oscarchic11]

tank before stripping, you can see how bad the seal job looked before

close up of a corner

front view

my kitten Monkey man supervising

all resealed! im glad my parents are carpenters and taught me to run a steady and neat bead of caulk!

looks much better IMO

my newly sealed corner. decidedly an improvement looks wise, just hope it holds!

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Is that not to small for a pair of clowns ?

 

[oscarchic11]

According to everyone ive asked they will be fine it it. It will literally be just them, some snails, an emerald crab or 2 and maybe a cleaner shrimp. And the male has actually been dancing for his mate so i guess they are happy fishes!!!

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Ok but I know it's a min of 20g for a clown good luck.

 

[oscarchic11]

18 is close enough imo. Thanx!!! They are in a 10 right now as a hospital tank almost. The water they came from was nasty. 1.037 sg, and .5 ammo

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Well like I said good luck but you will have to get a bigger tank for them in a few months. You will see

 

[Big Tex]

Well like I said good luck but you will have to get a bigger tank for them in a few months. You will see

x2 on this, a 20g long is the min for a pair of clowns, especially a breeding pair, a 20g "high" would even be a gamble, just my $0.02 on the matter, i know yor thinking, "oh an 18g is close enough, right" no actually its not the same as a regular proportioned tank.

 

[oscarchic11]

I can prob move them to a 30 long later, but i really want something cool to do with the 18 tall, and this way i can give the conch a nice sand bed

 

[Greenstreet.1]

I can prob move them to a 30 long later, but i really want something cool to do with the 18 tall, and this way i can give the conch a nice sand bed

So you not thinking of the clowns. The conch will be happy but not the clowns. Petco still got the dollar a gallon sale going on just some info.

 

[Big Tex]

I can prob move them to a 30 long later, but i really want something cool to do with the 18 tall, and this way i can give the conch a nice sand bed

sounds like a good plan, but you can do some smaller fish or wrass maybe in that 18 tall, its definitely a cool tank, just not cool enough for clowns lol jk heres some nano ish you can keep in there that would love all that space

Beginner Fish: Tropical Fish for Beginners in Saltwater Aquariums

Nano Fish

Blennies: Blenny Fish Species Including Bicolor, Striped and other Blennies

Dartfish

Hogfish

Wrasse Fish for Sale: Cleaner Wrasse and other Reef Safe Wrasse Species

Saltwater Aquarium Fish: Wrasse for FOWLR Aquariums

 

[oscarchic11]

I only want the 1 sw tho. Not enough time for more... this tank is number 9. I breed angelfish also so i have tons of tanks. Im actually moving fish around today and upgrading some tanks.

 

[oscarchic11]

i have 7 empty tanks right now, but as i said im an angelfish breeder and need the bigger ones for them. the clowns were given to me and i had no intention of every getting a sw tank so now im just doing what i can with fish i didnt plan on having, as for the conch, if i hadnt promised to keep it i wouldnt have it. it already killed one of my turbo snails :/

 

[bob mccoy]

if it feels right DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[oscarchic11]

Gonna get and clean a 20l to mix water in from outside, and the clowns move tomorrow!!! I was watching the tank, like really looking at the lr, and counted at least 10 little strawberry nems!!! I knew i had some and had fed them, now i feel bad cause i didnt feed the others, but im not thawing more bs for them so they will have to wait. Also figuring out the stacking of the lr as i know i have some pieces with nothing green on them so they will be my bases, and the few with macros will go nearer the top as they are now. Cant wait til my clowns have more space!!!

 

[oscarchic11]

In their new home at last!!!

 

[Big Tex]

looking good..?

 

[oscarchic11]

It still needs some base rock, and sand. Then maybe slowly upgrading to full reef...