20 gallon Angler (reef?) tank

[obscurereef]

So stoked! Went to my LFS today and they had a bright red angler. It looks full grown, because it's 4" I'd say. It eats krill, squid, etc. so that's a plus. I put the angler on hold for a week or less b/c it's really expensive.

I've had this 20 gallon tank that I used for a quarantine/hospital tank, but I never used it. It's cycled and has had water in it for a couple months. I have a damsel acclimating right now. I just have snails in the 20 gallon, no fish so this is a test fish/potential food. Can't wait and I'll have some updates/questions that I need help with.

I have LEDs that grow macro okay...don't know if it will grow low lighting coral, but if it does, I'll put some mushrooms and a kenya tree in. Thanks for viewing .

 

[Mr. D]

Sounds like a good build.. I'll be watching this one

 

[obscurereef]

I fed the damsel mysis shrimp, but it didn't eat. Looks pretty stressed, but it is a new fish so it's pretty normal.

So one question is I took some sand from my refugium a couple weeks ago and put it in a container in the 20 gallon. A few days later it had black spots. I'm almost sure it's hydrogen sulfide, but I'm confused why this occurred since the sand wasn't full of life a anyway. Should I toss the sand or clean it? Will the same thing occur if I do this again?

Still need to aquascape the rock and such, but here it is. It will look better soon!

 

[Convict2161]

Following along

 

[ktomminello]

I'm along for the ride- I am contemplating an angler and am interested in seeing your experience- Thank you!!

 

[obscurereef]

Awesome guys, thanks for following.

@ktomminello: Some basic points I'll mention b/c you're contemplating:
-I believe they are nocturnal, and they don't move much anyway. Really cool to watch walking though.
-Live food becomes expensive, so if you can find one that eats frozen food it will pay off in the end
-If you have a large enough tank like 40-55 gallon (might get away with 30, but wouldn't recommend it) you could keep a dwarf lion (they also don't move too much). There are also other small predators that can be kept with the angler, but it is advised to have similar sized fish.
-Instead of an angler, you could instead get a leaf fish. I almost got a yellow one.

I got inspired a while ago to get an angler by Tim's biocube set up.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/tims-29gal-biocube-reef-angler-fish-tank-build-199196.html

Check it out if you haven't already. Informative too.

 

[ktomminello]

Thanks for the advice!!

Awesome guys, thanks for following.

@ktomminello: Some basic points I'll mention b/c you're contemplating:
-I believe they are nocturnal, and they don't move much anyway. Really cool to watch walking though.
-Live food becomes expensive, so if you can find one that eats frozen food it will pay off in the end
-If you have a large enough tank like 40-55 gallon (might get away with 30, but wouldn't recommend it) you could keep a dwarf lion (they also don't move too much). There are also other small predators that can be kept with the angler, but it is advised to have similar sized fish.
-Instead of an angler, you could instead get a leaf fish. I almost got a yellow one.

I got inspired a while ago to get an angler by Tim's biocube set up.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/tims-29gal-biocube-reef-angler-fish-tank-build-199196.html

Check it out if you haven't already. Informative too.

I have been following that build for a while along with giving slagathor lots of views I am working on getting the hang of saltwater and am having success with my tanks, finally.

It would be a feature tank, the only fish in there would be the angler. For food I have a 10g nano set up and almost ready for me to add breeding shrimp and cuc. This nano reef is doubling as a refugium for my 40g green spotted puffer tank and the angler that I'm interested in is the stargazer. I'm gathering all the information I can so your input means a lot

 

[obscurereef]

I have been following that build for a while along with giving slagathor lots of views I am working on getting the hang of saltwater and am having success with my tanks, finally.

It would be a feature tank, the only fish in there would be the angler. For food I have a 10g nano set up and almost ready for me to add breeding shrimp and cuc. This nano reef is doubling as a refugium for my 40g green spotted puffer tank and the angler that I'm interested in is the stargazer. I'm gathering all the information I can so your input means a lot

Never heard of a stargazer angler. I looked it up and that's one ugly fish! Are they monkfish or similarly related? They're huge and apparently edible. Guessing you'll be trying to catch one?

 

[obscurereef]

So might aquascape the tank today. I have one large rock in the tank now that is crawling with amphipods. I want to break it up. Should I just take it out and use a hammer to bash it?

 

[obscurereef]

Update! Yesterday I painted the back, broke up the rock, and moved the tank and everything in it downstairs to the office. I also took sand from my refugium from my 70 gallon to this tank. Sugar fine sand is a pain...wish I never got it, but it's what I had. Haven't aquascaped it, but will today. I'll be getting the angler today or tomorrow!

 

[Psychocircus91]

Awesome. Anglers are so cool. can't wait to see this little guy.

 

[obscurereef]

WOW! So I just got back from the LFS. Bad news and good news. I was holding this guy so we could of gotten him a week ago, but the tank wasn't completely set up for the fish. I came in to pick it up, and the angler was on it's side sort of floating. An employee said he was dead and was bummed out. He said he was eating great in the morning so it was a shock to everyone that the angler died. In this unfortunate loss for the store, I ended up not wasting $175...You could say it was luck that it didn't die on me...

They have this bright yellow angler about the same size, but it's not trained to eat frozen foods. I think I'll just keep looking to find one. Almost went with a lionfish, but really wanted this tank to be for an angler.

Got a kenya tree frag to test if the lighting is okay. Damsel is fine...he gets to live longer now.

Does anyone have any experience/info about leaf fish, past the liveaquaria basic info? There are a couple in another store that I might get instead. I'll keep this updated still, but will now be looking for an angler once again.

 

[ktomminello]

I someday want to Terry

 

[ktomminello]

Try- sorry, to catch one, i want to be as assured with salt and reef as I am with freshwater, so my kids will probably in their teens before I make that trip. I also know that there are a couple places to purchase them- plus reading up on them they are perfect for a 10g or 15g species only nano. My hubby calls me a nutty professor because I love the ugliest most difficult creatures, lol

 

[obscurereef]

Oh, well good luck catching one. I prefer the more tropical vibrant colored anglers. We asked a guy to see if he can get one from a wholesale distributor so now we're on his "list" . Might pick up some more macro tomorrow. I haven't seen the damsel eat...I don't know how it's been alive for so long, but it is and it's coming out in the open more.

 

[ktomminello]

I probably won't be able to catch one, but it's something to look forward to- I'm 31 and retired with a 7 year old girl and a 9 year old boy and I'm lucky enough to understand obsession, research and have the resources to make this a post retirement dream come true by the time my youngest is 21!! If everything falls into place properly I want to spend the 3 years prior with the cichlids of the Amazon. That's why I'm starting my research and planning now on what I want for my Amazon biotope- I have an obsession with candiru, especially the asu, lol and my strange ocean floor wall of tanks. Maybe they are pipe dreams, but I do already have an itinerary for my Amazon trip, and half of the money saved already I want an angler of every type at the end of my journey, lol, which started a year ago with my first saltwater tank.

 

[obscurereef]

An angler of every type. Now that's ambitious! Here's what's happening since I haven't updated this thread for a while, sorry. I have some questions at the end that I'd appreciate if anyone had input.

-aquascaped rock..I don't really like it, but I don't want to change it and disturb the sand and inhabitants.
-got macroalgae (getting more)
-Got a deal on 2 LED light fixtures so will be using one and making this mainly LPS
-damsel is good as always
-got a mandarin!
-Kenya tree grew triple in 2 weeks!

The mandarin is eating nutramar and going to hatch some brine shrimp soon. Put her(?) in this tank so he could survive an maybe adapt to other foods. I'm hesitant to put the fish in my 70 gallon because of the competition for food. My Midas Blenny will surely go after any food I put in for the mandarin.

So question is: should I keep the mandarin in this 20 gallon and not have an angler or move it to the 70? If I keep the mandarin in the 20 I'm thinking of keeping dwarf seahorses too. Will there be too much of a competition for food? I'd get rid of the damsel if I got the seahorses.

So 2 scenarios:
Mandarin & dwarf seahorses
OR
Angler & damsels

Which is better and why?^

 

[Psychocircus91]

Neither is better. Angler and damsels would certainly be easier, but I'm sure you knew that

 

[obscurereef]

Yeah I agree. Just tossing out what would be preferred by the an individual. It's hard to find a bright colored angler that eats frozen food. Getting one that eats live food would certainly be time consuming and expensive, but I might want to go that route. Seahorses would be a challenge and my concern is the sand keeping too much debris (wish it was bare bottom) and their sensitivity. I saw a small pipefish at my LFS which has been there for a few weeks so it's eating something. Still on the fence though.

 

[ktomminello]

Haven't read this thread for a while. Lol, I'm ambitious, but I am a realist too, pipe dreams, but it usually keeps me going.

Angler vs damsel... I've actually watched an lfs owner feed his black angler a baby damsel (it was a mercy killing, damsel accidentally shipped with baby porcupine puffers). Not pretty!!

Sea ponies (pygmy seahorse) are something I have researched but not very deep into, dragonets or mandarin goby fall into that category for the same reason.... For some reason though, it doesn't sound like a good pairing either because they would, theoretically, scare the boots off of each other.... I'm picturing the other set of pairs- pygmy/angler or dragonet/ damsel.... Option number 2 doesn't sound like a trainwreck, just a time bomb that would need to be dismembered......


I have done nothing but a few minor repairs in lighting and cooling on my bc,water changes and watch my snails eat all the hair algae off my 'refugium' rocks and slept. I still have the flu seems to always happen when I REALLY want to do something fun!!!