Any invert suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[Guest]

I'm about to move into a new house and I have a 105 Oceanic RR that I'll be setting up. I'm interested in have a few inverts but want to be able to maintain a healthy fish population. I'm a fish freak but would like to branch out to maybe anemones or corals. What are some good inverts that I can incorporate into a tank with numerous fish? My setup will include a euro reef skimmer set in a 30 gal sump. I hope to eventually setup a refugium in the middle part of the sump. My lights are the 6-light, 48", t5 setup. Any guidance you could give me would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

well... Im a little confused with your post but I'll answer anyways.
Inverts are usually reffer to shrimp, crabs, worms, and we can throw anemones in there too. If you want to keep a lot of fish, and inverts, you will be limited to those fish that don't eat shrimp, crabs and worms. Anemones can be difficult to keep. they require good lighting, water flow, and direct feeding. They also naturally catch and eat fish, which could be a problem if you want to keep a lot of fish. Now if you you want to keep corals, there are basically three kinds. soft corals like mushrooms, zoanthids, xenia, colts, etc, have no hard skeleton. they tend to be the easyest to keep. LSP-(large polyp stoney coral) are like the frogspawn, candycanes, and such, also tend to be fairly easy to keep. The SPS-(small polyp stoney corals) are acropora, montipora, and the likes. They tend to be the hardest to keep. With your t5's set up you could prababy keep most corals. The real decission making should be done after researching the needs of creatures you are putting in your tank. Knowing the creatures needs and requirments before you buy will help insure a happy inhabitant and it will make you happy to see it furish.

 

[Guest]

You also need to keep in mind that if you want to eventually get anemones or corals, you need to make sure that your fish won't make a meal of them. I had a fish only with one anemone. Actually, I had some fairly aggressive fish in the tank, one of which tried to take on the anemone and lost (he was an huma huma, but looked really neat to see a half eaten corpse come out my carpet's mouth one morning). My dogface puffer tried to eat my anemone three times before learning his lesson. A lot of fish that I had that stayed on the bottom of the tank, like the blennies and dragonets, always got too close and got stuck in the really sticky tentacles.

If you ultimately want some corals or anemones, you need to decide which so you can decide the types of fish that will be compatible in the long run. You also need to keep in mind that "numerous" fish means a heavy bioload, so be careful on the quantity you put in, especially if you don't want tank wars and fishies stressing due to tight quarters.