100 gallon anemone dominated cube without sump

[Ardeus]

Tank dimensions: 90x90x50 cms (35x35x20 inches)

Equipment:

Deltec MCE600 skimmer
Maxspect Razor 180W fixture
1 Jebao RW8, 1 Jebao RW4, 1 Coralbox QP9
300 watt heater
hang on refugium
36 Watt Jebao UV
1 Dosing pump and a 25 litres container for rodi water with kalk and vinegar.

The goal of this tank was to hold a group of 13 clowns, but an outburst of brooklynella right at the begining made it go in another direction.

Here's the setup process:



3 clowns survived and they are still in the tank.

There are over 30 sunburst bubbletip anemones in the tank, a huge orangedrop bubbletip that never splits (it must be close to 45cms diameter) and a heteractis magnifica (recent addition).

I don't like tanks where fish swim back and forth from one side of the tank to the other, it makes me look at the tank as a cage, so I selected the fish with this very much in mind:

- 3 clownfish
- 3 threadfin cardinals
- 2 yellow assessors
- 1 tomini tang
- 1 matted filefish
- 1 diamond goby
- 2 flame angels



The most common comment when someone sees the tank is "There's no fish in the aquarium, just plants?"

They are all hiding most of the time. I am trying to figure out a way to change that. The anemones are probably creating an hostile environment, maybe?

The maintenance schedule is very simple.

I fill the 25 liters rodi container with water, kalk and vineger and the dosing pump pushes 3 liters per night.

1 do 10% water changes every 10 days.

And that's it, I guess.

I am trying to find a way to get more open space, because the anemones keep splitting.

 

[Tahoe61]

Really enjoyed your post! Beautiful tank.

 

[sfin52]

You might think about a small group on b/g chromis or something that schools. The hey will help bring the other fish out more.

My chromis do that for my tank. If they hide all the fish hide if they are out then all the fish come out. Just my 2cents.

 

[Ardeus]

Thanks Tahoe.

sfin: That idea crossed my mind but I was afraid of watching the chromis kill each other, which seems to be the usual path for them. It seems that good water movement and frequent feedings help.

I could get a group of alleni damsels nearby, but odds are they would go into hiding, so the chromis are probably a better option.

With some luck, this will happen

 

[Shep]

Love it! I am really tempted to get a nem for my tank instead of doing corals this time around! Any suggestions for a nem noob?

 

[Ardeus]

Bubbletips or min-max anemones are hardy to start with. In the case of bubbletips, if they can get their foot in a crevice, they won't likely move.

 

[Chrisfish]

Great tank and really nice videos, looking forward to seeing more

 

[Ardeus]

Thanks, I will continue to update this post. Right now I am monitoring a new magnifica and it's the first time I attempted to keep one.

 

[Ardeus]

Right after shooting this video, the magnifica had to go to the hospital tank. Lets see how it goes.



Right at the beginning, I had the rock on a glass shelf.

At the time I thought that it was a good idea on concept, but it didn't look good. I couldn't look at the tank without thinking that there should be pastry and cakes on that glass shelf.

I took the shelf out and created the root of the present hardscape.

The thing about cube like tanks, is that they shine when they can be seen from all sides or have minimalistic layouts.

In my case, not having a sump means that at least one of the sides needs to have some big stuff hanging (skimmer, refuge, UV).

Lately, I have been looking at that glass shelf and thinking about giving it another chance.

One of the big advantages of the shelf is the huge increase on ground floor. The fish have a big shaded area underneath the shelf and a good area above.

If I give it time, the visible areas of the shelf will be covered in algae and even some corals and maybe the cake shelf look will go away.

My idea now is to create a low rock structure on the bottom of the tank emerging from the sand, that climbs to the glass shelf on the right side and covers the shelf, leaving a lagoon in the middle.

One of the challenges of this tank is containing the anemones. The way I normally do this is by putting them in islands or creating divisions in the rock. I don't see how I would be able to do this with the shelf covered in rocks.

 

[Ardeus]

I guess it would look like this but with anemones, instead of sps...much more volume.

 

[Ardeus]

Yesterday a friend came to help to rescape the tank.

The thing he did was to persuade me not to use the glass shelf.

He had great ideas and all I did was edit them.

Although the basic layout in fact is the same as before (big rock structure in the left right corner and an island), all the corals changed place.

I think almost 50% of the rock was taken out. With so many anemones, the tank looked somewhat claustrophobic.

He had the idea to create a huge cave behind the rock structure and cover the front with BTA's. The fish love that area of course.

The BTA's are now all in one place.

The Magnifica was out of the tank for a week while going through cipro treatment and is now alone on its pedestal. That caused problems with the 3 clowns. The female only allows the smaller clown in the magnifica with her. With time they will learn to get along again.

Some minutes after the magnifica got settled, I turned my back on the tank for a few minutes and when I came back it looked like someone had dumped 10 gallons of milk in the tank.

I think one or more of the nems spawned, but the fish and the corals seemed unnafected so I didn't do anything about it. I had replaced the carbon on the day before and I guess that helped.

I took the opportunity that the whole was rearranged to intrduce another flame angel. I had a tiny female and I got a slightly bigger one. They bickered for a couple of minutes, but have been fine since then.

 

[Leslie Tabor]

I love this tank!

 

[Ardeus]

Thanks Lesley, I love it too

Woke up, went to check the tank.

Cloudy again. The magnifica's mouth is perked up and high, so I suspect it's the source of the cloudiness. But 2 days in a row?

 

[Ardeus]

Clownfish are notoriously unpredictable, but I was already expecting that putting a magnifica in the tank would change the dynamics of the trio.

On the first day, thr female took over the new prime real estate, allowing only the smallest clown in there with her.

On the next day in the morning things had changed: the male was now occupying the magnifica, allowing only the smallest clown in there with him. He goes frequently to visit the female, but in an aggressive way.

I will post a video tomorrow covering the whole rescaping and the clowns behaviours.

 

[Ardeus]

I knew this could happen: the introduction of a new anemone can completely disrupt the clownfish hierarchy.

It's the 3rd day in the row that suddenly, early in the morning, the tank is completely cloudy. I'm guessing it's the magnifica.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Nice tank and videos. I like it better without the shelf too. Clowns are funny. Clownfish, not clowns. I really get freaked by clowns. ;Joyful

 

[Ardeus]

Thanks. For me it's the opposite: clownfish and magnifica anemones stress me out.

I am always afraid the magnifca spawns cause a serious problem, or that it decides to move or deflate. Or that the male clown transitions and the brawl becomes more serious .

 

[Ardeus]

The female clownfish is now in the cave...

Should I give the other 2 clowns a time out until she recovers her morale?

 

[mch1984]

The tank looks great, hoping to do an anemone dominated tank one day in the future.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would only separate if they begin to really hurt each other. I am guessing the larger male is making a power play to become female. Could turn that way. If it does, you may have to re-home the female unless she can find her own area. Give it a bit more time.