Am I nuts?? I want to keep corals with non-reef safe fish (u

[M.E.Milz]

I have a reef tank (mostly sps) AND a FOWLR tank. The FOWLR tank is home to morays (white mouth, zebra, dragon), triggers (niger, fuscus), a puffer (dog-face), and a large anularis angle. I will also be adding a piccaso trigger and a spiny box in a few months when I take down another tank of mine. This tank is set up like a reef tank with lots of live rock, a DSB, a calcium reactor, and moderate MH lighting (175watt 10,000K's).

I am determined to add corals to my FOWLR tank, and I am willing to risk a few corals to see what these preditors will not eat. So far, I have had luck with yellow polyps, green star polyps, and brown button polyps. Today, I added a leather coral that so far has only been nipped a few times by the fuscus trigger and once by the puffer.

Has anybody else had any luck with keeping corals with these types of fish?? If so, what types?

Mike

[ January 10, 2002: Message edited by: M.E.Milz ]

[ March 27, 2002: Message edited by: M.E.Milz ]</p>

 

[Bubafat]

I like your attitude!

Keep up the good work or else those poor indonesian divers might starve!

 

[pathos]

was that supposed to be sarcasm?

I'd say stick to softies. if you're an advanced reefer, you might try an anemone like a common BTA, or even a gonipora since they prefer nutrient rich turbid conditions. good luck

 

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't you expect a little sarcasm? You're posting a message to a group of people whose hobby (sometimes calling) it is to keep and raise corals, and you're talking about putting them in a tank where their hierarchical designation will be: FOOD.

I certainly understand wanting to add things to your tank, but perhaps you should consider a second small tank for the corals and leave the FOWLR as is?

Take care,
djp

 

[Anonymous]

djp,

You'd be surprised how many corals can be kept with these types of fishes. I say it's safe for him to try as long as he monitors the situation closely in the beginning and remove any coral that is attacked by a fish.

I myself have kept all sorts of soft and hard corals with a porcupine puffer and a dogface puffer. I've also kept a large clam with these two fish for awhile, before giving away the clam just in case.

[ January 10, 2002: Message edited by: Chris George ]</p>

 

[pathos]

" Wouldn't you expect a little sarcasm? You're posting a message to a group of people whose hobby (sometimes calling) it is to keep and raise corals, and you're talking about putting them in a tank where their hierarchical designation will be: FOOD."

i'm not sure I follow that logic. there are plenty of soft corals that can be kept in a FOWLR. Who ever said a FOWLR should be coral free? you just have to choose corals that can tolerate a nutrient rich environment.

p.s. may I suggest a sinularia?

 

[Bdynes]

What a great idea! Next time your fish get sick, you can kill all your corals with a copper based medication, that'll save this fish eating them

Good luck!

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
I wonder if you are running that Ca Rxtor in the FOWLR tank...

 

[M.E.Milz]

First things first. I DO have a reef tank. It is a 200g mixed with softies, LPS, SPS and clams, although predominately SPS. If anyone wants to see it, Cheesesandwich was kind enough to post some photos for me last summer under the title "M.E.Milz's tank" or something like that.

Second, I have been a big advocate of setting up and maintaining FO tanks as if they were reef tanks. The same lighting, filtration, reactors (mainly to maintain alk), live rock, DSB's, etc.

Third, I am of the opinion that a diverse environment is a healthy environment. Thus, if I can increase the number and type of organisms in the tank, then all of the inhabitants will be better off.

Fourth, for the most part, I intend to experiment with cuttings and frags from my reef tank. Right now, I have dozens of frags (broken braches from mother colonies) that are merely laying on the bottom of my reef tank because I have no where else to put them. How long do you think they will last there? Adding these frags to my FO tank won't keep anybody employed, or cost me a penny.

Lastly, and as mentioned in several of the above posts, it is apparently NOT impossible (or stupid) to keep certain types of corals with fish that are generally considered non-reef safe. And if these fish occaisionaly nip at a coral, that should be fine, so long as the coral recovers. Besides, perhaps these fish are getting something that would otherwise be missing from their diet.

By the way, the leather coral is so far doing fine. The fuscus trigger has stopped picking at it, although he does seem to derive amusement from picking it up by grabbing the rock to which it is attached and dragging it around the tank. I will have to secure it in the tank in such a way that he cannot get at the base rock.

In any event, thanks for the input, Mike

 

[M.E.Milz]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I haven't used copper in any of my tanks for years. I am not a big fan of medications that harm the fauna and other critters in the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Milz,
Super glue gel should work to secure that rock. Would require you remove that rock, and the boulder you'll secure it to, though.
If you don't wanna remove, I guess reef putty will work.

You probably know this, though. You've been around here a while.

 

[pathos]

I would not attempt to keep SPS or LPS in a FOWLR. And you can always quarrentine a fish should you need to medicate him. I honestly don't understand why there is so much resistance to the idea of having a few carefully chosen corals in a FOWLR. Somebody please enlighten me.

 

[M.E.Milz]

Thanks moe, I gonna try the reef putty. The live rock in this tank is either very large or secured very well to prevent toppling by my eels. And my fuscus trigger can pick up anything smaller than 6" (he considers smaller rocks to be his toys).

In any event, I will keep everyone posted, for better or worse. And when I finally break down and get a digital camera, I will post a few pics of this tank so that you can all see my sucess (or failure). Mike

 

[sMARTY]

This might seem silly, but when you put Corals into a FOWLR, it ceases to be a FISH ONLY.

 

[Anonymous]

Emmitt,

you can use either Aquamend (a plumbing putty sold at some Home Depots) or Aquastik (sold in good LFS).
There may be other reef-safe putties I don't know about. But those two are good.
I use Aquastik all the time.

 

[M.E.Milz]

Emmitt, I use Plumbers Epoxy Putty that is sold at Home Depot. The stuff comes in stick form and has a light grey center with a dark grey outside. It is the same stuff that is sold at many LFS (although under a different name and for more $$).

You just break off a hunk and kneed it for a few minutes. It hardens in 15-20 minutes. The stuff is not super sticky, but works very well for stabilizing rocks (I smush it in and around the joint between two rocks). It also works well for attaching sps frags to rocks. The trick is to find a hole or indentation in the rock, fill it with putty, and then press the frag into it. It drys a light grey, but blends in after a few weeks.

sMARTY, you have a point. Perhaps I will have to call this tank a FOWLRAAFCBNAFBR (Fish Only With Live Rock And A Few Corals But Not A Full Blown Reef).

 

[pathos]

My undulate Trigger destroyed some pulsing xenia that I introduced into my FOWLRAAFCBNAFBR (hehehe). I think it had to do with the pulsating movement of it, which excited him. I also keep a large yellow leather, 2 BTA's (1 split), 1 galaxea, 1 brown sinularia, and many mushrooms with no problems. I only keep a Niger Trigger though. I basically built the reef environment around the Trigger.

You may consider removing some of the LR from the tank to allow more room for the fish. HTH

 

[M.E.Milz]

Pathos, what happened to the undulated trigger? The LFS got one in by mistake over a year ago, and he is still there - probably will be forever. Everytime I see him, I feel sorry for him and I am tempted to take him home (he is a beautiful fish). But everything I have read and heard has me convinced that the fish would eventally kill off everyone else in the tank.

 

[Leopardshark]

Don´t you hate when someone says "I know that coral will be death in my tank, but what the hell, I´ll give it a try"
Or this "It is ok if they nip if the coral recovers" So it is ok if I punch you every day in your face as long as you recover?
I don´t think that´s a responsible reefer thinking. I feel sorry for you. Probably you should be taught that corals are living organisms and you MUST give them a good tank in which to thrive, not survive.
I used to have a niger and a blue line in my tank, but when i started introducing corals they were outta my tank.
You must make a decision. Polips or muchrooms may be ok with your fish, but other corals is just insane.

 

[Emmitt]

OK. Thanks, guys, for the info on the putty.