tank pics, looking for comments

[linuxpng]

This is my first reef tank, looking for comments both positive and constructive. Tanks is about a year and a half old, but only with coral and live rock for 8 months.
http://homepage.mac.com/goobusdotorg/PhotoAlbum5.html

 

[wickerj]

Your tang looks nice and fat. How's the trigger do in your reef tank?
What's your filtration like?

 

[Anonymous]

I also am curious to how the Niger Trigger does with the corals and other fish....

 

[oimate84]

Nice clean tank!, but usually triggers are not reef safe fish...it usually will eat or nibble your shrimp and corals..

 

[linuxpng]

Believe it or not, the niger trigger is the nicest fish in the tank. He pretty much does his own thing and haven't noticed it bothering anything. The tang, by far, is the boss.

 

[linuxpng]

I use only the liverock in the tank and a excaliber skimmer powered by a rio 1700 (which is a POS, so recommended replacements are welcome). The skimmer is rated for a 200 gallon tank so it's almost overkill on mine. I use 3 powerheads, 2 maxijet 1200's and 1 maxijet 600.

 

[shalegac]

Very clean. What dimensions are your tank? How many gallons?

 

[Mogo]

Nice tank! I have a picasso trigger in my reef tank (2 years) that I 've heard horror stories about. Frankly, he could care less about my corals and other inhabitants, but I cannot purchase a clam or even a shrimp as they could be instant dinner.

 

[linuxpng]

It's a standard 55 gallon size, which I know is too small for the yellow tang. I'm currently building a 180 setup and am going to do some things very different.

 

[tazdevil]

Very nice! 8)
Triggers (other than Mr. Picasso) tend to leave cleaner shrimps alone-they recognize them as beneficial. They usually attack/eat them if the shrimp, in doing its dutiful duty, overdoes this. Or if the trigger is starving. Picasso's are the rebels to this, and as posted before, will eat them. As far as corals go, from what I've seen and read, softies and they like are usually safe. It's the SPS or other hard corals that get beaten up, as the trigger tries to file its beak down on a routine basis (not unlike Macaws are other Parrots). Non-cleaner shrimp, however, may be regarded as a MRE and nothing more. :lol:

 

[eddiem1]

I wouldn't worry about the trigger. Niger and Blue Throat Triggers are "fairly" reef safe. I would be careful if you have small shrimp such as peppermint or camel. Larger shrimp such as cleaner or Coral Banded should be fine as long as the trigger isn't too large.

I would be very concerned about that Sand Sifting Star. Basically it gets its food by eating the fauna in your sand bed. Once all the fauna is gone (and your sand bed is lifeless) the star will die. I would recommend you remove it and possibly reseed your sand bed with a kit from IPSF or Inland Aquatics. You might also be able to get some sand from fellow reefers in your area.

By the way, everything looks great.