Big reef little predator or big predator little reef ????? Need some ideas!!!!
 

hey all i need some advice or for someone to brainstorm on what im gonna put in my tank lol so heres the layout the tank is as you all know 4x4x20" .....it has a section dived off at 36lx24wx20" origional plan was to house my snowflake eel.i believe its just about 75 gallons.

so all in all i have a " L " that is 130 gallons and a box that is 75 gallons

i was thinking possibly aggressive tank or non reefsafe in the 130 and do a mini reef in the 75 or i could do it vice versa have a small predator section and large reef any thoughts???

Big Reef, Small Pred way more room for the coral's.

haha grizz i do love my corals ...i wonder how many zoo's i can fit in 130gallons lol :):)

the problem i see is most of the predator fish i want get pretty big im thinking angels,triggers,lions,eels kinda thing nothing in stone but along those lines

i already have a snowflake eel hes still a juvie at around 10" so if i decided to use the 75 g as the predator tank it would be just him and depending on the scape maybe something else.i could house the snowflake in the small reef if i use enough large piping and caves but i could not have shrimp which ive been missing lol and it would only be a matter of time before he started harrassing small fish.

hummmmm i wonder ...:)

You could do a zoa garden in the small side, nothing but ZOA'S would be cool. Put the shrimp in with them and some other fishes.:biggrin:

well...........if your thinking large angels, triggers and lion fish then 130 gallons isnt really big enough either:razz:.....Im just sayin:wink:

what did you use to divide it? glass/arcyclic?
i was thinking the same for my million dollar tank but I was thinking it would be cool to divide it with rock. just a big wall of rock making a box area. basically the big fish cant get to the reef. or even seahoreses

Very true Doug very true even though that part of the tank is 130 g ita still got 8' of undisturbed swimming room in the shape of an L so I do have a litle more options than the average 130g :)

mikad it was done with glass 1/2" and the rank has a center overflow so it was ideal to do so both sections share the same overflow and sump. There are four drains and 3 return lines to be split into four

Yes "more" options.... but still need to be inline with water volume.

Just wondering.... 8'? So whats the depth and width. That I am sure will also have a bearing on what will thrive.

I am sure you could have a couple bigger fish.... but I would lean towards a fantastic reef... as a reef tank is always nicer than a predator tank in my opinion.

im not looking to keep any big predators if that was the impression i gave just ones that i couldnt have in a reef tank, the largest i would go would be like a niger trigger , i like the fu manchu(forgive my spelling) for lions,possibly small angels, again nothing in stone just some ideas

the tank is 4' x 4' x 20"h it has on quarter of it sectioned off so im left with a large " L " this L is gonna be 4'then makes a corner then another 4' of room so its 8' of swimming room before any fish hits a wall:)

i am going to be putting mostly zoas in if i do do a reef either way:):)

Calling that 8' of swimming room is a bit of a stretch but I know you don't plan on large fish I'm just bugging you. Maybe you opened the door for the tang police's hit list now though haha. A standard 120 gallon now has two 4 x 1 swimming lanes doubled back on each other for 8 feet of swimming. Lol here we go!

I vote for large reef and plumb a secondary tank into it for your eel and whatever else. Sorta like Doug with his sorta-seahorse thing. Can't recall what he calls that tank now lol.