Fish in a BB tank.

[SeanT]

This is a topic I would like to discuss.
What are your thoughts on fish in a BB tank?
Before you answer that, ask yourself this, "Why do I have a BB tank?"
If the answer is for algae control or such, have you considered the kinds of fish you keep?

I went BB for three reasons:
1. Hair algae was driving me out of the hobby.
2. I wanted to be able to directly exert more control on my waters parameters.
3. I like SPS and they like low PO4.

Since I have been BB the two questions I always ask myself before I add an animal are; Will this animal carry its own weight? And will this animal harm my corals?

Harming corals is easy enough to answer, don't put a Parrot fish in your tank.

As for carrying its own weight, I mean, am I going to be the sole, direct, provider of this animals diet?
or is this animal going to take care of some of that with its own hands...er fins?

All the fish in my tank, save an adopted Royal Gramma, are herbivores.
The fish I put in my tank have to be grazers, constantly searching the rocks, glass, plumbing for something to eat. Helping out as it were.

I have ALWAYS wanted a school of Anthias in my tank.
They are gorgeous active fish and a favorite of mine.
But they don't graze and need to be fed daily, some more than once a day.
And I quiver thinking about putting all those nutrients into my ank.
I don't employ crabs so who is going to finish it off right away if the fish don't get it? Nothing will, it will just sit there and rot.
A lot of it will get swept up and out but not all.

Am I being a little too paranoid?

What are your stocking thoughts on a BB tank?

Sean

[gman0526]

I would have to say that you're being paranoid . Technicaly if the flow and skimming are there, you should not have any problem with overfeeding and such. FWIW, all I have is 6 little damsels, 2 clowns and a cleaner wrasse.

[elephen]

Sean-

You have a good point about a school of anthias. They are just about the most beautiful reef fish available IMO but they are dirty fish as far as feeding. They LOVE to eat.

In my new 120 BB I was contemplating putting in 3 more female lyretails (I currently have 1 female and 1 male lyretail, my other female died in the transition of going to the new tank).

I feed 1/2 a cube once a day. I'm going to add a atlantic blue and a naso tang, the naso is especially a good grazer.

I'm also a little paranoid about adding to much food to the tank especially since I don't employ crabs either.

Interesting topic for sure though.

[REEF-DADDY]

I am running a pretty high bio load, especially when you consider that most of my fish are XL like their owner. Here is my .02

Chromis- useless and eat alot. Not sure if they even know that there is rock in the tank

Box anthias- Pretty fish, but useless.

Flame Angel- A fatty, always picking at the rocks and looking for food. I think she is only eating pods and brine shrimp however.

Fox face- A super fat beggar. Will not eat anything thats not put into the tank by me. His begging results in my feeling guilty and over feeding.

Powder Blue- Another fatty, and again would rather eat fast food than find his own. Almost has a too good to eat poop mentality.

Yellow tang- Now here is a guy that eats some poop, and whatever else he can find.

Purple Tang- Always hanging at the poop pile, great tank cleaner.

Juvi Chevron Tang- This guy is the work horse of he tank, never stop cleaning and you can actually see him cleaning the starboard. The tank has really started to look good since I added him.

I feed about 4 cubes per day or the equivalant. My Zebramosa's(sp) really seems to do a great job as do the bristle tooths. The rest do not pull there weight I do have some crabs left over from the old tank and I do think they help me with any uneaten food. They are all pea sized, however.

[wkd949]

I am a new member of this hobby (about a year) and I am having trouble with hair algee. non of my animals will touch the stuff. what can I do to get rid of it

[elephen]

Naso's are good grazers aren't they?

[gman0526]

Originally Posted by wkd949

I am a new member of this hobby (about a year) and I am having trouble with hair algee. non of my animals will touch the stuff. what can I do to get rid of it

Not to be rude, but we could start by adding your own thread with all the specifics to your problem. This one is kinda related to ther topic.

[ski1297]

Originally Posted by wkd949

I am a new member of this hobby (about a year) and I am having trouble with hair algee. non of my animals will touch the stuff. what can I do to get rid of it

Welcome to TRT. Just start a new thread and we would love to help!

A school of Anthias would be very cool to have.

[Geoff]

i have never had a problem with algae once i went BB and used properly "cooked" LR. i had a Kole tang and a bi-colour blenny that i had to suppliment in order to keep fat and happy. i found that i did not need near the amount of snails i had in my DSB system.

i also found this to be true with our predatory reef. this had a huge bio-load, little LR and few cleanup critters and also did not have an algae problem. had an aiptasia problem but not an algae problem (hard to keep peps when there is a zebra moray, grouper, and lionfish in the tank ).

i guess, what i am trying to say is that for once i was able to get fish i wanted without having to waste bio-load on herbivores.

G~

[Weatherman]

If you’re ever in need of an algae-eating machine (because, maybe, you introduced a low-nutrient-tolerant algae into your tank by mistake), I highly recommend a Virgatus or Doliatus Rabbitfish. They have a bolder personality, and much more aggressive algae eaters than Foxfaces, and they don’t require the vast swimming room of a tang.

My Foxface did nothing but hide until I introduced the Virgatus rabbit. Now, they are both rapidly ridding my tank of pinnate red algae.

[pwest]

In my new 150 BB, I've got: one powder blue tang, one copper banded butterfly, two small clowns, a royal gramma, and the one I'm worried about, a small spotted mandarin.

Since I'm cooking my rock right now, I'm sure there are no pods for the mandarin--should I try to buy some? In the long run, will the bb tank support this fish, or should I swap him out for something else?

-Phil

[concept3]

psssssssst....


I have a school of 3 anthias.

Im getting 2 more (different species) in a few weeks. My little secret in keeping them well fed is feeding them with a tube! I target feed my anthias, and I have kept them fat and happy for about 5 months now. I also have a blue tang, royal gramma, PJ cardinal, 2 chromis and a 6-line wrasse. No hair algae (knock on wood), and phosphates are undetectable....

check this out...













The feeding tube is a standard acrylic airline tubing (the type used for UG filters), and to the other end, I attach a 16-24" piece of silicone tubing. I defrost my fish cube concoction, and with the silicone tube in my mouth, i "pippette" the food into the acrylic tube. With the tube in the water (and the pumps off of course ), I wait for the anthias to come close to the tube, and I let a little out at a time. They immediately go for it, and after they get fully satiated, I turn the pumps back on so the corals can have their midday soup!




I spend a little more time "feeding" the fish than "watching them eat", but their colors and demeanor are well worth it!

[concept3]

oh yeah, I turn on my skimmer about an hour after feeding!

[clockwork]

I think I have a lite bio load in my 120 BB . My biggest fish is a 5 inch PBT , next are my 2 bicolor anthias, 2 pj cardinals and 3 lubbucks wrasses. I know I have a light bioload because if I fail to feed for 2 days my corals lighten up some.

[REEF-DADDY]

Weatherman

Does your foxface suffer from distorted body image?



Believe it or not the camera actually makes him look thin in this pic