SteveA

In theory none of the angels are reef safe. In practice, most of the dwarfs are mostly reef safe as is the Regal. By mostly, I mean that they are more often than not reef safe (I have never had a dwarf that wasn't) but some have been known to not be so. It might also depend on what you have in your reef that they might like and how hungry they get. I could say don't expect to maintain a healthy collection of sponges with a Regal (again in theory) but I look after a tank with a bicolour and a coral beauty plus a healthy selection of sponges which they ignore. Steve

I agree. I have two of them but thought they were long dead as I hadn't seen them in well over a year (have had them for 3+ years at least) but discovered them when I shifted tank. Only seen one of them once in the new tank. Might be OK in a small tank where they have less places to hide. You might get lucky and get a more public one otherwise you could tell your friends you have a very rare invisible shrimp. :lol: Steve

Yellow tail blue damsel. Stay small, stay colourful. FWIW, my favourite damsel and I now have 4 of them. Very cool, they all hang out together in the coral branches. Steve

You may be correct. I could actually test that, since all the heaters are running off a central temperature control. If I were to plug a timer into the output used by the heaters I could set it to 00:00 then come back 24 hours later and see what time it was reading, which would be the number of hours the heaters had been on. Might do that tonight. Steve

Main power user is 1600W of MH lights. Next comes 1200W of heaters and then nearly 400W of fluoroescents. Steve

Thank for the offer but I think I might err on the side of caution for now. Steve

Apparently he also has a Majestic in there. I must ask about soft corals. Steve

I came across a guy on RC who has had an Emperor angel in his reef for several years. Apparently the only coral it has bothered was an ‘Open brain’ (which presumably he removed). I have asked him about bubbles and clams. Has anybody here kept one of these in a reef? Steve

OR It molted. I often find crab 'claws', from the guys that hang out in the rocks. Steve

So you could use them to keep those Montipora weeds under control then? Steve

Just woked it out that based on my equipment and duty cycles I should average a consumption about 1213W. This comes to 29.11 Units per day, for a total cost of $4.67 +GST. I am now rather glad I did not stay with my first plan of a tank upstairs and the sump downstairs. The power consumption of the main circulation pump never entered into my change of plan to having everything downstairs but it probably would have if I had thought about it. Steve

Up to $8.91 (+GST) after 48 hours (including 8.5 hour power cut). Heading to $5 per day methinks. Steve

Mmmm 2 * 1000W (=2000W) @ $250 = $500 5 * 400W (=2000W) @ $125 = $625. I don't actually want my corals to grow that fast, my tank is already big enough. My idea of two 1000W bulbs migrating along the tank as the day progresses is sounding more attractive all the time. Steve

Sounds promising. The Regal I am getting will be the 2nd biggest fish in the tank (about 12cm and apparently a very hearty eater of virtually everything it is given) , the only one bigger being the peaceful, so far, blue tang. It will be about twice the size of the purple tang but I suspect this will not cause the purple tang to be at all reticent at showing its feelings on the matter of a new arrival. I tried a small one once before and it got the crap kicked out of it, hid, stopped eating, then vanished. This will be my 2nd, and last, attempt. I have two mirrors at the ready. Steve

Can you get 1000W versions of these bulbs?

I'm guessing I am going to find mine is about the same. There are actually two 250W MH and a couple of pumps less in this system than when the animals were all in the previous setup. Steve

Does any one have, and are there any problems keeping the Chevron Tang (ctenochaetus hawaiiensis)? Steve

If it has recovered quickly then it is still basically a healthy fish. Repairing damage requires some amount of energy. Try feeding some mosquito larvae if you can, mine can't get enough of them and they provide heaps of nourishment in a small package. Steve

I bet your power company send you a bottle of bubbly every Xmas. They know how to treat thier best customers. Steve

Mmmmm... I think my enjoyment of the hobby will take a serious downturn if I ever get the notion that I need to treat my tank like a chemical experiment just to get the last increment of colour out of my corals. Steve

My blue tang was given to me and has had so many tank moves in its life (6 year+ apparently) that moving tanks doesn't seem to bother it and neither does any other fish. It is by a factor of 3-4 the biggest fish in the tank but his/her nature is so placid that I have never seen it do anything to chase/intimidate/bully any other fish. The purple tang, on the other hand, has hardly grown since I got it (but may do so now it lives in a home feeding regime rather than an office feeding regime), however it is frequently to be found scrapping with just about every other fish in the tank with the possible exception of the mandarin and the bicolour gobi. Luckily, most of its fights only get to the posturing stage and neither it, nor its adversaries (usually damsels), seem to get injured. Steve

Almost 2000 4 X 400W halides 2 X 140W Actinics 2 X 56W Fluoros Total = 1992W Steve

What's a 'round of gold'. Obviously something we can't afford down her in Wgtn. You are right tho, there are a lot more expensive hobbies, my Hifi sucks up far more of my income than my tank, although it does have lower electricity costs, and a trip down south to go skiing will cost several times the fish tank power bill. Yep, you are definitely right - I think I will buy some more fish then.. Steve

How did it work out in the end? Reason I ask is I already have a very large but pretty placid blue tang and a smallish, but feisty, purple tang and will shortly be adding a regal angel. Steve

Do you get your power bill sent to you at work? I've already told SWMBO that the tank might double the power bill so, if it only increases it by 60%, she will be pleasently surprised. Thats the plan anyway. Actually a more interesting thing that has emerged is just how long the tank can go without power. In the 8.5 hours the power was off (major cable problem down the road) the temperature dropped less than 2 degrees (down to 23.7). I did a hand stir at one point but this certainly highlights one of the benefits of a big tank. On the other hand, the fact that it took 4 van loads of guys 8.5 hours to fix just one cable fault, makes you wonder just how many weeks your power would be off in the event of even a modestly severe earthquake. Steve