Ichthyosaur
New Member
Hi,
After 20 years, I am coming back to fish and corals. I had a fairly successful 135-gallon mixed reef tank that I started 1998. I used most of the toys - calcium reactors, kalkwasser, UV, ozone dosing, etc., mostly out of desperation. I seemed to go through all of the problems except the ugly stage. I had two amazing Maroons in a very plain brown long tenacle anemone that grew large and split into about a dozen more.
My purple tang taught me an important lesson. These are not just stupid fish. She recognized me and even played a little. It was not just about food. Even after a large meal, she would want to play at the acrylic side. During one crisis, I had the rocks, corals, and fish in the obligatory trash can while I did a major overhaul. She turned almost white from stress. I poked my head over the top of the trash can. She was on her side on top of a rock. When she saw me, she turned deep purple. I know that she was a female because she laid eggs often. I had many other successes, and many failures. The last years were great ones.
So when I designed my current home, I designed a small aquarium equipment room and a spot downstairs, on the foundation, for my dream tank. A 300-gallon beauty. Time passed. Last March, I decided to investigate how the hobby has changed. You know what happened. I have spent about a thousand hours studying, learning, designing, and planning. The current plan is 678-gallons that is now pushing the limits for my small equipment room. I am not a forum guy, but your site has been so helpful to me, I am here to try to provide information that I learn as I move forward in case it is useful to someone else.
When I started, my goal was to raise an Emperor angelfish from juvenile to adulthood. That is still my primary goal. As the aquarium grew, I got excited by the idea of doing the same with a French angelfish. Afterall, the internet says 250 will do, right? Or maybe 300.
Some members here really have helped me with this idea of adding a French to the list. I can't find their posts again. I am sill learning this site. Anyway, one said that they would not have an adult French in anything under 1000 gallons. Another asked some years ago whether anyone had grown any Atlantic angelfish in a home aquarium for ten years or more. There was no response. Finally, almost all of the images and videos of French angelfish that I can find are in the ocean or public aquaria. As I have started to build the rock structures for the coming aquarim based on the instructional video by BRS, it has become clear what the limits of a 15-inch disk shaped, 3.5 lb fish would be. Finally, last night, I decided to drop the French from my fish list. I think that this fish probably deserves thousands of gallons, not hundreds. The emperor remains. It is much more manueverable and also is barely have the mass of a French. So my planned aquarium is to the Emperor as a French would be to a 1400 gallon tank, masswise. There are many other mid-sized angels and butterflyfish that will love this new aquarium and crazy rock structures. Also high on my list is a Power Blue. My current fish count is about 40 and total fish mass of 10 lbs.
So I would love to hear from someone that has had experience with a mature French, Grey, or Cortez angelfish.
I promise to add photos and some descriptions as things progress. I am at the stage where I wonder about my sanity, anticipating the ugly stage, huge outbreaks of the usual suspects. I am confident that I can avoid many of the problems in the first five years of my first mixed reef. Algae, dinos, etc are unavoidable.
Thank you to all of the enthusiasts here whose posts over the years have helped me get to where I am. This is a great site and has saved a lot of headaches for me, I hope, haha.
After 20 years, I am coming back to fish and corals. I had a fairly successful 135-gallon mixed reef tank that I started 1998. I used most of the toys - calcium reactors, kalkwasser, UV, ozone dosing, etc., mostly out of desperation. I seemed to go through all of the problems except the ugly stage. I had two amazing Maroons in a very plain brown long tenacle anemone that grew large and split into about a dozen more.
My purple tang taught me an important lesson. These are not just stupid fish. She recognized me and even played a little. It was not just about food. Even after a large meal, she would want to play at the acrylic side. During one crisis, I had the rocks, corals, and fish in the obligatory trash can while I did a major overhaul. She turned almost white from stress. I poked my head over the top of the trash can. She was on her side on top of a rock. When she saw me, she turned deep purple. I know that she was a female because she laid eggs often. I had many other successes, and many failures. The last years were great ones.
So when I designed my current home, I designed a small aquarium equipment room and a spot downstairs, on the foundation, for my dream tank. A 300-gallon beauty. Time passed. Last March, I decided to investigate how the hobby has changed. You know what happened. I have spent about a thousand hours studying, learning, designing, and planning. The current plan is 678-gallons that is now pushing the limits for my small equipment room. I am not a forum guy, but your site has been so helpful to me, I am here to try to provide information that I learn as I move forward in case it is useful to someone else.
When I started, my goal was to raise an Emperor angelfish from juvenile to adulthood. That is still my primary goal. As the aquarium grew, I got excited by the idea of doing the same with a French angelfish. Afterall, the internet says 250 will do, right? Or maybe 300.
Some members here really have helped me with this idea of adding a French to the list. I can't find their posts again. I am sill learning this site. Anyway, one said that they would not have an adult French in anything under 1000 gallons. Another asked some years ago whether anyone had grown any Atlantic angelfish in a home aquarium for ten years or more. There was no response. Finally, almost all of the images and videos of French angelfish that I can find are in the ocean or public aquaria. As I have started to build the rock structures for the coming aquarim based on the instructional video by BRS, it has become clear what the limits of a 15-inch disk shaped, 3.5 lb fish would be. Finally, last night, I decided to drop the French from my fish list. I think that this fish probably deserves thousands of gallons, not hundreds. The emperor remains. It is much more manueverable and also is barely have the mass of a French. So my planned aquarium is to the Emperor as a French would be to a 1400 gallon tank, masswise. There are many other mid-sized angels and butterflyfish that will love this new aquarium and crazy rock structures. Also high on my list is a Power Blue. My current fish count is about 40 and total fish mass of 10 lbs.
So I would love to hear from someone that has had experience with a mature French, Grey, or Cortez angelfish.
I promise to add photos and some descriptions as things progress. I am at the stage where I wonder about my sanity, anticipating the ugly stage, huge outbreaks of the usual suspects. I am confident that I can avoid many of the problems in the first five years of my first mixed reef. Algae, dinos, etc are unavoidable.
Thank you to all of the enthusiasts here whose posts over the years have helped me get to where I am. This is a great site and has saved a lot of headaches for me, I hope, haha.
