My 3x3' tide pool tank....

[Reef Goddess]

I haven't posted on here in awhile, so I thought I would tonight. ;] I recently relandscaped my 3x3' holding tank to make it look more like a display tank. I added live rock in the center not just for my corals but also for my fish since I discovered they were all hiding under the same rock at night.

Dimensions of this tank are 5x3' but only 3x3' is used for display, the rest is a sump + live rock storage (lol). It is 15" deep.

Fish: Bangai cardinal, Peppermint hog, Yellow belly hippo, White cheek tang, Tomini tang, Purple tang, and Radiata Lionfish. My lionfish never bothers anyone.

I'm running a 250w doubled ended HQI bulb in a lumenarc reflector. Big euro-reef skimmer, coralivue powerheads, and Aqua medic OR3500 for circulation. It is a barebottom tank with lots of snails, sea cucumbers, but no hermits.

Now for the pics!!

The new addition, got him for my husband yesterday. ;]

 

[salt newbie01]

Holy clams!!! Those things are beautiful and HUGE!!!! WOW!! very nice! love the lion fish. Very cool set up. What kind of clams are those big guys? and just how big are they?? Very nice grouping of fish. With all those tangs I bet algae doesn't stand a chance! Again very cool - I like it alot!

 

[twon8]

great setup, i would be worried about sticking my hands in a tank with a lionfish...

 

[Reef Goddess]

Thanks salt newbie! The blue stripe one is a squamossa, its pushing 9.5" open. The brownish one is a derasa its 7.5", and my new gold teardrop maxi in the center is 5".

Yeah, I also store a lot of the snails that I sell in that tank so between them and the tangs, I almost never have to clean the glass.

Twon, leo my lionfish is very docile and hand feeds. It even lets me touch its pectoral fins. Radiatas are crustacean eaters and really not aggressive towards me or its tank mates. I had him in a 30 long for awhile but just didn't have the heart to keep it in such a small tank. I've kept it with other fish in the past and he's been fine. I would definately recommend him to other people, but they almost never come in because they are poor shippers. Its fun to watch him hang upside down in his caves. ;] I've had him for about a year and a half now. They grow fast at first, but its grown slowly since reaching its current size. I feed it about once a week.

 

[fishes2889]

Awesome setup!!

I used to clean a 20g cubical for 10 lionfish at one time....LOL

 

[the captive reef]

Looks Hot!!! The Tank I mean ; )

mike

 

[143gadgets]

That is an awesome setup!

 

[turbois300]

AWESOME!!!! So much stuff!!! And those clams need to be a bit larger..... absolutley beautiful. Did you make that tank or have it made?? Never seen that size/shape before. Great set up!!

 

[JGoslee]

Thats a really nice tank! Does the lionfish bother any of the corals?

 

[Reef Goddess]

My husband designed the tank and had it custom built locally. We are getting ready to put in a 6x2.5' and a 3x2' tank that are about the same depth (14"). Our other prop tanks are 30 + 40 longs that are stacked, so the new tanks will replace those. He likes building the prop tanks this way because with the lumenarc reflectors cover a 3x3' area perfectly with no shady spots. They are easier to maintain as well.

My lionfish doesn't bother a thing. He even lounges on my squamossa a bit sometimes and it doesn't mind. I guess when clams start to get really big they aren't as touchy.

 

[Paintguru]

So the DE lamp gets enough coverage for that tank? Which bulb are you running in case I missed it?

 

[Reef Goddess]

Yes it does. Its a Phoenix 14k 250w. My hubby says that bulb is a very good quality bulb for the price. I'm just a coral girl so my tech knowledge only goes so far. ;p

 

[Reef Goddess]

Lil better picture!

 

[Reef Goddess]

My husband couldn't restrain himself. He had to post the big clam pic. lol

 

[turbois300]

Jeez!!! That thing is as big as a toster oven!!!! It is absolutely beautiful. My wife wants one really bad but I'll have to get a crocea or max. Hopfully they will stay a bit smaller as my tank is puney compared to yours. I love the design!! I'd like to have a really wide and long tank but no deeper than 12"-14" I like the top down veiwing as much as the "through the glass" looking. Makes it seem more real/natural. Again, I love your setup

 

[blide]

Cube tanks are so cool...

 

[Azurel]

That is a really sweet clam Morgan....

 

[Reef Goddess]

Thank you, thank you! ;]

We had a 180 peninsula before but I really don't miss it now. It was a pain to clean and I couldn't grow as much. Between the tangs and the snails I barely even have to clean the glass. lol
Oh and if you notice that tank has no braces but we used 1/2" thick glass. We try to build all of our customer's tanks with no braces or eurobracing when possible so no light gets wasted.


The crocea/maxis grow a lot slower but you need high light for them to do well. So many people seem to think clams are hard to keep but I think its because they try keeping them in low light situations or try keeping rock-boring clams on the sand and they end up dieing.
My two big clams go through growth spurts. The derasa was at least 35% smaller than my squami when we got them 4 years ago, but its been catching up during the last 2 years. I'm trying to find a home for it, so if anyone is interested, let me know. The squami I'm keeping. hehe I realize that one day I may have to take it to the Tampa aquarium but hopefully I'll have an even bigger tank by then. ;p