I currently have a 74 gallon tower housing a very large pair, Male & Female named Rhaegal and and Khaleesi, of Japanese Dragon Morays and a Snowflake Moray, named Snow, respectively.
I'm going to be setting up a 125g long, with about 60-100lbs of rock, for them so they can stretch out a little more, and I plan to try and start a reef in it. I would like to have gone bigger but we want it in the room we are in the most so we don't want to risk it going through the floor.
All this is a tough dilemma as the bioload is pretty heavy. Also, while my Dragons are fairly tame and can be hand fed, they have not been exposed to any other fish swimming around in their tanks. The Snowflake is also really feisty and can be the boss of the tank of it so chooses to be.
The game plan, which I'm sure will have to be changed once put into place, is to feed this tank often in order to curb aggression.
The plan of attack to keep the water quality high for the corals is to run a BubbleMagus Curve 7 Protein Skimmer, and an IceCap 60w Algae Scrubber.
On the 74g I currently run bioballs and a DIY algae scrubber. Water parameters stay in check but the scrubber is too small for the amount I feed.
I plan to make a sump for this tank utilizing dividers for a spot for the Skimmer, scrubber, and then possibly bioballs or some more natural filtration such as Chaeto. I may ditch the bioballs. I mainly used them for seeding the Nitrogen Cycle but left them in.
As for the substrate I am using various sized Aragonite. I may build a nice PVC undersand for the Eels so I'm not sure the depth of the sand yet.
Several years ago I had a very large Snowflake and I built him an underground PVC playground. It was great but during the breakdown of the tank I found where all my hermit crabs had disappeared to. I thought he ate them but they just fell in to the dark abyss.
I don't think a small cleaner crew would fare well with 3x Eels in the tank so I think I'm pretty much limited to certain Sea Urchins and Large Conchs. I would love to try Nudibranches but also not sure how they would fare. Any recommendations on Invertebrates, would be appreciated.
As for fish, this is the hard part, as if these guys want a meal out of them, it's going to happen.
For the most part we realize this may have to be a Predator Reef Tank, which I'm fine with, but I need fish that can hold their own, however, we are thinking of risking a couple of non Predator fish that might be okay.
Not positive about this yet, but the first addition to the tank before the Eel transfer could be a couple of cleaner wrasse. Hopeful Positive Outcome: The cleaner wrasse could help keep the tank and corals clean, and could create a relationship with the Eels as they've been known in the wild to clean the Eels mouths. Unhopeful Negatives: If the wrasse doesn't turn into a quick meal, it could terrorize the Eels all day trying to clean and stress them out. They also will require a lot of supplemental feeding as they are pigs, and their nutrition in the home aquarium is a tough one to keep up with.
After the Eel additions could be some Clownfish, utilizing the Symbiotic Relationship with the Anemone. This would probably be months down the road so the tank can stabilize and I can get a good read on whether or not an Anemone would thrive
Another idea would be the Tangs/Surgeonfish. I think these are pretty risky, but they have speed, agility, and brains on their side. I would worry about the night hunting of the Eels though, and a tang might get caught in the middle of the night.
Maybe a Foxface/Rabbitfish due to their spines. I wouldn't doubt the Eels to be smart enough to chew around the spines though.
Frogface/Angler. I love these fish and have always wanted one. I do think they'd be fine from getting eaten, but I would fear the Dragons trying to eat one and then being seriously injured. The Dragons are my centerpiece, and were very costly to obtain, so they are number one.
The most interesting one I can think of, and not sure if this makes sense, but I might try some nocturnal fish such as Squirrels as they would also be awake while the Eels go into hunt mode at night. I would think that if the Squirrels are more active at night they'd hopefully protect themselves.
As for predators to add I am considering Triggers and Groupers suitable for the tank, but I have to caution them with the reef.
I've seen success in reef tanks with the smaller Lionfish species, so I'd consider them as well, although with a child in the house, all the poisonous fish listed above would be risky.
Wish list of specific fish...
-Remora
-Quoyi Parrotfish
-Achilles Tang
-Purple Tang
-Kole Tang
-Humahuma Trigger
-Niger Trigger
-Pinktail Trigger
-Wartskin Angler
-Panther Grouper
Obviously many of the fish listed are dream fish I'll never own as they are not suited for a home aquarium, and odds are my Eels may never allow for other tankmates.
Any suggestions on possibly tankmates?
As for Corals my I plan to start with Xenia, as if it doesn't survive, odds are not much else would and I go back to the drawing board.
For lighting I currently have an AI Prime Reed 16 LED. With the 125g I'll need to add more.
I'm not sure if this light is still worthy but I still have my SolarMax T5 HO from my previous Coral tank many years ago. It would need new bulbs of course. Any reason to not use it?
Any tips and suggestions are welcome, especially for equipment. I need to do some research on controllers, etc.
We will be running Vortech MP40s and creating waves with them. The less wires in the tank the better!
I will add pictures once I start taking them!
Thank you, All, and I look forward to reading your responses, suggestions, etc.
I'm going to be setting up a 125g long, with about 60-100lbs of rock, for them so they can stretch out a little more, and I plan to try and start a reef in it. I would like to have gone bigger but we want it in the room we are in the most so we don't want to risk it going through the floor.
All this is a tough dilemma as the bioload is pretty heavy. Also, while my Dragons are fairly tame and can be hand fed, they have not been exposed to any other fish swimming around in their tanks. The Snowflake is also really feisty and can be the boss of the tank of it so chooses to be.
The game plan, which I'm sure will have to be changed once put into place, is to feed this tank often in order to curb aggression.
The plan of attack to keep the water quality high for the corals is to run a BubbleMagus Curve 7 Protein Skimmer, and an IceCap 60w Algae Scrubber.
On the 74g I currently run bioballs and a DIY algae scrubber. Water parameters stay in check but the scrubber is too small for the amount I feed.
I plan to make a sump for this tank utilizing dividers for a spot for the Skimmer, scrubber, and then possibly bioballs or some more natural filtration such as Chaeto. I may ditch the bioballs. I mainly used them for seeding the Nitrogen Cycle but left them in.
As for the substrate I am using various sized Aragonite. I may build a nice PVC undersand for the Eels so I'm not sure the depth of the sand yet.
Several years ago I had a very large Snowflake and I built him an underground PVC playground. It was great but during the breakdown of the tank I found where all my hermit crabs had disappeared to. I thought he ate them but they just fell in to the dark abyss.
I don't think a small cleaner crew would fare well with 3x Eels in the tank so I think I'm pretty much limited to certain Sea Urchins and Large Conchs. I would love to try Nudibranches but also not sure how they would fare. Any recommendations on Invertebrates, would be appreciated.
As for fish, this is the hard part, as if these guys want a meal out of them, it's going to happen.
For the most part we realize this may have to be a Predator Reef Tank, which I'm fine with, but I need fish that can hold their own, however, we are thinking of risking a couple of non Predator fish that might be okay.
Not positive about this yet, but the first addition to the tank before the Eel transfer could be a couple of cleaner wrasse. Hopeful Positive Outcome: The cleaner wrasse could help keep the tank and corals clean, and could create a relationship with the Eels as they've been known in the wild to clean the Eels mouths. Unhopeful Negatives: If the wrasse doesn't turn into a quick meal, it could terrorize the Eels all day trying to clean and stress them out. They also will require a lot of supplemental feeding as they are pigs, and their nutrition in the home aquarium is a tough one to keep up with.
After the Eel additions could be some Clownfish, utilizing the Symbiotic Relationship with the Anemone. This would probably be months down the road so the tank can stabilize and I can get a good read on whether or not an Anemone would thrive
Another idea would be the Tangs/Surgeonfish. I think these are pretty risky, but they have speed, agility, and brains on their side. I would worry about the night hunting of the Eels though, and a tang might get caught in the middle of the night.
Maybe a Foxface/Rabbitfish due to their spines. I wouldn't doubt the Eels to be smart enough to chew around the spines though.
Frogface/Angler. I love these fish and have always wanted one. I do think they'd be fine from getting eaten, but I would fear the Dragons trying to eat one and then being seriously injured. The Dragons are my centerpiece, and were very costly to obtain, so they are number one.
The most interesting one I can think of, and not sure if this makes sense, but I might try some nocturnal fish such as Squirrels as they would also be awake while the Eels go into hunt mode at night. I would think that if the Squirrels are more active at night they'd hopefully protect themselves.
As for predators to add I am considering Triggers and Groupers suitable for the tank, but I have to caution them with the reef.
I've seen success in reef tanks with the smaller Lionfish species, so I'd consider them as well, although with a child in the house, all the poisonous fish listed above would be risky.
Wish list of specific fish...
-Remora
-Quoyi Parrotfish
-Achilles Tang
-Purple Tang
-Kole Tang
-Humahuma Trigger
-Niger Trigger
-Pinktail Trigger
-Wartskin Angler
-Panther Grouper
Obviously many of the fish listed are dream fish I'll never own as they are not suited for a home aquarium, and odds are my Eels may never allow for other tankmates.
Any suggestions on possibly tankmates?
As for Corals my I plan to start with Xenia, as if it doesn't survive, odds are not much else would and I go back to the drawing board.
For lighting I currently have an AI Prime Reed 16 LED. With the 125g I'll need to add more.
I'm not sure if this light is still worthy but I still have my SolarMax T5 HO from my previous Coral tank many years ago. It would need new bulbs of course. Any reason to not use it?
Any tips and suggestions are welcome, especially for equipment. I need to do some research on controllers, etc.
We will be running Vortech MP40s and creating waves with them. The less wires in the tank the better!
I will add pictures once I start taking them!
Thank you, All, and I look forward to reading your responses, suggestions, etc.
