Setting up a new tank. . .

[TonyO]

I suppose I'm going to set up my other 40-gallon breeder tank, but I'm not sure what I want to do with it. . . any suggestions (including saltwater)?

[eklikewhoa]

Frag tank

[TonyO]

You mean, like growing out the frags on a shelf base?

Honestly, I have 100 ideas, but I hadn't thought about that! It's certainly an intriguing idea. . . I appreciate it! Keep them coming.

[eklikewhoa]

Yeah like frag racks made of egg crate.

When I did my reef tank I soon realized when I finished dumping the cost of a used car into a 30g that I was more into collecting than actually reefing.

I like all the different LE and designer name brand corals and a frag tank would have allowed me to collect them all more organized.

[Bedlamer]

Brackish paludarium. About 3 of the smaller, less aggressive type of mudskippers, bumble bee gobies, 2-3 small crabs, some Amano shrimp, mangroves, and some little pieces of cypress root for climbing up on. Tank about 1/3 filled with water. Have enough "beach" area that the mudskippers aren't constantly in a turf battle--just half the time--lol. Use an internal power filter--or you could use a canister filter with a spray bar cascading over the back wall maybe. Then if you were real handy you could have 2-3 little pools at different levels flowing down into one another.

[Totenkampf]

i like mangrove tanks, i had one with archerfish and scats once. i had never thought of trying amano shrimp in brackish, i guess i have it stuck in my head that they prefer softer water. bumblebee gobies are a really fun little fish to watch too. i got some acclimated to a regular salinity tank and it was cool to seem them perched on plants.

[TonyO]

Honestly, I've always loved that idea, but it is similar to one I've been saving for a large, shallow tank. . . I liked the idea of archers and Anableps.

[aquabee]

These guys are pretty cool: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums...nogobius-zhoui .

Expensive though, but if you're considering a frag tank, this would certainly be in your budget as well. :)

[Totenkampf]

that would be a cool species tank bee! i had not seen these before

[aquabee]

that would be a cool species tank bee! i had not seen these before

They're pretty awesome to watch. And Fish Gallery gets them in occasionally and can order them if you ask them to.

[eklikewhoa]

I saw a few while cruising aquabid!

[TonyO]

These guys are pretty cool: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums...nogobius-zhoui .

Expensive though, but if you're considering a frag tank, this would certainly be in your budget as well. :)

If the prices I just saw are accurate, then they're certainly within any budget I would put together for this set-up. . . but I'd make darn sure that tank is stable before I bought them. They're interesting, too, and something new for me. I'm putting them on the consideration list.

I do want to add that when I moved down here, I bought a couple of 40-breeders (and some other tanks). . . then, I placed a huge equipment order. So, I have the bulk of everything I'm going to need (filters, wood, heaters, etc.), though I will have to get a new stand, because I mangled one when I went all "Dukes of Hazzard" in my truck over some train tracks. Wicked air! If some of you saw the pile of empty tanks and equipment I'm sitting on, you'd probably punch me right in the mouth. I'm moving with the year, though, so I don't want to deal with literally two tons of tanks during that process.

[TonyO]

Well, the curse of my current tank continues. . . in 24 years, I've never had so many issues with one tank before. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say, I'm essentially starting over. I was so bummed out, I didn't go to the GHAC meeting because I didn't want to be around "fish people."

Since there's nothing I can do about that now, I'm going to take the opportunity to do some things with that tank that I wanted to do initially (but didn't), then move on to the new one. . . went to a couple of stores this weekend, and I have an idea on decor, and now I'm going to start thinking about stocking. I'll wait, of course, until I'm satisfied and comfortable with the water test results, before I put any more fish in there. Glad I went "fish shopping" this weekend. It was therapeutic.

[aquabee]

Sorry to hear, Tony. I know how that can be... but I'm confident that something awesome will come from all this stressful crap, even if you can't see it now. I hope things settle down soon.

You definitely were missed at the GHAC meeting. You know, we hardly ever end up talking fish so next time show up! Good food, lotsa booze, and hilariously weird people. Good luck with the tank Tony!

[armthehomeless]

Tony --

Like the local crack dealer, I'd feel remiss in my duties if I didn't offer you some starter shrimp for a tank.