EliMelly’s 350 G2 Build

[EliMelly]

Hopefully these suggestions help you out a bit.

Blue Hippo Tang - I’d pass on the Blue Hippo until you upgrade as it will grow pretty quickly fed right. This is mainly because of its aggression in smaller tanks especially at feeding time. If you do decide to add it watch for its aggression and add as one of the last fish, not THE last fish lol as some say.

Zebrazoma Yellow/WTKT - Everyone loves a Yellow. Do you plan on going down the CB Biota road or Hawaiian WC? The WT Kole being a bristletooth is one of the more docile tangs so that’s a plus. Make sure to feed nori at least twice a day and some cucumbers and other veggie treats along the way. I fed my tangs spinach on the clip next to the nori so they don’t get picky. The Yellow will outgrow your tank eventually but much slower than the Hippo. Once he gets too aggressive or starts pushing that 4” mark I’d plan on upgrading his tank. The Bristletooth can stay in that sized tank much longer as they are the only Tang’s that can suit a 4 footer comfortably for the long part. Once he does start getting aggressively dominant be best to upgrade.

Halichoeres melasmapomus - Personally appreciate you are giving some love to this Halichoeres. Make sure to have at least an inch of sand bed for them to sleep in at night. Halichoeres are great because they eat all kinds of pests especially flatworms and monti eating nudis. He can get a bit of an attitude as he gets older. Something beneficial is add live copepods to the tank so he has at his disposal some natural food.

Banded Snake Eel- My man @Slocke keeps a few of them and even wrote an article about them you can find on here. He is your go to guy for all you need to know about these eels. Some of the best eels and super peaceful. Safest eels for fish that like to sleep in the sand at night and fish that like to burrow. And they have very tiny teeth so if they bite it hardly hurts or breaks skin, it would feel more like pressure. Plenty of meaty foods for this guy crab mussels maybe some live shrimp.

Hawkfish - IMO get a Longnose as Flame’s are a bit overrated in my opinion lol.

Since you do plan on an eel, gobies aren’t the best match up with them as they are generally small and are in the sand or on the sand most of the time. Theres the Yellow Watchman for a choice or the Orange Banded Prawn Goby. These guys would be I think your best bet. Wouldn’t recommend the other shrimp or prawn or nano gobies.

Genicanthus watanabei - Genicanthus angelfish are known to be the only true reef safe angelfish and stay on the smaller side so really good candidates for reefs. They do come with a bit of a price tag so don’t be shocked if you see them for $300 plus. I’d suggest a pair as you get the best character out of them.

I hope this helps lol. I’ll be following I want to see more!

Question, are both the yellow watchman and orange prawn goby sand sifters and the type of goby that will pair with a shrimp? Definitely would like to get one of those if possible.

 

[EliMelly]

Not what I meant. I mean that these fish should only (and this is pushing it) be in that sized tank for a a few months to a year and impossible for them to be in a higher time frame than that. Hope that makes sense.

Still wouldn’t work in your sized tank this method is really great but in a larger tank. Only 2 tangs would really be the maximum.

CBB I’ve already mentioned about my thoughts on it before

Puffer...well…it really depends on how much you want coral. If you really want coral and piece of mind no puffer. If you wan to risk it it would have to be a small puffer like a Toby or Blue Spot. Any other puffer is too big active and produces lots and lots of waste really difficult for stability in nitrates and phosphates for coral.

Dottybacks are really pretty but are super super aggressive, had a buddy who kept one in a predator tank with big triggers, angels, eels, and would be the boss, and it was only a few inches long, thats how aggressive and potent they are. So it can be problematic but it can be done. Personally I would go with what @Slocke mentioned and go for a basslet.

Wrasse are super super super nice my whole tank is dedicated towards but I would tread lightly as you have an eel. Thats the only issue not saying get rid of the eel but if you want to go crazy with wrasse than the eel is a big risk.

Which of the puffers would you say has the best personality out of the ones you suggested? Definitely would appreciate a fun fish.

 

[Slocke]

Question, are both the yellow watchman and orange prawn goby sand sifters and the type of goby that will pair with a shrimp? Definitely would like to get one of those if possible.

Neither are sand sifters but both will pair with shrimp
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/sand-sifting-gobies-true-vs-false…-what’s-the-difference.871/

 

[Petcrazyson]

Question, are both the yellow watchman and orange prawn goby sand sifters and the type of goby that will pair with a shrimp? Definitely would like to get one of those if possible.

This:

Neither are sand sifters but both will pair with shrimp
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/sand-sifting-gobies-true-vs-false…-what’s-the-difference.871/

 

[Petcrazyson]

Which of the puffers would you say has the best personality out of the ones you suggested? Definitely would appreciate a fun fish.

About the same but I think BlueSpots. IMO Tobies are overrated, and the BlueSpots have better coloring to plus with the interactions.

 

[EliMelly]

Neither are sand sifters but both will pair with shrimp
https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/sand-sifting-gobies-true-vs-false…-what’s-the-difference.871/

Do any of them pick up sand and move it? I don’t care about cleaning the sand I just find it hilarious.

 

[EliMelly]

About the same but I think BlueSpots. IMO Tobies are overrated, and the BlueSpots have better coloring too plus with the interactions.

Found it!! Definitely going to grab one.

 

[Slocke]

Do any of them pick up sand and move it? I don’t care about cleaning the sand I just find it hilarious.

You need an aged tank for one of those.

 

[Petcrazyson]

You need an aged tank for one of those.

I can not urge the importance of what Slocke said. At least a year to a year and half maybe 2 years is the minimum for any of these fish, only excuse would be if the sand has matured to the point there is some good evidence of bacterial maturity and ’dirtiness’ throughout the sand bed, and even this is pushing it.

 

[EliMelly]

I can not urge the importance of what Slocke said. At least a year to a year and half maybe 2 years is the minimum for any of these fish, only excuse would be if the sand has matured to the point there is some good evidence of bacterial maturity and ’dirtiness’ throughout the sand bed, and even this is pushing it.

So stick with which goby?

 

[EliMelly]

Just a brief update. Been cycling for over two weeks with the fritz turbo start and ghost feeding. Ammonia has been at zero for 7 days consistently now.

Added in a regular ocellaris clown and a black ocellaris clown about two days ago. Super exciting, had to add the heaters to the display because Red Sea hasn’t shipped the pump yet… but so far they seem super happy!

 

[Petcrazyson]

So stick with which goby?

You could any of em, or both. YWG or the Orange Prawn. These guys aren’t the ones you need to worry about for sand maturity as you do for true sand sifters,

 

[EliMelly]

Awesome thanks!

You could any of em, or both. YWG or the Orange Prawn. These guys aren’t the ones you need to worry about for sand maturity as you do for true sand sifters,

 

[Tomik]

I also have my 350 on order and can't wait till I start the built. I love your rock work. absolutely gorgeous . Great set up and good luck.

 

[Tomik]

Here’s the crazy long list, sorry for the unorganized paragraph / run on sentence

I love tangs, the copperband seems super cool, mandarin is awesome, marine Betta, pipe fish, flame Angel, I love Firefish but you can’t do red and purple or mix species, leopard wrasses are beautiful, butterfly fish are amazing, blue chromis look cool, Red Sea orange regal angelfish, queen Angel fish, some a this seem interesting, black cap basslet, I plan on getting a Midas blenny but maybe a starry blenny as well, boxfish are funky, reefsafe butterfly fish, maybe cardinal fish the black and white, jewel damselfish, purple dottyback, lion fish, is there a reef compatible puffer, definitely want a purple, blue tang, Achilles, or gem tang the most, maybe a wrasse that is super bright and has blue or green.

Man I should’ve gotten a bigger tank. I think in about 2-3 years I’ll have a new place and will build a 300 gallon plus in wall. Would any of the tangs work for 2-3 years in the 90
Gallon?

look in to Tomini Tang. they are reasonably priced and pretty fish. also they do clean your rock. Good Luck.

 

[Tomik]

I have Red Sea auto top off, Red Sea dc skimmer, new Red Sea pump, Red Sea Reefmat, vortech mp 40s, and ai primes and an ai Hydra. How would it all connect to the same system and organization for cables? Can Neptune control it all? Would I also need a control board? And perhaps more than one for each company?

can't you use red sea beat app. to control most of the equipment ? since most i see you using are red sea. I'm just curious !

 

[EliMelly]

I also have my 350 on order and can't wait till I start the built. I love your rock work. absolutely gorgeous . Great set up and good luck.

Awesome good luck , let me know if you would like any advice from the little that I know.

 

[EliMelly]

I have my stocking list set!

look in to Tomini Tang. they are reasonably priced and pretty fish. also they do clean your rock. Good Luck.I

 

[EliMelly]

can't you use red sea beat app. to control most of the equipment ? since most i see you using are red sea. I'm just curious !

Yes, but the skimmer and pump haven’t arrived. Lights are AI and pump is eco tech…

 

[EliMelly]

Small break but baby boy is here now.