Red Sea 300XL Predator Only Tank

[FishRfriends]

I'm back! I can never stay gone for too long. I recently purchased a house and am finally ready to dive back in. My last tank was a nano mixed reef but my true love is a FWLR predator tank. This is only 65g with 15g sump. Not as big as I'd like but it will do for now. This time I made sure to take my time with the aquascape as I hate redoing the scape multiple times. I used a mix of live rock and life rock I used Marco e-400. Ps this stuff is amazing. Eventually I would like to add a frogfish and an eel.I have about 80 pounds of rock between the display and sump with 80 pound of sand. No cuc as of yet, I have a dogface puffer soo... It will be a learning curve. Any advice on keeping a cuc with a puffer would be greatly appreciated. As far as media I'm running filter floss with plenty of biological media. Thinking about adding a roller and a skimmer to help between feedings. Probably going to add some macro algae to help with nitrates and phosphates.

 

[siege]

I dunno about CUC with that puffer, though I'm far from the expert here. I'm pretty sure though that your tank is not big enough for that puffer when fully-grown.

I do seem recall though that the large majority of predatory FOWLR tanks I see tend to be bare-bottom, though, for just the reason of not being able to keep CUC safe enough, long enough to matter, and otherwise waste accumulates on the bottom too readily.

Ceriths and nassarius are pretty cheap, and will often bury themselves to avoid predators, but they'll still only last so long. They WILL be predated upon and will have to be replaced.

If you're set on a sand bed, plan on siphoning it every few days to once a week, depending on how many fish you're feeding. Just don't do the whole bed at once - section off your tank and do 1/8th of it or so at a per cleaning, and just gently siphon the surface of the sand in the rest of the tank.

 

[FishRfriends]

Thanks @siege ! Yeah I'm aware that this is not a permanent home for the puffer but my goal is to either donate him to another hobbyists or to an aquarium for when he does out grow this tank


*Tank update*
Since I can't keep inverts safe from the livestock I plan to keep, I have decided to grow macroalgae from the fuge along with bigger pieces in the DT for color. I have also added a couple colonies of pods to help with nitrates and phosphates. My fuge is between 3-5G what kind of critters would you add?

The lionfish and puffer are now on frozen foods from live and I try not to over feed as the puffer makes too much of a mess

 

[FishRfriends]

Right now I only have dragons breath but I recently placed an order thru mosaic macros which hopefully will arrive this week. This is my first refugium so I was thinking of some CUC. Maybe a couple snails and a star. Any recommendations?

Also has anyone had luck breeding mollies?

 

[siege]

Is it a remote "display" fuge, like I'm looking to do? Or in-sump?

 

[FishRfriends]

No it's in the sump here's some pics. I definitely need something to sift the sand but not sure if which inverts won't completely wipe out my macros if possible ya know

 

[siege]

I’d lean toward critters that can support the overall health of your system without too much fuss. For a small refugium like yours, I’d suggest starting with pods - both copepods and amphipods - as they’re excellent for nutrient cycling and will naturally multiply in the right conditions. They’re also a good live food source for the main tank.

If you’re looking for more variety, consider adding nassarius snails to help aerate the substrate - they’ll burrow and clean up uneaten food. Micro brittle stars are another solid option - they stay hidden most of the time and are great for nutrient cycling. Once both populations get going in the fuge, you can periodically move some to the display, both to help keep the sand bed healthy and feed your fish.

Feather dusters are a cool addition as well, especially if you like something a little more visual in the refugium. They’re good for filtering water and don’t require much care.

If you wind up having leftover food or detritus collecting in the fuge somehow, dwarf hermit crabs might work if you don’t mind them occasionally messing with your macroalgae. I’d keep it to a small number so they don’t become disruptive.

Not all that long ago, I'd have sent you to G.A.R.F. for a bag of "GARF Grunge" to put in the fuge, but sadly Sally Jo had to shut down, and now I have NO idea where one can get anything remotely like the biodiversity they used to offer.

 

[shanepike]

Amphipods will eat copepods, so if you add both you might find that your copepod population never takes off.

 

[FishRfriends]

So I did buy a couple bags from Matt a couple of weeks ago. Got a bag of tiger and another one I can't remember the name of. The tiger are kind of non existent but I do know they reproduce slower than the others I got. I placed 70/30 to refugium and the rest in the display.


Prior to starting the refugium I was starting to see an outbreak of GHA in my tank so I did some research on starting a fuge bought some macro and now any unwanted algae have since moved to the fuge! I've also noticed baby feather dusters!

How many snails would you put in that amount of space? I know all inverts create bioload so it's important to me that anything I place in the fuge is strictly to help nutrient cycle. I really like the starfish idea

I'm also debating on taking some of the live rock out as the algae grows as I want to keep 3-4 species eventually.

 

[siege]

So I did buy a couple bags from Matt a couple of weeks ago. Got a bag of tiger and another one I can't remember the name of. The tiger are kind of non existent but I do know they reproduce slower than the others I got. I placed 70/30 to refugium and the rest in the display.


Prior to starting the refugium I was starting to see an outbreak of GHA in my tank so I did some research on starting a fuge bought some macro and now any unwanted algae have since moved to the fuge! I've also noticed baby feather dusters!

How many snails would you put in that amount of space? I know all inverts create bioload so it's important to me that anything I place in the fuge is strictly to help nutrient cycle. I really like the starfish idea

I'm also debating on taking some of the live rock out as the algae grows as I want to keep 3-4 species eventually.

Definitely only micro-stars in there. Not enough room for anything else, I don't think.

Snails? Depends on type, but probably 3 - 4 to start. Once they start to breed you can transfer to the DT as needed.