Frogspawn in my 18 Gal ?

[Steeve]

Hi everyone!

Here, again, is my setup (running for about 7 weeks):

- 18 Gal "680 ViaAqua"
- 36W White + 36W Actinic (Compact Fluorescent)
- 28lbs Live Rocks (18lbs of those were added 3 weeks ago)
- 1 Scarlet Hermit / 1 Blue Hermit
- 4 Astrea Snails / 4 Bumblebee Snails
- 2 "True" Black Perculas (mated and added 3 days go!)
- 1 "Whisper" Power Filter
- 1 "Bak-Pak2" Protein Skimmer
- 2 "900" Maxi-Jet PH

My water:

- 1.022 / NH3=0 / NO2=0 / NO3=0+ / pH=8.1 / Ca=400 / Alk 12dKh

Here is what I plan to add in the next weeks/months:

- 1 Firefish (instead of the original Royal Gramme on the advice of this newsgroup's users)
- 1 Blood Shrimp
- 1 Brittle Star
- 3-4 Feather Dusters

What I would like to know is:

Considering my lighting and the size of the tank, would it be too risky to add a Frogspawn to my setup?

When I bought the Perculas from the LFS, they were mated with this Frogspawn and I think it would be much more interesting for me to watch them in this Frogspawn than around the outlet of the skimmer (like they do since their arrival).

I know that they don't need this to live happily in my tank but I ask purely for my own watching pleasure.

I've heard that Frogspawn, if stressed, can release toxins that could be deadly in such a small tank. I've also heard that my lighting could be insufficient to keep a Frogspawn healthy.

What would be your opinon/advises about that?


Thanks in advance...

[Fishmonger]

A frogspawn would be fine in you're tank, go for it.

[Steeve]

Thanks Fishmonger !

Any different opinion?

Should I assume that everyone agrees with the last replies and that I should run to my LFS and buy the Frogspawn for my tank without any hesitation? :P

[Phish]

Firefish---- They jump when they are scared, and they get scared when anything within the room moves.... if your tank isnt fully covered then the fish will most likely jump out of the tank, they do it a lot.

Add things----- Add S-L-O-W-L-Y, this is one of the mistakes many 'young' aquarists make, if you add animals and corals too fast then, the bio-load will not have time to keep things moving in a clockwork/mechanical system... BEFORE YOU ADD FISH OR CORAL.

I would suggest getting around 10 more hermits, and 10 more snails

I would suggest

5 Blue-leg hermits
5 Red-leg hermits
5 Margarita Snails
5 Cerith or Nass snails

And bumble bee snails just look cool... they dont do much. but good luck, I would suggest one snial and one hermit per 1 gallon...

[Travis]

I'll second everything that has been said. I have a frogspawn in my 6g nano. It is a very small one though. Keep in mind LPS corals need room to open and you should be fine.

[phistio]

i had several frogspawn (euphyllia)...i recommend them. however, as i'm sure you already know, they can get quite large. and the sweeper tentacles can stretch quite far. if that's not a problem, go for it! :D

[Phish]

What you could do is frag it often then you can sell the frags or give them away (cough, cough... :wink: ) and if it gets too big, take off a good sized frag and then sell the main coral, so you could just keep baby frags all the time and not worry about how big its gonna get, because you will always find someone ( :wink: ) who wants a frogspawn frag...

[Fishmonger]

I agree 100% phish that is how everyone should do it to protect the reefs, because once you've dived in them you never want to see them go. ( oh yeah not to mention the huge ecological impact that taking corals from the reef has )