If it were up to me (little late to the party here lol) (also not factoring in price here at all haha) I'd definitely be going a NUVO tank as the tanks themselves are as much of a show piece as what's inside. The Nano 16 gallon to be specific and run the reactor and skimmer, this will make the maintenance a heck of a lot easier as the tank won't be too populated either. Pretty much how @RCanik has her layout :) As it's not going to be sps you could get away with either stronger return pumps and no wavemakers for a neater look or run a single powerhead in the tank if not the stronger returns. I'd definitely be putting a razor nano over the top of the tank as that just by itself with the tank is one friggin sweet, sleek and sexy setup :p
Corals are a very personal thing but from the sounds of things I'd be going heavy on the zoa's and ric's and maybe some smallish lps's? :) The problem I foresee with the addition of the RBTA will be it's growth, it might become such that nothing could be added as it's too big haha as amazing as having a clown/nem combo would be, it's also reasonably limiting. Instead I would leave the clowns doing their own thing and I'd get a mini-maxi nem and some sexy anemone shrimp to host it and then mix up the rest of the corals once the nem settles :) Or just fill the tank with rock flower anemones :D haha Just my 2c :) feel free to ignore me :p
I guess a question is do you/your missus want the tank to be on a stand with sump type setup or a small tank that can sit on the desk top and not have to worry about the rest of that sort of thing?
Major brownie points to you @leodb89 for this idea! Depending on her taste, an idea for the light is to get one of Chim's E27 bulbs then put it in a reflector similar shape to the pic below and have it painted or powdercoated a nice colour. That would really finish it off nicely. I don't know how you'd make that happen but just an idea - ignore the giant floor lamp part obviously:
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Do you think she would like to pick the livestock out herself? An idea is to surprise her with her newly pimped out tank and leave her an envelope next to the tank with a date card in it (make it yourself, chicks reeeeallly love that stuff) then take her to pick out some livestock. Then you've covered gifts AND spending time - she'll be swooning ;)
If you pick out the corals for her I'd be going with a colourful mixed zoa garden (as established looking as possible - Fragalicious hint hint), some colourful morphs that stay small sized (Morphology hint hint) and a colourful BTA like you have in mind. Simple but will look amazing. Oh....and a genuine pearl substrate :p Haha... .... no not really.
Major brownie points to you @leodb89 for this idea! Depending on her taste, an idea for the light is to get one of Chim's E27 bulbs then put it in a reflector similar shape to the pic below and have it painted or powdercoated a nice colour. That would really finish it off nicely. I don't know how you'd make that happen but just an idea - ignore the giant floor lamp part obviously:
View attachment 39495
Do you think she would like to pick the livestock out herself? An idea is to surprise her with her newly pimped out tank and leave her an envelope next to the tank with a date card in it (make it yourself, chicks reeeeallly love that stuff) then take her to pick out some livestock. Then you've covered gifts AND spending time - she'll be swooning ;)
If you pick out the corals for her I'd be going with a colourful mixed zoa garden (as established looking as possible - Fragalicious hint hint), some colourful morphs that stay small sized (Morphology hint hint) and a colourful BTA like you have in mind. Simple but will look amazing. Oh....and a genuine pearl substrate :p Haha... .... no not really.
Oh Leo.... *shakes head* I take my hat off to her, loli do all that kinda stuff but she will be too conscious on how much it all cost so id rather get her some top quality stuff and not tell her how much it costs so she can just enjoy it and no feel bad for me or feel like its impossible to look after, when something is cheap or free she tends to care for it with ease and no stress so i would like to help her out like that
Happy to offer some input :) I think in terms of a desktop setup there's probably not a lot of nicer/better options out there for it that are available in Aus lolthanks so much for youre input...i think you're right in saying they seem most practical as they have a proper skimmer and can fit a proper reactor and are straight forward...it will be on a benchtop it is the only reason i am thinkin the Option #1 might not be the best option but i coudl still do that at my work even :p
the RBTA i would find one and probably split it and heal it then put the smallest one in her tank and if it grows i would continue to do the same i doubt it would grow tooo quick but i can go without it as obviously they will host a hammer or torch or goni eventually.
i missed the joke lolOh Leo.... *shakes head* I take my hat off to her, lol
yeah..but the only thing is...how do i manage a cooling solution?Happy to offer some input :) I think in terms of a desktop setup there's probably not a lot of nicer/better options out there for it that are available in Aus lol
Then RBTA away :p if you're going to be managing it like that then it would look fantastic (I have a soft spot for nems, especially rock flowers and mini-maxis lol) the clowns would love it :)
Seriously awesome work for doing this too!
?......whoa.
No woman has ever complained to her girlfriends over coffee how stressful it is when her bf spoils her rotten, I promise you!i missed the joke lol