I'm Almost Ready

Cameron · Sep 21, 2015

So I've had my tank set up and running now for about a month and a half, almost two months. I believe my cycle has been finished for a little while. After having the cyano and the algae grow, I shut off my lights for about 4 days, and raised the strength on my wavemaker. It seems to have all cleared out, and now all of my levels are right where they should be, except for my nitrates, which are still at about 40 ppm. I've had a CUC in there for a couple weeks now, and I'm getting to the point where I feel I'm ready to add some fish. I'd also like to add some Zoas as well once I've had the fish in there for a little while.

I have a 36x10x12 tank, which from my calculations is a little over 18 gallons. I have a Marine Land Penguin 150B Power filter, which is rated for 30 gallon tanks, an Aquatic Life 115 mini protein skimmer, also rated for 30 gallons, a Jebao Rw-4 wavemaker, and a Current USA Orbit Marine LED light.

I think my set up is ready and good to go, but I want to keep just the CUC in there for a little while longer before I add anything else. I'd like to have a pair of clownfish in there, as well as a couple other fish for a bit of diversity, but I'm not sure what yet. Obviously I don't want to go too big with the fish, since the tank is fairly small, but I would like some input on what else you guys think would do well in there.

I'm at work right now, but I'll post a few pics of the tank later tonight.

saltyphish · Sep 21, 2015

Firefish are nice!

LetItReef · Sep 21, 2015

Pygmy wrasse

saltyphish · Sep 21, 2015

saltyphish said:
Firefish are nice!

Forgot to add need a lid. They are known jumpers.

jazonPartij · Sep 21, 2015

Shouldn't you be working at work??? Wait... I'm at work too

Cameron · Sep 21, 2015

Haha jazonPartij, that's one of the best times to be on here. One of the benefits of being a manager and having an office

Here's a couple pictures of my set up

Lab_Adam · Sep 21, 2015

Gobies, clowns, damsels?

Cameron · Sep 23, 2015

Thanks for the input guys. I added my first Zoa today from a new LFS that I recently found. I believe he said it was a Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoa, but I'm not 100 percent sure. I'll post up some pictures tomorrow, the majority of them closed up after the light went into moonlight mode.

Cameron · Sep 23, 2015

Here's a picture that I forgot I took earlier when I first put them in. It was before they opened up

Cameron · Sep 23, 2015

I got some more live rock today and added a Duncan Coral. I'll be adding a couple clownfish on Monday as long as everything continues to go well. These corals are addicting, I already want to get some more. Uh oh...

Harold Green · Sep 24, 2015

It's time to deal with the nitrates before adding more corals. Water changes, nitrate export, poly beads, etc. will all work but it's best to start before your nitrates get any higher and your corals fail to thrive.

Cameron · Sep 24, 2015

I've been using denitrate since I got the tank and have been steadily watching them drop from triple digits down to what they are now. I'd like to add more corals, but I stuck with just these ones because from what I've read, they seem to be pretty hardy. Before I add any more, I want to add some fish, as I expect the nitrate levels to rise again. Once I've done that and gotten them under control, then I'll think seriously about adding more corals. For now, it's just fun to look at different kinds and think about the possibilities. I'm trying to go about this slowly, since I didn't last time, and I learned a hard lesson.