James’s 29g Nano Build

[Just a Wrasse.]

Hello R2R!

This is going to be my official tank journal, for my 29g. This tank used to be a freshwater tank, but I decided to take it down and start a saltwater tank.

I already have it all cleaned out and ready

(The light is coming in today sometime. That light was the old one I used)

Here are the things I have so far:

(I also have a HOB filter (Seachem Tidal 35), heater, and food. (New Life Spectrum)

Light is supposed to come in today. I will also pickup Instant Ocean salt.

Super excited!!

Cool, remember to keep us updated!

 

[elorablue]

Cool, remember to keep us updated!

what the heck? Lol. You mean more than 92 pages of updates?

 

[James_O]

Has it been a week already?! Man time flies eh! Lol
It does look slightly better but still wait a few more days. My guess is that it will appreciate some more light and flow. I don’t know what your parameters are but anything under 25 nitrate and 0.2 phosphate (those are the upper limit for sure) with a stable Alk and it’ll be happy.
As I’ve found out, once you get into sps it’s best to set your tank for them and everything else just has to deal lol
Make a note to mount it up on the rocks next WEDNESDAY.

Not a week, just a little update, lol.

Wednesday it is! ;Woot

 

[James_O]

Ok, a few things.

One, the reason why I asked how to tell if a torch is splitting, because mine looks like it is:

(not so much “splitting”, more like the two heads actually separating)

Big colony definitely perked up after me feeding them Reef Candy this morning!

Ans last but not least, my large turbo snail has been in this same spot for 2-3 days now

Could he actually be stuck?

 

[shadow_k]

Ok, a few things.

One, the reason why I asked how to tell if a torch is splitting, because mine looks like it is:

(not so much “splitting”, more like the two heads actually separating)

Big colony definitely perked up after me feeding them Reef Candy this morning!

Ans last but not least, my large turbo snail has been in this same spot for 2-3 days now

Could he actually be stuck?

He could be asleep or stuck maybe you don’t catch him at night moving around my snails are much more active at night but when lights are on they kinda just stay in one spot but it doesn’t hurt to move him. If anything was wrong your hermits would be next to him

 

[MaxTremors]

Ok, a few things.

One, the reason why I asked how to tell if a torch is splitting, because mine looks like it is:

(not so much “splitting”, more like the two heads actually separating)

Big colony definitely perked up after me feeding them Reef Candy this morning!

Ans last but not least, my large turbo snail has been in this same spot for 2-3 days now

Could he actually be stuck?

Not stuck, they sometimes just sit still for a few days. And yes, your torch is splitting, usually takes several months to completely separate (they’ve got to grow new skeleton to branch off from each other).

Are you dosing a two part or checking your Alk regularly? I would think you’re starting to get enough stony corals that you need to start watching this, you’re getting past where water changes will be enough (you probably have a couple point drop in between water changes, could be why your digi isn’t happy). Coralline algae will eat up a lot of Alk and Cal, too. I would start testing Alk every day for a week or two and keep a log of it to see how much you’re using each day/week and from there you can figure out a daily dose of two part or something like All-For-Reef.

 

[James_O]

Not stuck, they sometimes just sit still for a few days. And yes, your torch is splitting, usually takes several months to completely separate (they’ve got to grow new skeleton to branch off from each other).

Gotcha. I was wondering why the tentacles were so shrunken in.

Are you dosing a two part or checking your Alk regularly?

No, to the first part, yes to the second part. It was recommended that I don’t dose any 2-part because of how small my system is.

I do weekly water changes, so that replenishes the alk/calcium I need for the amount of coral I have? At least that was my understanding, I would be completely wrong.

 

[James_O]

Cool, remember to keep us updated!

I do update daily.

 

[Goaway]

Gotcha. I was wondering why the tentacles were so shrunken in.



No, to the first part, yes to the second part. It was recommended that I don’t dose any 2-part because of how small my system is.

I do weekly water changes, so that replenishes the alk/calcium I need for the amount of coral I have? At least that was my understanding, I would be completely wrong.

Test, dose or wc accordingly. Since you need to keep water changes, no need to dose.

 

[shadow_k]

Test, dose or wc accordingly. Since you need to keep water changes, no need to dose.

I agree idk the % of water change you do but 10% on mine keeps I don’t have as many corals as you but my calcium is dropping 5 points a day and my alk is going up or is a testing error I have to try again today.

 

[James_O]

I agree idk the % of water change you do but 10% on mine keeps I don’t have as many corals as you but my calcium is dropping 5 points a day and my alk is going up or is a testing error I have to try again today.

I usually do a 3-4 gallon water change. (Which would be a 10% water change I guess - I've been in school all day... please don't judge ;Facepalm )

I guess I should just keep up what I'm doing because everything seems happy?

 

[Goaway]

If you are keeping a log. It should tell you what is dropping. Alk is the first to deplete some odd reason. Even though Alk and calcium go hand in hand. Magnesium is very much needed to aid bone construction. Not used quickly.

 

[James_O]

If you are keeping a log. It should tell you what is dropping. Alk is the first to deplete some odd reason. Even though Alk and calcium go hand in hand. Magnesium is very much needed to aid bone construction. Not used quickly.

I actually don't keep a log, but I certainly should.

 

[shadow_k]

If you are keeping a log. It should tell you what is dropping. Alk is the first to deplete some odd reason. Even though Alk and calcium go hand in hand. Magnesium is very much needed to aid bone construction. Not used quickly.

Agreed. Test everyday and log it. But yes keep doing what your doing stability is key ! Let your test/tank tell you something is wrong. If you do what I did by dumping all this stuff in the tank it just makes things a mess

 

[shadow_k]

I actually don't keep a log, but I certainly should.during

During my crash I didn’t test because I got all these readings now I test alk and calcium every day and nitrate and phosphates every 2 days or if I see some intense film algae other then that my water change seems to be working

 

[James_O]

Agreed. Test everyday and log it. But yes keep doing what your doing stability is key ! Let your test/tank tell you something is wrong. If you do what I did by dumping all this stuff in the tank it just makes things a mess

I held off dosing this stuff when I got it a few months ago, and I'm so glad I did:

I was battling the GHA at that point, and after I started dosing, I stopped as soon as @LRT mentioned that the excess nutrients would probably cause a rise in parameters. Thank you @LRT!

 

[shadow_k]

I held off dosing this stuff when I got it a few months ago, and I'm so glad I did:

I was battling the GHA at that point, and after I started dosing, I stopped as soon as @LRT mentioned that the excess nutrients would probably cause a rise in parameters. Thank you @LRT!

That stuff is good when the tank gets good and stable!

 

[MaxTremors]

Gotcha. I was wondering why the tentacles were so shrunken in.



No, to the first part, yes to the second part. It was recommended that I don’t dose any 2-part because of how small my system is.

I do weekly water changes, so that replenishes the alk/calcium I need for the amount of coral I have? At least that was my understanding, I would be completely wrong.

It really just depends on how much Alk/cal your tank is using. My tank is around the same size as yours, and while I have a bit more coral, water changes are nowhere close to being enough to maintain stable alk/cal. I’m currently dosing 8ml of kalk saturated vinegar (carbon dosing, but the kalk adds to alk and cal) and 1.5ml of 2part daily, which keeps my alk stable at around 8.6dkh (which is right about where the salt I use mixes to). If I was just doing water changes, I would start at 8.6 and by the end of the week I’d be around 6.5, my tank uses roughly 0.3dkh per day right now. There’s also the issue that with doing just water changes, your alk and cal are going to keep going down over time, because unless you’re doing 100% water changes, you’re never getting back to the baseline that your salt mixes at (so if your salt mixes at 8.8, and your tank uses even just 0.2dkh per week, if you do a 25% water change each week, after one week, you’d be at 8.65, the second week 8.53, third week 8.44, and so on). The stability is really what’s important. I would just test everyday for a week or two (try to do it at the same time each day) and just see how much your tank is using, then you’ll know whether or not you need to dose.

 

[MaxTremors]

I held off dosing this stuff when I got it a few months ago, and I'm so glad I did:

I was battling the GHA at that point, and after I started dosing, I stopped as soon as @LRT mentioned that the excess nutrients would probably cause a rise in parameters. Thank you @LRT!

IIRC, that’s just vitamins and amino acids, shouldn’t spike your nutrients at all.

 

[James_O]

That stuff is good when the tank gets good and stable!

It might be OK to dose now that I have the algae under control. Should I?