Hi-
I've only been doing this saltwater thing since a fateful hitchhiking incident involving an outer banks crab on Memorial Day this year, so please bear with me if my question seems elementary.
Is there a good all around supplement I can buy that will help with growth, color and water quality?
I have a 10 gallon tank and a 5 gallon tank. My question is about my 10 gallon.
I currently have it set up with about 12 pounds of live rock, live sand, a small power head, heater, thermometer, and a hang on back filter that apparently moves 150 gallons an hour.
I have a goby/shrimp bromance, a pair of small clownfish, 7 astrea snails, 3 nassarius snails and 2 turbo snails (1 big one, 1 small one) and I have a pretty large mushroom colony that also has some orange sponges on it and some apparent baby feather dusters. It looks like there are several sand sifting starfish living in it that are still extremely small. I see their legs come out all the time and I've seen one actually moving across the rock just before a very needed water change. I also have a small anemone frag that was misplaced in the wrong frag tank I got for 20 at the LFS. (I'm pretty proud of that purchase). . there are a few hundred of these tiny white circular snail looking things that have attached to the sides of my tank and seem to have sort of a tiny filter they put up to feed. I'm not sure what they are, but I like them. They also came with the huge mushroom colony. AND I have a pretty cool spaghetti leather that is very healthy and has broken off two parts of itself that are now wandering happily about the tank.
Anyway, now that you know my little setup, I am wondering how I can supplement the tank with some good nutrients that will encourage growth of the corals and help with the health of my fish and the shrimp.
I would just like more color. It seems my purple algae that was all over my rock has started to fade a little bit. My mushrooms are growing like CRAZY, but I had to take my zoanthids out and put in my 5 gallon tank because they weren't really thriving. Now they are growing like a weed, so I'm thinking I really need something to help everything out.
So far, I have started using a carbon filter product with other nutrients to prevent any nitrate spikes. I also bought a product called redoxiclean to handle any emergencies and it seems to work pretty well, especially in my 5 gallon. I stopped buying water from the LFS and started using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for my water changes and mixing my own using an aerator and letting it sit for a good while to get the oxygen/carbon balance correct. (I discovered an RO/DI filter under my kitchen sink! AWESOME). I also order new lights this week. Two 3 watt LED strips with white and blue lights I can put on a timer. I also recently started getting on a much more strict schedule about lighting. Just because I like staring at them when I can't sleep doesn't mean they enjoy my face at 2 am.
Is there a good all around supplement I can buy that will help with growth, color and water quality?
I thought about buying a small gorgonian (fan) to help with filter feeding. I'm really not sure if I can just find a good natural biological balance that will begin to create the nutrients I need and eat the things I don't, but I am not that much of an expert just yet!
I think I have read more forums than the average beginner and I seek advice from anyone that will give it to me. Inevitably, there will be someone that says: Your bioload is too big! You are an abusive fish mother and your corals will hate you and move in your basement when they get back from college because they can't function in any other tank! My response: Okay. Thanks. Now let's get to the real advice.
I've only been doing this saltwater thing since a fateful hitchhiking incident involving an outer banks crab on Memorial Day this year, so please bear with me if my question seems elementary.
Is there a good all around supplement I can buy that will help with growth, color and water quality?
I have a 10 gallon tank and a 5 gallon tank. My question is about my 10 gallon.
I currently have it set up with about 12 pounds of live rock, live sand, a small power head, heater, thermometer, and a hang on back filter that apparently moves 150 gallons an hour.
I have a goby/shrimp bromance, a pair of small clownfish, 7 astrea snails, 3 nassarius snails and 2 turbo snails (1 big one, 1 small one) and I have a pretty large mushroom colony that also has some orange sponges on it and some apparent baby feather dusters. It looks like there are several sand sifting starfish living in it that are still extremely small. I see their legs come out all the time and I've seen one actually moving across the rock just before a very needed water change. I also have a small anemone frag that was misplaced in the wrong frag tank I got for 20 at the LFS. (I'm pretty proud of that purchase). . there are a few hundred of these tiny white circular snail looking things that have attached to the sides of my tank and seem to have sort of a tiny filter they put up to feed. I'm not sure what they are, but I like them. They also came with the huge mushroom colony. AND I have a pretty cool spaghetti leather that is very healthy and has broken off two parts of itself that are now wandering happily about the tank.
Anyway, now that you know my little setup, I am wondering how I can supplement the tank with some good nutrients that will encourage growth of the corals and help with the health of my fish and the shrimp.
I would just like more color. It seems my purple algae that was all over my rock has started to fade a little bit. My mushrooms are growing like CRAZY, but I had to take my zoanthids out and put in my 5 gallon tank because they weren't really thriving. Now they are growing like a weed, so I'm thinking I really need something to help everything out.
So far, I have started using a carbon filter product with other nutrients to prevent any nitrate spikes. I also bought a product called redoxiclean to handle any emergencies and it seems to work pretty well, especially in my 5 gallon. I stopped buying water from the LFS and started using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals for my water changes and mixing my own using an aerator and letting it sit for a good while to get the oxygen/carbon balance correct. (I discovered an RO/DI filter under my kitchen sink! AWESOME). I also order new lights this week. Two 3 watt LED strips with white and blue lights I can put on a timer. I also recently started getting on a much more strict schedule about lighting. Just because I like staring at them when I can't sleep doesn't mean they enjoy my face at 2 am.
Is there a good all around supplement I can buy that will help with growth, color and water quality?
I thought about buying a small gorgonian (fan) to help with filter feeding. I'm really not sure if I can just find a good natural biological balance that will begin to create the nutrients I need and eat the things I don't, but I am not that much of an expert just yet!
I think I have read more forums than the average beginner and I seek advice from anyone that will give it to me. Inevitably, there will be someone that says: Your bioload is too big! You are an abusive fish mother and your corals will hate you and move in your basement when they get back from college because they can't function in any other tank! My response: Okay. Thanks. Now let's get to the real advice.
