EvilVOG
Community Member
Want to start getting into corals, and specifically get a BTA, but have a few things I need to deal with first. Have a few things i need help with, and I will include my sort of journal for the tank. I'll ask the questions first:
1. having a problem with hair algae, what can I do to fix it, or have I got the right steps underway? (skip to entry dated 7-13 to see what changes i'm making)
2. My Ocellaris clowns, or more specifically one of them, has begun being aggressive toward the other. Is there anything i can do/ is this normal/ do i need to separate
3. pretty sure i have too much rock. don't want to waste the really expensive piece. any ideas?
4. could use an ID on some things in photos (see below)
5. possibly my algae is due to my photoperiod, is it long enough, or too long? (see entry from 5-25)
6. any other things i need to adjust in my setup, please let me know.
Bringing over my build from another forum, trying to keep what i've done in sequence... so this might come off a little choppy.
Little introduction first... had saltwater tanks in the past but not real experienced in it. Mostly been a freshwater guy. I bred champion bettas for a while, and have a planted tank that's been up for a few years now.
My saltwater interest began like this; I saw a tank many years ago that i liked, however a shady salesmen sold me the wrong equipment so I never got close to that goal. Fast forward to last year I attempted to try again and was again misled by some sales person into the wrong equipment.
Had another tank running when i started this build, a 3g jbj pico. I have had a light go out and then a filter leak, but the Green clown goby I had in there survived, along with a feather duster- like thing. It also contained a rock and the filter was full of live rock rubble.
The tank i've been wanting is simply this: clownfish with a host anemone as the centerpiece. everything else secondary.
5-25
So now i'm working toward that goal. I picked up a used 24g nano cube that came with a 28g pro series led hood. The previous owner had a rbta and clownfish in it before upgrading. Got the tank almost a month ago and started it running, lights on, 12hr on, 12 with just the night lights on.
I set it up fuge-style... water goes in the overflow (i have the skimmer attachment) onto some filter floss, that is over one of the stock sponges. the middle section has a media rack that i put some cheato in, and the glass is scraped clear on the back to allow a nano-glo light to shine on it (reverse photoperiod). 3rd chamber has a 100w heater and a maxi jet 900.
to cycle I put down a bag of arga-alive sand, and a 6lb chunk of really purple rock. Also put my cleaning crew in, 4 snails, 5 hermit crabs.
6-8
Had a diatom bloom, then that faded and this algae/ fuzzy plants started growing everywhere really quickly.
Figured the Algae was a pretty good sign i was cycled, also was thinking i needed much more rock. Also had ordered some chemi-pure elite to put between my filter floss and sponge. Today was my first day off in a couple weeks so I ran across town and bought 35lbs of rock from a local guy that was getting out of the hobby (his tank was still up and running with fish and coral and everything - not a dead tank). Put the rock and the chemi-pure in, tried to brush the algae off the glass, and then tested the water. PH 7.8 or 7.9 , 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate. Also got one more snail that survived the trip on the new rock.
6-9
put the clown goby in, put the rubble from the other tank into the media basket in the fuge, collected whatever amphipods i could catch into the tank, and added the small rock all from the 3g.
6-13
getting algae again... not the fluffy plant-like stuff this time but just green... and i think i see a spot of bubble algae :X Think the water change got put off a little too far. Should have done it last weekend.
Picked up a maxi jet 1200... I know that's what most people run in this configuration. I'll leave the 900 in till i know it needs to be changed though. For now it's mixing saltwater for me.
Considering removing some of the rock. Think it's a bit cluttered, but one that needs to go cost me almost 70.
Also picked up and added:
3 Certh snails
3 Nacissus snails
1 mocha Ocelleris clown
1 orange Ocelleris clown
6-18
Think i spotted some tiny apastia that came in with the new rock, picked up 3 peppermint shrimp and added them to the tank, cleaned algae off the glass and did my weekly water change. Tested water, everything nominal.
6-28
Still getting algae. very hair-like but bleached white, kind of traps air bubbles like cyano. think 2 of the shrimp vanished, never saw them again after the day i put them in, no trace of them at all. The third however seems to be killing stuff in the tank (maybe the other two shrimp?) but my hermits were all dead or missing a couple days later, one's body laying just outside of it's shell. Also caught the shrimp killing my feather duster thing, or at least trying to dig it out of it's hole. It has also not been seen since. Kind of sucks, because i don't think it was just some feather duster, but maybe a Christmas tree worm or something similar. all black.
Orange clown is turning more and more black by the day.
Cleaned the algae off again, and swapped the maxi jet 900 for the 1200. Hopefully the flow will help. Water change will be done tomorrow.
Need to figure out what to do with this extra rock. two of the pieces i don't really care that much about, but that one piece was really costly. Don't want to see it go to waste, and there are some serpent stars hiding in it.
Noticing coraline algae popping up around the tank
Looking to get an anemone soon. despite having dozens of salt water stores around no one has any for sale other than a pink one, or some rather dull looking condi/ Hatian reef ones. So will probably get one off ebay or another online retailer along with some other stuff (ricordeas - both varieties, maybe some clove polyps, xenia, chalice, and sps).
Some other pics - macro algae?, The feather-duster thing, Clown goby and then an idk that came in on that rock
7-5
made the pump change last week during the water change. noisy as hell. still getting algae. Mocha clown is now black, orange clown is now Mocha.
7-13
algae still a problem, trying to get proactive about it. ordered a protein skimmer (biocube one) and a reef master test kit. Also mixing a massive 10g water change. Got a new "what is that" to identify.
1. having a problem with hair algae, what can I do to fix it, or have I got the right steps underway? (skip to entry dated 7-13 to see what changes i'm making)
2. My Ocellaris clowns, or more specifically one of them, has begun being aggressive toward the other. Is there anything i can do/ is this normal/ do i need to separate
3. pretty sure i have too much rock. don't want to waste the really expensive piece. any ideas?
4. could use an ID on some things in photos (see below)
5. possibly my algae is due to my photoperiod, is it long enough, or too long? (see entry from 5-25)
6. any other things i need to adjust in my setup, please let me know.
Bringing over my build from another forum, trying to keep what i've done in sequence... so this might come off a little choppy.
Little introduction first... had saltwater tanks in the past but not real experienced in it. Mostly been a freshwater guy. I bred champion bettas for a while, and have a planted tank that's been up for a few years now.
My saltwater interest began like this; I saw a tank many years ago that i liked, however a shady salesmen sold me the wrong equipment so I never got close to that goal. Fast forward to last year I attempted to try again and was again misled by some sales person into the wrong equipment.
Had another tank running when i started this build, a 3g jbj pico. I have had a light go out and then a filter leak, but the Green clown goby I had in there survived, along with a feather duster- like thing. It also contained a rock and the filter was full of live rock rubble.
The tank i've been wanting is simply this: clownfish with a host anemone as the centerpiece. everything else secondary.
5-25
So now i'm working toward that goal. I picked up a used 24g nano cube that came with a 28g pro series led hood. The previous owner had a rbta and clownfish in it before upgrading. Got the tank almost a month ago and started it running, lights on, 12hr on, 12 with just the night lights on.
I set it up fuge-style... water goes in the overflow (i have the skimmer attachment) onto some filter floss, that is over one of the stock sponges. the middle section has a media rack that i put some cheato in, and the glass is scraped clear on the back to allow a nano-glo light to shine on it (reverse photoperiod). 3rd chamber has a 100w heater and a maxi jet 900.
to cycle I put down a bag of arga-alive sand, and a 6lb chunk of really purple rock. Also put my cleaning crew in, 4 snails, 5 hermit crabs.
6-8
Had a diatom bloom, then that faded and this algae/ fuzzy plants started growing everywhere really quickly.
Figured the Algae was a pretty good sign i was cycled, also was thinking i needed much more rock. Also had ordered some chemi-pure elite to put between my filter floss and sponge. Today was my first day off in a couple weeks so I ran across town and bought 35lbs of rock from a local guy that was getting out of the hobby (his tank was still up and running with fish and coral and everything - not a dead tank). Put the rock and the chemi-pure in, tried to brush the algae off the glass, and then tested the water. PH 7.8 or 7.9 , 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate. Also got one more snail that survived the trip on the new rock.
6-9
put the clown goby in, put the rubble from the other tank into the media basket in the fuge, collected whatever amphipods i could catch into the tank, and added the small rock all from the 3g.
6-13
getting algae again... not the fluffy plant-like stuff this time but just green... and i think i see a spot of bubble algae :X Think the water change got put off a little too far. Should have done it last weekend.
Picked up a maxi jet 1200... I know that's what most people run in this configuration. I'll leave the 900 in till i know it needs to be changed though. For now it's mixing saltwater for me.
Considering removing some of the rock. Think it's a bit cluttered, but one that needs to go cost me almost 70.
Also picked up and added:
3 Certh snails
3 Nacissus snails
1 mocha Ocelleris clown
1 orange Ocelleris clown
6-18
Think i spotted some tiny apastia that came in with the new rock, picked up 3 peppermint shrimp and added them to the tank, cleaned algae off the glass and did my weekly water change. Tested water, everything nominal.
6-28
Still getting algae. very hair-like but bleached white, kind of traps air bubbles like cyano. think 2 of the shrimp vanished, never saw them again after the day i put them in, no trace of them at all. The third however seems to be killing stuff in the tank (maybe the other two shrimp?) but my hermits were all dead or missing a couple days later, one's body laying just outside of it's shell. Also caught the shrimp killing my feather duster thing, or at least trying to dig it out of it's hole. It has also not been seen since. Kind of sucks, because i don't think it was just some feather duster, but maybe a Christmas tree worm or something similar. all black.
Orange clown is turning more and more black by the day.
Cleaned the algae off again, and swapped the maxi jet 900 for the 1200. Hopefully the flow will help. Water change will be done tomorrow.
Need to figure out what to do with this extra rock. two of the pieces i don't really care that much about, but that one piece was really costly. Don't want to see it go to waste, and there are some serpent stars hiding in it.
Noticing coraline algae popping up around the tank
Looking to get an anemone soon. despite having dozens of salt water stores around no one has any for sale other than a pink one, or some rather dull looking condi/ Hatian reef ones. So will probably get one off ebay or another online retailer along with some other stuff (ricordeas - both varieties, maybe some clove polyps, xenia, chalice, and sps).
Some other pics - macro algae?, The feather-duster thing, Clown goby and then an idk that came in on that rock
7-5
made the pump change last week during the water change. noisy as hell. still getting algae. Mocha clown is now black, orange clown is now Mocha.
7-13
algae still a problem, trying to get proactive about it. ordered a protein skimmer (biocube one) and a reef master test kit. Also mixing a massive 10g water change. Got a new "what is that" to identify.
