Starting New Tank!

[GoReefin]

Is a 20 gallon tank to small for a Valentino puffer?

It is on the smaller end but if you find a small one try it out and see how he does.

 

[jreynolds13]

Hey everyone! I got my clown fish in my tank and a few more live rocks. It seems like the clown fish only stay in one spot. They are both on the side of the tank swimming up against the glass. I’m not sure if it’s a current or flow issue or if they are just getting used to the tank. How would I know?

 

[GoReefin]

Hey everyone! I got my clown fish in my tank and a few more live rocks. It seems like the clown fish only stay in one spot. They are both on the side of the tank swimming up against the glass. I’m not sure if it’s a current or flow issue or if they are just getting used to the tank. How would I know?

That's just clownfish being clownfish. Nothing to worry about. They will host a specific spot in the tank. Looks good off to a great start

 

[Dkmoo]

Hey everyone! I got my clown fish in my tank and a few more live rocks. It seems like the clown fish only stay in one spot. They are both on the side of the tank swimming up against the glass. I’m not sure if it’s a current or flow issue or if they are just getting used to the tank. How would I know?

Warning signs to look out for are either heavy breathing, growth on the surface, or simply not swimming.

Actual swim patterns can vary and usually nothing to worry about - they are just clowning.

Common patterns that you may find worrying but actually are fine include:

1)bobbing up and down like a crazy person
2) having a "seizure", esp when your get a second one to start pairing
3)kicking up sand

 

[jreynolds13]

Warning signs to look out for are either heavy breathing, growth on the surface, or simply not swimming.

Actual swim patterns can vary and usually nothing to worry about - they are just clowning.

Common patterns that you may find worrying but actually are fine include:

1)bobbing up and down like a crazy person
2) having a "seizure", esp when your get a second one to start pairing
3)kicking up sand

How do I tell if it is heavy breathing? just if their mouths are moving quickly?

 

[Dkmoo]

How do I tell if it is heavy breathing? just if their mouths are moving quickly?

Clownfish breathing heavy with nothing visible??

I noticed my clownfish acting very sluggish and breathing heavy. Nothing visible on her.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[jreynolds13]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/clownfish-breathing-heavy-with-nothing-visible.330750/[/URL

http://Thanks! My fish don't seem to be doing that.

 

[jreynolds13]

PROGRESS PICS Really happy with how my tank is going. My dad decided he wanted to start helping me with the tank and bought a bunch of coral. A little bit on the nervous side since I still feel new to the reef tank gang but really hopeful to see how these corals do.

 

[Dkmoo]

PROGRESS PICS Really happy with how my tank is going. My dad decided he wanted to start helping me with the tank and bought a bunch of coral. A little bit on the nervous side since I still feel new to the reef tank gang but really hopeful to see how these corals do.

Cool, these are nice looking corals but I think dad jumped the gun to be honest since your tank is still so young and stability may be an issue so will be more risky to keep corals at this point.

Looks like you got mostly zoas? I think those should be OK and generally they are hardy enough and don't require fancy lighting that they should have a good chance to survive as long as you keep up with husbandry and monitoring the water parameters. Try to keep everything in this range and keep stable.

Alk: 7-11dkh
Ph: 7.7 - 8.3
No3 : less than 30ppm
No2 and ammonia 0
Ca above 350
Mg above 1100.

Stabiltiy is more important so if for ex your alk is 7, its better to keep it at 7 over a long period that having it fluctuate between 7 and 9 all the time even tho 9 is better. These levels should be easier to maintain in new tanks and zoas should tolerate. Once you add LPS and SPS these levels need to be adjusted - we can have that conversation later when you are ready to add them.

The big concern i have is that bubble tip anemone - these need really high lighting and extremely stable parameters, a mature tank with a lot of biodiversity, and feeding. Did you get the light upgrade yet? The stock light will not be enough for the nem. I would really recommend that you return the nem now if you can. Its going to be very hard to keep the nem alive at this point. And if it dies it will melt very fast and cause a huge ammonia spike that will crash your tank

There are success stories for brand new tanks and adding nems right away but that usually takes a lot of work and knowing what your doing and what the nem needs so its possible. Its gonna be hard but if decide to go down that path the we will help you as much as we can and wish you the best of luck. First step in this case is to upgrade your light to either an AI prime or t5s. Rent a par meter from BRS and make sure the Nem is getting at least 200PAR

 

[jreynolds13]

Cool, these are nice looking corals but I think dad jumped the gun to be honest since your tank is still so young and stability may be an issue so will be more risky to keep corals at this point.

Looks like you got mostly zoas? I think those should be OK and generally they are hardy enough and don't require fancy lighting that they should have a good chance to survive as long as you keep up with husbandry and monitoring the water parameters. Try to keep everything in this range and keep stable.

Alk: 7-11dkh
Ph: 7.7 - 8.3
No3 : less than 30ppm
No2 and ammonia 0
Ca above 350
Mg above 1100.

Stabiltiy is more important so if for ex your alk is 7, its better to keep it at 7 over a long period that having it fluctuate between 7 and 9 all the time even tho 9 is better. These levels should be easier to maintain in new tanks and zoas should tolerate. Once you add LPS and SPS these levels need to be adjusted - we can have that conversation later when you are ready to add them.

The big concern i have is that bubble tip anemone - these need really high lighting and extremely stable parameters, a mature tank with a lot of biodiversity, and feeding. Did you get the light upgrade yet? The stock light will not be enough for the nem. I would really recommend that you return the nem now if you can. Its going to be very hard to keep the nem alive at this point. And if it dies it will melt very fast and cause a huge ammonia spike that will crash your tank

There are success stories for brand new tanks and adding nems right away but that usually takes a lot of work and knowing what your doing and what the nem needs so its possible. Its gonna be hard but if decide to go down that path the we will help you as much as we can and wish you the best of luck. First step in this case is to upgrade your light to either an AI prime or t5s. Rent a par meter from BRS and make sure the Nem is getting at least 200PAR

I did get the new light. I have an AI prime HD16. The water parameters have been pretty steady for the past week. I am a little nervous about the nem but I got reef roids and some fuel stuff and have been reading a lot about keeping it alive

 

[jreynolds13]

Cool, these are nice looking corals but I think dad jumped the gun to be honest since your tank is still so young and stability may be an issue so will be more risky to keep corals at this point.

Looks like you got mostly zoas? I think those should be OK and generally they are hardy enough and don't require fancy lighting that they should have a good chance to survive as long as you keep up with husbandry and monitoring the water parameters. Try to keep everything in this range and keep stable.

Alk: 7-11dkh
Ph: 7.7 - 8.3
No3 : less than 30ppm
No2 and ammonia 0
Ca above 350
Mg above 1100.

Stabiltiy is more important so if for ex your alk is 7, its better to keep it at 7 over a long period that having it fluctuate between 7 and 9 all the time even tho 9 is better. These levels should be easier to maintain in new tanks and zoas should tolerate. Once you add LPS and SPS these levels need to be adjusted - we can have that conversation later when you are ready to add them.

The big concern i have is that bubble tip anemone - these need really high lighting and extremely stable parameters, a mature tank with a lot of biodiversity, and feeding. Did you get the light upgrade yet? The stock light will not be enough for the nem. I would really recommend that you return the nem now if you can. Its going to be very hard to keep the nem alive at this point. And if it dies it will melt very fast and cause a huge ammonia spike that will crash your tank

There are success stories for brand new tanks and adding nems right away but that usually takes a lot of work and knowing what your doing and what the nem needs so its possible. Its gonna be hard but if decide to go down that path the we will help you as much as we can and wish you the best of luck. First step in this case is to upgrade your light to either an AI prime or t5s. Rent a par meter from BRS and make sure the Nem is getting at least 200PAR

Will the AI prime have a good enough par?

 

[Dkmoo]

Will the AI prime have a good enough par?

Nice, Yes the prime has enough juice. I have 2 in my 29g and my highest spot has 350 par. So 1 in a 20G is plenty.

If you can, still rent a par meter so you can dial in the % foe the desired par. Otherwise its a lot of guesswork

Generally, if you see your coral browning, that could mean not enough light. When adjusting light levels do it slowly.

Good to see that yiu also got coral food. The only other thing I could think of is that nems like more chunky solid meat than the reefroid powder. Consider also getting mysis shrimp, or even just go to your supermarket and get a couple of fresh shrimp and cut them up into small pieces ( about 1/8 to 1/4 inch cubes) and feed 1 piece a day.

Looks like you really did your home work and tried to be as prepared as you can to make the nem work. Good job and good luck!

 

[jreynolds13]

Hey another question! I recently bought a 240gph wave pump made by koralia. The employee at the local fish store said it would be a good idea to put in my tank. Reminder that it is a 20G tank and it already gets a fair amount of flow from the filter pump. How do I know if i really need to put this into my tank? And if so where do I put it? would my Bubble tip anemone get stuck inside it? (I've heard bad stories)

Also, my BTA seems to be doing good! Ive been checking the water quality and things have been relatively stable. I fed him a piece of raw shrimp from the supermarket yesterday and he ate that all. Then today I fed him some reefroids alogn with the other corals in my tank. How often should I be feeding shrimp vs reefroids vs putting in coral fuel?

 

[jreynolds13]

Hey another question! I recently bought a 240gph wave pump made by koralia. The employee at the local fish store said it would be a good idea to put in my tank. Reminder that it is a 20G tank and it already gets a fair amount of flow from the filter pump. How do I know if i really need to put this into my tank? And if so where do I put it? would my Bubble tip anemone get stuck inside it? (I've heard bad stories)

Also, my BTA seems to be doing good! Ive been checking the water quality and things have been relatively stable. I fed him a piece of raw shrimp from the supermarket yesterday and he ate that all. Then today I fed him some reefroids alogn with the other corals in my tank. How often should I be feeding shrimp vs reefroids vs putting in coral fuel?

Anybody got some tips?

 

[jreynolds13]

Hey! What can I do to get rid of this brown algae on the sand??
Also, would a ruby red dragonette clean my tank?

 

[Dkmoo]

Hey! What can I do to get rid of this brown algae on the sand??
Also, would a ruby red dragonette clean my tank?

It looks like the start of the ugly phase. That brown stuff is either cyano or diatom, Its not harmful, just syphon it out with your water change and keep it up. It will go away naturally in a few weeks to a month but you will go thru a few rounds of this as yiur tankbstarts to mature.

Do not add any more biological control to try to specifically deal with this bc remember this is temporary so whatever you get will starve when this goes away

I don't remember what CUC you have - if you have none, then may be a few snails will help. Id start with 2 nassarious to stir the sand, 2 - 3 cerith as general grazer, and 1 - 2 trochus as the power hitters. Do not get a giant turbo yet, your tank may not be mature and diverse, or big enough to handle such a huge and hungry eater.

There will be turnover death rate in the snail, so if you see a few die, do not try to replace right away - dead snail usually means there's not enough to eat and they are starving. Since the "death rate" often lags behind the algae replenish rate, my general rule is to replace 1 for every 2 deaths to help get to the equilibrium of snails that a tank can maintain long term.

For flow / gph - is everything happy?? If so then its best to not mess with it since for young tanks you dobt want to changs too much too fast. There are guards you can buy if you are concerned about nem getting stuck in them. If you feel like you need to change flow bc something is not happy bc of flow issues , then keep reading.

i don't recall what ur current GPH is but what's ideal depends on what your currently have. I don't really subscribe to a "multiple of volume" ratio bc the type of current and water movement is more important that the volume and speed of it. Thats why you have such a wide range of recommendations as some say 10x to 20x and yet some tanks have 50x to 100x. I look at these below factors:

1) is my current above the sand strong enough to prevent too much detritus from settling? Generally diatom grow in low flow areas so those brown spots may indicate too little flow there.
2) are any of my corals struggling to open because current too strong? Zoas can tolerate different ranges but their shape will change. High current is often linked to "long and hairy" polyp tentacles and low current gives the typical "cute and stubby" tentacles thats typically associated with zoa.
3) is the Nem happy? They usually prefer high but random flow. This may be more difficult for your tank to achieve depending on how fluid dynamics interact with your rock work and if you can create high/random zones as well as low zones for the zoa and moderate/high circular current for the sand surface.

Checking off all the boxes above is not easy, or may not be possible depending on the rockscape. The best luck i had when using hydors on my small 20G was a couple of 240s going in diff directions to customize the flow. What you'll want is for 1 head to create the backbone circulation to keep all the waste suspended so it can be picked up by your overflow box on top, then a second head that intersect the main current to create randomness in sections that wants it, and create "current break" zone for low current corals. Then I set one of the pump on timer so it only goes on during the day so that current is lower at night to help fish rest.

There's no exact science here. A lot of trial and error. And doesn't need to be perfect - adding a couple of rocks here and there to modify the current is fine, but don't go tearing up ur whole structure if you cant achieve exactly what you want.

 

[jreynolds13]

Hey everyone!! A little update on my tank. Things are looking really good. The Diatom has started to go away, the anemone seems happy and healthy as do my other corals. Really happy with the tank so far. I’m looking for some bright but hardy coral to add but I’m not sure what to get if anyone has suggestions!

 

[jreynolds13]

What is this white stuff coming off this coral?? It looks like this piece of coral has died or something and turned white and it keeps releasing this white stringy stuff. Should I try to get it out or leave it?

 

[jreynolds13]

Question about carnation coral! What do I feed it? Reef roids? They are non photosynthetic right?

 

[jreynolds13]

Tank has been neglected for the past 2 months. I have been gone for the summer and my parents were supposed to take care of the tank. I’ve come home to a mess! How do I get rid of this green Kelp stuff?