When can I add ‘nems?

[vcnt]

Just be careful with hardy soft corals. I know it's fun and exciting and getting new corals is always a blast. But some soft corals you will run into. Perhaps even for free. Are Kenya tree, xenia and star polyps. Be careful. Star polyps can take over a display if planted on the rock work early on. Xenia can take over a tank regardless of where it's planted. And Kenya trees can spread fast as well if not carefull. I keep star polyps and green Kenya but again I'm careful with placement. Also my tank is mainly soft coral. Soft corals all grow pretty fast so it's harder for one to out compete the other.

But put star polyps next to a sps and it will be an expensive star polyp structure.

I like zoas and acros

 

[vetteguy53081]

As Ive been reading, once youre cycled every time you increase fish count your ammonia does a little spike again, how true is this?

Its true and known as a bioload which is often a temporary event

 

[JohnCol]

I'm old school softy fan myself but zoas gardens are amazing to watch. I like cans too. I love the colors ;-)

Typically corals don't increase your biolaod. But they do start to put a strain on essential elements as they grow. Certain coral species can increase organic waste because of feeding requirements.

 

[vcnt]

I'm old school softy fan myself but zoas gardens are amazing to watch. I like cans too. I love the colors ;-)

Typically corals don't increase your biolaod. But they do start to put a strain on essential elements as they grow. Certain coral species can increase organic waste because of feeding requirements.

I know of the nutrient uptake, but isnt that mostly with stony corals?

 

[jimk60]

You have two clowns right? Take a cube and defrost it in a tupperware. Start by feeding once a day, only feeding the amount the two fish can eat in two minutes. After, if you think your clowns are fattening up and need to eat less, you can dial that down to every other day, or every 3 days. But, a fat fish is a healthy fish.

In my opinion you should feed at least once a day. One quarter cube at a time is probably plenty. Every three days is not enough to keep these fish properly fed.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

In my opinion you should feed at least once a day. One quarter cube at a time is probably plenty. Every three days is not enough to keep these fish properly fed.

Please do your research before giving false information. Clownfish can go a long time without food. In nature, they're not eating anywhere near as often as they do in captivity and they clearly do fine. Feeding every other day is plenty.

 

[jimk60]

Please do your research before giving false information. Clownfish can go a long time without food. In nature, they're not eating anywhere near as often as they do in captivity and they clearly do fine. Feeding every other day is plenty.

First off I said this was my opinion. Second I said every three days was too long to wait to feed. Thanks for the expert opinion I will research this further. LOL

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

First off I said this was my opinion. Second I said every three days was too long to wait to feed. Thanks for the expert opinion I will research this further. LOL

Nope, 3 days is not too long, but it's your opinion. It wont keep the fish fat, but its enough to keep it healthy. Ive even heard of people who feed their clowns every 4-5 days.

 

[C_AWOL]

I would suggest at earliest, after you finish dealing with your inevitable ugly phase in the tank. Anemones don't handle dinoflagellates well at all to say the least.

 

[PotatoPig]

My 2c: Don’t worry about adding pods. They’ll come in on corals, any live rock rubble you add, on your nem, and along with any crabs/snails/etc that go in the tank. You couldn’t keep them out of your tank even if you wanted to.

For now try starting with some basic soft corals, get them going; add a diverse clean up crew (snails, hermits, emerald crabs, etc) as you get algae, then try some basic LPS, get them going and then add the nem.

In the meantime if your clowns are looking for a home toss in a few rinsed 3” or 4” terracotta pots. The clowns will move right on in.

 

[gbroadbridge]

What is a good indication of stability?

You sound like you're in a rush.

You cannot rush a reef tank ecosystem, and everything happens slowly.
The Number 1 attribute you need to foster is patience

In terms of anemones, it's worth keeping in mind that in the wild these animals can easily live longer than 100 years. Looked after, one will outlive you.

Do you really want to rush and possibly kill such an animal due to impatience?

In another month or so add some soft coral and give the tank time to slowly mature.
Maybe you don't realise, but you still have a big battle in front of you when the ugly stages hit.

 

[vcnt]

You sound like you're in a rush.

You cannot rush a reef tank ecosystem, and everything happens slowly.
The Number 1 attribute you need to foster is patience

In terms of anemones, it's worth keeping in mind that in the wild these animals can easily live longer than 100 years. Looked after, one will outlive you.

Do you really want to rush and possibly kill such an animal due to impatience?

In another month or so add some soft coral and give the tank time to slowly mature.
Maybe you don't realise, but you still have a big battle in front of you when the ugly stag

Sometimes im inpatient without results, but if stuff is happening i dont care if its slow.
I hope I can avoid uglies successfully

 

[reinert]

My tank is 6 months old. I have lost in 6 months, 2 clowns, and a host of clean up crew due to impatient, inexperience, and those ugly stages. 2 of them! Well 3 if I include the invasion of hair algea I last dealt with. This happened even after lots of research and lots of questions at my local fish store.
Now please understand, my tank is a 15G BioCube all-in-one. I now have a goby, 1 clown (as the 2nd jumped out of the tank, and I changed my covering of the tank), and one fire fish, 3 blue crab hermits, 2 emerald crabs, one large snail, one small snail, one sand snail, and one shrimp. 3 zoas and one grass that isn't as happy as the grass. I want to add a nem, but my local fish store told me that now I need advanced parameters check to verify the tank is ready, that's today's trip as I don't have those testing kits yet. It's been a slow and eventful journey. It has taught me patience and joy just watching these creatures thrive.

 

[PotatoPig]

Sometimes im inpatient without results, but if stuff is happening i dont care if its slow.
I hope I can avoid uglies successfully

The uglies are basically part of the process, especially if starting from dry rock, and the ugliness is partly in the eye of the beholder.

Eg - I had a mostly dry rock start and once I put the lights on (was under room lights until I added corals) got various waves of algae that were all managed by a combination of clean up crew and biome evolution. The process is partly a result of nutrient swings that algae is better able to manage than corals, so while different types of algae are emerging they can quickly uptake nutrients and multiply, and in doing so cause wild swings in nutrients until the system matures and evens out.