Nano Reef Project - Going Marine!

Sleepy

The zoanthus are actually doing better the past couple of days, all opening and there's a new polyp on one of the small colonies.

The candy cane I got for next nothing as it wasn't doing well in the display tank the guys had it in. Seems to be opening up much more in my tank which I'm taking as a good sign! My calcium levels are pretty high atm and magnesium and iodine are perfect. I have some calcium dosing stuff and will keep an eye on mag and iodine levels and get dosing solutions if I notice them being low during my tests.

The skimmer has been ordered and once it's broken in, I'll reduce the water changes to weekly.

The Fireball seems to peck at everything else in the tank but I've not seen him go near any of the corals or tankmates so far. The feather duster seems to have died, I found the sea-urchin attached to it about a week ago and it didn't open out again after that, saw one of the hermits at it the day before yesterday and last night I found the cleaner shrimp eating the worm itself.

Feeding is something I've been wondering about a bit. I tend to add 1/4 to 1/2 a block of brine shrimp or a 1/3 of a block of mysis per day and it can take the fish anything from a minute to 3 minutes to hoover it up. Very nervous about over-feeding as it would seem to be one of the easiest ways to kill fish!

Jen Pigs Fly

Keep an eye on the candy cane. Make sure it feeds 1-2 times a week.
Bad sign if it wasn't doing well in the shop ... Time to change supplier :cool:
See how it goes anyway, I find candy canes are temperamental at the best of times, they sulk something bad if things aren't correct. I had a huge piece with around 40 heads that went into a full sulk because I moved a rock :rolleyes:

The angel may be ok now but watch him, they are not a good idea for a reef.

Feed little and often, get veggies in too. The cardinal is carnivore, clowns are omivores leaning towards carnivore and the angel is omnivore leaning towards herbivore. Put some sea weed strips in the avoid him picking at corals,

Get a good quality flake food too such as new era brand or Red Sea brand. This can be used 1/2 times a day to supplement the meaty foods and seaweed. Get the marine flakes and get veggie flakes.

Garlic enriched brine shrimp will perk the candy cane if he's willing to eat.

Sleepy

I took your tip and got some seaweed and jurry-rigged a clip out of an old plastic clip for cereal bags and a sucker to hold it on the glass for the Angel. Also picked up a jewelled blenny at the weekend who's settling in nicely and cleaning up some of the rockwork.

Got home from a few days away for work last night and I'm now dealing with a cyano outbreak. stirred up the substrate and did a water change last night, reducing lighting hours a little from today. Hoping the protein skimmer will arrive today as DHL have it in the country according to their tracking service.

My refractometer finally arrived last night but I suspect it needs calibration so going to take it out to Gavin at the weekend.

Jen Pigs Fly

Sleepy wrote: »

I took your tip and got some seaweed and jurry-rigged a clip out of an old plastic clip for cereal bags and a sucker to hold it on the glass for the Angel. Also picked up a jewelled blenny at the weekend who's settling in nicely and cleaning up some of the rockwork.

Got home from a few days away for work last night and I'm now dealing with a cyano outbreak. stirred up the substrate and did a water change last night, reducing lighting hours a little from today. Hoping the protein skimmer will arrive today as DHL have it in the country according to their tracking service.

My refractometer finally arrived last night but I suspect it needs calibration so going to take it out to Gavin at the weekend.

Cyano is a pest, be careful with lowering the lights too much. The skimmer will help, cyano loves high nitrates and phosphates!
The angel and blenny will munch on it as well if they're so inclined, i once had a purple tang that loves cyano it was great! (wouldn't stick one in your tank though )

Be careful stirring up the sand too much - corals won't like it. Sand is a bacterial hotspot, your tank is too small for a sand sifter and snails don't do as good a job, I always kept my tanks bare bottom or put a light sprinkling of larger sand pebbles so that I could use a syphon so the corals won't sulk.

Once the skimmer gets to work it should help.

There is a brilliant product called NoPOx this stuff is amazing! Brings down nitrates and phosphates naturally and can stop cyano, diatoms, brown algae bloom and promotes coralline.
I don't know if newlands will do it as its a very specialist product. Aquatic specific shops such as seahorse have such a big range, you should pop in there one of the days, they're just down the road from newlands. They have around 50 live marine sales tanks, and over 100 freshwater tanks. If you do go in check out the 12foot reef

Sleepy

I know Seahorse well, love their range and the 12ft tank is my lotto-win dream. I just find the service in Newlands to be much better. The guys there are less rushed and more inclined to spend time with you. I was put off of Seahorse initially a few years ago by one of the girls working there who was brisk and disinterested to the point of rudeness because we were "only" buying a few zebra danios as opposed to anything exotic or "interesting". Left a bad taste in the mouth. I'd find their prices to be higher than almost anywhere else too. Don't get me wrong, the store is amazing and Kealan is great if you're lucky enough to be served by him but they've gotten to the point where it seems like they're becoming a victim of their own success imo.

Ran all my tests last nite and parameters are fine. Phosphate is at 0 but I'm guessing the Cyano is hiding my "true" nitrate level though (it's reading at a trace level on my test kit so I'm guessing the cyano is consuming the "excess") . Expect the skimmer will help me deal with it. The big outbreak of cyano only occurred after adding the seaweed so perhaps I added too much at a go?

I found what is either the corpse or a moulted exo-skeleton of one of my clibinarius last night, hoping it's the latter but wondering if I could have another pest in the tank. Will be able to spend some more time monitoring over the weekend and thinking about adding a colour change LED strip I have to watch the tank under red light at night (apparently the fish can't see this spectrum so I'm hoping it'll draw out any nocturnal pests).

Jen Pigs Fly

Sleepy wrote: »

I know Seahorse well, love their range and the 12ft tank is my lotto-win dream. I just find the service in Newlands to be much better. The guys there are less rushed and more inclined to spend time with you. I was put off of Seahorse initially a few years ago by one of the girls working there who was brisk and disinterested to the point of rudeness because we were "only" buying a few zebra danios as opposed to anything exotic or "interesting". Left a bad taste in the mouth. I'd find their prices to be higher than almost anywhere else too. Don't get me wrong, the store is amazing and Kealan is great if you're lucky enough to be served by him but they've gotten to the point where it seems like they're becoming a victim of their own success imo.

Ran all my tests last nite and parameters are fine. Phosphate is at 0 but I'm guessing the Cyano is hiding my "true" nitrate level though (it's reading at a trace level on my test kit so I'm guessing the cyano is consuming the "excess") . Expect the skimmer will help me deal with it. The big outbreak of cyano only occurred after adding the seaweed so perhaps I added too much at a go?

I found what is either the corpse or a moulted exo-skeleton of one of my clibinarius last night, hoping it's the latter but wondering if I could have another pest in the tank. Will be able to spend some more time monitoring over the weekend and thinking about adding a colour change LED strip I have to watch the tank under red light at night (apparently the fish can't see this spectrum so I'm hoping it'll draw out any nocturnal pests).

Few good points regarding seahorse alright ... Go In at the weekend and expect to be waiting 2 hours, doesn't bother me as I catch and bag my own fish
Never gotten anything small from there, so wouldn't know about service, Im like a walking euro sign to them haha. Newlands is great alright, I now go to seahorse for the dry goods, I buy fish from my old workplace as they don't bullshîte me regarding illnesses and how long the fish is there and any diseases in the tank. Handy working in the industry I suppose, I walk into a shop and I find the service I get is above par because I talk suppliers and such with them some suppliers are much much better than others. Newlands use a good supplier from my memory of last time I visited.

There is a link somewhere - cyano, death of a hermit (assuming it's not his shredded skin) it all points to nitrate problem. Seaweed could cause it but I'd suspect you're gettig die off from the live rock (even cured rock needs a few months to settle in a new environment)
Does the water smell at all? If it's a bit stinky id imagine the live rock has some die off that's causing the cycle to spike up and down. It's very common and will settle down. Takes 3-6 months for your live rock to do through its own cycle to match your water, even cured live rock.

As I said, NoPOx is brilliant, I had old live rock 10+ years that was so quick to cycle that nitrates spiked to over 100ppm, after a week of NoPOx it was down to 10ppm and afterwards barely a trace. All my brown algae cleared. Red Sea is the brand, I'm sure newlands would be able to order it for you otherwise seahorse stock it €19.99 for a 250ml for a tank your size you'll use around 2ml a day for a while and then eventually wean the tank off it.

There's so many reasons for it, the tank is still very young and it's just settling.

If the cyano is on the rocks and you just want rid I find if you put the rock into the sink, take a toothbrush to it and then get scrubbing! Works a treat!

Sleepy

Some good news, I spotted the second hermit crab last night so it must've just been a moulted shell I found.

Got my refractometer on Friday too and my water's at 1.025 which is pretty much perfect. Have been dosing Excitall since Friday and it seems to be getting rid of the algae problem.

I think I'm pretty much fully stocked at this stage so should now just be a matter of keeping things stable while letting my frags grow into the tank.

Skimmer should be here this week so will update with my. Progress with that.

Sleepy

Put the skimmer in with the surface skimmer attachment on and my tank is full of microbubbles.

I believe this is normal enough and that it'll get much quieter as it settles in.

él statutorio

Sleepy wrote: »

Put the skimmer in with the surface skimmer attachment on and my tank is full of microbubbles.

I believe this is normal enough and that it'll get much quieter as it settles in.

yeah, give it 24 hours or so.

Sleepy

By the time I was heading to bed the bubbles had reduced massively and there was already about half a centimetre of dark brown crud filled liquid in the collection cup.

It's a lot noisier than I was expecting but I've read that this improves as the skimmer gets broken in.

Jen Pigs Fly

What skimmer brand is it?

Sleepy

It's a Tunze 9001. From all the research I did, they seem to be one of the few companies that produce decent nano skimmers.

Sleepy

Not a lot to report, the skimmer seems to be going well: it's pulling out about a cm of cruddy brown liquid a day. I've started turning it off between about 6pm and midnight as it's rather noisy and is still causing some micro-bubbles if not quite as many as it was before.

All live-stock and corals appear to be thriving. It seems like I might finally be getting to the stage where all that's needed is feeding and regular water changes.

él statutorio

More Pics?

Sleepy

Will take some tonight

Sleepy

A few new pics:





One of my Bengai with the Candy Corals:


How it looks under the actinics:

Sleepy

Not a huge amount to report since my last update, our clown jumped into the filter when I left it's cover on incorrectly and got himself trapped in the impeller so we replaced him with a percula clown and I've added a Kanye Tree and some mushrooms. Will get some new pics during the week...

Just spotted these odd "tabs" in the middle of the green star polyps before they opened out fully to the light yesterday. I'm usually only home hours after the tank has been lit so usually these are hidden by the green polyps when I get to see it, my wife says they've been there for ages, anyone know what they are and if it's a good/bad sign?

Jen Pigs Fly

Those tabs are shut dead coral skeleton that has formed over time. When corals die their skeletons calcify and solidify and creates lumps and bumps, normally purple, white, brown or blue in colour.

Very very normal and wouldn't worry at all, live corals will eventually cover it as they would with live rock. Circle of life!

Sleepy

Cool! I didn't realise the GSP has so much of a life-cycle going on, it still covers the rock it's attached to (and has grown thicker if anything) so I'd assumed that the polyps I can see were always the same ones I'd always had rather than some new, some old and now, some dead...

Will try to upload some pics tonight, the recent coral additions and some minor landscaping are really bringing the tank together imo. The zoanthus are finally beginning to expand too; the other night I counted 15 open polyps in my secondary area which had started with 8/9 heads that had detached from the clam the others are living on.

Sleepy

Has it really been 2 months since I last updated? The percula clown went carpet surfing last week so we picked up a fire fish at the weekend to replace him and I've asked a carpenter friend to build me a hood for the tank.

Since I last uploaded photos I've added some new corals (a kanye tree and some mushrooms and a hammer coral), a feather duster and two beautiful pipe fish. These were taken before the Percula met his untimely end.







I can't see myself adding anything else in the short / medium term. The pics are awful quality but they give an idea of where the tank is at. I'll try get out the DSLR and take some proper photos again soon.

Jen Pigs Fly

Looking good, how long have you got the pipefish? Are they established pair/ sexed pair? How are they eating? What has the shop been feeding them?

Sleepy

I have the pipefish a week. They're almost certainly an established pair as they're sexed and spend a lot of time dancing around one another. Absolutely beautiful to watch.

On Gavin's advice I'm feeding them Ocean Nutrition Cyclops and Brine Shrimp on alternate days and they seem to enjoy the cope pods in my tank too.

él statutorio

Probably worth getting a sheet of perspex to keep the jumpers in the tank.

At least til you get a cover made.

Sleepy

Definitely planned for the weekend.

Not quite sure what to do at the moment, the Banggai Cardinals are bullying the firefish every time she appears out in open water. Wondering whether to try re-scaping or whether to replace the Banggai's with something more peaceful.

Jen Pigs Fly

Sleepy wrote: »

I have the pipefish a week. They're almost certainly an established pair as they're sexed and spend a lot of time dancing around one another. Absolutely beautiful to watch.

On Gavin's advice I'm feeding them Ocean Nutrition Cyclops and Brine Shrimp on alternate days and they seem to enjoy the cope pods in my tank too.

That's good. Theyre notoriously hard to get feeding, hopefully they'll last you! My next breeding project are sea horses so I'll give pipefish a try which them.

Sleepy wrote: »

Definitely planned for the weekend.

Not quite sure what to do at the moment, the Banggai Cardinals are bullying the firefish every time she appears out in open water. Wondering whether to try re-scaping or whether to replace the Banggai's with something more peaceful.

Never heard of aggressive banggais! They're one of the most peaceful fish you can get! Must have got bad eggs or perhaps he's holding fry. Change around the rock to mix up territory. My banggais were only ever assertive when he was holding, even at that they were scared of their own shadow ....

Sleepy

Aye, it surprised me. I was a little worried about the fireball angel as he didn't take kindly to the ocularus clown when we first introduced him but settled down shortly after but never expected the Banggai to be the aggressive ones. TBH, if it continues, I'll probably return one (or both) of them.

Jen Pigs Fly

Sleepy wrote: »

Aye, it surprised me. I was a little worried about the fireball angel as he didn't take kindly to the ocularus clown when we first introduced him but settled down shortly after but never expected the Banggai to be the aggressive ones. TBH, if it continues, I'll probably return one (or both) of them.

Socking really .... I would give them a chance, tank is overstocked for the amount of fish in it so they're probably a bit more territorial. Mine were in a 600litre and a 300before that so were never in close confinement with semi aggressive fish such as Angels and clownfish.

I would say change around rocks, mess up territory and see if the male is holding. If he is, she will be more aggressive especially in a smaller tank as she wants the fry to survive.

Sleepy

I didn't think I'd reached over-stocking levels tbh? Current stocking is: 2 Banggai, 1 Fireball Angel, 1 Jewelled Blenny, 1 Firefish, 2 tiny Pipefish and a clean up crew of a shrimp and two hermits?

The Angel has never bothered the Baggai, presumably as they're much bigger than him and I've only ever had one agressive Clown who's long gone from the tank (my first casualty actually) and tended to bully her mate more than anything else.

Jen Pigs Fly

Tank is very overstocked if I'm honest with you. Marines need a lot of space!
Go to http://aqadvisor.com/AqAdvisorMarine.php it's very helpful with stocking levels.

Just to give an example. My 600litre full sps, Lps aquarium held the following fish
Achilles tang
Yellow tang
Regal tang
2 percula clownfish
2 banggai cardinal fish
10 dispar anthias
8 blue reef chromis
6 barred fire fish
Flame angelfish
Potters angelfish
3 banner fish
5 leopard wrasse
1 spotted hawkfish
1 Picasso triggerfish
2 Clakii clownfish

And it was considered very over stocked. My tank was 6foot X 3foot high X 3foot deep with a 4foot sump which added an extra 180lotres.

Saltwater stocking is very sparse unfortunately, my anthias and chromis were top level, the fire fish and clowns and wrasse were bottom level, banners, tangs and Angels were mid level and banggais had their little territory in the corner.

My 300l (including sump) stocking level was
2 black clownfish
2 banggai Cardinal
1 purple fire fish
1 royal gramma
1 yellow tang
1 flame angelfish
1 labouts wrasse

I would say it's an issue with competition with the banggais, move around rocks and see if it helps!

Sleepy

Just put my fish into that (or as close as I could - had to choose a dusky angelfish instead of the flameback as for some reason the flameback couldn't be added and the pipefish weren't listed as an option. So with one significantly larger angel than mine and no pipefish, It says I'm at an 89% stocking level. The pipefish have a minimal bio-load and they couldn't be more peaceful so I don't think it's a case that I'm "very" over-stocked. It might be a little on the high side but Gavin was quick to reign me in when I was initially stocking the tank and I've bounced everything off him before going ahead with it (or being talked out of it).

It did give a warning that the tank may be too small for Bangaii (though everything I'd read until now said a 30g tank was okay for them) so if things don't settle, I may return them and find something else to take their place.

I changed the rocks around last night on one side of the tank which I'm hoping will alter the territories, though the firefish is still hiding in an area on the other side of the tank rather than finding a home in the area I re-scaped for her last night (may do the rest tonight if she hasn't moved). I also came up with a plan last night to make the tank hood fit with my protein skimmer and lighting unit which I'll be putting into place tonight which will hopefully see an end to me losing fish to jumping.