First SW tank.. tons of dumb questions! Help a newb get started? :)

[janky]

Happy 4th everyone!
and whenever anyone checks this, I had a question about copepods...

I have all these little grey "bugs" scurrying around my rocks, and occasionally on corals. Are these copes? Everything I've looked up says copes are like white dots on the glass, these are never ever on the glass, just the rocks.
and they're very grey. they blend in really well..

 

[IPisces]

They are probably Amphipods

 

[NC2WA]

Pods of some kind but all is good

 

[janky]

Right on, so nothing to worry about.. that's good news cause there are a ton of em!! haha

 

[janky]

Yeah, so I turned on the light this morning and a whole pack of them scattered like crazy. There were so many of them it looked like they covered a rock!!!

and my zoas refuse to open (probably because these amphs are all over them). I've dipped them in fresh RO/DI twice, and still nothing. I can't find the dip at any lfs stores near me and am pretty broke right now so I don't want to order it for like $20/bottle until I get paid.

It's weird everyone advised me against lps, but my lps are doing awesome and growing like crazy.. its just these stupid zoas that won't cooperate
aren't zoas supposed to be a good beginner coral??
how can I keep amphs off them so they'll open back up?

 

[IPisces]

Get a wrasse!

 

[IPisces]

Move your zoas into a little higher flow area. See if that helps. Zoas can be tempermental as to where they are placed. Some like more light than others and more flow than others.

 

[IPisces]

You can also dip your zoas in a mix of saltwater and hydrogen peroxide. Put the zoa in a small container with just enought water to cover it. Then drop by drop add HP till it starts to fiz. Let sit for just a minute or so and then rinse them in s/w and place them back in the tank. That is what I would do. Others might have other ways of using HP as a dip.

 

[jezzeaepi]

It's weird everyone advised me against lps, but my lps are doing awesome and growing like crazy.. its just these stupid zoas that won't cooperate
aren't zoas supposed to be a good beginner coral??

Well if they are growing quickly then you will need to be dosing and testing your alkalinity and calcium in order to maintain the proper levels. If your alk gets too low and crashes, or if you add too much alkalinity too quickly, you risk your corals RTN'ing(death). This is why we recommended against them =P The typical newbie experience often goes something like this: "My LPS are doing well and growing!" Then a few weeks or month later "everything is suddenly dieing on me!" IME it is usually caused by your corals pulling chemicals(alk/calc) out of the water faster then they are being added(i.e. dosing). Corals do not do well at a dkh measurement below 6.5, and if you have rapidly growing corals, you can easily drag down your alk to a level that is that low(specially given your limited water volume). Corals also don't like swings in Alk, so if you are say, at 10dkh, and let it drop to 6.5, do NOT raise it back up to 10 quickly. You want to raise it slowly in small doses over multiple days for the sake of your alkalinity and PH, and ideally you don't want it every to drop that low. The goal is to maintain a stable alk level(not a high one). I keep mine between 7.5 and 8.5.

Also, the fact that the zoa aren't opening up is likely a water chemistry issue, or too much light. Your way to high calcium levels might be contributing.

 

[janky]

I considered a 6 line, but I don't really like the idea of adding a fish for temporary purposes then rehoming it. Would a 6 line be ok in a 12 hex long term?

thanks jezz and IPisces... that makes a lot of sense. I have experimented with the light a little, because one frag of them would just BARELY open. I moved it up to the top of the highest rock to see if more light would help, and nothing.
Meanwhile, I have the tiny frag of zoas and its just wedged about mid-way up on the tallest rock. That one opened all polyps for about a week and now lately it is tightly closed up.

Maybe they are hyper sensitive to the high Ca and everything else in my tank is a little more tolerable??

 

[jezzeaepi]

Why are you adding a wrasse to get rid of beneficial amphipods? They are good, not bad.

 

[janky]

I'm considering it because the amphs are eating my zoas. They're all over them nonstop and won't leave them alone - but they don't bug any of the other corals at all.
I'd rather have zoas than amphs haha

 

[jezzeaepi]

Amphipods only eat things that are dying.

 

[Derbird]

Are you sure they are Amphipods? Like jezzeapi said, I have only heard of them eating dying things. Perhaps you picked up a nasty hitch-hicker. Zoa spiders and nudi's come to mind but I'm sure there are more out there. :spider:

Can you get a picture of the critters in question? Might help with the ID process.

Oh and how are your zoa's doing, if they are infact dying then maybe they are Amphipods. But then we need to figure out why they are dying :doh:. Have you started dipping them yet?

 

[janky]

dipped them on 3 separate occasions. They're completely dead now. I mean, if amphipods only eat things that are dyING that would explain why they were all over them when they were mostly closed up.

I really don't get it. Everything else in the tank is thriving... but apparently the zoas don't like my tank (prob the ridiculously high Ca levels)
I would like to have some in there, but I'm probably not gunna buy them again until I get everything figured out.

 

[IPisces]

Well when you feel your ready to try zoas again, let me know. I'll give you some more common ones to test with. See how they do. We all have issues with one type or another. I got a beatuful colony from and LFS that was maricultured. I couldnt keep them to save my soul. I seperated them and had them in three different tanks, and lost them all.

 

[jezzeaepi]

I really don't get it. Everything else in the tank is thriving...

Just remember that in the wild, our corals would often live in vastly different areas. This means that they all have slightly different parameters that they do best at. Some may do better in slightly lower salinity, some in higher. Some might really prefer lower alkalinity levels, while others do best when they are elevated. Some like lower levels of light, other prefer higher. Some like a little flow, some like a lot. Some need nutrients levels so low that you shouldn't even be able to measure them, while others like water with lots of nutrients...

As you can see it is virtually impossible to set up a system that is optimal for everything, but we still try anyways. So that is what ends up happening: Some corals do great, and other seemingly die off no matter how hard you try. It is a constant balancing act to keep everyone happy.

 

[IPisces]

Yeah! What he said.

 

[janky]

Thanks guys, and good advice jezz! I would suspect it's a Ca issue, as that's really the only parameter that's out of whack in my reef. It does have fairly high flow with the powerhead I have, and the light issue shouldn't be too much of a problem - I tried placing the zoa colony up top closer to it, and it wouldn't open at all. I put it mid-way down or in the sand and they at least peeked out a bit.
I'll stay on top of my calcium and watch the alk and maybe try a cheap frag off someone local once things get a little more sorted out (and once I have some spending money again! lol)

 

[RC1313]

Hi! New to this forum as well, but I've been on Nano-Reef for a while. I started with an 8 gallon as my first tank. I would say a clown and a goby would be fine together in a 12. A mandarin would most likely be okay, not really sure about the size of the tank but you can train them to eat frozen foods and if your lucky, pellets.