Tank for a year--still a beginner

[TJL]

Hey! And another BIG :welcome: to Reef Frontiers Amanda, you have the right attitude and devotion to make a GREAT Reefkeeper. Tank looks really good for a year and agree with Lorie's (Ipisces) advice above in getting some additional Live Rock in there to increase biological filtration and also add interest/realestate to the aquascape. Feeding 2-3x a day is best, as long as its being consumed and there is enough LR and/or skimming to handle the bio-load. On your T5 lighting what color lamps and how many are there ??? You may want to look into buying/building a LED strip to add to the mix...

Cheers, Todd

 

[Mahoney]

Thanks Todd--I was actually just looking at the LED stuff after reading the article on here about lighting and it's effects with different wave lengths. My light is by Coralife-- T5; there is a Daylight bulb and then an Actinic Bulb. When it comes to the LED's, how do you decide which color(s) to get? I'm not sure I'd have room for a ton of them; nor can I afford anything big right up front. I wish I could take a couple different colors of them home to try them out and see which effects I like best. haha

When it comes to adding in more rock, should I be building up? Is there a specific way I should be placing it? I've tried to create places for fish to swim in and out, some cave areas and whatnot for them to hide out on, and then try to make it so there are "shelves" for corals and things to sit on. Is that the general strategy?

And yes, feeding is just enough so that the fish eat it all and not a bunch extra is floating all over.

I had a terrible thing happen yesterday--my hubby propped our heater up along the side of the glass in the corner in such a way that my green clown goby tried to swim behind it and got stuck. He cooked to death! I wanted to cry! It was terrible. I was so attached to him. I can't imagine him suffering there like that! I know I'm probably being "such a girl" about it, but it was awful! Now i'm down to just 3 fish........

 

[Dawg2012]

Welcome to RF Amanda. I'm new here as well. This is a great place for knowledge and helpful people . I'm tagging along on your thread absorbing as much information as I can.

I think your tank looks great. I don't have mine setup yet, though I do have over a dozen freshwater tanks and will be going over to the salty side very soon. I hope after a year mine looks as good as yours does.

As a noob, I don't have any advice other than to reiterate the book recommendation above. I just received this book and it is a really good book. Lots of pictures to get you enthused, and great information presented in a very understandable way. The Conscientious Marine Aquarist: A Commonsense Handbook for Successful Saltwater Hobbyists (Microcosm/T.F.H. Professional): Robert M. Fenner,Matthew L. Wittenrich,Scott W. Michael,Alf Jacob Nilsen,Christopher Turk: 9781890087999: Amazon.com: Books

Good luck and yes please keep us posted, especially with pictures lol.

 

[josh88]

Sorry to hear about your clown goby, and no your not being a girl, we all take pride in our tanks, and the life that resides in them, when my tank crashed due to outsider causes (wife). I just about lost it. And mad rushed to save what I could, as if it was my children being sick. Stressed all day at work while I knew things were not going well. So its understandable.
Your tank looks great, I personally love the look of coralline algae. And feel your tank is balanced out with it being on your rock only, and not covering the entire tank. Great job so far, and looking forward to your updates.

HTC EVO

 

[Mahoney]

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So, it's kind of hard to see in this picture, but what are these "worms" for lack of a better term. (it's sitting at the base of the shell a feather duster has made it's home in) They have tons of microscopic, long, striped legs--sorta orangeish with a thin dark stripe every couple millimeters. They kinda seem like hoarders--constantly dragging little bits of stuff toward their center. I take it this could be a good thing because they are eating bottom junk in the tank, but could they also be really bad? There seems to be lots of them. I tried sucking several of the big ones up when I do water changes, but they keep multiplying!

I'm sure someone knows what they are. I won't have the chance to pick up that book for a bit just because it's a little expensive for me at the moment (several vet bills and car costs this month). I'll have to rely on word of mouth for a little while

 

[ak_reefer]

Looks like spaghetti worms to me. They are good they eat detritus.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

[NC2WA]

yup..agreed..spaghetti worms...these are good...

 

[Mahoney]

Good to know! Thanks! I'll make sure to avoid sucking them up. haha

 

[Mahoney]

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Anyone have any ideas how to clean the coralline algae off power heads? I have heard soaking in vinegar. I'd imagine you have to rinse REALLY well afterward? I tried scrubbing it off in the sink, but had no luck.

 

[user 26995]

Yes, soak them in a vinegar/water salution. I do 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water and soak 1-2 days. Koralia has also come out with a product that will clean it off too.

 

[ExoticAquaria]

Very nice Reef for a year old ! I remember my first year, couldn't see through the blooms !

 

[pandora32]

Port Orchard!?!? Dude, that is my home town! Small world.

Pretty much been here my whole life, lived in washington since i was 2. Never lived in eastern wa though.

 

[TJL]

Hey Amanda on the lighting you currently have, two T5 HO lamps is not enough for most corals but plenty for Coraline Algae. Here is a couple links to look at for supplemental LED lighting that are reasonably priced http://www.rapidled.com/12-led-plug-n-play-retrofit-kit/ with http://www.rapidled.com/1-4-x-36-aluminum-heatsink/ and finding a creative way to attach to your T5 fixture or from our sponsor here http://reefledlights.com/shop/actinic-light-accent-bar-lab-kit/ sub out 4-6 blues for whites to balance it out a bit. Anyhow take a look and ask ?'s you may have.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Mahoney]

Not enough lighting? My corals seem to be flourishing! Hmmmm.. I'll have to think on it for a bit since my budget is really tight these days.
Questions--

- how do you know which color lenses to get (black vs white)
- is there a good ratio for color of LED's to get?
- I imagine the length of the lenses just depends on where you are mounting them and what degree they will be able to shine into the tank? Or am I way off? haha

Also, I added in a smaller pump to a corner of my tank to help increase water flow--it's pointed toward the surface to riffle the water and help decrease a film that was sitting at the top of the water on half my tank. Well, now my corals seem less, voluptuous, for lack of better term. haha. It's not pointed directly toward anything, but the hammers aren't as open as they once were--it's a very slight change, but i did notice it nonetheless. Is this going to be okay?

Thanks! Everyone here is such a great help!

 

[user 26995]

Getting the flow thing down, is a basically a trial and error. Watch the corals for a few days, if they are not redponding well, move the flow a litte and see how they react untill you can find a spot were the flow is working for you. They might just need a couple days to get used to the different flow pattern.
On my 55 and my 75 I had one high flow power head at the bottom behind the rock and two high flow at the close to the top on the back of the tank pointing in just a bit toward the front of the tank. That and the return created enough surface movement to keep the water flowing to the overflow.

I think T5 lighting, if you get good bulbs, are great for lps and softies. Thats what I have on two of my tanks. Both sofities and lps. But I tell you what, if you can swing it, LEDs are really sweet!

 

[Mahoney]

you can have lps with just T5's? I thought I had to have metal hallide lighting for that stuff. hmmmmm. that opens a lot of doors I'll have to look at getting something small and seeing how it does.

 

[user 26995]

I have acans, lobos, brian corals, frogspawn, hammer coral, torch coral, duncans all under t-5s. They were in my 90 with a 6 x 54 w T5 bulbs. I have moved some of them to my 180.

 

[NC2WA]

you can have lps with just T5's?

most definitely.

my office tank, a 36g bow tank, has T5 lighting and has a frogspawn, yellow fiji leather frag, purple pocillopora, and a peach birdsnest, pink mille, all doing great.

 

[Mahoney]

okay, so I'm thinking i'm getting my lps and sps mixed up. Can I have sps with T5's?

 

[user 26995]

typically not. If you kept the sps at the top 1/3rd or 1/4th of the tank, it is possible, some of the more forgiving sps, such as the digitatas may do just fine. pocillopora and stylophora and possibly some birdsnests may do okay. SPS typically need a lot more light. Just as important to SPS as lighting is the calc/alk & mag levels. You cold keep sps as long as those levels are correct for sps, but with t-5s some sps would not color up as well.