Hi everyone. Testing out this forum. I'm on a few other forums, but I have not found one "personal" enough to suit my taste. I'm still listening to the podcast backlog and enjoying every minute of it.

I've had fish tanks for years, but only first ventured to SW last year. My 12G Aquapod Nano has been up since 11/07. All softies. So far so good. I upgraded the stock pump to a MJ-900 and added a second return w/ a Hydor-Flo on a MJ-606.

I've been keeping simple stuff:
True Perc
Peppermint shrimp
LARGE Emerald crab
Zoa's
Mushrooms
Xenia
GSPs
snails
hermits

(Picture is VERY OLD)
http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/canttuckmyshirt/reef%20tank/DSCN0604.jpg

I just change my setup again this week. Upgraded to a 70W 14K MH. I removed most of the ruble from the back of the tank and added a Remora Nano. The tank is still acclimating to the new light (via some egg-crate) and I have not gotten any skimmate from the skimmer yet.

I'll add new pics as I take them..

My two N00B questions:

1. Where can I get good cheap water jugs? I tried MSC and Grainger but they want $50+!!

2. What should I be "feeding" my tank? I have marine snow, zooplex, phytoplex, and a LARGE assortment of frozen foods. I have been giving the tank a little of everything just because I don't know any better. I hand feed the fish, shrimp, and crab frozen foods. I also dump a piece of seaweed-on-a-clip twice a week.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

What kind of water jugs are you looking for? Large storage containers? Something portable, like a 5 gallon gas can?

Af far as feeding, You should be fine with flake and/or pellet and/or frozen such as mysis or brine. A little seaweed now and then is fine too, but be careful, too much can foul your water. I think you can forgo the marine snow, phytoplex and zooplex. I don't see anything in your stocking list that would benefit from them.

I really like your rockwork, looking forward to some updated pics.

i agree with Phurst on the feeding.

i like the rock work too.

BTW ... you will not find a more "personal" forum than you have found here. granted there are not as many ACTIVE members as some other forums, but what we lack in numbers ... we make up in knowledge and helpfulness. there are some insanely helpful members here and we have a great time hanging around here and helping each other with issues, and setups.

What kind of water jugs are you looking for? Large storage containers? Something portable, like a 5 gallon gas can?

Portable. I have a few home-depot 5gallon buckets, but they spill in the car. I don't have an RO/DI yet since I rent and move every so often, so I travel with buckets.

Are gas cans goods? I didn't know if I could trust them or not.


As far as feeding, I feed mostly brine and mysis. Occasionally I bust out some squid, clam, or blood worms (from a frozen assortment I have).

So my corals don't need food? I plan on getting more corals (I have a lot of buddies with an abundance of frags). At what point will they need feeding (assuming I get more of the same types of softies)?

Is there anything I should be adding? I have been testing my calcium and adding purple up in SMALL amounts and I plan on using Kalk with my auto top off.

My tank is almost where I want it. I want to get the top off working and add some cheato w/ a light. Once I have more experience under my belt, I can start planning a bigger tank.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!!!

Gas cans are fine, as long as they're new, of course :)

Calcium, alk, pH, nitrate and phosphate are the biggies to test for. Even calcium and alkalinity aren't as important as they would be if you had stony corals (SPS or LPS).

All the corals you listed are primarily photosynthetic, and get all they need from light. There's some speculation that xenia can absorb nutrients from the water as well, but none of your corals will readily take, or need prepared foods.

If you have a question about anythig you add in the future, let us know and we'll do our best to let you know if it requires feeding.

This is what I use...

http://www.theculturedreef.com/5%20gal%20jug.jpg

You buy the water plus $6 for deposit on the jug. Do what ever with the water and use the jug for your SW purposes. I have a dozen plus 3 other 5 gal jugs of different design to go out and collect NSW. If you want to keep from leaking cap the top with plastic bag and a rubber band. BINGO, cheap 5 gal water jug. The new design even has built in handles on the side.

Dick

old salt canisters work well as well!

I use 3 5gal gas cans from walmart. they work great

Hi Keith and :welcome: to TR!

My LFS sells square 5 gallon water jugs with a handle for $10. Or you can buy camping water jugs at Wal-mart with a spigot for $7.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone!

I broke down and bought 2 5gal jugs from USPlastics.

Is natural sea water any good? I live on Long Island and I'm within walking distance of shore.

I've never used NSW, but I understand there are 2 possible drawbacks. 1) you'll want to collect offshore where the water is less poluted. 2) unless you live in an area that supports a reef or reefs, the buffering capacity of the water can be quite low. You can always buffer it of course, but collecting offshore might be a little more of a chalenge.

I believe we have several members who use or have used NSW. Hopefuly they will chime in.

Natural Sea Water (NSW) is great, depending on where you can collect it. Near shore water I wouldn't use because of the very likely possibility of picking up various pollutants. It may look "clean and clear" but I wouldn't trust it. There are people that treat all NSW with bleach for a couple of days, then neutralize the bleach and use the NSW after that. It seems a drastic step to take to use NSW. Synthetic sea salts, Instant Ocean for example, are so well formulated now days it seems pointless to collect NSW from shore. That said...

I have been going 7 miles off-shore out of Ft. Pierce, FL and bringing back 75 gallons of NSW for use in my 135 reef. It's stored in 55 gallon blue barrels out side in the sun. The water gets quite warm on hot days and quite cool some days/nights during our cool period in winter. The only other "treatment" I give it is to bring in 40 gallons, put it in a Brute trash can and filter it through a 50 micron filter sock using a Mag 24 pump for a day (some times only hours). I've been using it for 9 months, changing 35 gallons about every two weeks. The only noticeable difference was in the initial water changes. The softies in my reef really perked up and seemed to thank me. The rest of the corals and fish didn't seem to care.

If you have to collect from shore, I'd raise a big caution flag and say it isn't worth it. Stick with synthetic sea salt.

Dick

P.S. My running off-shore was never about saving money on salt. It cost much more to collect than to use synthetic. Now, with gas nearing $4 a gallon, I dearly wish I hadn't spent $22,000 on the boat 9 months ago. We won't be going out much until gas prices come back down. If they come down at all. We Americans are in for some drastic lifestyle changes, I'm afraid.

P.S.S. It's not all Bush's fault either. :rotfl:

Hey there Keith :) *waving down from Mass* Welcome to our hobbyist hidey hole. I'm sure you'll like it here.

You really have nothing in that system that would enjoy the nori/seaweed on the clip. Maybe the snails, since the tank is so darned clean (jealousy much). The frozen or flaked food would be fine for the fish, mythrax crab, shrimp and the hermits. Don't over do it though. As far as the smaller fare goes, if you want to use them, try mixing the phyto, snow (don't like this stuff myself), and zooplex with tank water, in a shot glass. A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY. Then, use either a bulb syringe or a turkey baster and shoot the mix over the zoanthids, and mushrooms. The Xenia will fend for itself and really enjoys waterborne nutrients. The small foods do nothing much for the perc and others mentioned above. Personally, I've never fed zoas, green polyps, heck, any coral other than LPS, and all of my stuff thrived (took over) in my systems. They do pretty well on their own.

The Home Depot buckets are a good idea. Every reefer should have some, or at least the salt buckets, cleaned and ready. They're great for water, AND, if you have to move, you can use them to put LR and corals in.

Again, welcome. Enjoy the show :)

Dave

OH... and I do use Natural Salt Water from Nantucket Sound, during the Summer. When I'm out fishing, I bring buckets and collect. I'd not make a special trip, because as our resident Floridian says, the price of gas is NOT worth it. But heck, if you are out there, why not? I'd NOT collect from the shore.

There are some "tricks" to the practice. Listen to our podcast on the subject. I forget the number, but I'm sure someone will chime in and link it here.

Dave

Hey Dick - any chance the NSW and your hair algae coincide?? :)

Here you go http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/podcast-episodes/240-natural-seawater-podcast-episode-30-a.html

I love my TR family.. never had a sister..now I have many!

Speaking of sisters...where's my buddy Renee been??

D

Here you go http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/podcast-episodes/240-natural-seawater-podcast-episode-30-a.html

I'm getting there! I'm still on TR-EP15... I need to listen to more podcasts and stop asking soo many questions.

I love my TR family.. never had a sister..now I have many!

Speaking of sisters...where's my buddy Renee been??

D

Haven't seen her around here in awhile...we've been missing her.

I'm getting there! I'm still on TR-EP15... I need to listen to more podcasts and stop asking soo many questions. I listen on my commute! It makes the time pass very quickley.

I listen on my commute! It makes the time pass very quickley.

I have no radio in my car at this time, but I listen to them at my desk at work, while walking my dog, and at the gym.

I have recommended the podcasts to sooo many of my friends (especially the ones that constantly spread mis information about reefs!)

I need to listen to more podcasts and stop asking soo many questions.

Nope nope nope.. ask away. Better to ask and learn than not to ask and learn the hard way...

D

Nope nope nope.. ask away. Better to ask and learn than not to ask and learn the hard way...

D Great advice! I didn't mean to imply that you should not ask questions.:)

Great advice! I didn't mean to imply that you should not ask questions.:)

Nobody thought ya did m'lady.. I was replying to Keith's statement. A lot of new folks feel that by asking "basic" questions, or too many questions, that we (like other big forums) may become impatient. And we all know that this is not the case with Talking Reef :)

D