setting up new tank

[bobboman]

well, since algae starting growing i went to the LFS and bought 3 more astrea snails, making my total 8. and i bouth 3 more hermit crabs making my total 5.

while i was at the LFS they had just got a new shipment of fish, and they had about 10 leopard wrasses. i thought that they would be a great addition to the new tank, but when i asked about them the LFS said they were hard to take care of because they are finicky eaters. he told me to wait a week, and if he still had some left that were eating from his tanks then he would sell me one. i was just wondering what your guys experiences with this fish were.

once i move all my livestock from my nano to their new 50g i will have the following in the tanks:

12 astrea snails
1 turbo snail
7 hermits
3 blue/green chromies
1 yellow tang
1 purple dottyback
1 midas blenny

and possibly a leopard wrasse, or sixline wrasse, or a tomato clown.

am i over stocking the tank?

[CarmieJo]

I would not add any more fish if it was my tank. You could expand the CUC though. Some nassarius and cerith snails would be good additions.

[Mostly Rock]

I agree with Carmie.

[bobboman]

Added 5 nassarius snails today.

my nitrates are still a little high.. working on getting those down. thats all that has changed in the past couple weeks

[CarmieJo]

Nassarius are a good addition! My son calls them zombie snails.

[bobboman]

So for an update, 2 days ago i added a diamond watchmen goby. he seems really happy. he made a burrow under the live rock and is out cleaning my sand all day long. i also moved a couple pieces of mushroom coral into the tank to see how they would do, and the seem to be doing just fine. the only problem i am having right now is my nitrates are still a little high. they are hovering around 5-10ppm. any tips on how to lower them??
all my other water parameters are where they should be.

[CarmieJo]

I think that good husbandry and time are the best cure for nitrate issues. You have to wait for the bacteria to catch up to the bio-load. Every time you add something to the tank you are adding bio-load and increasing the number of bacteria needed to consume the waste.

[bobboman]

It's been a while since i updated.. 6 weeks! a lot has changed. i moved everything from my nano tank over and took apart the nano tank. in my new 50g i have:

1 purple dottyback
1 goldstripe maroon clown
1 blue/green chromi
1 diamond goby
1 cleaner shrimp
1 pistol shrimp
6 hermits
8 astrea snails
4 nassarius snails

i also have a bunch of soft corals in there.
I will post some pictures tomorrow.

I was also wondering what you guys thought about the Purple Lobster and the sally light footed crab. would either one of these animals be a good addition to my tank? would they be compatible with my cleaner shrimp? I really inverts i think its fun to watch them crawl around the tank.

[rayme07]

Hi, I cant wait to see the pics!

From what I was reading on the purple lobster is that it may try and take a snap at small fish and inverts, so I would take caution with that. The sally light footed crab should be fine but I have heard that when they get large enough they start nipping on corals and attacking other inverts.

Here's a link for the two:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...555&pcatid=555

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...625&pcatid=625

Hope this helps.

[SaltyDawg]

It's now tomorrow....pics?
Ray, good to see you haven't forgot us. How you been kiddo?

[rayme07]

please

Ray, good to see you haven't forgot us. How you been kiddo?

Yea I have been quite busy with ending school and starting college lately that I have not had any time for this wonderful hobbie, but Im getting back into it thank goodness.

[bobboman]

sorry guys, i looked for my camera two days ago and couldn't find it, and i saw my girlfriend yesterday and she said she had it. we took the pictures yesterday, when i get home this morning i will post them up! i promise!! again, sorry to keep you waiting.

[bobboman]

sorry for keeping everyone waiting so long! ive been super busy at work and school. here they are!



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[bobboman]

i found a aiptasia growing on my one of my rocks and i was wondering what you guys thought about using lemon juice injection to get rid of it. and if so where can i buy a syringe??

[rayme07]

Its looking great!

[CarmieJo]

You can try lemon juice for the aiptasia and see if you have any luck. If you don't have any syringes that came with test kits you should be able to buy one at a pharmacy. They sell oral dosing syringes for giving the precise amount of liquid meds to patients. They are often located in the baby section.

[bobboman]

It has been 4 months since I lasted posted an update on the tank. The tank is doing great, the growth on some of the corals is amazing. Here is some pictures!

Full tank shot.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Yellow tang and torch



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Starry Blenny. My dad calls him homer.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Now, I am having one problem with the tank.. i have this algae that i cannot get rid of. nothing in the tank eats it and it just keeps growing. all my water parameters are exactly where they should be. no nitrates, no phosphate, ph 8.2, so if anyone can id this for me and tell me how to get rid of it that would be greatly appreciated!



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

other than this algae the tank is doing great. I just wanted to say thanks again for everyone help with setting up this tank

[CarmieJo]

Your tank is looking wonderful! The algae looks like Bryopsis spp to me. I would manually remove all of it that I could, blow all the detritus you can off the rocks, do a water change while the detritus is suspended in the water column, then turn the lights our for 3 days.

Your numbers are probably good because the algae is taking up the excess nutrients. Do you drip kalk? It will precipitate phosphate and raise the alk both of which will help get rid of excess nutrients.