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Thread: First Salwater Tank. 29G biocube.

  1. #26
    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    ^^What he said! ^^
    DO NOT buy a butterfly. None of them belong in a NC29! I have had good luck with Joe's Juice which TR sponsor The Cultured Reef carries. I have also had success with peppermint shrimp although they can be hit or miss.

    I'm a proponent of adding hardy corals before fish. This is a great explanation why. The Building of a (Reef) Tank
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    Quote Originally Posted by CarmieJo View Post
    ^^What he said! ^^
    DO NOT buy a butterfly. None of them belong in a NC29! I have had good luck with Joe's Juice which TR sponsor The Cultured Reef carries. I have also had success with peppermint shrimp although they can be hit or miss.

    I'm a proponent of adding hardy corals before fish. This is a great explanation why. The Building of a (Reef) Tank

    Thanks Carmie. I read that again. I had read it a while back but now that I know more about what he is talking about I feel I understood it much better.

    Yea I am definitely not getting that fish. Im actually not getting any fish for a while.

    So I bought a small heater so that it would fit in my 1st chamber. Unfortunately it has no dial to set temp. Directions read that it keeps tank anywhere from 76-80. My tank is about 80-81 during the day and overnight it drops to about 78-79. Im thinking this may be to hot and I might have to try a 3rd time on a small heater with dial (this time ill check!) What are your thoughts?

    Lastly my zoa's are doing great. I hit the two aiptasia on the frag with Aiptasia X and that (so far) seemed to do the trick. My whisker coral, or large duncan or whatever the other name is, is a little odd. The bigger of the two heads is doing amazing, with the shorter smaller head not opening as full or often. The only thing I can think of is that my LR, which came with a small, maybe 3/4 inch piece of kenya tree coral which is about 3-4 inches from the Whisker is getting into some sort of chemical warfare with it.

    Now I could be completely wrong but Im just wondering if this is possible. I can post pictures later if need be.

  4. #28
    Assistant Moderator rayme07's Avatar
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    Your temp is a little high I tend to keep mine at 73-75. It might be better for you to get a heater with a dial so you can control your temp, so you don't fry your fish or corals. Your corals could be fighting, is there any flow hitting it directly? I would consider moving one of the two corals and see if that may help it. What are your parameters?
    Ray or Raymond
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  6. #29
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    Yea I guess Ill have to find a small heater with a dial. 80 is high, which is what it is at right now.

    I moved the whisker over on another rock and it seems to be doing better, I dont know, hard to tell really. The larger of the two heads is always open and I think he may just be crowding the other head out in a way. There is not a direct flow on the coral placement next to the kenya tree, but it is flowing slightly. I have a powerhead that I have yet to put in the tank, I can do that at any time.

    My parameters are
    Temp 80
    Ph- 8.2
    Ammonia 0 (might be .10 but I think its 0, hard to tell with similar colors)
    Nitrite- 0
    Nitrate- 20ppm
    Ca- 380ppm
    KH- 215ppm
    Salinity- 1.028

    So obviously I have high nitrate and salinity right now, Ill do a water change and add some fresh water as well to lower my levels.

    Just because im curious, what are all these holes in my sand caused by? You can also see what im assuming is green hair algae forming on my glass.
    2011-09-24 15.29.46.jpg
    Pics of Whisker coral as well just because. 2011-09-24 15.30.21.jpg2011-09-24 15.30.10.jpg

  7. #30
    Assistant Moderator rayme07's Avatar
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    The nitrates are probably the problem I would do water changes to try and fix it. From the pictures the coral looks happy it also could just be closing just because it wants to. The holes in your sand are actually air bubbles and should disperse through the sand. The stuff on your glass doesn't look like hair algae to me and Im not really sure what it is to tell you the truth.
    Ray or Raymond
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  9. #31
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    I did a water change as you suggested, I also added extra fresh water to lower my salinity a bit. Ill check the parameters tomorrow. I also bought a new heater with a dial. It is set to 75 degrees. Im guessing it may reach that in the early morning, though with my actinic lights on 10 hrs a day and the bright white ones 8 hrs a day, my water gets up to 78-79 easy.

    Well whatever that algae is, it grows rather quick! Its back on my glass again and on the back wall haha. Ive noticed tiny white things swimming around or attached to the algae. Some little type of pods or something I guess.

    Since all I can do right now is research and ask questions I came up with a few. I have Instant Ocean Reef Accelerator and Instant Ocean Sea Buffer. I know what the accelerator is for. The directions say add it when Ca is below 400 ppm. Mine was at 380 I added some. If Ca goes way up Ill know not to do that again so soon.
    Though I dont know what the buffer is for. Says it increases Ph and Alk, then says it maintains it. How do I know when to add this stuff? here is a link to it. Instant Ocean SeaBuffer Aquarium pH & Alkalinity Booster at PETCO

    How soon should I consider a small clean up crew, though I have to make sure I dont get a hermit crab because down the line I plan to get a pom pom crab.

    When I finally do start adding fish/inverts which should I add first?
    I hear some fish my harass new comers in the tank so I was just taking this into account.
    Last edited by Proseph; 09-25-2011 at 06:45 PM.

  10. #32
    Assistant Moderator rayme07's Avatar
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    I normally don't add buffers to my tank except 2 part additives to maintain my CA if needed. If you have a good brand of salt the params should be at what they need to be. I tend to like adding a small CUC a week to two after the initial cycle has finished and then after a while once the algea and detitrus start building up then I add the rest of my CUC. I do the same for fish.

    When adding fish you just have to do your research and find which of the fish you want are the more aggressive and add those to your tank last. That way the less aggressive can be established in your tank and get their territory first. So for example if you want a 6 line wrasse, a couple clownfish, and a watchmans goby it would be best to add the goby first since its the least aggressive out of the 4 then the clowns then the 6 line wrasse. Hope this helps
    Ray or Raymond
    There is no elevator to success in marine tanks. You have to take the stairs.


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  12. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by rayme07 View Post
    I normally don't add buffers to my tank except 2 part additives to maintain my CA if needed. If you have a good brand of salt the params should be at what they need to be. I tend to like adding a small CUC a week to two after the initial cycle has finished and then after a while once the algea and detitrus start building up then I add the rest of my CUC. I do the same for fish.

    When adding fish you just have to do your research and find which of the fish you want are the more aggressive and add those to your tank last. That way the less aggressive can be established in your tank and get their territory first. So for example if you want a 6 line wrasse, a couple clownfish, and a watchmans goby it would be best to add the goby first since its the least aggressive out of the 4 then the clowns then the 6 line wrasse. Hope this helps
    Yup makes perfect sense! Thanks again Rayme!

  13. #34
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    Update.
    Salinity down to 1.023
    Nitrates- 15ppm
    Ca- 360. I guess that reef accelerator stuff didnt do much for the calcium...odd

  14. #35
    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Your KH is a little high. This article is good Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com. Ca and alk are inversely proportional so high alk means Ca will be low. I'm not familiar with those products but it sounds like they have been sold to you as a 2 part solution. I use Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com to maintain my Ca and alk.

    As far as temp goes I use a temp controller. I have it set to turn the heater on at 78 and the fan on at 81. Do not trust the numbers on the dial on your heater, they are notoriously bad. Instead watch your thermometer and adjust the heater by tiny increments.
    Carmie


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  16. #36
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    Oh wow awesome site!

    Thanks for the info Carmie! I appreciate it.

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    Update.
    Salinity 1.023
    Ph- 8.0 could it be low because I checked it in the morning before the lights came on?
    Ammonia- 0
    Nitrite- 0
    Nitrate- 10ppm
    Calcium- 380 ppm
    KH- 161 ppm
    Temp 77 F

    Im thinking about starting to get bits of a cleanup crew, algae is starting to get pretty thick. I changed out filter and rinsed out sponge today.

  18. #38
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    Update:
    Salinity 1.0235
    Ph- 8.3
    Ammonia- 0
    Nitrite- 0
    Nitrate- 5ppm
    Calcium 360 ppm
    Kh- 150ppm
    Temp 75
    Added some Instant Ocean reef accelerator to bump up my calcium.

  19. #39
    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Your pH is lower when the lights are off so testing it in the morning before they come on always yields lower pH. You don't really need to have your Ca higher until you add stony corals.
    Carmie


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  21. #40
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    So for an update.
    Salinity 1.024
    Temp- 77
    ph 8.2 or 3
    Ammonia 0
    Nitrite 0
    Nitrate 0
    Ca 360 ppm
    KH 179 ppm

  22. #41
    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Parameters are looking good!
    Carmie


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  23. #42
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    Well its been a while since Ive posted anything on here.
    I wanted to update anyone interested with a few pictures of my work in progress.

    I have:
    Green clown goby
    2 pom pom crabs
    1 Skunk cleaner
    CUC

    Metallic GSP
    Blue Xenia
    Frogspawn
    Duncan Coral
    Zoa's
    2011-11-15 18.41.54.jpg2011-11-15 18.43.13.jpg2011-11-15 18.42.17.jpg2011-11-16 15.30.20.jpg

  24. #43
    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Your tank is looking wonderful!
    Carmie


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  25. #44
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    Nothing wrong with that! Got any pics of the pom pom's? They are pretty cool critters.

  26. #45
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    I got some pics of the Pom Pom for you salty. Sorry its taken so long to reply.

    This first pic with the pom pom you cant really tell, but on his left front, he has the head or tail of a bristle worm attached to his abdomen. This pom pom now has propagated his anemone and has one large and one tiny. My other pom pom has an egg sack which I tried to get a picture of but couldn't.
    pom pom with bristleworm 22 Nov.jpg

    2011-11-20 14.47.33.jpg
    Thought this was just a cool picture of three of my inhabitant lined up for a picture
    2011-11-22 16.58.17.jpg

  27. #46
    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    Dude thats awesome! Coming together nicely. What's the plan from here? You know you want to add stuff...lol. A little advise from an expert mistake maker.....even though everything looks good for an extended period of time, dont slack off on the water testing. And just to be a PITA....you cant update without a couple new FTS....LOL. Thats just the rules

  28. #47
    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Looking good!
    Carmie


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  29. #48
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    So I have 3 pictures to post, however I have exceeded my 5 mb of space. Is there a way to delete previous pictures in my file to create more space?

  30. #49
    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    set up an account with photobucket(its free) and copy and paste the "IMG" code to your post. Not sure how many pics you can store there...I have several hundred on there.

  31. #50
    Master Reefer SaltyDawg's Avatar
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    I just looked at photobucket and they removed storage limits for free accounts. So you can put all photos and up to 500 videos on there for free

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