Constructive criticism please...

[RogueGrown]

Here is the beginning of my first tank. It is a 20 long no sump. It is 5 months young. I have 2 AC70 with AC30 impellers, one is full of rubble the other has chaeto. I also am running a finnex HOB fuge with a small piece of cheato and some red seaweed. I am still fighting some algae as expected. I have a couple different zoos, a green paly, some GSP, a toad stool, a frogspawn (beginning growth of new head), a couple feather dusters some red hermits a turbo snail and 4 nassarius snails, I also have a small piece of birdsnest a friend donated. I'm running a single AI prime HD for now with the plans of a second. As far as fish I have a single small six line for now.

Salinity 1.024
Am undetected
N02 undetected
N03 under 5ppm per API
Ca 380-400
Mg unknown yet
Alk 9
P04 1.0 per API (Hanna checker ULR is en route)

NOTE: some corals were beginning to close because light is dimming.

 

[RogueGrown]

Here's the rest of the pics.







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[shua71]

Everything looks great and healthy. Main thing i would change is to get a sump. It would look a lot neater and I'm very into hiding all my equipment. Great start though!

 

[RogueGrown]

Everything looks great and healthy. Main thing i would change is to get a sump. It would look a lot neater and I'm very into hiding all my equipment. Great start though!

I know, I wanted to do a sump but it wasn't an option at the time of start up. I'm going to buy a 40B and another 20 long to move everything to when I move later this year or beginning of next year.

 

[nereefpat]

Looks great so far. I like the rockwork, and you picked out some good starter frags. It looks awfully blue in there, but a lot of people like that. Sumps make things look a little cleaner, but there are lots of nice tanks out there that are sumpless, especially smaller tanks.

I believe your frogspawn is actually a branching hammer (E. parancora). Similar look and same requirements though.

 

[GimpyFin]

Looks good so far!

 

[RogueGrown]

Looks great so far. I like the rockwork, and you picked out some good starter frags. It looks awfully blue in there, but a lot of people like that. Sumps make things look a little cleaner, but there are lots of nice tanks out there that are sumpless, especially smaller tanks.

I believe your frogspawn is actually a branching hammer (E. parancora). Similar look and same requirements though.

Thank you!!! I spent the better part of a week playing with the rocks waiting for my RO system to show up :lol: I made sure I had light diversity lots of caves and hiding for little critters and plenty of rock to support the bioload.

Im going to be adding another AI prime soon so I can have full coverage. The lighting was really blue at the time of the photo because of the time. During the day I have whites up to 20% for about 5 hours and makes it look really nice. Im impressed by this little light.

I was told it was a frogspawn by the LFS. He had several types available, I happened to like this one the most though. He did state that all of them were about the same requirements.

 

[RogueGrown]

Something I've been thinking about.... If I have a toadstool and SPS in the same tank is one or the other going to eventually thrive and the other fade as my tank settles in? the more I read about the different corals Im finding that toadstools tend to be more happy in mildly dirty water where SPS want it crystal clear and free of impurities.

 

[sde1500]

Something I've been thinking about.... If I have a toadstool and SPS in the same tank is one or the other going to eventually thrive and the other fade as my tank settles in? the more I read about the different corals Im finding that toadstools tend to be more happy in mildly dirty water where SPS want it crystal clear and free of impurities.

Finding a happy medium can be done. Many of the SPS are more forgiving than their reputation gives them. I think its some of the acros that are difficult to keep in a mixed reef system. Montis would be fine. I have zoas and a Monti growing well in my tank.

 

[Knighthawk]

That defiantly looks like a hammer and not a frogspawn


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[RogueGrown]

After a couple google searches I agree its a branching hammer. Either way I really like it.

 

[RogueGrown]

Finding a happy medium can be done. Many of the SPS are more forgiving than their reputation gives them. I think its some of the acros that are difficult to keep in a mixed reef system. Montis would be fine. I have zoas and a Monti growing well in my tank.

I really like the look of mixed reef myself just adds to the biodiversity. Thanks for the input.

 

[RogueGrown]

As for my main topic though, Id really like to get some criticism if I can. I know I need to do a sump and that will be in the works soon as stated before. Im sure there are some things Im over looking that I could benefit from.

 

[philly_rfa]

Looks nice!

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Finding a happy medium can be done. Many of the SPS are more forgiving than their reputation gives them.

I agree with this statement and IMO acros prefer some Nitrates. But I would suggest you don't attempt to introduce Acros until your tank is 12-14 months old (seasoned) as they can be very unforgiving in a new tank. You'll also want to increase your lighting before you add them.

 

[RogueGrown]

An update to an old thread...

Since I last posted here I have made a few changes to my set up. I have added a small HOB fuge and a second light. I have changed the cycle to the lighting a tad and also bumped the whites up quite a bit. So far I'm really happy with my set up and the growth I've gotten. I still have loads to learn and cant wait to get things transferred to the 50 cube I recently bought, though that'll be a while before its up and running.