Tenshoa
New member
Hi All,
First time posting here, but have been reading and finding quite a bit of informative info so far. I have several questions, but I want to make sure I cover all bases, so my apologies for the length (although maybe the length will help weed out any trolls with pointless or useless comments.)
About me: First time getting into a reef system, although I have had previous experience with freshwater and saltwater fish (primarily Lions and Triggers). So I understand the basics.
My purchase: About 2 weeks ago, I purchased a used 29 gallon Biocube for $180. It came with the tank, stand, protein skimmer, 3 stage AquaFX RO/DI, Live rock, API Test kit, Water, Clown Fish, and miscellaneous supplies. The man who owned it before me claimed to at one time had several fish and corals in there. However, they have been gone for a while, now with only one clown remaining. He seemed as though he had done his homework in keeping the tank for the most part, so I decided to keep the existing water he had.
Immediately from purchasing the equipment from him, I drove directly to the LFS and spoke with the owner, who seemed VERY informative. In fact she had a fish who was well... trained as if it were a dog. They also maintain the tanks for Universal Studios locally. Anyway, I had them check all of the water parameters which tested fine and picked up a few more things as well. However, she wanted to wait a few days to a week before selling me any fish or corals as to ensure the stability of the water parameters.
Few days later, waters were still fine and confirmed with LFS. Purchased a Coral Beauty, 2 Zoas, a trumpet coral, and a Hairy Mushroom. I placed one zoa up high, one just a bit below, and the hairy mushroom toward the bottom. Took 1 day for the middle zoa to open, about 4 days for the higher zoa, and the hairy mushroom didn't seem to want to open. So I replaced him in another area with slightly less flow and it appears to be a little more open, but still not fully (I don't think).
Next, noticed about 25 Aiptasia emerging in tank. Decided that I wanted some peppermint shrimp for the problem. The LFS owner seemed biased and recommended aiptasia x instead. She said she wasn't a fan of peppermint shrimp. Despite her suggestion, I decided to buy one peppermint shrimp anyway just to see how it worked out (yes, I can tell the difference between a peppermint and a camel). Took the shrimp home, acclimated it, and it died about 4 hours later. Went back to the LFS, told them what happened and though they found it odd, gave me another for free. 4 hours later... dead.
I decided the next day to check out a different LFS just to keep my options open. Purchased 2 more peppermint shrimp, some aiptasia x, and a Hammer Coral. He also checked my water which appeared to be fine, though it showed slightly high alkalinity. Did a 2 gallon change upon his recommendation and lowered the Alkalinity to 8.9.
Over the next 2 days, noticed that one of the peppermint shrimp became MIA. Now I realize that they are nocturnal and hide during the day. However, my aquarium is only so big and I can see into most crevices and caves. One still remains but no sign of the other (over 5 days now). Yesterday (day and a half since last test), checked my water again and found that my Nitrates spiked to somewhere between 40 and 80. Took water to the LFS to confirm. Performed a 10 gallon water change.
In addition, I had placed the Hammer coral down low with a moderate flow. After 4 days, Hammer Coral had not yet opened. So i decided to move it to a different area with a little less flow. In the process it broke off the disk that it was attached to, and looks as though I lost some polyps as well.
Tested water again today. Everything looks great, except that the Nitrate is still between 10 and 20ppm. Hammer coral still not looking good.
Now for the questions.....
What happened to my peppermint shrimp?? The first few that died? I had removed them from the tank immediately. Out of the last 2 I bought, only 1 remains with no sign whatsoever of the other. I even lifted up a few pieces of rock. Where did it go??
Is it possible a dead shrimp was the cause of the Nitrate spike?
Will my hammer coral survive? It is down to a skeleton with about a couple dozen or so polyps showing. (see pic)
Can you suggest better spots for the corals or let me know if the placement seems okay? (see pic)
The peppermint shrimp doesn't seem to be eating the aiptasia. So I used aiptasia x on most of it. Some of them appeared to be greater than 1" in diameter. Is it possible that this caused a spike?
Is it possible for an aiptasia to eat a shrimp??
What is the best way to tell what the flow is like in a certain part of the tank?
There is a tiny tiny starfish that I see every now and then on the glass. It has 5 legs, all of which appear equal in length. What is it? How large will it get?
What is the maximum amount of fish you would put in this tank? I would like to add one more. Possibly a Royal Gramma.
Some other facts to preemptively answer some of your questions:
I do not overfeed my fish. I give a quarter of one piece of frozen mysis shrimp in the morning, which they eat completely in less than 15 seconds. and maybe a tiny pinch of pellets at night, which they also eat completely within seconds.
I do have 4 hermit crabs who occasionally crawl on top of my zoas. Although I've never actually seen them do any harm.
I have never seen my Coral Beauty nip at any of the corals.
Tests performed regularly: PH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Alkalinity.
Water temp is 77.7 degrees
Both fish look and swim healthy. In fact, I they are always hungry, rushing to the top when I open the lid. I worry that I'm underfeeding them sometimes.
Thank you all in advance!
First time posting here, but have been reading and finding quite a bit of informative info so far. I have several questions, but I want to make sure I cover all bases, so my apologies for the length (although maybe the length will help weed out any trolls with pointless or useless comments.)
About me: First time getting into a reef system, although I have had previous experience with freshwater and saltwater fish (primarily Lions and Triggers). So I understand the basics.
My purchase: About 2 weeks ago, I purchased a used 29 gallon Biocube for $180. It came with the tank, stand, protein skimmer, 3 stage AquaFX RO/DI, Live rock, API Test kit, Water, Clown Fish, and miscellaneous supplies. The man who owned it before me claimed to at one time had several fish and corals in there. However, they have been gone for a while, now with only one clown remaining. He seemed as though he had done his homework in keeping the tank for the most part, so I decided to keep the existing water he had.
Immediately from purchasing the equipment from him, I drove directly to the LFS and spoke with the owner, who seemed VERY informative. In fact she had a fish who was well... trained as if it were a dog. They also maintain the tanks for Universal Studios locally. Anyway, I had them check all of the water parameters which tested fine and picked up a few more things as well. However, she wanted to wait a few days to a week before selling me any fish or corals as to ensure the stability of the water parameters.
Few days later, waters were still fine and confirmed with LFS. Purchased a Coral Beauty, 2 Zoas, a trumpet coral, and a Hairy Mushroom. I placed one zoa up high, one just a bit below, and the hairy mushroom toward the bottom. Took 1 day for the middle zoa to open, about 4 days for the higher zoa, and the hairy mushroom didn't seem to want to open. So I replaced him in another area with slightly less flow and it appears to be a little more open, but still not fully (I don't think).
Next, noticed about 25 Aiptasia emerging in tank. Decided that I wanted some peppermint shrimp for the problem. The LFS owner seemed biased and recommended aiptasia x instead. She said she wasn't a fan of peppermint shrimp. Despite her suggestion, I decided to buy one peppermint shrimp anyway just to see how it worked out (yes, I can tell the difference between a peppermint and a camel). Took the shrimp home, acclimated it, and it died about 4 hours later. Went back to the LFS, told them what happened and though they found it odd, gave me another for free. 4 hours later... dead.
I decided the next day to check out a different LFS just to keep my options open. Purchased 2 more peppermint shrimp, some aiptasia x, and a Hammer Coral. He also checked my water which appeared to be fine, though it showed slightly high alkalinity. Did a 2 gallon change upon his recommendation and lowered the Alkalinity to 8.9.
Over the next 2 days, noticed that one of the peppermint shrimp became MIA. Now I realize that they are nocturnal and hide during the day. However, my aquarium is only so big and I can see into most crevices and caves. One still remains but no sign of the other (over 5 days now). Yesterday (day and a half since last test), checked my water again and found that my Nitrates spiked to somewhere between 40 and 80. Took water to the LFS to confirm. Performed a 10 gallon water change.
In addition, I had placed the Hammer coral down low with a moderate flow. After 4 days, Hammer Coral had not yet opened. So i decided to move it to a different area with a little less flow. In the process it broke off the disk that it was attached to, and looks as though I lost some polyps as well.
Tested water again today. Everything looks great, except that the Nitrate is still between 10 and 20ppm. Hammer coral still not looking good.
Now for the questions.....
What happened to my peppermint shrimp?? The first few that died? I had removed them from the tank immediately. Out of the last 2 I bought, only 1 remains with no sign whatsoever of the other. I even lifted up a few pieces of rock. Where did it go??
Is it possible a dead shrimp was the cause of the Nitrate spike?
Will my hammer coral survive? It is down to a skeleton with about a couple dozen or so polyps showing. (see pic)
Can you suggest better spots for the corals or let me know if the placement seems okay? (see pic)
The peppermint shrimp doesn't seem to be eating the aiptasia. So I used aiptasia x on most of it. Some of them appeared to be greater than 1" in diameter. Is it possible that this caused a spike?
Is it possible for an aiptasia to eat a shrimp??
What is the best way to tell what the flow is like in a certain part of the tank?
There is a tiny tiny starfish that I see every now and then on the glass. It has 5 legs, all of which appear equal in length. What is it? How large will it get?
What is the maximum amount of fish you would put in this tank? I would like to add one more. Possibly a Royal Gramma.
Some other facts to preemptively answer some of your questions:
I do not overfeed my fish. I give a quarter of one piece of frozen mysis shrimp in the morning, which they eat completely in less than 15 seconds. and maybe a tiny pinch of pellets at night, which they also eat completely within seconds.
I do have 4 hermit crabs who occasionally crawl on top of my zoas. Although I've never actually seen them do any harm.
I have never seen my Coral Beauty nip at any of the corals.
Tests performed regularly: PH, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Alkalinity.
Water temp is 77.7 degrees
Both fish look and swim healthy. In fact, I they are always hungry, rushing to the top when I open the lid. I worry that I'm underfeeding them sometimes.
Thank you all in advance!
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