First reef attempt

[josh_tn]

A big thanks to Wayne and Norman for hooking me up with some great rock and sand (and a few other "critters"). I ended up only being able to use one of the 2 big pieces. I just couldn't seem to get both in there without filling the whole tank so I put one of them in the 55

This was my first attempt at any kind of aquascaping so I spent a long time trying to make something I liked. I'm not sure if I'm satisfied yet but at least I finally got it fairly stable.

The water is still a little cloudy but here are a few pics anyway.

Full tank shot

Closeup of a small piece of LR from LFS

Don't remember what you said this was Wayne

Or this...it was in the starfish container(sorry for the blurry pic)

I'll be putting some more flow in soon and also upgrading the lighting.
I know its not much to look at compared to some of the great tanks I have seen on here but its pretty nice to finally have something of my own. Thanks for all the help getting me started. :thumbsup:

 

[james3370]

looks good. if ya want a few pieces of smaller rock to fill it out, i have several pieces that are 3-6" that should fit nicely but not be too big in that tank

just let me know

 

[commonstranger]

Josh the first picture is some type of polyp. (brown/green center) The second look like green star polyps. The grow pretty quick.

 

[josh_tn]

There's a lot of activity in there already. I've seen several bristle worms, small starfish, asterina starfish, snails, etc.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14708766#post14708766 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by james3370
looks good. if ya want a few pieces of smaller rock to fill it out, i have several pieces that are 3-6" that should fit nicely but not be too big in that tank

just let me know

Thanks James. For now I kinda like having a little open space and I'm sure I'll end up moving some stuff around once it gets cycled and I start adding a few things. I may eventually want a few more small pieces so if you still have some when I get to that point, I'll hit you up for some.

Originally posted</a> by commonstranger
Josh the first picture is some type of polyp. (brown/green center) The second look like green star polyps. The grow pretty quick.

Thanks, I do remember him saying now that one of them was green star polyps.

 

[ocd_mariner]

I think the aquascape looks fantastic. I'm a fan of the open space. It won't take long to fill that with coral and start to grow in. Gonna be nice

 

[josh_tn]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14710966#post14710966 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ocd_mariner
I think the aquascape looks fantastic. I'm a fan of the open space. It won't take long to fill that with coral and start to grow in. Gonna be nice

Thanks Chuck

Current params:
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 10.0
Ph 8.2
Temperature 82.0

FTS

polyp?

GSP

Tube worms? Featherdusters? Different names for the same thing?

Wayne, I didn't know I was getting part of your CUC

Bristleworm

 

[waynesworld]

I told you there would be a little of everything in there. At night look at the rock and see if you see pods in there yet. They will look like little shrimp and bugs. The id was correct it is a pally and GSP.

 

[josh_tn]

Oh there are definitely pods in there. I don't even need to wait until night. I can see them scurrying around all over the rocks pretty much anytime I look at it. Also found a stomatella in there yesterday. Very cool.

 

[mixer911]

Looking pretty good josh! that is one thing I love about reef tanks, so much biodiversity and it keeps growing.

 

[josh_tn]

Is it possible that my cycle is already complete? Its only been set up a week but I did start with established rock.
I went a few days without checking parameters but here is what they were 4 days ago:
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 10.0

Now they are:
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 5.0

I have not added anything to the tank but the hitchhikers I got from the rock are still in there. I was just wondering if I should start adding some cleanup crew or wait a while longer? Also, for this small a tank, what is a good size cleanup crew? The palys and GSP are still doing good and the palys seem to be growing new heads. I can see what looks like mouths in the center of them, should I be feeding them anything?

 

[NeveSSL]

It is very possible that your cycle is complete.

IMO, you should be absolutely fine to put a clean up crew in here AS LONG AS they have something to clean up... don't want them to starve!

If I were you, I'd personally pick up just a few scarlet hermits (they're prettier than blue leggs IMO and are also rumored to clean up a bit more) and maybe some turbo snails. Micro brittle stars are useful I think, too... if you don't have any, let me know next time you're up 24 this way because I've got about 10,000 and it won't hurt anything to donate a couple!

As far as the palys go, some people feed them, but most do not. Its up to you! They will most likely get plenty of food in regular fish feedings, though, once you get some. Personally, I don't worry about feeding them.

HTH!

Brandon

 

[josh_tn]

Thanks! I do have quite a few of those micro brittle stars. I'm not sure how many but I see legs sticking out pretty often. I think I'll try and pick up a small crew this weekend. Thanks for the help.

 

[NeveSSL]

I forgot you got those rocks from Wayne... you should have plenty of micro brittle stars and plenty of white feather dusters.

Brandon

 

[mixer911]

Yea josh with that rock already being from an established tank, your done cycling

I got a bunch of rock from wayne also and my cycle is over and already got good ole Diatoms :thumbsup: I used new sand so that is why I got the diatoms, you probabbly will not have them too bad since you have established sand also. I have had 7 fish in there and no amonia at all now. It came up slightly for a day or 2.

 

[josh_tn]

Haha...yeah I was amazed at how many different critters I've seen just from some of Wayne's rock. That stuff is life insta-reef, just add water

I wish I had checked my parameters every day now just so I could have seen what actually happened. I didn't expect it to go that fast. I had .25 ammonia at the beginning and never saw any nitrites. I'm guessing they probably were there and I just missed them by not testing for a few days.

How do you know when it's ok to add corals? I have no real plans for this tank yet but I guess I need to start trying to figure out which ones won't quickly overrun a tank this small.

 

[NeveSSL]

Well... just add saltwater.

Personally, on corals I would wait a bit longer. I would also probably add at least one fish (if you're planning on adding fish, that is ) before adding corals so that you can kind of break your bio filtration in a bit more. Just my opinion, though. And this is assuming you want SPS and some of the more fragile corals.

Brandon

 

[waynesworld]

You already have corals but if you want some more you can try them slow and don't pay too much for anything yet. so you may want to try a leather and some other soft stuff but stay away of most sps. you could try a cap chip but I am not sure of your lights.

 

[mixer911]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14750697#post14750697 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by josh_tn


I wish I had checked my parameters every day now just so I could have seen what actually happened. I didn't expect it to go that fast. I had .25 ammonia at the beginning and never saw any nitrites. I'm guessing they probably were there and I just missed them by not testing for a few days.

How do you know when it's ok to add corals? I have no real plans for this tank yet but I guess I need to start trying to figure out which ones won't quickly overrun a tank this small.

It happens so fast with established rock, that you would have barely seen any change. You caught the main part with the ammonia. You will probabbly never see nitrites since the bacteria that creates nitrates from nitrites is already established and ready to eat the nitrites.

Like Brandon mentioned, once you add fish you will probabbly see another small cycle, prob just an amonia bump again. you could probabbly do some softies, but I would add some fish first if you plan on adding some.

 

[josh_tn]

Thanks guys, very helpful information. I have a 96W PC light on the tank with a 50/50 bulb. The amount of light is pretty good but I've heard people say that some of the SPS doesn't do well under PC lighting. I'll probably stick with some soft stuff for awhile once I get started.
As for fish, I had originally thought about having a pair of clowns as the only fish but I'm not sure if that's too much for a 10 gallon.

 

[NeveSSL]

A pair of clowns should be fine in a 10g.

Brandon