Help, is my tank ok for BTA?

[lockekeyy]

So I've had my 30g tank for about two weeks now. I bought it from a guy and he said it had been established for about 2 years. I would like to get a BTA for the paired clowns that came with the tank. Right now, the tank has 0 ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites with a pH of 8 and 1.025 SG. I have about 35lbs of live rock, and 50lbs live sand, 10 blue hermits and 10 nassarius snails. I have a Fluval 105 working on it, as well as 2 powerheads -Maxijet1200 and an unknown rotating one. For lights, I have a 65w blue Actinic and a 65w 10000k PC and 2 moon-light leds. I will also have a Bermude Rouge Wave Protein Skimmer coming in a few days. I plan on dosing the tank with supplemental rotifers and phytoplankton, and copepods/amphipods and mysis shrimp to help it recover from the move. Any advice or help please? I'm thinking about waiting a month? or should I wait longer/less? I also thinking of losing the Fluval after the protein skimmer arrives... good idea?
Here's a pic

 

[Slakker]

Is this your first salt tank?

I would wait at least six months, especially if you're new to the salt game. The tank and rock look quite bare for having been established for two years, and the system will need time (not additives) to recover from the move.

 

[jubjub]

personally i would say no....pc's imo are just not a good idea for a nem... also i dont know what others say but 30gal might be pushing it a bit on size.... but personally i say replace the light with like a 150w mh and u would be good to go....

i have 2x 250w MH's and my nem is probably only 8-10" away from it at the top of a rock almost.

 

[jdckbr]

def. wait at least six months for the nem,they reguire stable water conditions,very little room for error,t5 lighting will work as well take into consideration the lighting needs of all future inhabintants buy once... G/L

 

[9501gle]

Nems tend to be one of the more difficult to keep critters. I'd start out with something a little easier to keep.

 

[bsagecko]

you hobby exp says only 1 week saltwater

before this have you done alot of research

if you havent or you havent had the tank for more than 6 months i would say a no go on the nem

But i think you lighting might be ok for a BTA if it is close to the top....I would go with MH though just to be safe

ok thing you need to know about nems is that if they move everything between where they were to their new spot gets killed


and 30g is fine for a BTA but no carpets

 

[Ding2daDong]

Am I missing something here... Why is everyone saying to wait 6months before adding an anemone?

I can understand a month or two max but 6 months!? I have had plenty of anemones that have done amazing in tanks that were setup for only a couple months. They were also sps dominated and everything did great.

Maybe I can understand if your new to the hobby but is this "myth" supposed to go for everyone?

I am in the process of setting up a solana and plan on getting an anemone in a couple months. The tank will be very stable in that amount of time.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks

-Matthew

 

[Toddrtrex]

Matthew ---

When ever I recommend someone wait 6 months, it is because they are new to the hobby. The learning curve is too steep to try anemones before that.

With experienced reefers, a couple of months is fine --- experienced with anemones.

 

[bsagecko]

yeah if he had exp i would say you could do it in like 4~7 weeks you could add a nem

but if this is his first reef tank i would wait 6 months

i have been reefing since november and only now do i think if i wanted to i could handle a RBTA............

you might want to read up on melevsreef.com on his BTA page good info nice pics...........

 

[Ding2daDong]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13148624#post13148624 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Toddrtrex
Matthew ---

When ever I recommend someone wait 6 months, it is because they are new to the hobby. The learning curve is too steep to try anemones before that.

With experienced reefers, a couple of months is fine --- experienced with anemones.

Okay cool. Just was getting confused with what was going on.

Thanks

-Matthew

 

[Mr. Ballistic]

I am a newb, but doesn't it say that he has two 65w power compact bulbs? which ends up being 4.3 watts per gallon, is this enough to keep an anemone happy, or am I missing something?

 

[Toddrtrex]

Mr. Ballistic --- watts per gallon is a poor ratio to go by, doesn't take into account the type of lights, depth of tank, etc.

But, you do bring up a good point. While BTAs can be kept under PCs (( I did it for 5+ years )) I would like to see that actinic blue switched to another 10,000K, or at least a 50/50.

 

[MrManz1691]

you need to fill up your tank. Its a little low.

 

[lil_cheeks]

I agree, watts per gallon is a ok "rule of thumb" but now that T5HO's are available i think its starting to be used less and less.

 

[lockekeyy]

Thanks for the advice so far, I'll lay off of getting a BTA for a few months. I did take the advice and ordered a 150W MH and am returning the dual 65W PCs, also, I topped off the tank, lol. So are there any other corals that are easy starters or should I wait a few month until I get the nem first, then add corals? I read that they can sting each other, so I figure if I add the nem first and left it find where it wants to sit, I can add corals away from it.

 

[Slakker]

No guarantees that it'll stay, keeping an anemone in a mixed reef is always a risk.

 

[Maxi]

Yep, I chose not to go with an anemone because at the highest part of the tank I plan on putting sps.

Be wise.

 

[Reefing102]

i agree there is no guarantees that it will stay, however if you want to get a few easy corals I would wait around a month for the tank to establish more, then you should be ok to add 1 or 2 corals to the tank.
I would also wait on the coral until after your new light is hooked up that way it will be less of a shock to the coral after having different lighting on them before.