I have a 60g cube with 97 pounds of cured live rock and about 60 pounds of cured live sand. I've finished cycling and my tank has been stable for a few weeks now. My PH is 8.3 and Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites are all 0. I can't specify the other parameters as I'm waiting for my Reef Master test kit to get here in the mail, still.
I only have a <font size="6" color="#0000FF">profanity removed</font> HOB skimmer right now because I don't have room for a sump in my small apartment. It seems to be doing quite an impressive job though, albeit a bit noisy at times. In a few months I'll be setting up a BH-RO-1000int skimmer though. The tank is lit by 4 t5 Actinics and a 250watt metal halide suspended about 6 inches above the water. The temperature stays right around 79.5 all the time. I have 2000gph in combined powerhead movement, also.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the tank: http://imgur.com/a/J6khn
I just added some more fish and invertebrates last night and now I think I'm ready to order some corals online. As of right now, here are the inhabitants:
Fish:
2 x Ocellaris Clownfish
1 x Wrasse
3 x Pajama Cardinalfish
3 x Guppies (Fully acclimated and doing fine)
Invertebrates:
5 x Emerald Crabs
3 x Peppermint Shrimp
3 x Turbo Snails
6 x Nassarius Snails
2 x Cerith Snails (Hitchikers)
6 x Blue Legged Hermit Crabs (Hitchikers)
Tons of Copepods (Hitchikers)
Tons of Bristleworms (Hitchikers)
~75 Asterina Starfish (Hitchikers. They don't touch any of the corals present in the tank, though. So I think they're the reef safe variety)
~5 Feather Dusters (Hitchhikers)
Corals:
3 x Red Mushrooms (Hitchikers. No idea what kind)
~30 Button Polyps (Hitchikers)
1 x Mojano Anemone (Hitchiker)
~15 Aiptasias (Hopefully the Peppermint Shrimp will take them out.)
Now that I got that out of the way, time for my questions!
Coral Questions
Now that I have the fundamentals of the tank set up, I'd like to add some corals! I understand the basics about them, but I haven't fully researched the specific kinds past the groupings of corals, yet. Here is what I was thinking about buying. Before I spend $200 on coral, what do you guys think? haha
This Ricordea Mushroom pack from LiveAquaria
This SPS Frag pack from Live Aquaria, also
An Indonesia Short Tentacle Coral ~3.5" (Fungia fralinae)
And a Green Hairy Mushroom ~3" (Rhodactis indosinensis)
Other Questions
1) I'm not sure which kind of Wrasse he is. Maybe a Flasher? Can you guys ID him?
2) Can you ID the kind of red mushrooms growing in my tank?
3) This is a Mojano Anemone, right? Should I kill it off now or wait and see if it interacts with any future corals. I kind of like the look of it and it's not growing or bothering anything.
4) There are white lines/worms/something extending out of the live rock in places. Are these tubeworms?
5) Any idea what this weird gray/purple growth is? It's not Coraline. The purple was "inflated" until I popped it a few days ago. Nothing came out though, it kind of just tore.
6) Any idea what kind of algae this is? It's not long enough to be hair algae or slimy enough to just be plain green algae. What eats it? The Emerald Crabs?
Anyway, thank you guys a ton for reading all of this! Any advice/input/answers would be much appreciated! =]
I only have a <font size="6" color="#0000FF">profanity removed</font> HOB skimmer right now because I don't have room for a sump in my small apartment. It seems to be doing quite an impressive job though, albeit a bit noisy at times. In a few months I'll be setting up a BH-RO-1000int skimmer though. The tank is lit by 4 t5 Actinics and a 250watt metal halide suspended about 6 inches above the water. The temperature stays right around 79.5 all the time. I have 2000gph in combined powerhead movement, also.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the tank: http://imgur.com/a/J6khn
I just added some more fish and invertebrates last night and now I think I'm ready to order some corals online. As of right now, here are the inhabitants:
Fish:
2 x Ocellaris Clownfish
1 x Wrasse
3 x Pajama Cardinalfish
3 x Guppies (Fully acclimated and doing fine)
Invertebrates:
5 x Emerald Crabs
3 x Peppermint Shrimp
3 x Turbo Snails
6 x Nassarius Snails
2 x Cerith Snails (Hitchikers)
6 x Blue Legged Hermit Crabs (Hitchikers)
Tons of Copepods (Hitchikers)
Tons of Bristleworms (Hitchikers)
~75 Asterina Starfish (Hitchikers. They don't touch any of the corals present in the tank, though. So I think they're the reef safe variety)
~5 Feather Dusters (Hitchhikers)
Corals:
3 x Red Mushrooms (Hitchikers. No idea what kind)
~30 Button Polyps (Hitchikers)
1 x Mojano Anemone (Hitchiker)
~15 Aiptasias (Hopefully the Peppermint Shrimp will take them out.)
Now that I got that out of the way, time for my questions!
Coral Questions
Now that I have the fundamentals of the tank set up, I'd like to add some corals! I understand the basics about them, but I haven't fully researched the specific kinds past the groupings of corals, yet. Here is what I was thinking about buying. Before I spend $200 on coral, what do you guys think? haha
This Ricordea Mushroom pack from LiveAquaria
This SPS Frag pack from Live Aquaria, also
An Indonesia Short Tentacle Coral ~3.5" (Fungia fralinae)
And a Green Hairy Mushroom ~3" (Rhodactis indosinensis)
Other Questions
1) I'm not sure which kind of Wrasse he is. Maybe a Flasher? Can you guys ID him?
2) Can you ID the kind of red mushrooms growing in my tank?
3) This is a Mojano Anemone, right? Should I kill it off now or wait and see if it interacts with any future corals. I kind of like the look of it and it's not growing or bothering anything.
4) There are white lines/worms/something extending out of the live rock in places. Are these tubeworms?
5) Any idea what this weird gray/purple growth is? It's not Coraline. The purple was "inflated" until I popped it a few days ago. Nothing came out though, it kind of just tore.
6) Any idea what kind of algae this is? It's not long enough to be hair algae or slimy enough to just be plain green algae. What eats it? The Emerald Crabs?
Anyway, thank you guys a ton for reading all of this! Any advice/input/answers would be much appreciated! =]
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