Bulldogger2008
New member
Anyone have experience with these corals? Any input would be aprreciated.
Leather Cabbage ?
- Thread starter Bulldogger2008
- Start date
redfishsc
New member
I've had a small one for the past 6 months that's about the size of a wad of chewing gum (which is what it looks like)--- was a hitchhiker on some nice Tonga worm rock.
I've kept it in my 10g which is a low nutrient system (nitrate and phosphate below my cheap API kit levels) and it hasn't grown hardly a bit.
It's a very hardy coral, but I suspect it likes water with more nutrients to be a faster grower.
I've kept it in my 10g which is a low nutrient system (nitrate and phosphate below my cheap API kit levels) and it hasn't grown hardly a bit.
It's a very hardy coral, but I suspect it likes water with more nutrients to be a faster grower.
Bulldogger2008
New member
I add calcium, strongium and iodine on a consistant basis along with phytoplanktin, so would mine benefit from these nutrients? I have it sitting medium, high under VHO lighting for 8 hours.
Bulldogger2008
New member
so you have yours under lights all day. The guy before you said they need shade and low light. did yours grow fast? what nutrients are you feeding yours?
Rouselb
New member
VHO is probably perfect. I dont really feed the corals in my tanks. I just let the fish do their thing. I use Rods and cyclopeeze. I also keep the ca and alk constant. I have not seen any issues at different alks, just pick one and keep it steady. I have had mine at 8 and 12 dkh. No issues.
r-balljunkie
Registered Reefer
Your tank is fairly newly established. I would get away from notion of adding supplements you don’t have test kits for. If you are not stocked to the gills (my assumption), stop adding things at random (iodine, strontium), on a whim because you think it is beneficial. Water changes will suffice in renewing trace elements etc.
End of the day, the hardest part of this hobby is to keep it simple and not convoluted with advertisers claims of wizardry, dosed a drop at a time.
Your best bet is to let the tank mature naturally, on month at a time. After a year, your tank will be ready for anything you want to add, so take it easy, and go slow.
good luck
Bulldogger2008
New member
so what i'm hearing is that I need to stop adding all the chemicals(supplements) and just do water changes and that will be sufficient. I'm doing 15% water changes every 2 weeks, is this ok? In between water changes I top off with DI water and add PH buffer to the DI. I do test for calcium and when its low I add the calcium. My calcium never gets below 400. All other elements are perfect with the exception of Nitrate which sits at 20ppm. I'm using 2 magnum 350 for filtration, 2 power head one low and the other up high and I use 4 bio wheels, will this be ok? My temp sits at 77 constant.
r-balljunkie
Registered Reefer
your nitrates are sky high.
after you get settled, and scrape up some bux (i was in service, i know you need to wait till the eagle takes a dump to do some things), think about ditching the magnums and biowheels. these are fine for FO, or freshwater tanks. get a 40 gallon sump, and do a refugium with chaeto, to knock down the nitrates. FWIW, you dont need to add calcium either, as i seriously doubt your bio load demands it.
1) overflow box, you can get a used one 40 bux
2) sump, old tank, 40 bux
3) acrylic baffles, 20 bux see if you can scrounge some scrap pieces
4) return pump, old mag 5 50 bux
here is a pic of my 125 and sump.
i have a low flow system, i only go approx 500 gph, so single hole, or in your case 1 overflow box.
best of luck
Chuck
after you get settled, and scrape up some bux (i was in service, i know you need to wait till the eagle takes a dump to do some things), think about ditching the magnums and biowheels. these are fine for FO, or freshwater tanks. get a 40 gallon sump, and do a refugium with chaeto, to knock down the nitrates. FWIW, you dont need to add calcium either, as i seriously doubt your bio load demands it.
1) overflow box, you can get a used one 40 bux
2) sump, old tank, 40 bux
3) acrylic baffles, 20 bux see if you can scrounge some scrap pieces
4) return pump, old mag 5 50 bux
here is a pic of my 125 and sump.
i have a low flow system, i only go approx 500 gph, so single hole, or in your case 1 overflow box.
best of luck
Chuck
Rouselb
New member
The overflow and return pumps should be sized to your particular skimmer. Dont just use a lower flow. IMO you always drill the largest holes you can into the tank for draining (this is usually 1.5" for most). You then calculate your head loss due to horizontal pipe and friction in the pipe. Then you size a pump that will give you the same flow as the throughput of the skimmer once you subtract the head loss you will know how large of a pump you need. A fuge really is not necessary right now, it can be added down the road, but dont start with it. Just do weekly water changes. You may even want to add some RowaPhos and carbon to the system. I do agree you probably dont need to dose calcium right now. Just test for it. You should be testing ca and alk.
Bulldogger2008
New member
The magnums have carbon canisters in them so we have carbon. The calcium sometime gets below 400 so i dose a bit. I'm doing 15% water changes every 2 weeks, is that ok?
redfishsc
New member
Don't buffer your DI water before mixing in the salt. Not needed and can actually cause you problems if it's buffered too much when you add the salt mix.
Just use DI and whatever salt mix tickles your fancy (I use Reef Crystals but there are several good brands).
You really should work on getting the nitrates down. If you don't have a refugium filled with macroalgae and/or chaetomorphic, read up on them and put one on your tank, one around 10-20% of your main tank size should be plenty enough to reduce your nitrates to nearly nothing.
That being said, leathers seem to like a touch of nitrate in the water, but I'd not be comfortable with anything over 5ppm.
Just use DI and whatever salt mix tickles your fancy (I use Reef Crystals but there are several good brands).
You really should work on getting the nitrates down. If you don't have a refugium filled with macroalgae and/or chaetomorphic, read up on them and put one on your tank, one around 10-20% of your main tank size should be plenty enough to reduce your nitrates to nearly nothing.
That being said, leathers seem to like a touch of nitrate in the water, but I'd not be comfortable with anything over 5ppm.
Bulldogger2008
New member
what is a refugium and how does it work?
Rouselb
New member
You dont need a fuge to get the nitrates down. Just do 10% water changes. You might need to do two a week until you get the nutrients down. Are you feeding the fish allot? There is a source and you need to find it. Is your skimmer working properly?
Fuges can help lower nitrates, just like DSBs can. A DSB is pretty straight forward, you fill your display with 3-6" of fine sand and get a clean up crew. A RDSB is a small tank that you fill with sand and it functions the same, the only difference is you can remove it any time (hense the name remote DSB). A fuge must have adequate light to grow macro, and the macro must be harvest. If you dont remove the macro you are not exporting anything. All of these techniques work. With that being said, you dont need to implement them, they are merely one way to achieve a successful tank. Start simple and then read on each of them and decide if you want to try one.
Right now i would find the nutrient source. It may be feeding to much. Also skim a little more wet. Make sure the skimmer is pulling out the nasty stuff.
Fuges can help lower nitrates, just like DSBs can. A DSB is pretty straight forward, you fill your display with 3-6" of fine sand and get a clean up crew. A RDSB is a small tank that you fill with sand and it functions the same, the only difference is you can remove it any time (hense the name remote DSB). A fuge must have adequate light to grow macro, and the macro must be harvest. If you dont remove the macro you are not exporting anything. All of these techniques work. With that being said, you dont need to implement them, they are merely one way to achieve a successful tank. Start simple and then read on each of them and decide if you want to try one.
Right now i would find the nutrient source. It may be feeding to much. Also skim a little more wet. Make sure the skimmer is pulling out the nasty stuff.
Bulldogger2008
New member
I don't have a skimmer, I was tolf by my LFS that as long as I do water changes, I don't need a skimmer. Is there a high quality one that I can use as a HOB?
Rouselb
New member
There are a few people who have successful tanks without skimmers. I am not one of them. I ran my tank for years without one and i always had nutrient issues. I used the ecosystem method and it worked but i always had excess nutrients. I ran with just a DSB and a fuge and i still had bubble algae. I removed the fuge, and DSB bought the best skimmer i could afford and now i have no excess nutrients, all the algae cleared up, my tank water is crystal clear. There are more successful tanks using skimmers then there are not. IMO you really need to do your homework on the size of tank, lighting, fish selection, salt, everything to have a successful tank without a skimmer. If you are entertaining ideas of adding a fuge, or RDSB, i would personally just add a sump with the best skimmer you can afford. All the other things we have talked about are second to a great skimmer. You can always add an external overflow box and a sump/skimmer.
Bulldogger2008
New member
So a HOB Skimmer wouldnt work on my 125?
r-balljunkie
Registered Reefer
it would work, but you would be hard pressed to find on that is rated to 125 gallons. it would be quite sizeable.
