mounting coral *newbie question*
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papagimp
COMAS Rocks!
As for testing, you got em down, cept get rid of those "prolly"'s there, you'll need that calcium test for sure. After all, that's how candy canes and froggies make there skeletal structure, calcium. SG testing can be done with a hydrometer just fine, I've been using one for over a year and I think my tank looks great. BUT, on the other hand, not as accurate as a refractometer, and I DO plan on getting one soon. Different corals can be more or less sensitive than others, best not to take any chances and get the best possible testing equpiment you can.
Frogspawns can be aggressive, but they can also be stung by others as well. fwiw, I have had the same froggie polyp in my tank for a year now and it still has yet to produce a single sweeper. And I have another colony I picked up last weekend that seems to be all sweepers. The longer your corals are housed together, they will "get used" to one another and the warfare may subside a bit to where he won't produce as many sweepers. Too high of a current can cause that as well i've noticed. I had a hammer that would produce sweepers on one side only, and that side was constanly getting battered with higher current. I moved the curretn away and he went back to no sweepers again. I have 3 differnt frogs in my tannk, all in close proximity to one another. I've also had them close to my hammer before, they never seemed to hurt eachother. But I do have a Torch frag that doesn't like being close to the frogs. It's a shot in the dark weather they'll get along with each other or not. But I've seen more people say there hammers and frogs get along just fine. The torch on the other hand is a little more iffy when it comes to "euphyllia compatibility"
Frogspawns can be aggressive, but they can also be stung by others as well. fwiw, I have had the same froggie polyp in my tank for a year now and it still has yet to produce a single sweeper. And I have another colony I picked up last weekend that seems to be all sweepers. The longer your corals are housed together, they will "get used" to one another and the warfare may subside a bit to where he won't produce as many sweepers. Too high of a current can cause that as well i've noticed. I had a hammer that would produce sweepers on one side only, and that side was constanly getting battered with higher current. I moved the curretn away and he went back to no sweepers again. I have 3 differnt frogs in my tannk, all in close proximity to one another. I've also had them close to my hammer before, they never seemed to hurt eachother. But I do have a Torch frag that doesn't like being close to the frogs. It's a shot in the dark weather they'll get along with each other or not. But I've seen more people say there hammers and frogs get along just fine. The torch on the other hand is a little more iffy when it comes to "euphyllia compatibility"
Travis L. Stevens
New member
Organics
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and Phosphate
Elements
pH, Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium (and any other things that you are dosing such as Iodine, Strontium, etc)
Other
Accurate Thermometer(s) and Accurate Hydrometer or Refractometer. Be warned that there are various stipulations with Refractometers and Hydrometers that will determine accuracy.
If you love to piddle with chemistry and don't mind spending the money, electronic meters are really helpful and generally accurate when calibrated properly. Also, a TDS Meter and a Lux Meter (or PAR Meter) are really fun, but rarely used tools.
captbunzo
Premium Member
I love Travis & Adam, but I am going to be the great big disagreeable opinion here.....
First, on lighting. I'd say that much light over a 10g tank is sufficient for most anything you'd REALLY want to put in there. Intensity is a LOT less of an issue when you are talking about a shallow tank, which you are. Even a clam at the bottom of the tank would only be about 10 inches from the light, or less. So I'd say that as far as LIGHTING is concerned, you'd be fine for clams, sps, etc.
Second, tank size. Let me really quickly add this caveat - your biggest problem maintaining stable water parameters, etc, is going to be the tiny size of this tank. THAT might be the sole factor that would make more sensitive critters such as SPS and clams a bad idea. However, you can combat this with water changes.
Third, water changes (etc). With a tank that small, I'd skip any form of supplementation of chemicals, dosing, etc. Just do a good 1/3 water change once per week. Yep, you heard me, a full third. Make the water up a day in advance. Put an air bubbler in it and a heater. Make it match up with your target tank on temp. Perhaps if you REALLY want to be careful, check pH and buffer accordingly to match the target tank (though this really isn't likely necessary). And then do the water change.
And make sure to use a good salt mix such as Reef Crystals or the Red Sea Pro stuff. That will keep calcium, alk, magnesium, and those so called mystery "trace" elements in perfectly fine ranges. I really recommend Reef Crystals for it's low cost and good composition.
Forth, testing. Shock, you can probably skip it all together if you do the aforementioned water changes. Except you'll want to have them around to test occasionally and in case of any problems. And they are fun to have around because, well, testing is fun. Makes me feel like a chemist for a bit of time...
And definitely, the refractometer is a good choice.
Anyhow, that is as long as my attention span can last in one place.... Welcome to COMAS!!!! And good luck... And happy new year!!!!
First, on lighting. I'd say that much light over a 10g tank is sufficient for most anything you'd REALLY want to put in there. Intensity is a LOT less of an issue when you are talking about a shallow tank, which you are. Even a clam at the bottom of the tank would only be about 10 inches from the light, or less. So I'd say that as far as LIGHTING is concerned, you'd be fine for clams, sps, etc.
Second, tank size. Let me really quickly add this caveat - your biggest problem maintaining stable water parameters, etc, is going to be the tiny size of this tank. THAT might be the sole factor that would make more sensitive critters such as SPS and clams a bad idea. However, you can combat this with water changes.
Third, water changes (etc). With a tank that small, I'd skip any form of supplementation of chemicals, dosing, etc. Just do a good 1/3 water change once per week. Yep, you heard me, a full third. Make the water up a day in advance. Put an air bubbler in it and a heater. Make it match up with your target tank on temp. Perhaps if you REALLY want to be careful, check pH and buffer accordingly to match the target tank (though this really isn't likely necessary). And then do the water change.
And make sure to use a good salt mix such as Reef Crystals or the Red Sea Pro stuff. That will keep calcium, alk, magnesium, and those so called mystery "trace" elements in perfectly fine ranges. I really recommend Reef Crystals for it's low cost and good composition.
Forth, testing. Shock, you can probably skip it all together if you do the aforementioned water changes. Except you'll want to have them around to test occasionally and in case of any problems. And they are fun to have around because, well, testing is fun. Makes me feel like a chemist for a bit of time...
And definitely, the refractometer is a good choice.
Anyhow, that is as long as my attention span can last in one place.... Welcome to COMAS!!!! And good luck... And happy new year!!!!
Like I said, I do about 1.5g to 2g every sat. I don't mix my water (I have salt on hand, just in case....) But I buy 5g at a time from the LFS. *On a side note... I REALLY miss Hawaii... I was part of the aquarium in Honolulu, and for like $20 a year, I got all the fresh sea water I wanted... The same stuff they use in their HUGE tanks. Comes from a spiket 5 miles out to sea... *
And the main reason that I add Calcium, is in hopes that it will help with the growth of my coral...
And the main reason that I add Calcium, is in hopes that it will help with the growth of my coral...
captbunzo
Premium Member
It probably won't hurt anything. But with regular water changes, you'll probably be keeping up with your calcium needs anyhow. It's also important to recognize that Calcium and Alkalinity are a dependent relationship in a saltwater tank, so dosing of one will effect the other. There are good articles floating around (reefkeeping.com, advancedaquarist.com) by folks such as Randy Holmes-Farley, etc, but I am too lazy for now to go look them up...
Travis L. Stevens
New member
We wuv you too
That was the round about point that I was getting at. It can be done, but as my opinion I wouldn't keep those forementioned items in the setup you have. FWIW, I did fine with Montipora under my 2x 65w PCs on my 29g back when I first started. Also, the species of clam will play HUGE role in survivability concerning lighting. Clams such as T. deresa and T. squamosa can tolerate lower lighting far better than, say, T. crocea and T. maxima.
I couldn't agree more. And really, you'll probably find that water changes are just flat out easier and less risky/hazardous than dosing buffers/supplements.
Forth, testing. Shock, you can probably skip it all together if you do the aforementioned water changes. Except you'll want to have them around to test occasionally and in case of any problems. And they are fun to have around because, well, testing is fun. Makes me feel like a chemist for a bit of time...
And definitely, the refractometer is a good choice.
Too true. I prefer to keep a set of "Good" and a set of "Bad" Test Kits on hand. I use the Good kits for scheduled tests and if I feel something just isn't right. I use the Bad kits for general testing between scheduled tests just to keep tabs on things. For the most part, once a tank is set up, you can mainly just test Nitrates, Phosphates, Calcium, Alkalinity, and pH. And even then, depending on the situation, not everyone of those is needed. I can see someone testing pH and Nitrate only and do just as good as long as they understand that Phosphate, Alk, and Ca have key rolls, too.
papagimp
COMAS Rocks!
I havn't forgotten yet.....(yet)
But I'm still having trouble finding a ride there. Jessica will be working that day and needs the car so......
As for giving me something to think about over the new years, well, this is only going to tee off the family when I start talking about fish crap again while there all trying to "plaster" in the new years. LOL
But I'm still having trouble finding a ride there. Jessica will be working that day and needs the car so......
As for giving me something to think about over the new years, well, this is only going to tee off the family when I start talking about fish crap again while there all trying to "plaster" in the new years. LOL
papagimp
COMAS Rocks!
Oh it'll help out, lol. Just to give you an idea, I have my 55g reef tank, mixed corals, lot's of livestock. 100lbs of LR and 4inch sandbed. ect. ect. ect. My water parameters have always stayed pretty optimal, with slight flucutations with PH, due to lack of proper oxygen exhange and co2 buildup in the house. Anyways, I just unhooked my refugium a couple days ago, putting the fuge on my mothers tank and doing me up a new one with bigger pump and hopefully drilling the tank too. 2 days without a fuge....ONLY TWO!!! and I have algae starting to pop up everywhere, phosphates are registering again on my test and nitrates have even started to show a bit. The sides and back of my tank now have that nice crusty green film on them, lol. I new my fuge made a big difference but apparently it made a big difference quickly. also, not having the fuge for alot of particulates to travel to is keeping my display a little "dirtier" looking than normal as well. Alot of the detritus and excess food made it's way to the fuge where a large assortment of good reef critters would tear it apart, and now it's just settling all over the tank, and thanks to my maxijet being modded now, it's settling over the rockwork too.
Travis L. Stevens
New member
I'll agree with Adam here. Something is better than nothing. I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I'm currently sitting with 7 fish in my 29g and they are heavy eaters (fattening them up for breeding), I have 0 detectable Nitrates and Phosphates, and, shame on me, I don't do water changes nearly like I need to at the moment. If I didn't have a refugium, I'm sure that my tank would have nitrates and phosphates through the roof. There was a while that I didn't have any macro algae, and I started noticing the effects right away. Do to some problems being able to keep the preferred algae, Chaetomorpha, I have now resorted to using Xenia because I don't want to risk Caulerpa.
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