My nano reef

R

Robert_R

New member
So im new to the saltwater tank hobby, i picked up an aqueon evolve8 from petco, got myself 5 or so lbs of live sand, so i have 1.5 inches at the bottom of the tank and 5lbs of live rock. before getting anything into the tank like fish or crabs or anything. i let it run with the rock and sand for 2 weeks. got everything checked out and decided to go to the pet store and pick up what they call a frag, they were on sale and i got first pick. not sure what it is yet. they kind look like flowers. but anyways they are doing great. so i gradually started adding stuff.

as for critters in my tank. 3 hermit crabs, two bumblebee snails(nerite) and a small scooter blenny or dragonette.
my tank after placing my LR into it. i did some re arranging since then.
523422_10150890815637032_212882520_n.jpg

this is the frag i got. can someone tell me what they are and any additional info i should know! thanks.
469366_10150901711717032_2073234738_o.jpg

and my dragonette i put in about a week ago
416134_10150920025822032_332453486_o.jpg

and the tank as of today after an algae cleaning off the acrylic
526623_10150930067702032_307518514_n.jpg
 
Looking good so far! I have an Evolve 8 as well..


Those are Zoanthids, and a nice looking little colony at that. There's a whole sub-forum for them on here.. people get addicted to them!

Keep it coming! :wave:
 
You got zoanthids, they are very easy to keep and some of my favorite coral.

As for the fish, if that is a dragonette then you should probably get it out of the tank. They feed on copepods and with your size tank you will not have a sufficient copepod population to keep it alive.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2
 
Those are zoas/zoos. They come in many different color patterns. Very easy coral for begginer. Just keep the water params in check and they will multiply quickly with right conditions.

I dont understand why they sold you the dragonet. My unerstanding is they require a LOT of pods from an established tank to survive. There may be something different about yours but that is how I understand their feeding needs. You should trade it back to them for something you'll be able to keep. Not trying to tell you what to do as we all buy without knowing certain needs at some point in this hobby.
 
I agree with the others. You shouldn't have the dragonette. Your tank will not be able to sustain it long term. See if the LFS that sold it to you will let you bring it back and let you get something not as demanding.
 
well i talked to the guy at the pet store. and apparently they feed them frozen foods. and ive been feeding mine twice a day. and he seems to be doing ok. but i am concerned about him. ill watch him a little more but im going to try and keep him in here for now. but thank you for the input ill definately go talk to them about trading for perhaps just some more coral or something.
 
Well Roger and me both said the same thing at the same time so guess thats a sign.

I cant believe they sold it to you though. Thats the difference in a good fish shop and one that is just trying to make a buck.

They get their nutrients needed to survive from the pods but will accept other foods. Even if it does eat the frozen foods its not getting its main source of nutrients that it will need to live long term.
 
Robert,
I would pull that little guy, only reason I say this is because to my knowledge they require live foods. To get your tank reproducing micro-life takes time, usually a year plus before the tank is mature. I think you can revisit the addition later, but in a new tank is kind of risky. I would research refugiums, perhaps you can install one on your tank to give a place for pods and micro-life to flourish without harm. Then the pods will continually make there way into the display where the fish lives... Just a thought...
GL and Welcome to RC!!! :)
 
You are going to be limited to one fish in an eight gallon tank. I would check out the nano fish section of liveaqauria.com. if it was me i would do a purplee firefish or a yellow prawn goby/pistol shrimp pair.

(Sorry to have given you bad news as you seem quite excited about your tank but I don't want you to have to watch your fish starve to death either...)

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2
 
rogermccray said:
you are going to be limited to one fish in an eight gallon tank. I would check out the nano fish section of liveaqauria.com. If it was me i would do a purplee firefish or a yellow prawn goby/pistol shrimp pair.

(sorry to have given you bad news as you seem quite excited about your tank but i don't want you to have to watch your fish starve to death either...)

sent from my droid2 using tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

+1
 
tanks looks great, but the increased feeding so early on is causing a hair algae bloom and this will get worse. id remove the hair algae immediately by hand, then do something about what's causing it. lift out the rock, scrub off all the hair algae loose, then rinse it all off the rock with fresh saltwater and put back in tank. never let algae build up, there's no time for it in a nano reef imo
B
 
Last edited:
Yeah I'm going to do that soon. And I took some water to the pet store to get it tested and everything checked out good. What do you think would cause the hair algae to grow so fast?

Also for a few days. Id say 2 weeks ago some of my sand turned brown. What would cause that to happen?
 
That would have been a cool combo to have for fish.

And yeah from what I've seen on here the.zoas can be dangerous.

Before I get any snails I'm going to do a few water changes.to see of it helps
 
202277_10150930978422032_240475782_o.jpg


i recently got another frag of zoas and this.. anyone know exactly what it is. i think the guy at the LFS called it a galaxy coral? i googled that and this is not what i saw lol.
 
Update. so i went ahead and cleaned my LR off. got rid of most the the hair algae and decided to flip over my LR to make like a cave and put my zoa's on top of it closest to my light source.

Im thinking about getting some other corals for my tank to bring more color to it.
any ideas?

329365_10150956597942032_1608986236_o.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
First SPS coral. Is this bleaching?
Replies
6
Views
608
apavlik2
A
S
200 Gallon Mixed Reef - Rock Questions
2
Replies
20
Views
608
wvned
wvned
H
Hermit crab
Replies
16
Views
647
HONESTINJUN
H
Niven
I'm back....and ready to jump back in, feet first in the deep end, speedo, everything!
2
Replies
24
Views
771
griss
griss
S
Tank is not cycling
2 3
Replies
44
Views
974
wvned
wvned
Back
Top