My Setup - Thoughts?

[BassMekanik]

Here's a video of my tank:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q8Hv3BUTDo

I'm fairly new to the hobby so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears.

Hi Bass and welcome. Can you start a thread and tell us a little more about your system and then we could help out the best.
A few things like how old is the system, lighting, filtration, what you want it to be...ect

I set this tank up when I moved into my new house last September, so that would make it 5 months old. About half of the liverock, fish and the anemone were transferred over from a 55g that was setup from April-September of last year.

I want this tank to be a mixed reef tank with fish, anemones, LPS and soft corals. Right now I'm having issues with 2 Damsels. You can read more about that here if you like. I'm also looking forward to some coralline algae growth. On the recommendation of a forum member, I turned off my return pump and scraped some of the existing coralline algae to release the spores all throughout the tank.

I do 25g water changes every 2 weeks. I use RO/DI water and RC salt, however I will be switching to ESV very soon. I do regular top offs with fresh RO/DI water. I change my sock filters and clean my skimmer daily.

My Calcium levels hang around 500 and my Alkalinity is currently at 11.5 dkh or 4.10 meq, however you prefer to measure it. I do not test for anything else or dose anything. These levels are strictly from me using RO/DI water and RC.

Here is the info on my tank hardware:

- 110g
- 100lbs Liverock (roughly)
- T5 lighting with 2 50W Actinic and 2 10k Daylight Bulbs
- 30g Sump w/double sock filters
- Euroreef Protein Skimmer
- 25W Gamma UV Clarifier
- 800 GPH Return Pump
- 2 Hydor Evo 1400 Powerheads.

I just ordered a new bulb for my UV Clarifier and will also be purchasing a Vortech MP40 this weekend. :celeb1:

Here is my current list of livestock:

- Maroon Clown
- Domino Damsel
- Striped Damsel
- Coral Beauty Angel
- Royal Gramma
- Blue Tang
- Lawnmower Blenny
- Sand Sifting Goby

- Bubble Tip Anemone (that's what I was told it was when I bought it, however I don't think that's what it is. After extensive research on the internet I think it's a Sebae anemone. If anyone can help me identify it that would be great.)

- Small Hermit Crab
- 2 Emerald Crabs

- Sand Sifting Starfish

- About 20 Snails (mixed between regular snails, Turban Snails and some little snails that I'm not sure what they are)

- 2 groups of Waving Hand Coral
- 1 colony of Standard Green Zoas
- 1 colony of Tearjerker Zoas
- 1 colony of Eagle Eye Zoas
- Red Acan Lord
- Flowerpot Coral
- Orange Mushroom Polyps
- 2 colonies of Greenish Purple Mushroom Polyps (which were doing quite well at first but for some reason are looking bad now. One of the bunches literally melted away to just 2 polyps from like 6)

That's pretty much it. Like I said, I'm open to suggestions. After seeing some of the tanks on here I feel like mine isn't up to par. I know it also takes time and patience, but I tend to beat myself up over things like this because I'm quite the perfectionist.

 

[Postal]

If you post a pic of the anemone, I'm sure that someone will be able to ID it.
Just to give you a general start, BTA's live up on the live rock, while "sebaes" (which are actually either H. Crispa or H. Malu) live on the sandbed. The only exception to this would be if the anemone is unhealthy or something in its environment (flow, light, water chemistry) is causing it to behave differently than a healthy, happy anemone.

 

[BassMekanik]

Thanks for the response. It lives up on the rocks. You can see the anemone in the video posted above. However if a more detailed pic is required I will gladly post one.

 

[Postal]

It's hard to tell from the video, but that is most likely a bleached BTA. That is probably why it is in a shaded area. Without its zooxanthellae it is hiding from the light until it adjusts. I would suggest feeding it small amounts of mysis a couple times a week to see if perks up some.

 

[BassMekanik]

The clownfish feeds it chunks of Rod's food when I feed the fish and corals with it. I used to give it chunks of silverside twice a week until the clownfish started hosting in it.

So with that being said, should I start back with the silverside, switch to mysis or just let the clownfish feed it?

 

[Postal]

If you think the clown gives it enough food then you can go with that. Or you can supplement with mysis as necessary. Stay away from silversides. BTA's do not have the strong sting that indicates a fish-eater. In the wild they likely feed off of zooplankton and other small tidbits. Also, a small meal requires less energy for the anemone to digest thus not putting as much of a strain on its system.

 

[DaddyJax]

I hope you are enjoying your tank and glad to see you start a thread. I am not surprised about the damsel and I was looking at your fish list and thought to myself that you had some of the meanest fish you can get in one system,lol!

 

[BassMekanik]

Other than the 2 Damsels and the Clownfish I didn't think any of the others were very aggressive. Is that not correct?

 

[DaddyJax]

- Maroon Clown
- Domino Damsel
- Striped Damsel
- Coral Beauty Angel
- Royal Gramma

All are known to be aggressive or trouble makers!

 

[BassMekanik]

Royal Gramma, really? He's the smallest guy in the tank. All he does is hide in the rocks and come out occasionally to eat and float sideways...lol.

 

[Mangodude]

I've never had a problem with coral beauty's or royal grammas.. I've kept 3 beauty's and 3 gramma's so far and not one was in the least bit aggressive.

The damsels are hit or miss IMO

Maroons are aggressive!

 

[Nicholas41]

We had a royal gramma in the past that was a bully, but that could have been because he wasn't staring at a maroon clown . Tank looks great though!