now for my mini reef

[greatgman001]

in my 20 h i have
a heater
1 hob cascade 300
130 w pc lighting
about 25 lbs live base rock (from my 90)
about 20 lbs southdown sand (from my 90)
several smal frags
and a small area set aside for an in tank fuge w /mud and some calupera
do i need a fish to keep the cycle going?
or what do i need to keep the corals healthy
since this is going to not have any fish in it
what problems am i likely to face
and is there anything in particular i need to watch out for?
thnks

 

[Python73]

Your best friend in that tank will be water changes. I'd say weekly-ish, but someone with a small tank may be better suited to help you here. Even when I ran my 30g as a farm I skimmed it 24x7. But, water changes > skimming.

Good luck.

S !

 

[raynist]

Water changes should be sufficient if you will have no fish.

If you are using your rock and sand from your larger tank it should not take as long to cycle. I have setup new tanks using existing live rock and the tank did not seem to cycle.

You could always add one small fish to the tank. I remember you saying you have a damsel, you could keep that one fish in the tank.

 

[greatgman001]

the damsel is dead but i have the 3 small mollies

 

[greatgman001]

somethings amis here
my yellow leather mushroom leather coral wont put out her polyps
its been 2 days and i believe shes shrinking a bit
it looked like there was as couple grains of sand on it
i carefully brushed it off
i checked all water parameters except calcium (no kit)
every thing is fine
amm o ppm
ph 8.3
nitrate 10 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
alk is ideal
hardness is also ideal (dkh ???)
temp 81 -83 f
did a 20 percent waterchange 2 day
skimmer isnt pulling out much
my small area set aside for calupera in a bed of mud
isnt growing
should i turn the skimmer off for a day or 2
does the leather need some disolved organics that perhaps the carbon cartridge filter in my hob filter and skimmer are removing?
thanks

 

[Adam]

greatgman001,

I wouldn't worry about the leather unless it is like that for a week or more. It is common for them to be irritated, especially shortly after being moved.

When you report water quality parameters like alkalinity, please list a value. It is much more helpful. If you are using an alkalinity test kit that only tells you "high", "ideal" or "low", it is a poor test kit.

I would also suggest keeping the skimmer running. "Over skimming" and removing too many organings is a practical impossiblity. The benefits of having it running far outweigh any downsides.

I am guessing you have only had this tank up and running for a couple of weeks or less, so first and foremost... be patient. It will take a couple of weeks for things to stabilize and settle down.

Adam

 

[Clarkii3]

screw the skimmer. i currently have 3, heres a pic of my 24 at about 8 months, its almsot a year old. i do a 2g w/c's every week and i have had 4 fish.

 

[greatgman001]

the leather looks good now
i guess it just needed to molt to get rid of the old dead skin / tissue

do u think a mj 1200 w the hacksaw mod be too muich flow in my 20 h with the skimmer and hob filter? :>