Our first tank--suggestions welcome!

[FireViper]

We finally finished curing our diy rocks and added them to the tank over the weekend. Though the "rule of thirds" quickly went out the window, as my twelve year old designer laid out the tank.

Would appreciate some comments on coral placement, as we're not really sure where to place them for light and flow. Curious as to comments on the tank in general as well.

Fairly new tank (a couple of months), cycled with live sand, live rock, and Dr Tim's bacteria. Other than a touch of cyano, appears to be in pretty good shape. All parameters seem to be in good shape as well.

Thanks!

Heather and Steve

 

[FireViper]

and now for the pics. Hit the wrong button--really wish I could edit my mistakes.

 

[FishAndPhysics]

Not sure if varying selectively bred coloration help with this, but I'd watch your clowns carefully. Clowns will often start being aggressive within groups larger than 2.

Stocking lists might be helpful, bit hard to identify things from the pictures.

Do I spot some palythoas? Or just brown zoas? If palythoa, I'd be very careful, especially with kids around. Palythoas can produce a toxin which can cause serious, life-threatening illness. There are plenty of people who keep them without issue, but there are stories posted in stickies on this forum of people getting seriously injured. If you like medical case studies, check out: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/criem/2015/621815/

Not trying to scare you, just want to make sure you are aware.

 

[FireViper]

Thanks! Keeping an eye on the clowns. So far so good--interestingly, they were initially separated at the LFS, but found a way to get through or over the divider to hang together. The other fish are four blue green chromis, a couple of clown gobies, and a couple of firefish that seem to like to hang in the back.

As far as a stocking list for corals, we go with what my daughter likes and what the LFS guys recommends for our set up. The corals are all allegedly safe according to the local sellers, though a few of the smaller frags sure look like polys. Gloves for sure. Thanks for pointing them out.

 

[FireViper]

Shameless bump. Any thoughts on placement of the corals?

 

[Kriegad]

What kind of lights do you have? Any idea of Par readings throughout the tank?

 

[Uncle99]

Shameless bump. Any thoughts on placement of the corals?

I like what you have done.

I might consider pulling the rocks touching the glass on each end and make middle higher. You want to get your flow going around all rocks and have some room to clean the glass. With low flow, cyano can appear.

The best way to place corals is on the bottom first. Let them settle for a month, then temporarily move them up where you think they make sense keeping in mind their light and file requirements. In general, SPS like high par (above 350), high varied flow, low nutrient.....LPS and softies like low to mid par (100-250), low to moderate (but not direct) varied random flow,

It takes some time to get them all happy.

Then lock them down if required.

 

[dkeller_nc]

To give appropriate advice on your coral placement, we'd need some details. Specifically, the sort of lighting you have (type, such as LED or T5HO, the brand, wattage, etc...) and your tank's size. It'd also be helpful to know what sort of powerheads you have in the tank - one's visible in the picture, but it'd be good to know what the flow rate is, and whether you have any additional ones that aren't visible in the picture.

By the way - the advice to move the rocks in a little to get them away from the glass is spot-on. Besides flow considerations, you'll find it's a real pain in the tail to clean the glass if there's not room enough to get between the rocks and the glass with your cleaning magnet.

 

[FireViper]

Thanks. The light is a Current Orbit 48 inch light. Don't know the PAR etc. The guy at the LFS says its a good starter light, but not strong enough for some of the SPS type corals.

Two power heads, an 660gph Current Wave that seems pretty weak. A Jebao 40 (318 to 3900gph) that even on its lowest setting is much stronger than the Current. It's in the back right corner. Also, there's a hang on back carbon filter that came with the tank. A HOB skimmer as well, though it's on the side for access. Both add flow as well. The HOB filter a pretty good bit.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Uncle99]

The ugly stages are next 4-6 months, sometimes more
This is the period in which you become a master water maker
When you consistently deploy perfect on point water at all times (all 8 major parameters in range and stable) you will enjoy great success.

In my 4-6 month “ugly” period I set up a worksheet to record my testing values adjustments and new values 3 times a week. Once you know the values it’s pretty easy to keep them there

Good luck and have fun

 

[dkeller_nc]

If I'm interpreting correctly, your light is a Current Orbit Marine IC Pro that uses 92 watts at full intensity. Yeah, that might be a bit underpowered for SPS, but should be fine for most LPS and softies/zoas/mushrooms.

While it is possible to light-starve corals, particularly SPS, the general problem for newbs is the exact opposite - the "more is better" syndrome, which can bleach corals in a hurry.

I suspect you'll be fine with your torch and Duncan where they are. If you're not running your light at full intensity, one much simpler solution than to move them would simply be to turn up the intensity on your fixture gradually - no more than a 10% increase per week.

If you add another fixture, keep in mind that light-shocking your existing coral is much more of a danger than under-lighting them. So you'll want to start with the additional fixture at 10%, and only gradually increase the intensity - again, no more than 10% per week.

 

[FireViper]

Thanks for the help! Played the role of KraGle today. Hope things stay put! Reprise tomorrow. . . .