reef newbe

[rtstrat01]

i am looking for some cheato, and beginner corals, i already have some shrooms, and a leather, but would like to find some xenia or zoas, shermans, the closest lfs doesn't have anything i wanted.

also, my tank is a 29 gal, with 2 96 wat pc, a coralife super skimmer, sump, and a diy phosphate reactor, would i be able to keep xenia. I have had some experience, but lately my shrooms dont seem to open, I do a 5 gal water change every sunday, but i still have some hair algea and my phosphates has lowered, but i cant get them to go away.

what kinda stuff should i dose for corals. I have seen coral vite, iodine, photoplex, andstrontium & molybdenum bu kent marine, are these good to dose

 

[dextermoped]

I kept Xenia for a short while underneath 130w PC on my 29g and they did fine. Thats after they recoverd from the move from Loveland to Fort Collins, weak little things... As for dosing in such a small tank I wouldn't dose for anything you can't test for. A lot of people have big tanks and have that dilution power to correct for mistakes. I just mix up my salts to get all the chemicals I need. I actually have 3 differnt brands of salt right now. That might be a little excessive but thats me. The only thing I dose for is Calcium and Alkalinity.
If you want to make it up to fort collins I can help you out with some mushrooms and maybe even xenia.
Benny

 

["Umm fish?"]

If your shrooms aren't opening, I would do an alkalinity test. That's what has kept mine from opening up in the past.

If you are having algae problems, the best thing to do is a 100% water change. Then you just have to wait them out. Remember, they need nitrate and phosphate to grow, but they store them up. So, even once you get your levels back down you have to wait for them to exhaust their reserves.

I have some chaeto you can have if you can't find anyone closer (gas being as expensive as it is).

Good luck!

 

[ryano]

I have never had good luck with shrooms under bright lighting. Are they in a part of the tank that is getting a lot of light? Also shrooms will not open if they are in an area with to much water flow.

 

[cardgenius]

I have some zoos, I'll send some pics if your interested

 

[rtstrat01]

well i am not sure excatlt how much flow i have, but i started to have some cyano grow, so i added a regent ph to try and solve the problem, but none of the flow is directed towards them, as for my parameters, everything is right where it needs to be except for my phispahtes, i would test my alk, but i dont have the test kit. Would a 100% water change be healthy for my tank, i do a 5 gal, like 17% every week and i brush my live rock every time to try and get some of the algae to go away

as for dosing, i shouldn't dose in a tank my size incase i overdose, or is it just to samall of a set up?

 

[ryano]

I would not do a 100% water change. In my opinion you shouldnt do over a 20% water change at a time. You can change 20 % of your water every couple of days, but doing a huge chage like that would probably wipe out your biological filtration.

I have a smaller tank as well its a 46 gallon. I do a 10-15% water change every week. Not only does this help with my levels, but adds the trace elements that I need. I do dose iodine every day though. My xenia seem to be happier when I do this.

As far as the flow I assume you are talking about on the shrooms. If you can see the current pushing the caps of the shrooms toward one direction I think they are in an area with to much current.

I dont know what to tell you with your phosphates. I have been lucky and havent had a problem with them. The only thing I can suggest is to use RO water, and do a 10% water change every couple days until its under control. Theres media out there also designed to lower the phosphates. I dont know how good it is. I have tried some media for different levels in my tank, and think the only thing most of them are good for is taking my money.

 

[rtstrat01]

ya, when i first got into the hobby i was lazy when it came to water changes, but now i do them every week, i buy 5 gal of salt, and 5 of ro for top off from shermans, so i know i am using good water, i only feed prime marine pellets and frozen mysis, i have a skimmer, but it still seems to be a constant battle against hair algae and phosphates

And ya i was talking about the shrooms, they dont move they are flat on the rocks, they just dont seem to expand like they were in the store, and i have had them open a little in my tank before so i just dont know what i am doing wrong

 

[dextermoped]

This is going to sound weird but it works wonders for me. I just toss in a freshwater molly and they go to town on my hair algae. Well not toss but acclimate them over to salt. They love hair algae and there cheap too. Afterwards I drop them off at my work(petco) and then give them away free to new hobbyist to cycle there tanks.
Benny

 

[rtstrat01]

how do i acclimate them over to salt

 

[dextermoped]

drip acclimate them for an hour.
Benny

 

[MBX5]

Do you have a clean up crew?

 

[rtstrat01]

ya i have a cleaner shrimp and about 25 hermits, but the other day all my mushrooms started to open again, but my phosphates have not dropped

 

[ryano]

I havent read it yet, but in this months issue of reefkeeping magazine there is a huge article about phosphates.

 

["Umm fish?"]

Yes. It's a good article, IME.

The reason I suggested the huge water change is that it winds up being a lot cheaper. Doing a huge change once gets much more phosphate out of your system than doing five 20% changes.