Reefer turned Goonie

W

worlds under

New member
New lagoon system

Plan;
Too run and jump in way over my head, and force myself to make it all the way to a beautiful lagoon system. Win an official bandwagon jumping award.

Description of tank 55gal tank:

65lb live rock
4x65w power compacts
2x6500k
2x10,000k
Seio 620gph
Berlin skimmer / mag 7 ( rarely used)
Sugar size sand 1 to 2 inches.

Macro starts:

Botryocladia sp.
Caulerpa racemosa
Neomeris sp.
Valonia sp.
feather Caulerpa sp. X2
White mangrove planted in a piece of lr

Fish / inverts:
Neon cleaner goby
Circus goby
Yasha hashie goby
More pods than you can shake a Tonga branch at.

Plans:
Buy a Seio 820 and Any macro that’s cool.
I want to start some sea grass…..( The_Nexis_One )
Have all the means to add NO4, Fe, Co2.
Going to find stump remover if I decide to use KNO4
May try in the future, mixed reef.

Old plans (failed):
Way too early in the start up I tried seachem’s organic carbon lots of O2 bubble but I discontinued use after a week.
Thanks Sarah and John.

I would have a pic but I don’t have the program to resize them to post.
Right now I’m trying to get things settled or unsettled.
I do water changes from other reef tanks high in NO4 low in PO4.
Some day I want to connect a lagoon and a reef together.

I’m not afraid to fail that’s how you learn.

Questions

Do I have enough light for CO2?
NO4 how much in ppm is needed to be maintained? Or do I need to add Fe when NO4 is detectable.
K good for wf good for sw?
KNO4 instead of NO4? Sorry I read the thread and I’m still unclear?
 
I don't think u did ;)

Just a heads up I don't think ur planned sand depth will be deep enough for seagrasses. I'm no expert when it comes to macro algae and sea grass but u should get some good advice here!
 
Chincheks right, 1-2 inches is pretty shallow for seagrass. You could possibly keep some Halophila, or Halodule, but if you wanted to keep Thallasia you would need at least 4 inches, 5-6 inches would be more suitable.

Also I dont think anyone intentionally keeps Valonia sp. that stuff is a plague on mankind ( atleast in my tank ). To each his own.

NO3 could be maintained up to about 5 ppm, it just needs to be available. Iron dosing start with manufacturers directions, you can start to add more if you feel its needed. I've used the seachem test kit and never had iron register on it, It just wasnt sensative enough for what I was dosing, maybe another kit would be.

Not sure what NO4 is I think you mean NO3? KNO3 ( stump remover ) should work just fine. I think some people are using Seachem flourish as well. My concern with the KNO3 was the K and wondering if it could build up too much so I asked around and it didnt seem to much of a concern, at the time there was no test kit so there was no way to verify anyway. Now there is a test kit available which I will be purchasing this week. Also if you look into the Zeovit stuff there is a product called Kbalance, its a K additive which may have NO3 attached. There's a discussion in the chemistry forum now regarding it.

edit: K is found in the ocean at levels similar to calcium, but htere doesnt seem to be much research done on what its role is. What the guys using Zeovit are finding is that when K gets low the color of the SPS corals they keep begins to fade.
 
Also I dont think anyone intentionally keeps Valonia sp. that stuff is a plague on mankind ( atleast in my tank ). To each his own. quote

I knowbut for some reason the (boss) girfrind loves it. I dont think it will be to big of a problem. If it gets out of controle I can jest pop it. More No3 ha ha ha. (you think Im crazy)

No4 pops up when your on reefcentral and should be studing for a test
(typo) sorry I my No was where my Po should have been. :lol:

K is used alot in fresh water to inprove leaf structure and its non toxic at high levels./ note (any thing is toxic given enough of it):mixed:

I going to section a spot off with lr or barnicals and build it up with a little more sand (like in fwp tanks) for the shallow sandbed sea grasses. I did a shallow sb so No3 would'nt be removed as much. I'll have to try to stay away from sand sifting gobies even though their so cool. I want my sand where I put it.

this tank is so much fun. I dont even care if I mess it up a few times before I get it right.
I'll get it right thanks to reefcentral and a little chemical intervention

thanks for the advice keep you up dated:rollface: :D :p :)
 
Last edited:
Hey Worlds! You definitely wont offend us calling yourself a goonie.. in fact I thought that was pretty funny... my groups of kids are called "Lagoonies" so its eerily close! :D

I just wanted to mention too that this little forum doesnt move as fast as the rest of ReefCentral. We dont seem to get as much traffic or input here, though there are a nice handful of people who are willing to offer up advice. So its generally not necessary to bump posts, or to feel neglected. ;)

Sand bed:

As David so expertly explained, you want a bit more. Building it up in a few spots for the seagrasses is definitely a game plan. Caulerpa wont mind 1" or so.. Halophila you can get away with that amount as well. Probably not long term.. but it can work short term.

Potassium:

K is used up by most living things, including us. Vascular plants do not do well without it, and I'm personally convinced that seagrass needs it. Now, does it need more or less than what we provide.. thats a big mystery. There's no feasible test kit available and testing with lab equipment would be tedious. The macroalgae may use up K.. but again.. more or less than what we provide, and what is available in seawater? No idea. :)

Nitrate:

NO3 dosing from 2-5ppm is beneficial to the plants, keep it at the low end if you have sensitive corals in the mix.

Light:

I'm a little concerned, given the 55's height, that your 4x65w setup will be strong enough to produce enough light at the bottom of the tank. I think you're going to be at the minimum necessary amount. Don't choose manatee or turtle grass to start with.. stick with Halodule and Halophila, which both seem to require less light in my tests.

>Sarah
 
Thank's for the Info Sara.
I'll try to pick up a used 4x54w T5 when I come across one.
are there any other cool macro's that I could grow?

what about Chlorophyta would that be a good one with my light? It looks neat.

Hopefully someday I could aquaculture macros to $@!! to people hear in the midwest/midsouth I have allready coultured cyato like crazy.

I am in the process of seting up a macro display at the lfs once it moves to its perminate location. jest praticing at home right now.

I tryed maidens hair and it died at the time I had two standard floresent bulbs. after it died I put my pc's on the tank.
has anyone had good luck with maidens hair??
 
K is used up by most living things, including us. Vascular plants do not do well without it, and I'm personally convinced that seagrass needs it. Now, does it need more or less than what we provide.. thats a big mystery. There's no feasible test kit available
Click to expand...

Sarah there is now a potassium test kit available. If you go to a Zeovit retailer online you will find it with there products. There is now a discussion going in the Chemistry forum regarding potassium and its benefits for SPS. Here's a link. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=922766
 
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