stevie1493
New member
Hey all I have been browsing RC for a few years now and finally decided to pull the trigger and sign up :dance:
A couple weeks ago I had what I believed to be velvet wipe out the fish in my almost two year old reef tank, which happens to be my first RT. I was quite attached to my fish.. needless to say I was devastated.
After reading up on velvet I understand that it is best practice to maintain a fallow period for 70+ days in order to ensure the parasite is starved out. I plan on moving out of my current home in late spring/summer 2017 and don't want to purchase new fish since after quarantine they will be moving with me only a few short months later.. So I have decided that instead of re-stocking my tank with fish, I will purchase some new corals/inverts and grow them out in my current tank over the course of the next 6 months so that when I move and upgrade to a larger tank I will already have established inverts+corals which are acclimated to my light, maintenance routine, and husbandry practices. This will also give my tank almost 5 or 6 months of fallow time, ensuring that the velvet is completely starved out and eradicated.
I would like to add to my tank during this fallow time a Pom Pom Xenia, a Candy Cane (Caulastrea furcata), a Devil's hand leather (lobophytum sp.), some more zoanthids, and maybe some green star polyps. I also would like to add some peppermint shrimp (Lysmata Wurdemanni) (3-6), cleaner shrimp (Lysmata Amboinensis) (pair), Trochus snails (3-6), and either 1 Tonga fighting conch (Strombus. sp.) OR 1 sand sifting sea star (Astrospecten polycanthus). I have found an online vendor I trust where I can purchase the above livestock for an attractive price and free shipping. Here is where I am in need of some advice.. Would this be too much livestock to purchase/add at once? The free shipping is attractive and I live in a cold weather state so I would prefer to get it done and over with in one fell swoop... Would it be a much better idea to purchase all of these inverts in smaller increments? If so, which should I stock first? Any compatibility issues with my current stock? Is stocking these animals when I know I will be moving in 6 months even a good idea? Feel free to chime in if you have experience with any of the animals I am interested in. I am sure that I will think of more questions as responses come in.
My current tank (55g+15g sump) stocking consists of the following:
4 dozen discosoma mushrooms of different types
1 Parazoanthus sp. colony (around 2 dozen polyps)
2 medium sized (3"-4" each) leather corals of the same species (Sarcophyton sp.)
1 small branching euphyllia hammer (maybe 2")
1 small rock covered with maybe 60 zoanthid polyps
4 or 5 cerith snails
Dozens of nerite snails
Around 6 small hermits of various species (mainly blue legged)
Params.
Temp. - 77.4-77.7 F
ph. - 8.1 (API)
sg. - 1.025-1.026 (I don't have an ATO so it varies slightly)
Nitrate - Hovers around 15ppm, I like to keep it under 10 and I will do a 70%+ WC if it creeps up to 20 (Salifert)
Phosphate - undetectable (API)
dKH - 9 (API)
Calcium - 380ppm (API)
Magnesium - 1230 (Salifert)
Hopefully I provided enough details. Glad to finally be on Reef Central!
A couple weeks ago I had what I believed to be velvet wipe out the fish in my almost two year old reef tank, which happens to be my first RT. I was quite attached to my fish.. needless to say I was devastated.
After reading up on velvet I understand that it is best practice to maintain a fallow period for 70+ days in order to ensure the parasite is starved out. I plan on moving out of my current home in late spring/summer 2017 and don't want to purchase new fish since after quarantine they will be moving with me only a few short months later.. So I have decided that instead of re-stocking my tank with fish, I will purchase some new corals/inverts and grow them out in my current tank over the course of the next 6 months so that when I move and upgrade to a larger tank I will already have established inverts+corals which are acclimated to my light, maintenance routine, and husbandry practices. This will also give my tank almost 5 or 6 months of fallow time, ensuring that the velvet is completely starved out and eradicated. I would like to add to my tank during this fallow time a Pom Pom Xenia, a Candy Cane (Caulastrea furcata), a Devil's hand leather (lobophytum sp.), some more zoanthids, and maybe some green star polyps. I also would like to add some peppermint shrimp (Lysmata Wurdemanni) (3-6), cleaner shrimp (Lysmata Amboinensis) (pair), Trochus snails (3-6), and either 1 Tonga fighting conch (Strombus. sp.) OR 1 sand sifting sea star (Astrospecten polycanthus). I have found an online vendor I trust where I can purchase the above livestock for an attractive price and free shipping. Here is where I am in need of some advice.. Would this be too much livestock to purchase/add at once? The free shipping is attractive and I live in a cold weather state so I would prefer to get it done and over with in one fell swoop... Would it be a much better idea to purchase all of these inverts in smaller increments? If so, which should I stock first? Any compatibility issues with my current stock? Is stocking these animals when I know I will be moving in 6 months even a good idea? Feel free to chime in if you have experience with any of the animals I am interested in. I am sure that I will think of more questions as responses come in.
My current tank (55g+15g sump) stocking consists of the following:
4 dozen discosoma mushrooms of different types
1 Parazoanthus sp. colony (around 2 dozen polyps)
2 medium sized (3"-4" each) leather corals of the same species (Sarcophyton sp.)
1 small branching euphyllia hammer (maybe 2")
1 small rock covered with maybe 60 zoanthid polyps
4 or 5 cerith snails
Dozens of nerite snails
Around 6 small hermits of various species (mainly blue legged)
Params.
Temp. - 77.4-77.7 F
ph. - 8.1 (API)
sg. - 1.025-1.026 (I don't have an ATO so it varies slightly)
Nitrate - Hovers around 15ppm, I like to keep it under 10 and I will do a 70%+ WC if it creeps up to 20 (Salifert)
Phosphate - undetectable (API)
dKH - 9 (API)
Calcium - 380ppm (API)
Magnesium - 1230 (Salifert)
Hopefully I provided enough details. Glad to finally be on Reef Central!
