Hiya folks! I've been contemplating a BTA and wondering if it's OK to get it early on in a tank's life? I've got a 90 with not much in the way of corals (a few LPS, polyps and softies/shrooms) but I believe I've got the hang of keeping levels relatively stable. I'm interested in picking up a nem now while it can find a spot for itself without making too much fuss for anything else in the tank (it can go wherever it wants now basically).
Tank is about a month in post-cycle so still an infant really. All critters seem quite happy thus far, but it's all easy stuff - duncan, leather, plate, hammer, yuma/floridas, acans and a few zoa's. Acans, plate, duncan and ric's all taking food as I dish it out. Params like Alk (8), Ca (420) and Salinity (1.026) are all steady (not much uptake on the Ca yet). Nitrates haven't gone above 10 even though I feed lightly 2x/day - though I guess that's not terribly much. 3 fish; Hippo Tang, Yellow Tang and Percula. Cleaner shrimp and Peppermint shrimp (1 each).
I have an MP40 running on the low side of velocity that I'll be upgrading with a foam guard shortly.
Since the nem's have such high potential of moving I figured it might be better to try them earlier, assuming parameters are OK and I can find a small one. MH's aren't on at full timings yet b/c the tank inhabitants don't need and our A/C is getting upgraded this week. They go about 3 hours max. 54w T5s are on for about 11hrs though.
On a side note - is it difficult to obtain these as splits from other reefers? Do they ship well? Some of our LFS have them but the prices are pretty outrageous even for small ones (and I'd prefer a small one at this point).
Tank is about a month in post-cycle so still an infant really. All critters seem quite happy thus far, but it's all easy stuff - duncan, leather, plate, hammer, yuma/floridas, acans and a few zoa's. Acans, plate, duncan and ric's all taking food as I dish it out. Params like Alk (8), Ca (420) and Salinity (1.026) are all steady (not much uptake on the Ca yet). Nitrates haven't gone above 10 even though I feed lightly 2x/day - though I guess that's not terribly much. 3 fish; Hippo Tang, Yellow Tang and Percula. Cleaner shrimp and Peppermint shrimp (1 each).
I have an MP40 running on the low side of velocity that I'll be upgrading with a foam guard shortly.
Since the nem's have such high potential of moving I figured it might be better to try them earlier, assuming parameters are OK and I can find a small one. MH's aren't on at full timings yet b/c the tank inhabitants don't need and our A/C is getting upgraded this week. They go about 3 hours max. 54w T5s are on for about 11hrs though.
On a side note - is it difficult to obtain these as splits from other reefers? Do they ship well? Some of our LFS have them but the prices are pretty outrageous even for small ones (and I'd prefer a small one at this point).
