Yay!

[AquaEquestrian]

So, I finally have a saltwater setup! I am so excited. Someone from SWAM (his name is Chad) set me up wonderfully!!! Today we took a trip down and came home with a pair of ocellaris clowns, a sea urchin, and a boatload of live rock, sand, a protein skimmer, etc. I am so very very happy.

My 72 gal will become the saltwater tank within a month or so (need to get the stand built and have a top). The two clowns have been in a 10 gal and will be there until the 72 is up and going. However, for now in the 10 gal there is a lot of hair algae and I was wondering if you knew of any inverts that would work on it. The clowns would kill an algae blenny so no fish and I also need something that won't hurt soft coral.

Just curious, do you guys check the levels in your tanks every week (nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, etc)? This tank is already established and I was wondering if I was going overboard but I just feel safe doing it regularly.

Sonya

PS. I have pulsing xenia but no frags to trade and was wondering if anyone had some soft coral I could add that isn't too expensive? Maybe mini tulip anemone?

 

[Hedonist]

Yeah Sonya!!!

Enjoy your system! Your urchin should eat some algae, snails and small hermit crabs will too... I did not kow clowns will kill an algae blenny.... I could see where an AB may get caught up in an anemome but not the clowns doing him in...

What did you get for a skimmer?

I used to check my parameters weekly but not now, it is proably better to keep an eye on it, it is still a fairly new system... especially when you get the 72 going.... putting it all together will change everything a bit..

Have fun!

Denise

 

[AquaEquestrian]

Thanks Denise. : ) I am really excited. Chad said that he had an algae blenny in with the clowns and they killed it. They are in a 10 gallon temporarily so they are pretty territorial. I can't remember, he might have tried it a second time with the same result.

Also, I got a seaclone skimmer. I put it on the tank last night to run and this morning there was a lot in it. I took it off today before I left this morning because I was wondering if I should leave it on such a small tank running all the time.

Oh, about the fragging. I don't know much about how corals propogate (only what I can find in books) and I thought I read that they will detach and a small piece will be left behind and it will reattach itself to another rock. Well, this morning there was a large piece of xenia on the bottom of the 10 gal. I carefully scooped it up, figuring it's not a good thing to be on the sand on the bottom, and put it on one of the large pieces of live rock. Will it reattach itself there?

I thought I'd post a pic of the little tank on here. You can see the hair algae. I could clean it off with a toothbrush if I took it out but I'd be afraid of hurting the xenia and it would just come back again because of the strong light.

 

[RLMainers]

Good job on getting your tank up and running. You shouldn't have an algae problem once the tank has completely cycled. It took our tank 7 or 8 months before the algae was completely gone. And we haven't had any issues since. Going on 3 years now. I'd suggest tons of snails specific to eating green algae. They do good work! (1 per gallon or more)
And, as far as xenia, it can really take over your tank and grow like crazy if it's happy, so I'd recommend being careful where you put that little frag. It can almost become a nuisance if it's really happy.
We have to harvest our xenia about once a month, because it grows so fast, and if a piece happens to fall back in the tank when we harvest, in a couple of hours, it's attached somewhere else.
And, the most important part of the whole hobby is patience...which is hard for me!!

 

[AquaEquestrian]

Thanks for the comments. What sort of snails should I get? I'm just thinking off the top of my head but I remember hearing about Astrea or Astra snails or something of the sort. Are they okay to have in the tank even when there isn't algae? Will I have to take them out once they have done their job? Also, will they hurt soft corals?

I'm really glad that I wasn't doing something to hurt the xenia. :hmm2:

How often are you guys changing water? I wouldn't dare but I remember someone saying that they almost never do water changes but only add freshwater back in that evaporates. Wouldn't you have to add nutrients back in, too? For now I'll stick with my water changes to be safe (especially since the system is relatively new since it's been moved).

Sonya

 

[Hedonist]

I do water changes every couple of weeks, some do weekly and some like you heard almost never (I do not recommend that strategy)

Asteras are good, cerinths are also good, nassarius are good for the sand bed, none of these bother corals... I have a few smaller soft coral frags.... are you going to the meet on the 5th in bangor?

Denise

 

[AquaEquestrian]

Maybe today or tomorrow I should stop over to a couple of the LFS and pick up some snails. It would be nice to see something working on all that algae.

Yes, I'm coming on Sunday. I'd be really interested in getting some more diversity in coral (rather than all xenia).

Sonya

 

[smtarr]

Sonya, Looking forward to meeting you Sunday. Looks like you are doing great! Your tank looks good, even with the hair algae. When you get your 72g set up you should get a yellow tang. You'll not have ANY problem with hair algae after that. In the meantime, astraes, ceriths should do a good job of cleaning things up without bothering the coral. Bryan has some BEAUTIFUL soft corals. You'll see Sunday. I always keep snails in my tank. I do 10% water changes every week. I mix up the salt water for the next week when I make the change. I'd recommend at least 10% change on a weekly basis, less stress on the inhabitants then larger changes less often. In a 10g this amounts to only 1g out and 1g in. I set aside one day a week for tank maintainance, I usually do it Sundays. You don't have to take the SeaClone out of the tank just unplug it. I've never run a skimmer on my 10g or my 20g either. Just make religious water changes. Not just for replenishment of trace elements but for removal of fish waste. We all tend to overfeed our stock and regular water changes get rid of some of the excess nutrients. Good luck see you Sunday. Sue

 

[RLMainers]

Keep the snails in forever. They're a big help. And, hermit crabs tend to eat snails, so, even though they're good for eating yucky stuff, they also enjoy escargot.
We do a 10% water change weekly, on Sundays, like Sue. Our RO fills up a rubbermaid, we add the salt on Thursday or Friday (circulate it with a powerhead), then empty 10% out of the tank, and transfer the new water back into the sump. It's really easy.

 

[bunsenburner]

I read something similar to the following statement about water changes.

Meticulous reefkeepers can get away wile 10% per month.

Others state exchanging the total volume of your system over the course of a year is apprporiate. T

he amount and frequency depends somewhat on how you supplement calcium and bicarbonate. I try to do at least 10% a month and seem to notice faster coral growth rates when I do more.

 

[smtarr]

The other reason I do 10% weekly changes is because I'm LAZY since I don't have sps corals if I do the water changes I don't have to worry about dosing trace elements. Dosing gets really tricky, I've tried it before and not very good at it I'm afraid. Water changes with good quality salt mixes works for me and my livestock. See you Sunday. Sue