Khayman Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Hello Everyone This is my first saltwater aquarium ever. I have been planing on putting one together for years, so I really hope it turns out nice. I would like to know what everyone thinks so please be honest. I had started this setup once before but I had to hunt down and catch a hitchiker crab. I had a picture of him and my LFS told me he was a coral eater and had to go before I added coral and fish. I have no idea what I want for coral yet. Front Right Side-----------------------------Left Side Top Down Tank Discription: 24G JBJ Nano Cube DX, 28lbs of live rock, 2 inches of carabean live coral substrate What I have in the tank so far is: Red Reef Hermit Crab x1 (I am getting atleast 1 or 2 more) Astraea Snail x5 Nassarius Snail x5 Emerald Grab x1 Porcelain Crab x1 (Coral Crab) What I plan on adding Black and White Ocellaris (Pair) Green Mandarinfish Link to comment
davidr2340 Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 Looks great! I think you are going to really like your tank! I have the same one and I'm very pleased with it! Make sure you know what you're getting into before going with the Mandarin, Sp??? Study up! Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 7, 2008 Author Share Posted October 7, 2008 Looks great! I think you are going to really like your tank! I have the same one and I'm very pleased with it! Make sure you know what you're getting into before going with the Mandarin, Sp??? Study up! The LFS i use a suplier that feeds frozen too his stock. When i am ready for it they will get me one. They are also going to keep it for a week or two for observation to be sure I will have no problems. Link to comment
davidr2340 Posted October 7, 2008 Share Posted October 7, 2008 The LFS i use a suplier that feeds frozen too his stock. When i am ready for it they will get me one. They are also going to keep it for a week or two for observation to be sure I will have no problems. That's awesome! I wish my LFS did that!!! I look forward to watching your tank! Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 8, 2008 Author Share Posted October 8, 2008 Hello Everyone It has now been two weeks since I started my original cycle. I went to my LFS yesturday with some water, for a water test. Everything is great I was told I was ready for fish and coral. I was so happy I bought a Scooter Blenny (while I wait for my Mandarin). Also I bought my first coral a White Starburst Polyps (though it is purple). Here are some updated pictures. Front Top Left Side Right Side Scooter Blenny White Starburst Coral Please let me know what you all think. Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 8, 2008 Author Share Posted October 8, 2008 I have no idea why the blenny picture posted on the bottom as a thumbnail. Link to comment
doncb Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 The best advise I can give is, don't rush things. A cycle normally takes more that 2 weeks. At a minimum you want to let the tank stabilize before starting to add things. Which means more like 4 - 6 weeks. Even at that, you want a clean up crew first, before you even think about a fish, much less a coral. Another thing is that most LFS's will tell you what they think you want to hear. "Just set your tank up 10 minutes ago? Sure, it's ready for those 5 Tangs! Will that be cash?" For a LFS to sell you fish and coral after only 2 weeks means they don't know, don't care. ANY LFS that is any good would NOT have sold you anything. I would REALLY reconsider the Mandarin. Most likely it will not live long. The one important thing in this hobby is to go slow. Don't buy anything else for another month. Let the tank stabilize. Do weekly water changes. And test your water at least weekly. I don't mean to come across the wrong way but trust the advise you get here before you trust a LFS. Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 The best advise I can give is, don't rush things. A cycle normally takes more that 2 weeks. At a minimum you want to let the tank stabilize before starting to add things. Which means more like 4 - 6 weeks. Even at that, you want a clean up crew first, before you even think about a fish, much less a coral. Another thing is that most LFS's will tell you what they think you want to hear. "Just set your tank up 10 minutes ago? Sure, it's ready for those 5 Tangs! Will that be cash?" For a LFS to sell you fish and coral after only 2 weeks means they don't know, don't care. ANY LFS that is any good would NOT have sold you anything. I would REALLY reconsider the Mandarin. Most likely it will not live long. The one important thing in this hobby is to go slow. Don't buy anything else for another month. Let the tank stabilize. Do weekly water changes. And test your water at least weekly. I don't mean to come across the wrong way but trust the advise you get here before you trust a LFS. My LFS sold me their live rock that was 5 to 6 years old out of a established system also I bought their live water out of their tanks. This help speed things up alot. Also I have 28lbs of live rock in a 24G system this also helped. I know it seems fast but after the first week we did 3 water checks to make sure it was ok. I also know that I could loose the coral over this but I am fully prepared for that. I do however thankyou for your concern and your reply. Link to comment
drog Posted October 9, 2008 Share Posted October 9, 2008 Looking pretty good! I love Nano Cubes Link to comment
JKUNZ Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Looks good so far. I would however recommend against a mandarin in your size tank. They are constant grazers and feed around the clock. They simply won't be able to find enough food in that small of a system. Keep up the good work, best of luck!!! I wanna see the b&w Oce's when you get them! Link to comment
blackmark Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 good luck with your tank. im new here and im also looking to buy a 12g or a 24g aquapod or nano cube to start off. keep us updated! Link to comment
Doolz Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Hey bro, I joined this now so I hope I can get help from people to identify my stars. I got the other one. I have never used a forum so you will have to teach me how to work this at work. Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 Hey bro, I joined this now so I hope I can get help from people to identify my stars. I got the other one. I have never used a forum so you will have to teach me how to work this at work. Not a prblem we can get you all setup at work when it is dead Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 17, 2008 Author Share Posted October 17, 2008 Hello Everyone in Nano world : I am very excited to say that today after work I am getting my pair of Darwin Clown Fish (Amphiprion ocellaris var) . I have also added a few corals to the tank since you all last seen it. I will be sure to add some new pictures for you all. Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 19, 2008 Author Share Posted October 19, 2008 Hello I am unsure if anyone is even following this but here are the pics of my Darwins as promised. Also I have updated the pictures of my tank. I have added a few corals. Darwins -- They are so small and awsome. Don't you all agree? Front -----------------------------------> Top ---> Left ------------------------------------> Right ---> If their are any suggestions out their i am happy to hear them. Please dont be shy. Link to comment
firefish CR Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 nice tank!!!! i like the aquasapce Link to comment
Smurf Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Dam, I'm lovin the black and white Ocellaris' Link to comment
Khayman Posted October 29, 2008 Author Share Posted October 29, 2008 Hello I am not sure if anyone is following this thread. Anyway it has been about 5 weeks and I have not posted a real update in a couple of weeks. I am going to list what is in my tank for you all. Other than Coral I am done. It is time to let the tank grow. Clean Up Crew 1x Emerald Crab 1x Porcelain Crab (Anemone Crab) 3x Red Reef Hermit Crab 6x Astraea Snail (One has a living Barnacle on it) 5x Nassarius Snail 1x Fighting Conch – Aquacultured Fish 2x Darwin Clown Fish (Black and White Ocellaris) 1x Red Scooter Blenny 1x Orchid Dottyback (Coming this Thursday) Coral 1x Hammer Coral 3x Pink branch Leather Coral (I had to frag a leather. I am only keeping 1 frag) 1x Orange Sun Coral 1x Yellow Sun Coral 1x Starburst Polyps 4x Green and Brown Mushrooms (All on same piece of Live rock) 1x Green & Blue Button Polyp (Tiny 5 polyps) 1x Purple Gorgonian Picture - I have had a lot of people telling me I added to many things to fast. To them all I can say is that my water is stable. Also everything is doing very well. I used live rock from a 6 year old established system. I also got the water out of the same system. I believe this helped me cycle much faster. - I do not however recommend this to anyone. I accepted the chance that my system could have crashed. The good news is that it did not. After adding the substrate, rock and water I waited 2 weeks before adding anything. - It has now been 6 weeks since I began the process. This is an experiment for me. I will do my best to keep everyone here posted on the development. ? I am thinking of adding a oceanic skimmer to my first chamber instead of the sponges. Any thoughts on this from anyone? Please give me any thoughts or ideas Link to comment
xknightangelx Posted November 1, 2008 Share Posted November 1, 2008 I see you have an orange coral. Is that a sun coral? Link to comment
Khayman Posted November 3, 2008 Author Share Posted November 3, 2008 I see you have an orange coral. Is that a sun coral? Yes it is a sun Coral. I also have a Yellow in the tank, and a blck on order. I love the Sun Coral they come out mostly at night. Link to comment
xknightangelx Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 OK, Thats what I thought. They are really nice. But do you know that you have to spot feed them? They are not like mushrooms or zoas. I turn off my power heads, put some cyclopseze in to bring them out the feed each head about 2-3 mysis shrimp every other day. They wont survive if you don't. They will also grow nicely for you. Yes it is a sun Coral. I also have a Yellow in the tank, and a blck on order. I love the Sun Coral they come out mostly at night. Where do you get them from? I would love to get a black one and a a yellow one. Just please be aware to feed them by hand. I use a small syringe ( looks like a mini turkey baster) to feed them. Link to comment
Doolz Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 So I was doing some reading because I will be starting my reef really soon. I just need to get off of my a$$ and clean the tank. I was researching lighting and in the lighting world 10,000K means 10,000 Kelvin. I had no idea and thought you would want to know. Also I will have another blue tuxrdo urchin in my reef. That will be the first addition. I am going to start draining the dirty water now. Cheers Link to comment
Khayman Posted November 4, 2008 Author Share Posted November 4, 2008 Hmm very odd. All I feed them is photo-plancton just like my other corals. They somtimes grab a piece of Mysis or other food also. The Orange is very healthy and growing fast. The Yellow I bought a little sick but it is healing up nicely. Both have grown new heads since I brought them home. Link to comment
dickyusmc Posted November 4, 2008 Share Posted November 4, 2008 Hmm very odd. All I feen them is photo-plancton just like my other corals. They somtimes grab a piece of Mysis or other food also. The Orange is very healthy and growing fast. The Yellow I bought a little sick but it is healing up nicely. Both have grown new heads since I brought them home. Your tank looks great, where did you get your live rock? Link to comment
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