james.tsai Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 20L Tank Filtration -20 lbs LR / 20 lbs of live sand -Acquaclear 50 (200) running purigen, chemipure-Elite and a bit of filter floss to trap particles -Tunze Nano Skimmer 9002 -Custom built rear sump with skimmer chamber and fuge, nano glow fuge light -Phosban reactor with phosban media Flow -Hydor Nano Powerhead - 425 gph - mp10 - Reefcrest Mode Light -Coralife Tank Mount HQI 150w -Aqua Illumination SOL Blue w/ custom legs Livestock - 2 Rod's Onyx Misbarred Clowns - 1 bangaii carnial RIP my friend - Black Ray Goby w/ Randall's Pistol Shrimp - 6 Line Wrasse -CUC: 2 dwarf zebras , red legged hermit, assorted Nassarius, Cerith, emerald crab, and a Trochus Corals -Zoas: watermelon, tubs blue, keds red, fruit loops, red hornets, bam-bams, random neon green - duncan colonies (1 green and 1 purple) - 2 coco worms -Acans: Red/White (Lord), Assorted Aussies (Rainbow, etc) -Pumping Purple Xenia -GSP -Rics: Bi-color (orange, purple), Neon Green -Favia: Green -Pink Palys -birdsnest (was bleached when I bought it) -birdsnest (purple, now with green tips from outgrowth) -finger leather (purple) -frogspawn -acro FTS Nov 2011 FTS June 2011 Cycle shot - Jan 2011 Link to comment
qwiksilver711 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 you have already added the stuff, so there is really no going back, wait a month or two before adding more, and let the benificial bacteria build up for yoself. to get zoa to propegate onto the lr mount the frag on the rock, or right against it. also, most of the time you really need to not listen to the lfs guy about your tank, he is just looking to sell you stuff, if it dies, you will come back for more, and the magic elixer he is going to sell you to keep stuff from dieng too. Go ask him if its ok to put a baby tang in your tank and see what he says... hes going to say its ok... when its not... lfs = lies most of the time Link to comment
james.tsai Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 you have already added the stuff, so there is really no going back, wait a month or two before adding more, and let the benificial bacteria build up for yoself. to get zoa to propegate onto the lr mount the frag on the rock, or right against it. also, most of the time you really need to not listen to the lfs guy about your tank, he is just looking to sell you stuff, if it dies, you will come back for more, and the magic elixer he is going to sell you to keep stuff from dieng too. Go ask him if its ok to put a baby tang in your tank and see what he says... hes going to say its ok... when its not... lfs = lies most of the time Thanks for the fast reply! I do have a fairly healthy bacterial colony I think, having tested the cycle with a fair amount of flake food that I let decay with nothing else in the tank. I did it once and got a spike of ammon, etc. and when I followed up again with twice as much food 10 days later. I got readings of no ammon, just 7ppm nitrate after two days of the food sitting in the tank. That was about 5-7 days before I added the livestock. I added a bag of purigen when I added the livestock and have a bag of chemi-pure in storage but I want to add that to my AC as well... just not sure when I should do that. Any thoughts on how to landscape this tank? I was going to do the zoa garden on the right, and the duncan on the right side of the left rocks, near the center. I was also thinking about other lps (and maybe sps way down the road) on the top of the archway... need to get more experience first... Thanks for the advice on getting the zoas on the LR. Link to comment
savageajc Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 you have already added the stuff, so there is really no going back, wait a month or two before adding more, and let the benificial bacteria build up for yoself. to get zoa to propegate onto the lr mount the frag on the rock, or right against it. also, most of the time you really need to not listen to the lfs guy about your tank, he is just looking to sell you stuff, if it dies, you will come back for more, and the magic elixer he is going to sell you to keep stuff from dieng too. Go ask him if its ok to put a baby tang in your tank and see what he says... hes going to say its ok... when its not... lfs = lies most of the time lfs= lies for sale haha just made that up, anyways nice looking tank, Your first SW tank requires a lot of patience. i would suggest browsing this and other forums and just learn learn learn.. also use this forums to learn from other peoples mistakes..so you will have less. Any idea on what kind of fish you plan on keeping? Also what bulb do you have in your fixture? IMO 14k -20K bulbs dont need any extra actinic supplement But we all have different taste! Link to comment
latteslave Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Glad you got the thread going. The scape looks good. The important question is do you like it? Good advice from qwiksilver, so now take your time and research. Link to comment
savageajc Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 Yea, about the scape.. im sure you'll end up changing it over...and over..and over.. lol Unless you like how it is now. I think it looks pretty sweet. Link to comment
Deano Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 to N/R Looks like you are off to a good start. Before you add anything else work on getting the water parameters in check. You need to get your SG at 1.025 and the calcium down to 400-450 ppm. 600 is quite high but not a big problem since your dKH is OK. Once you get that dialed in I would add a few snails. A couple hermit crabs are ok but are not as efficient as snails for keeping the tank clean. Adding corals really is more about making sure your water parameters are stable and correct. If the tank is not showing ammonia a week or 2 after adding the first fish you should be ok adding another. Again waiting a few weeks in between. Goby/Shrimp combo is perfect for this tank. Make sure that your rock base structure is stable if you ad a pair. If you want a wrasse I would recommend a fairy wrasse. 6 lines are not good for this size tank. They do get aggressive and pretty good sized. For the sake of your Duncan you need to extend the light period to at least 8 hrs. They will be fine on the SB. same with the Zoes with a 150w MH light. Link to comment
james.tsai Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 lfs= lies for sale haha just made that up, anyways nice looking tank, Your first SW tank requires a lot of patience. i would suggest browsing this and other forums and just learn learn learn.. also use this forums to learn from other peoples mistakes..so you will have less. Any idea on what kind of fish you plan on keeping? Also what bulb do you have in your fixture? IMO 14k -20K bulbs dont need any extra actinic supplement But we all have different taste! I have a 14k coralife bulb that came with the fixture. I have read mixed reviews about the light, some love it some complain about the glass / UV shielding being insufficient but I have a top on mine so I'm not too worried. I have the one bangaii that is looking pretty good. He/she ate some mysis but doesnt see/chase the few pellets I put in there for it. I am still trying to figure out the rest of the stocking list... some of the ones that I love I can't really stock I don't think - azure damselfish, royal gramma, six line wrasse, mandarin. What do you all think? I am going to go for a pistol / goby pair and a pair of black-white clows maybe, I hear they can be aggressive... Link to comment
qwiksilver711 Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 I have a 14k coralife bulb that came with the fixture. I have read mixed reviews about the light, some love it some complain about the glass / UV shielding being insufficient but I have a top on mine so I'm not too worried. I have the one bangaii that is looking pretty good. He/she ate some mysis but doesnt see/chase the few pellets I put in there for it. I am still trying to figure out the rest of the stocking list... some of the ones that I love I can't really stock I don't think - azure damselfish, royal gramma, six line wrasse, mandarin. What do you all think? I am going to go for a pistol / goby pair and a pair of black-white clows maybe, I hear they can be aggressive... I think you could get a six line in there, and the clowns maybe... the mandarin you will want to hold off on, it is really a great fish, but more for experienced people. the goby pistol pair would work too... I'm not super familiar with the stocking limitations of a 20 long, so you will want to get that advice from more experienced people Link to comment
Wilioli Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 niice! you got ur thread started -- lots of good advice here, definitely follow it! Your tank sounds like its cycling well -- but one thing you'll notice is that the tank will continue cycling for some months. I agree with everyone here -- give it a bit more time, let more beneficial bacteria grow and then if you want to add something else do so, and wait at least a couple weeks in between. Link to comment
miniwhinny Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Just starting a 20L myself . I think your 'scaping looks great. There's plenty of room to attach stuff and a cool shady area. Keep the pics coming Link to comment
nebthet Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Welcome to the 20L club.. nice scape. Your bangaii cardinal will most likely not eat pellets or flake food. Stick with the mysis and perhaps get some selcon to soak it in to give it more nutritional value for the fish. Most bangaii's will only eat frozen, but you can try to train it onto cyclopeeze flake food for a change. Also don't feed this fish a lot at once, but a little bit a couple of times. Like 6-10 individual mysis, and ensure the pumps are off when you do this. This will help to ensure you keep good water quality and you are not wasting food. Link to comment
james.tsai Posted January 30, 2011 Author Share Posted January 30, 2011 A couple crappy pics off my phone camera... will find a proper camera and replace ASAP... These pics don't do these guys justice! WATERMELON ZOA DUNCAN RANDOM ZOA Hoping to propogate the zoas on the LR on the right side - make a Zoa garden / island with some kind of sps at the very top perhaps (when I am good enough to not kill one)... thinking the Duncan belongs on the other side. Link to comment
SaltyFlip Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 That Watermelon Zoa looks awesomely yummy! Link to comment
james.tsai Posted January 31, 2011 Author Share Posted January 31, 2011 Here is another pic of my new zoa colony, they glow under blue LEDs, its awesome! I think my other colony might have a disease of some sort - zoa pox maybe? I JUST bought them http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=261328 Please help if you know what that is... I'm thinking of just taking them back, but I hope they aren't contagious! Link to comment
Rubrisparsa Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 james the green,orange and purple zoas are fruit loops! the ones you said where random! give them so time. Link to comment
james.tsai Posted February 7, 2011 Author Share Posted February 7, 2011 Thanks man, I had no idea! So they will get bigger and brighter as time goes on? I see them getting a bit big already... I mounted all of the frags on my rock, how do I get them to grow? Just leave them be and they will eventually do their thing? When do I need to start adding fuel, etc.? I will have new pics up ASAP. Link to comment
james.tsai Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Some new pics... clearly there is a full scale diatom / algae bloom in effect. I have been reading up on this and am told I need to just wait it out and do some water changes, or maybe scrape and then do a water change right away... maybe my CUC is understaffed? I only have two dwarf zebra / left handed hermits... thoughts? Here is the full tank with Bangaii: Here is the future zoa garden: I am hoping that this will all grow together and that all will play nice with each other. We will see... think I can cram another colony in there or is it too packed already? There is at least a full 1.5-2 inches between each colony... Where do you guys think I should put the big Duncan? I am thinking right side of left rocks but not sure where... the GSP is staying in the back off the main rocks, I have read enough stories about over-run rock work... need a home for the watermelons too... hmm.... Link to comment
BoostLED Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Just out of curiosity, what kind of rubble or sand are you using??? Link to comment
james.tsai Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Just out of curiosity, what kind of rubble or sand are you using??? I think it is the Indo-Pacific Caribsea but it might be the Hawaiin as my sand is pretty black (with a lot of brown diatoms!): http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/aragalive.html Do you like the color or did you think it was contributing to my diatom issues? The LR is from my LFS in San Francisco but I think its MarcoRocks: http://www.marcorocks.com/ Link to comment
BoostLED Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I think it is the Indo-Pacific Caribsea but it might be the Hawaiin as my sand is pretty black (with a lot of brown diatoms!): http://www.caribsea.com/pages/products/aragalive.html Do you like the color or did you think it was contributing to my diatom issues? The LR is from my LFS in San Francisco but I think its MarcoRocks: http://www.marcorocks.com/ Just couldn't tell. For a second there I thought you were using those blue rocks for freshwater setup and I was like Keep an eye on your parameters. Diatom is just a phase. It'll be over soon. Just gotta weather it out. Link to comment
fly_boer Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 Snails will do the trick. It did in my tank, cleaned the whole tank in a day... Link to comment
james.tsai Posted February 8, 2011 Author Share Posted February 8, 2011 Snails will do the trick. It did in my tank, cleaned the whole tank in a day... How many and what time do you recommend? Btw, your tank is awesome! Link to comment
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