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Cultivated Reef

Avi's 15 gallon slice of Reef


chilled_fire

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shaneandjohn

Your rockwork will be fine,as long as you like it...The key to a quality Aquascape is having it aranged so it all gets lots of flow..So detris can not settle and degrade your water quality.

When I was new to saltwater I started Large..With my 120 gallon tank..I followed the advise of my LFS .1 to 1 1/2 lbs pr gallon...Well i ended up with close to 200 lbs of rock poorly stacked...I always had water quality issues no matter what i did..It wasnt till I was ready to give up that I met my mentor thru a reefing site here in WA state...he helped me re-aquascape with lots of room for flow...Instantly my water problems were over..I now believe that less is more when it comes to liverock....Shane

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cool. im new to this also, and have the same tank from petco. all i have so far are 3 margarita snails, 2 blue hermits, 1 peppermint shrimp, and 1 green chromis, along with rock and sand. hope everythin works out for you.

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chilled_fire

thanks Shane, will keep in mind the flow also now :)

 

btw, as Raelin had mentioned earlier this tank is a scratch magnet, looks like i made a wrong decision of using this one as saltwater tank :(

 

I am now considering of getting a 15 gallon tank as the specs at least the length(24") is the same so i could use the existing lights.

how easy would it be to shift the contents from this tank to 15g ? and will i need to start the cycle process all over again ?

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Too bad about the scratches. It really is a shame because the dimensions of this little tank are cool. If you don't want to deal with a scratched tank, go ahead and change to the 15 gal now. It is the perfect timing as you don't have coral or fish to deal with yet. I lived with the scratches for over nine months. Basically, by the time I upgraded tanks, I could barely see the inhabitants for the scratches. It's really not worth it in my opinion. Plus 15 gals would make it easier to have those two clowns you'd like...

 

Raelin

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chilled_fire

^^^ thanks, i tried to be extremely carefull while cleaning but still i see some scratches and its been just 10 days

i guess its 15 gal then. but would have to start the cycle again ? its been 10 days now with this tank.

 

Btw, for RO water I am using this source , I am planning to set a plan with them, Has anyone used such service for water ?

http://www.crystal-springs.com/shopping/large-bottles.jsf

 

It states -Great tasting Crystal Fresh® water starts with water that is purified though reverse osmosis, distillation, deionization or other purification processes. Minerals are then added for great taste.

 

Any inputs would be really helpful.

 

Finally, how i wish my wife would would have loved this hobby she's really gonna be mad as the 15 gallon would be my 5th tank :P

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  • 2 weeks later...
chilled_fire

As per the Thread name change, I have updated the tank to 15Gallon.

 

So now the specs :

Aqueon 15 gallon glass tank

50 watt heater

AC 50 DIY cheato filter

AC 30 regular filter

1 Aqueoun 500 wavemaker

1 nano hydor wave maker in shipping

 

22 ponds live rocks

12 pounds live sand (carib sea)

 

Fauna :

1 4 stripe damsel

2 snails (not sure of the name)

 

After making some initial mistakes like using a acrylic tank from petco and the size, i decided to switch to 15gallon glass tank.

So on the weekend went to LFS got the tank got the extra rocks the 6.6 gallon had been cyclicing for about 2 weeks .

Although the readings were all stable i was sceptical about adding any life stock, but my friend from LFS asked me to try it out.(i know this was risky) but could not control my self.

So got just one damsel and two sails,

Since this was my first saltwater fish i took almost 2 hours to acclaim the damsel. using the turkey baster drip method. The damsel looked stressed out and remained hidden for almost 48 hours , and I was getting worried if i made a mistake but on third day it started moving around the tank, now he is all over the tank :)

He even ate a blood work right off my fingers :)

I have had all sorts of freshwater fish in past several years but i feel the saltwater fish at east the one i have is smarter than freshwater fish. his way of hiding in the rocks amazes me.

 

Now that the damsel is well set in this tank i am concerned about adding clownfish as i know both are territorial, i am also thinking of getting firefish but again concerned , what do you guys suggests ?

Also for CUC ,

I am planning to get the follwoing

2 blue leg hermit crabs

2 snails

1 cleaner shrimp

 

Is the above enough or do i need to get more ?

 

Enough talk some pics :

 

 

 

 

 

Some more pics of cheato algae , both tanks together and both filters :)

Thanks for all your suggestions comments

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chilled_fire

One more thing, the lighst which I have now is 2X14 watt t5 HE with 4 LEDs (Solarmax HE system)

I believe this is too low for any corals.Would it be a good idea to get another strip of 2x24 watt ?

Or should i just get a strip with 4x24watts ?

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chilled_fire

OK, got my CUC yesterday

3 hermit crabs

3 Ceith snails

2. turbo snails

already had two snails , not sure what tehy are called.

 

also finally got the two absolutly beutiful clown fish yesterday which i had seen for past couple of weeks at my LFS, they were kept together in really small tank but even so they looked very happy and playing with each other, My plan was to get just one clown , but didnot have the heart to seperete them.

 

Took almost one and half hors to accliam them to my tank using drip method and they both are happy now in the tank. was worried my damsel -"Don" would chase them , but that didnot happen, infact Don has somehow got more courage with new additions and hes never hiding :)

 

So far am loving the saltwater experience, my wife cant stop looking at the clowns and saying "they are so cute" and gonna put up a borad in front of the tank - "CUTE ALERT" :)

 

Will post pics soon, still concerned about the lights to add in any corals.

Thanks for reading :) and all the information shared on this forum.

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chilled_fire

some pictures of my clown couple, they are so animated and always together :) and the way they react when I am near the tank , feels very rewarding :) just like my angels.

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  • 3 weeks later...
chilled_fire

Updates after a very long time,

Got two shrimps 1 cleaner and 1 peppermint . I love the cleaner shrimp he is super friendly and jumps on to my hand whenever I put my hand in :) My wife freaks out though , lol

 

Also got a new light fixture Aquatic life 4x24 watt t5ho , awsome lights and the timer is really nice feature.

the first lights i got which came in with a cd as manual :)

 

have also ordered a few corals from one of the members, Tanya of this forum and will recieve it on saturday.

Corals orderd :

1. Green with Pink Tips Frogspawn

2. Pulsing Xenia

3. Teal polyp toadstool

 

I was wondering about thier placements in the tank, i know frogspwan is super aggressive so was thinking about keep him secluded, and Xenia pulsates really nice in low current but does it need high light ?

 

any thoughts /inputs would be helpful.

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  • 1 month later...
chilled_fire

So, after almost 2 months my little piece of ocean is finally looking good :)

Additions during the past months.....

 

Tech :

MP10

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Light : Aquatic life 4x24 watt T5ho

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mini skimmer

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skimmer goes in ....

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:)

 

Proflex in action :

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For all the above stuff, i posted at least one thread to ask questions on this forums and on all of them i got tons of advise, without which i would have been lost. so thanks alot guys !

 

 

And now the tank :

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night :

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I moved the xenia back as its growing like crazy , not sure if i should bring it back in front.

Corals :

torch

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kenya :

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GSP :(thanks to Lukicloe )

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toadstool (green thanks to 150er)

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Ricordea :

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Acro :

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brain :

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Sexy Xenia (growing like crazy ) :

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and my first coral Mr:frog

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As for fishes, My clowns and damsel are doing great clowns infact have grown bigger than the damsel :)

and the new addition neon blue gobby who was hosting the magnet glass cleaner :

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Sadly as you can see he had ich so right now he is in hospital tank and doing great, hope the ich falls off quick

 

Finally, again i would like to thank all for all the advise and suggestions , as a newbie i made couple of mistakes but learned a lot and still learning from this forum and its members. my tank is no where near compared to some of the awesome tanks you guys have but i hope someday i get close :)

 

Thanks for looking and any suggestions/advise are most welcome !

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chilled_fire

RIP Damsel,

woke up today and found my Damsel like this :(

 

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I am totally shocked and cannot understand how could this happen. he was fine yesterday night ....

 

As soon as as i got it out my sneaky cleaner shrimp jumped on it and took it below the rock work, i can see my cuc on it now, i want to remove it from there but that would mean disrupting the tank, can i just leave it there ?

 

He was my first saltwater fish ....Rip Damsel. :tears:

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chilled_fire

to my surprise I also found a worm in the tank not sure if it was bristle or fire , but i got rid of it, by giving the rock in which it was hiding a hot bath,

 

The Worm :

IMG_0551-crop.jpg

 

After the hot bath , shrimp and snails all over it :

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Shrimp having a chunk of it :

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Also started treatment of neon goby in hospital tank as the ich has fallen off from its body. a couple of days of medication and he should be as good as new :)

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chilled_fire

Thank you for the kind words :)

As for GSP , thats the cheapest coral i have received thanks to Lukicloe .

 

I am still not sure whether to move the xenia back in front though, any comments on that ?

 

Update : neon goby is looking better roaming around everywhere and i dont see the spots(ich) anywhere on his body , can i put him now in the tank as he has been under medication for 2 days, or do i need to continue a couple of days more.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Updates :)

 

Neon goby is doing really good and now out of QT.

his fav spot :

IMG_0561.jpg

 

new member : went to Manhattan aquarium the other day and i feel that's the best store for saltwater livestock in nyc they have great collection and everything is clean and pest free. got this little guy.

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Mr.Arrowhead : this ones ORA and very active, love the way he goes out hunting at night :)

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green clove just opening up :

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green leather : its been almost 2 weeks since i moved him away from the other leather and its now opening but still not as open as my other leather.

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my other established leather

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swinging :

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acro:

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kenya tree:

IMG_0609-crop.jpg

 

frogspawn :

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trachy and feather

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thanks for looking...

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Re arranged a few things , moved the Xenia on the left corner and its still growing , hope it desnot end up in vortech.

Latest FTS :

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Shrimp thinking its food time :)

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fresh and salt together :

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i am planning to get the orange fungia coral, saw it in manhattan reef and it does look awesome.

My green clove is now opening good could take good pic today though.

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^^^ thanks ! but its not so super clean, trying to get it there though :)

 

Updates :

changed the background , black looked boring :P

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also got a YWG , he looks great and contrary to what i had thought he's not hiding at all, just when the cleaner shrimp tires to clean him he runs off :)

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also got birds nest, but its not doing so great.....

day 1:

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day 4 :(under blue lights)

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a week :

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i have set up jbj ato this week to avoid the swings because of top off, also got B-ionic buffers and everythings looking ok now... lets see how the birds nest do in couple of days...

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  • 2 months later...

11/26 Update :

 

So i finally got some time to update this thread , gosh I am so lazy :)

Lots of updates where do I start ?

Lets start with pictures :)

 

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Got my first Anemone yesterday.

Made a stupid mistake of drip acclaiming it in a mug after an hour it had attached itself to the base and i had to remove it using ice, poor guy , but he looks really good today :)

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New Mushrooms :

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New frogspawn :

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Clowns new home :

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Orange Plate :

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I am so sad for this coral, my sexy shrimp wont leave him alone and hes stressed out , i have move him to shade and away from sexy shrimps home, hope he bounces back.

 

Clown Pair

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Pink :

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Angry Fish :)

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Thanks for looking any comments/suggestions are welcome :)

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