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First Tank. 29 gallon


ackattackkk

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ackattackkk

( A lot of Pictures) So I finally started my first saltwater tank. Its been up for around 2 months.

Standard 29 Gallon No sump about 25 lbs of live and and 25 lbs of sand

 

Camera- Samsung Note 3. (Not very good with blue lights on) / Iphone6 plus

 

Lighting- Using Reefbreeders Value Fixture

 

Filter- Marineland Penguin 200, took out the biowheel

 

Powerhead- Believe its a 750 I forget what brand -_-

 

Livestock- 2 ocellaris clownfish (a pair) about a inch big, Pajama Cardinal, and Flame Angel

 

Coral- As of now I have 3 Different zoas (Radioactive Dragon Eyes, Random pink ones, and Neon Red dont know name)

 

CUC- Varius Hermits and snails, Serpent Starfish and a Small Sally LIghtfoot crab

 

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Nice. Yeah, some more rock will look good. Any ammonia yet? If not, I'd consider curing the new rock in a separate container before adding it to your tank.

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  • 1 month later...

Nice zoas!!I hate to be the catalyst to a new project, but have you thought of a sump? IMO it makes things so much better. That biowheel isn't gonna be able to support more than a few zoas, at least in my experience. What is you light combo?

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Nice zoas!!I hate to be the catalyst to a new project, but have you thought of a sump? IMO it makes things so much better. That biowheel isn't gonna be able to support more than a few zoas, at least in my experience. What is you light combo?

Thank you. Those neon red one look so much better in person since my camera sucks. I have thought about it but have no idea where to start lol. Do you suggest getting a bigger biowheel like the 350 or a different brand all together?

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you're biowheel is good for now, honestly. i mean if in the future you ever want more corals (which will happen.. i promise ;) ....) you'll want something better. theres not alot, if any, reefers that will recommend a biowheel has the filtration. A simple 10 gallon sump is actually quite easy, and there are thousands of posts about it. I promise, in the long run, a sump is the best way to go. Minus well do it now before you decided to months from now! Is this your first tank?

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I think the general idea is to stay away from bio-wheels altogether... the idea being that the liverock IS your 'biowheel'. AFAIK the HOB power filter you have (without a bio-wheel) is good for 3 things:

 

1) use it as a HOB refugium (you'll need another light).

2) use it for some (very little) extra flow.

3) use it to run some GAC or something like chemi-pure.

 

How far above your tank is your lighting? I ask because the zoas look a little puckered and it could be due to light shock...

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How far above your tank is your lighting? I ask because the zoas look a little puckered and it could be due to light shock...

I think they may be puckered out because the tank hasn't been up long. That being said, zoas stay open when there's plenty of life (copepods, amphipods, etc) in the tank. Just my experience.

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I think the general idea is to stay away from bio-wheels altogether... the idea being that the liverock IS your 'biowheel'. AFAIK the HOB power filter you have (without a bio-wheel) is good for 3 things:

 

1) use it as a HOB refugium (you'll need another light).

2) use it for some (very little) extra flow.

3) use it to run some GAC or something like chemi-pure.

 

How far above your tank is your lighting? I ask because the zoas look a little puckered and it could be due to light shock...

The light is about 8 inches off of the water. I have asked around about my zoas because their skirt is not fully out its more up in the air than out. Im using the same light my LFS has on their frag tanks.

 

you're biowheel is good for now, honestly. i mean if in the future you ever want more corals (which will happen.. i promise ;) ....) you'll want something better. theres not alot, if any, reefers that will recommend a biowheel has the filtration. A simple 10 gallon sump is actually quite easy, and there are thousands of posts about it. I promise, in the long run, a sump is the best way to go. Minus well do it now before you decided to months from now! Is this your first tank?

Yes this is my first tank. I have heard bad things about the wheel thats why I took it out. My zoas have been in the tank about a week and a half and the neon reds about 4 days. Their skirts arent all the way out they look like they are more up than out?

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The light is about 8 inches off of the water. I have asked around about my zoas because their skirt is not fully out its more up in the air than out. Im using the same light my LFS has on their frag tanks.

 

Are you running them at 100%? Depending on how new the zoa frags are to your tank, they'll either open up more or start opening up less. IME, zoas that pucker their skirts are getting too much light. Are the first frags looking better, or are they still lifting their skirts? Of course, they may acclimate at the current setting... but I've found it much easier to acclimate additions by dialing my light intensity down.

 

Just my .02.

 

 

I have heard bad things about the wheel thats why I took it out.

 

And I can't say that a wheel is 'bad'. It's just superfluous, as a biological filter, with sufficient liverock. I'd personally just use it as chemical filtration...

 

EDIT:

But as a new hobbyist, :welcome: I'm just glad you're taking the time to share and research :) The best advice I can recommend (and I'm sure you've read/been told this before), but read EVERYTHING! Someone could easily give you bad advice or mis-information, but a quick search can usually corroborate or debunk aforementioned advice.

 

Good luck!

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Are you running them at 100%? Depending on how new the zoa frags are to your tank, they'll either open up more or start opening up less. IME, zoas that pucker their skirts are getting too much light. Are the first frags looking better, or are they still lifting their skirts? Of course, they may acclimate at the current setting... but I've found it much easier to acclimate additions by dialing my light intensity down.

 

Just my .02.

 

 

 

And I can't say that a wheel is 'bad'. It's just superfluous, as a biological filter, with sufficient liverock. I'd personally just use it as chemical filtration...

 

EDIT:

But as a new hobbyist, :welcome: I'm just glad you're taking the time to share and research :) The best advice I can recommend (and I'm sure you've read/been told this before), but read EVERYTHING! Someone could easily give you bad advice or mis-information, but a quick search can usually corroborate or debunk aforementioned advice.

 

Good luck!

No I usually do 40% white 60% blue depending on the time of day. Do you think I should put the light up higher? Ive noticed they arent open as much with the white light on so normally I have the white low and the blue higher. They have been in my tank about a week and a half and about 4 days for the neon reds. Ive also red the some corals will work in some tanks and others wont. Weird.

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Are you running them at 100%? Depending on how new the zoa frags are to your tank, they'll either open up more or start opening up less. IME, zoas that pucker their skirts are getting too much light. Are the first frags looking better, or are they still lifting their skirts? Of course, they may acclimate at the current setting... but I've found it much easier to acclimate additions by dialing my light intensity down.

all of my zoas I've ever had were this way. The first few days, up to about a month, i had inconsistent polyp extension. It may be the light, or your parameters, or both. The biggest thing is time. For one tho, i would dial it town to about %50 of your intended intensity, and slowly raise the level everyday. Even by 1% each day.. Seems to take a long time, but its the safest. On my vertex illumina, I have daily settings that i program into it when I'm acclimating corals. What are your parameters right now?

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all of my zoas I've ever had were this way. The first few days, up to about a month, i had inconsistent polyp extension. It may be the light, or your parameters, or both. The biggest thing is time. For one tho, i would dial it town to about %50 of your intended intensity, and slowly raise the level everyday. Even by 1% each day.. Seems to take a long time, but its the safest. On my vertex illumina, I have daily settings that i program into it when I'm acclimating corals. What are your parameters right now?

I love the zoas for some reason. I think they are my favorite coral. My favorite fish is the mandarin dragonet. Heard your tank has to be set up for awhile to get one since they eat so much. I guess ill lower my light settings and maybe raise my lights a couple inches and see if that helps.

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yea, the mandarins take a good bit of work and time to get up and running. I have 2 in my 93 gallon cube, and finally just got em on frozen food a few months ago. Zoas were my first coral, too. Moved on since then.lol

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yea, the mandarins take a good bit of work and time to get up and running. I have 2 in my 93 gallon cube, and finally just got em on frozen food a few months ago. Zoas were my first coral, too. Moved on since then.lol

Haha the zoas look so cool to me there so many different ones and so many bright color variations. The mandarins are very nice looking but I heard theyre not very active

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I've found they are VERY active, especially when my white lights go out. They're somewhat nocturnal (so are copepods, that's why.)

Heres the neon reds open. Wish I had a camera that worked under blue light so you could actually see them. idk what they are 20140910_185901.jpg

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They're lookin' better! I wish I could give you a name, but all these 'designer' zoa polyps have me s'ing my h...

 

Also, if you're wanting to get slightly better color balance on your pics, you could always try editing them in a program like Photoshop ($$) or Lightzone (free).

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They're lookin' better! I wish I could give you a name, but all these 'designer' zoa polyps have me s'ing my h...

 

Also, if you're wanting to get slightly better color balance on your pics, you could always try editing them in a program like Photoshop ($$) or Lightzone (free).

Are those on the computer or phone apps? I usually just take the pic and upload it to photobucket and be done with it lol -_-

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Are those on the computer or phone apps? I usually just take the pic and upload it to photobucket and be done with it lol -_-

 

Haha, ah I see. Unfortunately, they're PC software. Not too big on apps... they just slow down and corrupt my phones lol but there may be a photo editing app out there, idk

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Haha, ah I see. Unfortunately, they're PC software. Not too big on apps... they just slow down and corrupt my phones lol but there may be a photo editing app out there, idk

Ill check it out. My phone has more ram than most computers lol :P so no slowing down for me. And my alienware might have some kind of editing system on there.

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If you have an iphone, try out ps express. You can change the temp of the pics. I just got some plastic filter sheets that you place over the cam. They filter out the blue. Best 5$ I've ever spent

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If you have an iphone, try out ps express. You can change the temp of the pics. I just got some plastic filter sheets that you place over the cam. They filter out the blue. Best 5$ I've ever spent

I have the filter sheets too. came with like 200 different colors, pretty cool. Just ordered the iphone 6 plus this morning. hopefully the camera is better than my note 3

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