New to the forum, could use help on my tank! Thanks in advance

[DodgerDave]

Hello everyone!

I've been lurking on this forum for a couple of weeks and finally made my account today because I could use a lot of help on my tank.

 

Livestock:

1 clownfish

1 damsel

Some Zoas

Candy cane coral

Star Polyps

War coral (I think, will need help identifying later)

2 small Ricordeas

Stem bubble coral

Something that's like a flower pot coral (will need help identifying later)

1 nassarius snail

2 banded trochus snails

3 nerite snails

2 cerith snails (going to buy a couple of more pretty soon)

1 red leg hermit crab

1 scarlet hermit crab

 

I've got a JBJ 8 Gallon Rimless Series Nano Cube. It's been up and running for about 6-8 months.

The problem is that I bought it off an acquaintance so I don't know the full specs of the tank (lighting and powerheads).

 

So the tank has two small powerheads at the top of the tank that I point downwards at a 45 degree angle, but I don't think it's enough flow. I'm thinking about buying a small power/circulation pump to put in the middle of the tank. Of the following, which do you think is best for my tank?

hydor pico evo-mag circulation pump - 180 GPH

or

Hydor Koralia Nano 240 Aquarium Circulation Pump 240

I'm leaning towards the 180 GPH since I do have some pumps at the top of the tank.

Pic of my tank:

 

My sand looks like crap! So many brown/red/black areas in the sand. I'm thinking about vacuuming on Tuesday prior to my weekly water change. Sand bed is only 1-1.5 inches deep. After looking at the photos, do you think it's a wise decision?

I'm pretty sure what originally caused the problem. I use to feed my fish way too much, I've cut it down to once every other day.

Sand pics

 

Is my lighting sufficient? Main problem is I have no idea what power it produces. All I know is it's a JBJ lighting model that fits perfectly for my tank. Anyone have any idea what it is?

 

I've never done water checks....I used to do large weekly water changes (40-50 percent), but after some reading, I hear this is not good. I'm starting to do 20 percent water changes. I plan on buying a water check system soon. Any suggestions on what to buy?

 

Sorry for the long post and thank in advance.

Sorry for the poor quality of the photos!

 

 

[Reefkid88]

That's a nice little set up you have going on !!!

 

1)- The water changes you were doing,should be fine. A lot of people do 100% nowadays honestly,helps keep things more stable in the long run,especially in picos. But 25% if fine too. I do a 75% in my 2 gallon,but I have sps and it helps. I have some pieces encrusting already that have only been in the tank not even 2 weeks.

 

2)- I'd maybe take the Damsel out of the tank. One they can be a bit aggressive,and second,the tanks even a bit too small for the clown,but really small for those 2 fish together. And the bigger bio load will create unwanted algae and unstable water conditions. Feeding can be a big part too,like you do feed,every day ONLY what the fish will eat,or every other day. Believe me,they won't starve lol.

 

3)- It looks to be like some Cyano/Diatoms on the sand. Sucking up some and blowing detritus off the rocks will help a lot when doing water changes.

 

4)- have you thought about switch both pumps out for 1 single pump ? Maybe the Hydor 800 (which is 200gph). I had one I my tank,which was a 7 gallon AIO and it moved water good,while a MJ1200 (296gph) pushed water over the edges of the tank,so it was TOO much flow.

 

5)- Lighting wise,if you look into a Coral Compulsions Par30/38 bulb,they're cheap and everyone loves them. Or you could make your own light if you're down for a project.

 

6)- Look into Red Sea's Marine Care Kit,it's got Nitrates,Nitrites,Ammonia,PH and I believe Alkalinity all in one package for about $30-$40. Then snag a API or Elos Phosphate test. If you're doing regular water changes,and not keeping sps I wouldn't worry about Calcium and Magnesium at the moment.

 

Hopefully this helps you

 

-Steven

[xEL Chupacabrax]

"Something that's like a flower pot coral (will need help identifying later)" -looks to me like alveopora to me & nice rock work i like it

[DodgerDave]

That's a nice little set up you have going on !!!

 

1)- The water changes you were doing,should be fine. A lot of people do 100% nowadays honestly,helps keep things more stable in the long run,especially in picos. But 25% if fine too. I do a 75% in my 2 gallon,but I have sps and it helps. I have some pieces encrusting already that have only been in the tank not even 2 weeks.

 

2)- I'd maybe take the Damsel out of the tank. One they can be a bit aggressive,and second,the tanks even a bit too small for the clown,but really small for those 2 fish together. And the bigger bio load will create unwanted algae and unstable water conditions. Feeding can be a big part too,like you do feed,every day ONLY what the fish will eat,or every other day. Believe me,they won't starve lol.

 

3)- It looks to be like some Cyano/Diatoms on the sand. Sucking up some and blowing detritus off the rocks will help a lot when doing water changes.

 

4)- have you thought about switch both pumps out for 1 single pump ? Maybe the Hydor 800 (which is 200gph). I had one I my tank,which was a 7 gallon AIO and it moved water good,while a MJ1200 (296gph) pushed water over the edges of the tank,so it was TOO much flow.

 

5)- Lighting wise,if you look into a Coral Compulsions Par30/38 bulb,they're cheap and everyone loves them. Or you could make your own light if you're down for a project.

 

6)- Look into Red Sea's Marine Care Kit,it's got Nitrates,Nitrites,Ammonia,PH and I believe Alkalinity all in one package for about $30-$40. Then snag a API or Elos Phosphate test. If you're doing regular water changes,and not keeping sps I wouldn't worry about Calcium and Magnesium at the moment.

 

Hopefully this helps you

 

-Steven

 

Steve, thank you so much for your post.

Good to hear large size water changes aren't that bad for pico tanks. I just vacuum'd my sand and did about a 50%-60% water change as I was scared of all the bad stuff kicked up from the sand bed. I also replaced my filers (Purigen ultimate filtration and Chemi-pure elite). Needless to say, my sand looks MUCH better. I also used my finger to rub a lot of the algae from the live rock. It looks much more cleaner now.

 

I'm pretty sure what caused the recent diatom and cyano breakout. I few weeks back, I started to spot feed my corals zooplankton and phytoplankton. The areas of the sand that looked like crap was exactly where I spot fed. After doing some research, I'm gonna lay off the plankton feed. Maybe do it once every 2 weeks instead of twice a week!

 

Regarding the fish.....you are 100% right....I bought both fish the day I bought the tank from the acquaintance of mine. I was actually thinking of buying a 3rd fish, but decided against it. After doing research on fish per gallon, I quickly realized I made a noobie mistake buying 2 for my small tank. I've though about giving away the damsel, but he's become family now...but for the greater good of the fish and tank health, I'll think harder about giving him away.

 

Thank you for the suggestions on the lights, pump, and water test kit, I'll definitely look into it.

[DodgerDave]

"Something that's like a flower pot coral (will need help identifying later)" -looks to me like alveopora to me & nice rock work i like it

 

I just google imaged alveopora and it's an exact match. Great eye my friend!

The first coral bought was selected by my wife. It was a pink flowerpot that looked good for a few days then went to crap. Damn LFS said it was easy to care for then after some research, discovered it's one of the hardest! I really like the alveopora because it looks somewhat similar. I guess its a "poor mans" flowerpot!

 

Not sure if anyone cares, but my sand and rock look MUCH better after the cleaning. I'll provide pics later this week once the tank stabilizes again. I also got some eagle eye zoa's coming in the mail so hopefully I can get those in the pic.

[xEL Chupacabrax]

Glad I could help! Just my 2 cents but cyano will not just go away by vacuuming the tank sand. Something is causing/allowing it to grow imo unless you actively fix the problem it will get worse. I had a fw tank that I battled cyano for months. Try more flow within the bottom middle range of the tank that helped in my case. Can't wait to see the eagle eyes in there

[Cameron6796]

If you could get a small pump and place it near sand and point it forward you could create a circualpr flow pattern which could help get flow into the dead spots. Also try turning your lights off for two days it shouldn't hurt your corals or fish and will weaken the algeas forming

[lecroj]

If you get a pistol shrimp it will move the sand all over the place and keep it stirred. And they are fun to watch.

[DodgerDave]

Alright fellow reefers, I purchased the hydor pico evo-mag circulation pump - 180 GPH on amazon last night, should be delivered by early next week. You guys are correct that vacuuming wouldn't solve my algae/cyano problem. Sand and rock is already starting to look somewhat crappy again.

So hopefully the steps on taking will work:

1. Less feeding of fish.

2. No more phyto/zoo plankton feeding (well, maybe once every two weeks).

3. Install circulation pump next week.

 

I will also do some research on the pistol shrimp.

 

By the way, I got the eagle eye zoa's in the mail on Tuesday....the polyps have started to open up but the heads are really small. It has a total of 9 polyps but doesn't look that great. I'm going to keep it at the bottom of the tank to see how they develop.

I guess you get what you pay for. Only spent $20 (free shipping), came in 1 day since the shop isn't far away.

[DodgerDave]

Hi Everyone

I just wanted to give an update on my tank.

Installed the pico hydor pump last week with about med flow setting. It has done wonders for my tank! My sand looks soooo much better. No more cyano infested/black mush/algae crap on the sand bed anymore. The algae on my live rock has gotten much better too.

 

Updated pic of my tank (phone photo so it didn't come out well).

 

Some close up of some coral I bought recently:

Many are on the sand bed and it looks cluttered now, but i'm leaving just for acclimation reasons. When the time comes, some will go on the live rock.

 

Really wanted to get an ultra or rainbow acan, but got a generic red acan instead. Wife is pregnant, so really need to watch how much i spend...

 

Got this small patch of zoa's on ebay for $20.00 (free shipping). Was hoping it would be much nicer, but I guess you get what you pay for. Not sure where I'm going to place in my tank. I'll probably put it on the side of the tank somewhere so it doesn't take up "prime" real estate.

 

I got the below zoa's are same kind as above, eagle eyes, but these look much better and tons more heads. I have a couple of ideas of where to place them once I'm ready to place them on the rock. The bottom left corner of the colony just opened up today but noticed they were kind bleached or whitish skirt. Kind of disappointed about that, but I got them cheap from a LFS.

 

Really digging the white stripped candy cane coral I got from a LFS located in Orange, CA. Was already a fan of candy cane coral, but this was the first place I saw the white stripped version...i knew i had to get them when i saw them. Plus the stem fit perfectly in a hole in my live rock which I reinforced with some epoxy.

 

Bought a small colony of yellow polyps. Thought it was perfect size when I bought it, but way too big for my tank. I broke the colony into 3 frags. I'm using the smallest of the 3 on my rock. The 2 bigger frags, I'm looking to sell or return to the store for store credit.

I was thinking about posting about the 2 frags on the "classifieds" forum, but I wasn't able to post...probably because of my low post count. But if anyone is interest in buying one or both frags, I'll sell for $10 each or both for $15. I wanna estimate that each frag has around 10 polyps each. Pick up only (Orange County, CA).

 

I've stuck with the plan of less feeding and less to no more phyto/zoo plankton feeding. I have started using reef roids for the past 2 weeks (once a week to start, maybe up it a little as time goes by). Corals seem to really respond to that stuff.

 

Also, do you guys think my CUC will suffice?

1 nassarius snail

2 cerith snails

2 scarlett hermit crabs

3 nerite snails

1 banded trochus

I'm thinking about getting 1 more nassarius and 1 more banded trochus (had 2 but one of them died...really love these snails, such hard workers!).

Really looking for snails that clean up the live rock, very open to suggestions!

 

I really want to thank the previous posters as the suggestions have worked out GREAT!!!!!

[xEL Chupacabrax]

Tanks lookin good now! What kind of chemical filtration are you running on the tank? I had a small hair algae out break and table spoon of chemi pure elite worked wonders

[ninjamyst]

tank looks great and nice coral additions. what's the source of your water? RODI or tap or premixed?

[DodgerDave]

Tanks lookin good now! What kind of chemical filtration are you running on the tank? I had a small hair algae out break and table spoon of chemi pure elite worked wonders

 

Thanks!

I have a 3 prong filtration system. Top is a foam type filter, middle area is seachem purigen, bottom compartment I have Chemipure elite.

 

tank looks great and nice coral additions. what's the source of your water? RODI or tap or premixed?

 

 

Premixed. I go to a LFS which is really close to my work once a week to get water. It's not much of a hassle since I have a 8 gallon tank so filling up a 5 gallon container does the job.

Due to evap, I just refill my tank with about a 1/2 - 1 cup of filtered water.

[DodgerDave]

Update on my tank. I picked up some coral pieces from a fellow nano-reefer yesterday. Really excited about them plus I got a great price!

 

Pink Acan! Seller had the pink acan on the edge of the rock. Said the acan would grow across the rock, but since the rock is kind of big in my 8 gallon tank, I attached my red acan and rainbow acan on the rock. Really hoping all 3 acans grow together and will "blend" together as they grow.

 

 

Also got 3 head frag of utter chaos. I've been wanting these bad for a while but so expensive when searching online. But buying off a local reefer, MUCH cheaper. Really excited about this zoa.

 

 

As a freebie, he included 2 polyp frag of Rasta zoas! I didnt upload a pic as they havent opened up yet.

 

Updated pic of my tank:

 

So doing some research, i found out some information about my equipment.

 

LIGHTING: JBJ Flipper FL-208 10.8 LED Light

But the description confuses me..."While the total wattage usage is only 6.3 watts, the total output is measured around 19 watts".

I'm assuming that's way too little light for a 8 gallon tank right? Can someone suggest what type of lighting I should be using? I'm really thinking the reason my zoa and some other coral haven't been growing is because the lighting is way too weak.

HEATING: AquaTop Aquarium Heater Digital Dual Display- 100W

I'm really worried about the setting. It's set for water temp at 78 degrees, which is ideal right? But the actual temp showed 82 degrees and this is right after a decent size water change. Is this normal!? Is it because it's summer time that the actual temp is so high? Please let me know what I should do.

On a side note, all my coral has been doing just fine.

Thanks in advance!