11 gallon tank advise

[shark565]

Can i put the mini maxi anemone,the trumpet,the duncan and the zoas as my first inhabitants or I must wait for the system to stabilise until adding the anemone and the LPS?

[seabass]

It should be stable before you put anything in it. However, the tank doesn't necessarily have to be mature.

[shark565]

I meaned mature , i just did’t know the exact word. I am really looking forward to start my tank and after the nitrogenous cycle put my first inhabitants. I read about the maxi mini anemone and I think i became a huge fan of those. Can i keep not only one ,but 2-3 in different colours?

[seabass]

You can keep more than one. They don't get overly large and they tend to stay put when they have enough food and light. You will want to provide room between the anemones and nearby coral; however, it's alright if they touch each other.

[shark565]

That is one of the reasons i want to put the anemone first to find its place. I want it to be happy and fast growing. How often should i feed it and which is the best food?

[seabass]

I never feed mine; but they still get enough to eat from stray food or fish poop. However, feeding them a little once a week is probably a good practice. They'll eat almost anything (Mysis shrimp is a good choice). But you can feed them whatever you plan to feed your fish.

[shark565]

I saw some clips on youtube in which they are feeding them small fish. I might feed it that way I only wonder how often. How the sexy shrimp helps the anemone?

[seabass]

While they would probably eat a small fish, I wouldn't feed them that much (or very often). A couple of mysis or a small amount a fish food once or twice a week is plenty. Like I said, I don't feed mine (I currently have three).

 

I'm not sure that the anemone benefits that much from hosting a shrimp, as they do fine without one. However, I suspect that it gets scraps of food (and poop) to eat. Yeah, not pleasant to think about, but that's how it works.

 

 

Off topic, what country are you from?

[shark565]

I am from Bulgaria in eastern europe. You may be never heard of it. Here we don't have the divercity you have so, some people go to different countries buy stuff and them get back here. That's the way to have something rare.

[seabass]

I've at least heard of it. Closest I've been to it is Italy.

[shark565]

Should i add some supplements to my tank like calcium and iodine? How fast the zoas are splitting?

[seabass]

Should i add some supplements to my tank like calcium and iodine?

Iodine isn't usually needed. We shouldn't dose it unless a reliable test kit indicates a deficiency. And since we usually don't test for it, we shouldn't dose it.

 

Likewise we only add calcium (and alkalinity) to restore levels, not elevate them. However, we do test for these elements. Based on testing, figure the daily consumption rates to determine a dosing schedule. However, dosing usually isn't necessary until the coral mass becomes more substantial. Once you start dosing alkalinity and calcium, you will also need to monitor magnesium.

[shark565]

So, i will need to add calcium when i have many corals. I am very interested in coral splitting and fraging. Can you send me an article with the things which are going to happen when the nitrogen cycle starts? Like which algae comes first and when the nitrogen cycle is comeplete.

[seabass]

The nitrogen cycle is just the process of converting ammonia to nitrite, and nitrite to nitrate. However, you often hear people refer to the cycle as an ammonia spike.

 

An ammonia spike happens when there is insufficient bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrite as fast as new ammonia is produced. The cycle is complete when the bacteria processes all of the ammonia and nitrite (so that both are undetectable).

 

I don't bother testing nitrite, as it's not very toxic at marine pH levels (and usually becomes undetectable soon after ammonia does). So I usually wait another week after ammonia is undetectable before adding any livestock.

 

Note that the cycle becomes balanced with the current bio-load. Adding livestock too quickly can overwhelm the cycle and cause another ammonia spike; so add livestock slowly.

 

It's hard to predict algae species, but micro algae and hair algae usually come before coralline algae. Other pest algae might also show up.

[shark565]

I cant't wait to set up it. I am soon moving so i might wait by then. How many corals and inverts can i add as my first livestock? I am planning to first buy a turbo snail, a hermit, the maxi mini anemone may be some zoas and a head of trumpet coral. Is this too much or?

[seabass]

I'd add the snail and hermit crab after the ammonia level spikes then becomes undetectable. After a week, I'd add the zoanthids and trumpet coral. In another week, maybe add the anemone.

[shark565]

How many hours the lightning should be on? Should i keep the lightning on during the cycle? Is the hermit going to clean something?

[seabass]

You'll need extra shells for the hermit crab. It will feed on anything it can find (algae, pods, fish food, ect). 10 hours of full light each day should be enough; however, most people leave it off while establishing the cycle.

[shark565]

My town is situated near the sea can i use the shells found there?

[seabass]

Maybe if you soak them in bleach and/or boil them.

[shark565]

I just went to my LFS and I saw the hang on filters they were only 400 h/l. Should i buy two of these or i should be looking for bigger ones? They have Ro/di water they are going to sell me enough and they have bulk salt. The sellers are always halpfull that is what i like about this shop. They have oceanic dead rock they did't have live. Should i buy it or i must have live rock? They don't have any frags at the moment but thet is not my concern for now. Should i put the LR first or the sand or it doesn't matter? I read that the rock must be first but i watched some aquascape clips and they put the sand first.

[seabass]

800 lph is the minimum you should have, but it should work.

 

Dead rock will work, but it won't have a biological filter to start and there won't be any beneficial life; however, there won't be any pests either. With dry rock, you can build up a bio filter prior to adding livestock by dosing a bacteria additive, and possibly ammonia. Otherwise, you will just have to add stuff even slower.

 

It doesn't really matter which goes in first. However, the rock will be more stable if it is resting directly on the bottom.

[shark565]

The filters are 400l/h each so it should work. I may buy a wave maker i forgot to ask about them. They may have one 1000l/h. So if i put that rock with bacteria additive for example sera biostart and a little fish food to break into ammonia is it better or i can take 3 kg of dead and 1 kg live. Which is better?

[seabass]

So if i put that rock with bacteria additive for example sera biostart and a little fish food to break into ammonia is it better or i can take 3 kg of dead and 1 kg live. Which is better?

I feel the mixture of live and dry rock would be better. The live rock will seed the dead/dry rock.

[shark565]

I have a stupid question. I live near the sea. Can i actually use something from it?