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First timer reef in a 5 gallon cube tank.


hauksanger

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hauksanger

So I started the thing :)

 

Equipment:

  • Diversa NanoLed 20 set, including the brand's 5,7 watt LED and heater with a thermostat. The pump is also a Diversa thing and it pushes 200L/H, 10 times the tank's volume/ hour.
  • I've ordered the Beamworks 3W EVO nano clip on light and I'm planning on remodelling a chinese version of the AquaClear filter in the end of the summer.

 

I got some 25 litres of saltwater and some LS and live sand, plus some frags. Unfortunately, I think I got too much LS for my small tank, and now I'm not sure of what to do with the extra. I don't have any other tanks to put it in, and nobody seems to want to swap it for frags or just have it. Tried asking at the local Facebook-group if anyone knows whether the stone kan be broken up/ dried and later used as dead stone, but no replies. Those blokes don't seem to have the patience for newbies :)

 

I didn't expect to get frags, so right now they are suffering under my freshwater LED of 5,7 watts and an additional strong warm white lamp that is not at all supposed to be used for fish tanks(but I'm hoping can give an extra boost). I feel bad for the corals.

 

The new light has been ordered and is supposed to arrive within 2 weeks. The tank gets some daylight as well, I'm hoping it will be enough for my small frags.

I was fortunate to get it all from a cycled tank, and the frags seem to be doing ok so far, although the toadstool looks to be stretching a bit and looks a little more see-through than it did two days ago. The xenia looks good and the other unidentifiable frags I really have no clue about. I'll post pics, if anyone can give me a hint, I'd be a ton grateful.

 

Also, I'm wondering whether I should feed them something, phytoplankton maybe? The dude at LFS told me that the con of using seawater is that it contains a lot of phytoplankton, and can therefore not be stored. But maybe a small addition during water change might give the frags some nutrients?

 

post-87958-0-18677900-1430649049_thumb.jpg

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Roland-Berlin

i guess, during the running in time, there is no need to feed the corals...they have to acclimate in their new habitat, and -to my experience- extra feeding in that period does only load the water with nutritions, causing a lot of trouble. The light will be the most important source of energy during the starting time. Most corals want to be feeded additionally with small zooplankton, which itself eats phytoplankton. So the phyto is good food for zooplankton, but not for the majority of the corals.

But: coral feeding is a very big issue, and I am sure, that there are many different opinions about this theme.

 

 

Greetings, R.

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hauksanger

I suppose seawater has both zooplankton and phytoplankton, but I'm not going to claim knowledge I don't have :)

I was mostly worried about how the corals will fare until the LEDs arrive, figured that maybe some additional nutrition could compensate for lack of light...

Does the toadstool look healthy? I hardly have the experience to judge..

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Roland-Berlin

to my mind, the toadstool looks good. What they now need is time and stable conditions. It is often a challenge to let ones hand out of the water, because you want to do something- feeding, helping, changing the flow... what ever. When you change the light, they will react in some way: probably they will shrink for a while, but that is only a sign of adaption.

 

And I do not belive, that the lack of light needs to be compensated. Think of natural habitats: cloudy weather does also reduce the sunlight over days or weeks. Corals have to cope with that.

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hauksanger

Well, I shall hope and see. My major ambition right now is to let things alone and not add anything until I've done at least two water changes.

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hauksanger

A small update:

Since I was lucky enough to get cycled LS AND water, I got a small blue electric hermit crab (calcinus elegans) today. They also had a small red crab that I found online under the name of clibanarius rutilus that I really want to get sometime in the future, and a couple of sexy shrimps. Kinda seems like my LFS has upgraded the store a lot when it comes to SW.

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There is no such thing as cycled water. Tell the guy at the LFS I said so. Get your money back if they charged you a premium for it.

 

Cycled water = what's left after a water change.

 

Also, a toadstool in a 5g is a problem waiting to happen. I would run some carbon as they can release toxins. In such a small tank, it can be bad when they do so.

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Fishy41212

I think he meant that he got water and cycled live sand. Of course LFSs can be a bit, ummm, special. There was a time when they sold "anemone rocks". LOL guess what kind of anemones? So yes it is conceivable that they would try to sell "cycled water". That said, these guys are right, see if you can return the toadstool. I love them but even in my 30 I shudder to think of the sarcophenes they would release not to mention how huge they get! The xenia if it is healthy and opening is actually a blessing in there because they like excess nutrients to a degree. By the way I see you have zebra finches. You could name one Aiptasia and the other Majano. They reproduce like, well Aiptasia and Majano anemones lol. Actually I love zebras and if I could have them here (I am lucky I can have the nano) I would.

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Cencalfishguy56

Ill sell you my aquaclear 50 like new used 3 months at most! Haha

I use natural seawater and I store mine up to 3-4 weeks at a time with no issues.

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hauksanger

There is no such thing as cycled water. Tell the guy at the LFS I said so. Get your money back if they charged you a premium for it.

 

Cycled water = what's left after a water change.

 

Also, a toadstool in a 5g is a problem waiting to happen. I would run some carbon as they can release toxins. In such a small tank, it can be bad when they do so

 

I think he meant that he got water and cycled live sand. Of course LFSs can be a bit, ummm, special. There was a time when they sold "anemone rocks". LOL guess what kind of anemones? So yes it is conceivable that they would try to sell "cycled water". That said, these guys are right, see if you can return the toadstool. I love them but even in my 30 I shudder to think of the sarcophenes they would release not to mention how huge they get! The xenia if it is healthy and opening is actually a blessing in there because they like excess nutrients to a degree. By the way I see you have zebra finches. You could name one Aiptasia and the other Majano. They reproduce like, well Aiptasia and Majano anemones lol. Actually I love zebras and if I could have them here (I am lucky I can have the nano) I would.

 

Guys, don't hate on the LFS, it was just my poor phrasing :) I got cycled LS and sand from a fellow tankholder and some clean SW as well. Maybe I'm wrong, but by the look of it, not much has died on my way home, and I hope that I will be able to avoid the algae spike, since both the LS and the sand have been cycled for some time.. But again, I might be wrong.

 

As for the finches - it's more of an allusion to my nickname, although I'd love to keep a couple :)

 

I've considered the problem of the toadstool, too.. The size might be the biggest problem in my small tank, as I think that regular WC and carbon filtering might somewhat lessen the toxin problem, at least for a while. I'll probably have to get rid of it sooner or later. I didn't actually buy it, it was thrown in as a freebie by the guy that gave the the live stone and sand. Same with all the other corals I have right now, I didn't really plan on having any for a couple more weeks, as the lights I've ordered haven't arrived yet.

 

 

Ill sell you my aquaclear 50 like new used 3 months at most! Haha

Thanks, but I think the shipping costs to Norway would be a bit... high :)

 

 

Ill sell you my aquaclear 50 like new used 3 months at most! Haha

Yeah, that was what I figured, too.. But he said the phytoplankton would die off and pollute the water :/ Hard to know what to do in these cases, we could have more algae in our northern waters..

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Cencalfishguy56

Guys, don't hate on the LFS, it was just my poor phrasing :) I got cycled LS and sand from a fellow tankholder and some clean SW as well. Maybe I'm wrong, but by the look of it, not much has died on my way home, and I hope that I will be able to avoid the algae spike, since both the LS and the sand have been cycled for some time.. But again, I might be wrong.

 

As for the finches - it's more of an allusion to my nickname, although I'd love to keep a couple :)

 

I've considered the problem of the toadstool, too.. The size might be the biggest problem in my small tank, as I think that regular WC and carbon filtering might somewhat lessen the toxin problem, at least for a while. I'll probably have to get rid of it sooner or later. I didn't actually buy it, it was thrown in as a freebie by the guy that gave the the live stone and sand. Same with all the other corals I have right now, I didn't really plan on having any for a couple more weeks, as the lights I've ordered haven't arrived yet.

 

 

Thanks, but I think the shipping costs to Norway would be a bit... high :)

 

 

Yeah, that was what I figured, too.. But he said the phytoplankton would die off and pollute the water :/ Hard to know what to do in these cases, we could have more algae in our northern waters..

Damn it, well I tried lol goodluck! And no problem

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hauksanger

So, it seems that the hermit thinks that I'm a major jerk, so he's only out at night. Let's hope that changes when I get rid of some of the stone and get some more inverts in there. Managed to feed him using pincers, at least he takes food. Can't wait to get rid of all of the extra rocks.

Saw some pretty zoas at the LFS, but I have mixed feelings about them. The small piece of rock contains three different types aaaand has apoptasia. Don't really want that one :/ But the zoas are pretty.. but.. but.. Yeah. I guess it's just a good reason for me to wait some more and see if something better doesn't show up.

I'm also smitten with gena's pink and violet zoas, and am trying to find something similar here. So far, no luck. Must see if I can find something abroad and whether I can import it...

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hauksanger

So I'm sooo excited!

The LEDs and the HOB filter have arrived, but, it being a bank holiday today, I don't get them until tomorrow. I'm also getting a couple of freebie frags - a pink xenia and a tiny green/purple rhodactis either tomorrow or saturday, and I'm gonna buy some phosphate filter media. Now, all I need is some carbon and I'm pretty much all set.

I also found a small mushroom coral in a cave under my biggest LR. I had absolutely no idea it was there - it was quite a lovely surprise :) It's tiny, but I believe its colour will be a nice brick-red and I can't wait for it to get bigger!

 

As for the livestock, I'm planning on waiting till approximately the end of summer with the fish (a yellow clown goby, I think, or some other minuscule goby) and I'm thinking of getting 3 sexies to keep it company. Hopefully, that won't be too much of a bioload for my tank. Pics tomorrow! :D

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