FeelTheBern's month old 10g

[FeelTheBern]

Hello!

 

I wanted to share 10g build and hopefully get some advice. This is my first tank so please let me know if I'm doing anything stupid!

 

Here's my setup list:

Used 10g from LFS

Tunze 9001 skimmer

Jebao WP10

50W heater

Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED Light 18-24"

Micro ATO

 

Livestock

2 Scarlet Hermits

2 Sexy shrimp

2 Astraea snails (I had 3 but I found one tipped over and dead its second day T_T)

4 Other snails

1 acan frag

1 plate coral

4 Zoa frags

2 Torches

1 Pulsing Xenia

1 GSP

1 six line wrasse

1 cleaner shrimp

1 pom pom crab (who I never see )

 

 

 

Plan

Shamelessly copying http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/214648-pisces-10g-bonsai-reef/but with a few differences.

 

Latest FTS 3/29/2016

 

FTS 3/6/2016

 

First day shot

 

My tank has been very exciting so far! Some things are doing well; my shrimp have already molted, a hermit changed shells, my purple torch has opened up fully, my other torch isn't quite there yet but still looks good, and my zoas open and look beautiful. However I already have quite a few problems:

• Sexy shrimp eating my zoas. I've been putting a small amount of mysis in there, I thought every 3 days would be plenty but it seems like I need daily feedings to keep them off my zoas. I care about my zoas way more than my shrimp, I'm thinking of returning my sexy shrimp and exchanging for a fire shrimp I saw at my LFS. Do fire shrimp ever eat zoas or coral?
• One of my snails died the second day. I found it flipped over one morning and I put it up right, then it just flipped over again in the next hour. I have no idea what caused it to die. My salinity was down to 1.022 at the time, but I've fixed it since. Could that have been the problem? My other snails are fine though
• Pulsing Xenia looked good the first day but completely closed over the next two days. I moved its location and when I did it released a cloud of chemicals. I kept it in my tank for a few more days but the ends began turning black/brown so I removed it last night. I think its chemical release was its dying breath. I thought they were a hardy coral and I don't understand how it died while my torches are doing great. My salinity was at 1.022 for one day when it began closing. Probably the cause but I fixed the salinity and it never recovered, should I have waited longer? I didn't want it to poison my tank...
• Sexy shrimps eyes turned from white to bright red/orange. I noticed this after my xenia did its chemical release. I'm not sure if its the cause though. Are they okay? It must affect their vision.
• Can't get my GSP to stick to glass bottom. I tried Gorilla and super glue, but it just won't stick. Any suggestions? Also the GSP I got from my LFS is really ugly... It's not very green or lush. Does GSP become more green and full over time? Or do I need to find a better frag?
• I'm scared to remove my zoas from their plugs and glue them to my rock. Is it okay for me to handle the zoas and push them down on the rock? I don't want to crush them, they're so small!

Pic of shrimps eyes

 

Bonus pics:

Torch fully open

 

Alien flowers

[Rural]

i guess i'll have to start my TRUMP: MAKE NANO REEFS GREAT AGAIN thread here soon...

 

now for constructive criticism

- you must build a wall to keep the bad ones out (good job removing the bad xenia, quarantine also works wonders)

- you must be vigilant who you let in (I would get better looking GSP, there are different greens)

- you must play well with others (don't touch zoas, palytoxin is real, no "smushing", no intank cutting)

- you must let people work for themselves, no handouts (zoas will mat on their own, you could superglue or do the needle in thread, but matting is much more successful, just decrease flow and let them sit, can cover with veil to pin them down)

- you must understand trickle down economics (I feed my corals and fish heavily and my shrimp eats the leftovers of about 5 pellets a day, so increase your feeding but remember nobody likes government pork barrels, so tread carefully not to disrupt the nutrient balance)

- again, you must realize that nobody needs a handout when they could work for it themselves (place the gsp in a low flow zone and it will attach on its own, then you will need to BUILD A WALL to keep it out, basically it can get out of hand quickly, so limit its placement/future growth by planning.)

 

cant see the pics at work, but ill check when home. ok... and now back to your regularly programmed FOX NEWS!

[FeelTheBern]

You know I'm hoping for Sanders vs Trump aka Dreams vs Memes 2016

[petolo]

I assume the frag in the middle on the bare bottom is the GSP? mine goes through stages though, was really good, then had a rough couple days and now looks great.

[HarryPotter]

i guess i'll have to start my TRUMP: MAKE NANO REEFS GREAT AGAIN thread here soon...

 

now for constructive criticism

- you must build a wall to keep the bad ones out (good job removing the bad xenia, quarantine also works wonders)

- you must be vigilant who you let in (I would get better looking GSP, there are different greens)

- you must play well with others (don't touch zoas, palytoxin is real, no "smushing", no intank cutting)

- you must let people work for themselves, no handouts (zoas will mat on their own, you could superglue or do the needle in thread, but matting is much more successful, just decrease flow and let them sit, can cover with veil to pin them down)

- you must understand trickle down economics (I feed my corals and fish heavily and my shrimp eats the leftovers of about 5 pellets a day, so increase your feeding but remember nobody likes government pork barrels, so tread carefully not to disrupt the nutrient balance)

- again, you must realize that nobody needs a handout when they could work for it themselves (place the gsp in a low flow zone and it will attach on its own, then you will need to BUILD A WALL to keep it out, basically it can get out of hand quickly, so limit its placement/future growth by planning.)

 

cant see the pics at work, but ill check when home. ok... and now back to your regularly programmed FOX NEWS!

 

 

Love this^

[FeelTheBern]

i guess i'll have to start my TRUMP: MAKE NANO REEFS GREAT AGAIN thread here soon...

 

now for constructive criticism

- you must build a wall to keep the bad ones out (good job removing the bad xenia, quarantine also works wonders)

- you must be vigilant who you let in (I would get better looking GSP, there are different greens)

- you must play well with others (don't touch zoas, palytoxin is real, no "smushing", no intank cutting)

- you must let people work for themselves, no handouts (zoas will mat on their own, you could superglue or do the needle in thread, but matting is much more successful, just decrease flow and let them sit, can cover with veil to pin them down)

- you must understand trickle down economics (I feed my corals and fish heavily and my shrimp eats the leftovers of about 5 pellets a day, so increase your feeding but remember nobody likes government pork barrels, so tread carefully not to disrupt the nutrient balance)

- again, you must realize that nobody needs a handout when they could work for it themselves (place the gsp in a low flow zone and it will attach on its own, then you will need to BUILD A WALL to keep it out, basically it can get out of hand quickly, so limit its placement/future growth by planning.)

 

cant see the pics at work, but ill check when home. ok... and now back to your regularly programmed FOX NEWS!

 

Your response is amazing! Trickle down economics analogy is my favorite part.

 

What would should I use as a veil to pin them down?

 

I bought some reef roids but haven't used it yet. Would the shrimp eat those leftovers? Should I spot feed, or just throw it in there?

I assume the frag in the middle on the bare bottom is the GSP? mine goes through stages though, was really good, then had a rough couple days and now looks great.

 

Yes that's the GSP after I had just tried to glue it to the glass so it's closed up in that pick, but it's normally healthy looking.

[Rural]

I would just drill out a hole in the rock and place the zoa frag and let it mat onto the rock. Or trim the frag ceramic down...

 

Mix the reef roids with tank water, but only a few drops to make a paste. A small syringe to place globules near coral mouths is what I do. And you could leave 1mm squared volume for the shrimp. And I also broadcast feed as well. But in the end pellets are easier....

[FeelTheBern]

I would just drill out a hole in the rock and place the zoa frag and let it mat onto the rock. Or trim the frag ceramic down...

 

Mix the reef roids with tank water, but only a few drops to make a paste. A small syringe to place globules near coral mouths is what I do. And you could leave 1mm squared volume for the shrimp. And I also broadcast feed as well. But in the end pellets are easier....

 

Welp I just went for it and pulled them off the plugs. One zoa just popped off with a slight tug from some tweezers, but I kept dropping it while trying to glue it down. Needless to say it's unhappy. The other zoa did not go well, I used a very sharp sushi knife to get it off but the end of it did not want to come off and while I was struggling to get the whole thing off it released a cloud of what I'm guessing was palytoxins. I wasn't wearing gloves either, however I only had an annoying feeling in the tip of my finger for a bit from it. Unfortunately none of them were open when I checked this morning. I really hope they're not dead T_T

 

Next time I'm just going to leave them on the plugs... What is a good tool to use to trim the plugs down?

[natalia_la_loca]

Next time I'm just going to leave them on the plugs... What is a good tool to use to trim the plugs down?

 

End-cutting pliers.

[Rural]

 

What is a good tool to use to trim the plugs down?

 

small hacksaw or pliers, hacksaw you can control what is cut better. easier is to just pop off whatever they used to attach the frag (chisel the glue or epoxy from the frag plug leaving it attached to the coral)

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/personal-experiences-with-palytoxin-poisoning-almost-killed-myself-wife-and-dogs

[Astinus]

 

small hacksaw or pliers, hacksaw you can control what is cut better. easier is to just pop off whatever they used to attach the frag (chisel the glue or epoxy from the frag plug leaving it attached to the coral)

 

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/personal-experiences-with-palytoxin-poisoning-almost-killed-myself-wife-and-dogs

HOLY Crap! Thank You for the Link and Keeping me alert!

[FeelTheBern]

Here's a new FTS from yesterday

 

 

So I've swapped out my sexy shrimp for a Pom Pom crab and a cleaner shrimp, added 4 more snails, a six line wrasse, 1 plate coral, 1 acan frag, and 2 more zoa frags.

 

Everything's going smoothly except I haven't been able to find a different colored torch to add to my tree! I've gotten all my livestock from LFS's but I might have to order online to find an orange torch.

 

Also one of my zoa frags I got had a few mini feather dusters in it. I dipped it but they didn't die. I know they're not harmful, but I don't want them to take over my zoa's. Will they keep spreading?

[Jcon_343]

I love the branching rock on the right!

[fishfreak0114]

Looking awesome! . I wouldn't worry about feather dusters taking over. They are really cool to watch retract when something disturbs them. That torch tree is gonna look so good when it's full! Also, not sure if you know or not but the wrasse won't be able to live in that tank forever. They need lots of swimming room because they are quite active.

[FeelTheBern]

Over the weekend one of my scarlett hermit crabs was murdered. I found him Saturday morning, body torn in half on the glass bottom, shell still in the rock crevasse where he usually sleeps. I'm suspecting it was my cleaner shrimp that did this horrific act, but I have no evidence. What do you guys think? Here's my list of livestock: six-line wrasse, cleaner shrimp, one other scarlett hermit, pom pom crab, and 6 snails.

[FeelTheBern]

Cleaner shrimp killed and ate my pom pom crab... I hate this shrimp

 

[natalia_la_loca]

Over the weekend one of my scarlett hermit crabs was murdered. I found him Saturday morning, body torn in half on the glass bottom, shell still in the rock crevasse where he usually sleeps. I'm suspecting it was my cleaner shrimp that did this horrific act, but I have no evidence. What do you guys think? Here's my list of livestock: six-line wrasse, cleaner shrimp, one other scarlett hermit, pom pom crab, and 6 snails.

 

Are you target feeding your cleaner shrimp? If not, I suggest you do, as I doubt it's getting enough food on its own in this small system. These little guys can be very aggressive and opportunistic with other inverts and even corals when they're not getting enough to eat.

[Cencalfishguy56]

 

Are you target feeding your cleaner shrimp? If not, I suggest you do, as I doubt it's getting enough food on its own in this small system. These little guys can be very aggressive and opportunistic with other inverts and even corals when they're not getting enough to eat.

yup I had a cleaner shrimp who I fed everyday but went away one weekend and he murdered the peppermint shrimp I had, came home to an empty body casing and no shrimp except for my cleaner haha

[Elizabeth94]

Did you actually watch the shrimp kill the crab? Sometimes people get mistaken when they see their hermit crabs or shrimp eating another crab/fish. It is possible that the pom pom crab died and the shrimp is just doing his job and eating the dead body.

 

BUT I suppose it is possible for a cleaner shrimp can kill one, I just don't think it is likely. Unless you see him caught in the act, it could be possible the crab died by other causes.

 

How do you like the tank being bare bottom? I am switching mine over currently and I am excited to see how it effects my phosphates.

[FeelTheBern]

Did you actually watch the shrimp kill the crab? Sometimes people get mistaken when they see their hermit crabs or shrimp eating another crab/fish. It is possible that the pom pom crab died and the shrimp is just doing his job and eating the dead body.

 

BUT I suppose it is possible for a cleaner shrimp can kill one, I just don't think it is likely. Unless you see him caught in the act, it could be possible the crab died by other causes.

 

How do you like the tank being bare bottom? I am switching mine over currently and I am excited to see how it effects my phosphates.

 

I did not see the shrimp kill the pom pom, but I saw it alive a few hours before looking normal. I understand it could of died for other reasons but my shrimp is an aggressive asshole and so I'm going to blame him anyways.

 

I've never had a sand bottom tank so I can't compare but I like it for cleaning purposes. I can just suck up all the debris and scrub the bottom with a toothbrush pretty quickly and it looks brand new afterwards.

[fishfreak0114]

My bet is that the shrimp was just helping clean up. Mines a total asshole too but he never goes at moving inverts, though he will tear food out of my corals mouths on occasion even after I feed him.

[FeelTheBern]

My bet is that the shrimp was just helping clean up. Mines a total asshole too but he never goes at moving inverts, though he will tear food out of my corals mouths on occasion even after I feed him.

 

Yeah that's the most annoying part, I can't feed my corals ever since I got him. I've heard people separate them while feeding, but he's not easy to catch!

[fishfreak0114]

I just give him as much food as he can hold, feed te corals and chase him away when needed. It works pretty well

[ReeferBrian]

Imho I think the crab died and your cleaner shrimp was just taking the opportunity for a cheap crab leg dinner,lol.