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Coral Vue Hydros

My 12g NC DX first SW


shortman04

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just figured i would finally add my tank to this forum as a log for me as well so i can get some advice when needed.

 

12g NC DX

Free Stand

Maxi Jet 600

Koralia Nano

50W stealth heater

3.24 Nanocustoms upgrade with actinic blue for sunrise/sunset and wpg

moonlight fix from nanocustoms

~12 lbs of LR

~15 lbs of Ls

 

Inverts

10-15 dwarf ceriths

8 nass snails

5 Florida ceriths

1 emerald crab (stumpy, missing half of one of his back legs but is still goin strong)

5 blue legged hermits

1 scarlet cleaner shrimp

 

Fish

1 purple firefish (Suzie)

 

Corals

1 Red People Eaters (I think after pics yall can weigh in)

1 Nuclear Greens (also i think)

 

As advice from reading on this forum i replaces all but the last sponge from chamber 1 with filter floss and in the next week will add Purigen to that. I took the bioballs out as well from chamber 2, and stuck my heater in chamber 3. Ive been cycling for 2 1/2 weeks as of today and my reading all look good. I was thinking after a couple more days of solid 0 i would order a cuc. let me know what you think.

 

 

heres a FTS for starters

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Good start. How was the hood upgrade? Easy?

 

it wasn't terrible i did it i a couple of sit down hours with no disctractions. the only problem i ran into was that i had to reconnect the ground wire from the original ballast to the original switch.

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so it been a day and all my lvls are good:

nitrates: <5ppm

nitirites: 0

ammonia:0

pH: ~8

 

ive redone my scape i wanna be sure i like it before i add anything. Hope to get started on a cuc friday. Should i start looking to get the reef API test kit for alk and such or wait until i start getting closer to corals/fish???

 

heres the new scape hope you like it i think it will be better for coral and fish over all but let me know what yall think.

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For those of you around houston what lfs do yall recommend on the west side of 8?? im coming from college station and hate driving to the east side let me know. thanks for the help in advance..

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shortman04

So today is 3 weeks of cycling just ran all the test i can get my hands on

 

pH:~8.1

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite:0

Nitrate:0

Phosphates:>0.25ppm

Calcium: 420 mg/L

dKh: 8

Specific Gravity: 1.0245

Temp:80-82 depends on time of day

 

Just ordered a small cuc from reefcleaners. and was wondering when i can add a cleaner shrimp maybe a week or two? and is it ok to add a cleaner shrimp and a fish in the same day???

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shortman04

So today i went to to Petco i know i know but i was looking for something for my cat. anywho just stopped by the fish section and they happened to have an emerald crab and i was thinking about getting one for some bubble algae i have along with looks. He was very active and picking algae off a snail shell so i came back and emailed johnmaloney thank goodness for him. and he said for 2 bucks it was worth a shot. so i got him and hes doing great heres a pic my first live species in the aquarium. thanks again john if you read this.

 

 

heres a pic let me know what yall think

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So today i went to to Petco i know i know but i was looking for something for my cat. anywho just stopped by the fish section and they happened to have an emerald crab and i was thinking about getting one for some bubble algae i have along with looks. He was very active and picking algae off a snail shell so i came back and emailed johnmaloney thank goodness for him. and he said for 2 bucks it was worth a shot. so i got him and hes doing great heres a pic my first live species in the aquarium. thanks again john if you read this.

 

 

heres a pic let me know what yall think

 

niice emerald.

 

just beware... they rarely but MIGHT obtain a liking for euphyllia or other corals....(no lie, i have seen enough threads now on various forums to be able to say this)

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shortman04

So its been a few days since the last update and ive got half of my cuc in the tank and they are doing great. ive ordered the other half they should be here at some point like next tuesday i think. but as the time approaches ive started seriously thinking about fish i can/will keep in this tank. it might be a few more weeks as i might be moving so i wanna hold off but i need to start thinking about it. heres my list of what i like so far keep in mind i would like 2-3(if possible) fish i know 3 might be stretching it but small ones might work.

 

Royal Gamma

Firefish

Clown Goby

Neon Goby

Watchman Goby

Jawfish

B&W clown

Yellow assessor

 

let me know what yall think cheers

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nice choice with the emerald IMO, it was one of the best purchases I ever made. Its the only part of my cuc that will take care of bubble algae.

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shortman04
nice choice with the emerald IMO, it was one of the best purchases I ever made. Its the only part of my cuc that will take care of bubble algae.

 

thanks yeah i love watching him run around eating algae

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I like orange fire fish, YWG, neon goby

or purple fire fish, YCG, watchman goby (orange spotted or pink bar goby)

 

:D

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shortman04

So ive received all my cuc from reefcleaners, and everything is great. Ive been out all weekend and just go home and i noticed there were some white flowers on one of my live rocks. does anyone have any idea what they could be??? they look like little daisy's in the tank. Help plz

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shortman04

has anyone else seen a turbo eat bryopsis cause mine just finished off the last small patch that was left in the tank. off to the lfs to look for a shrimp maybe a ycg if they have any. pics later hopefully.

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shortman04

So im pretty set on my fish im thinking 2-3 they would be

Green Clown Goby

Orange firefish

Yellow Assessor Basslet***

 

***later like august after a month or so with other fish

 

So i got a cleaner shrimp dripped him for about an hour and put him in tank and a nass snail decided it would be fun to kill him so i need to get another on over the weekend everything is looking good as said before the turbo has taken care of most the the GHA and byropsis(crazy i know) and all the parameters look good.

 

nitrate 0

nitrite 0

ammonia 0

pH 8.2-8.3

temp 79

phosphate 0

Calcium 440

Hardness 9dKh

 

need a fuge light for NC 12 DX for my chaeto in chamber two does anyone have any ideas??? i would prefer and in hood light but can mod the back if need be.

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Weve been running along the same lines as you with our 24 nano dx. I want to add another light as well, plus a cheato light in the near future. Theres been a few options. Cut off the black paint on the rear of the tank and attach, mod the hood with a small light, or get the led squares and custom make something to lay on top. I found a small round floro at loews for 10 bucks, and acrylic sheet for like 1.87. I was going to make a box, and attach to the rear, but I had an idea last night while looking at one of my Home Depot cheapie Husky LED flashlights. I had an old ipod chargerthat I cut the plug off, and you can unscrew the light with wires off of the light. I need to wire strip and test, but its a small 2" diameter light with around 7 LEDs, Ill let you know what happens.

As for fish youre on the the right track. I picked up a firefish, and it adds alot of color! In only a 12, you dont want to push it with overstocking. Maybe do 2, and give it some time before adding a 3rd? I also just added a Camel shrimp.

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shortman04

yeah so this week is finally over vacation time lol....i posted a couple of days ago about the shrimp mishap well i went back and got a new one. and they had just gotten in a shipment of fish and they had 3 purple firefish and i asked them to hold one for me to make sure he wouldn't die from the shock and what not and well hes in my tank now lol ill post pics tomorrow.

 

so that makes

10-15 dwarf ceriths

5 Florida ceriths

8 nass

1 large turbo

5 blue leg hermits

1 emerald crab (Stumpy)

1 scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp

 

 

1 purple firefish

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Wow thats a clean up crew! I thought I had too many at 6 snails, 6 hermits. I havent seen my Camel shrimp since I bought him, stinks because hes pretty interesting. Id love to get a cleaner shrimp, I heard theyre more friendly, and out in the open. Nice choice on a purple firefish, was he a littlre more expensive than the regular fires?

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shortman04

yeah the orange ones were 10 but they were having a sale kinda on so the purple was regular 30 but i got him for 20 so not to terribly much more and i like his personality more.

 

yeah i think ima get a pico in the near future for the turbo and hermits cause they are all over the place but we'll see.

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shortman04

pics

 

the firefish just sits in the back of the rocks under the koralia snatching everything that comes his way from food to pods its great to see. just wish he would venture out into the front of the tank.

 

sorry for the crap pics i need a new camera!!!

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latteslave

Looking good... The firefish (or at least my firefish) hides a lot. He comes out during the light cycle for a bit here and there, but I never see him during lights out. Keep posting pics - can't wait to see your progress.

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