new piko 34 litre

[waelaase]

Hello, after reading a lot here, i decided to make my first pico tank

the tank is 38x30x30 cm

has 2 power heads (500 litre and 400 liter) one is serving in hood filter (this will be removed when i got the AC70 filter)

has a pc light in the hood

first i added the sand (used from my old saltwater tank)

the RO/DI water and then some LR

I waited for 10 days and ammonia and nitrite was 0

I added 3 corals (dont know the names i need Id please)

in the day 15 i found a good piece of LR with some mashroms i added it

in day 17 (yesterday) i tested the water and i found ammonia to be 2 and nitrite to be 2 (seems the new LR has some die off)

i made a 40% water change

 

I'll put the photos soon (when i download them to my pc)

 

still need to do the following:

 

1- rearrange the rocks

2- change the lighting to LEDs

3- add modified AC70 filter

 

what is the advice

when should i test water (daily till parameters is ok)

what should i feed the tank

 

thank you

[waelaase]

Here is Photos at day 17

 

still need Id of corals

any suggestion about placement and rocks

 

what to feed these corals

 

thank you

Full tank

Mushroom

Crab (is this good and what is the name - legs are brown)

Corals

[HeyLookItsCaps]

what kind of light are you using? it looks like it has very little output. i would definitely upgrade that

[monosyth]

The corals are dead. Sorry. Take them out and let your water get back to good parameters. If the shrooms are surviving, wow, great... watch them and your water for a month before adding anything else... I'm sure others will have something to say. No offense, but you need to do more research!

[ulver982]

what kind of light are you using? it looks like it has very little output. i would definitely upgrade that

 

I agree. What are your parameters? You should have waited a bit before adding any corals.

[waelaase]

Hello,

thanks for the advice

I'll wait for a month and watch the parameters

the lighting is PC that came with the tank and i'm gonna to upgrade to LED

thank you again and i'll keep it updated

[CosmicAquatics]

Ok, I have a couple of questions. You say that you added RO/DI water but did not mention salt. What is your specific gravity. What is your temperature running? and lastly where are you located? If you want an ID I would say that the coral on the right is a goniopora or alveopora the one on the left in the sand is probably a Lobophyllia the one above the Lobo is a Favities and you know the mushrooms but they look like rhodactis.

[waelaase]

Hello,

 

sure i have added salte

specific gravity is 1.023

temp is 28 C

I'm located in Egypt

 

and thanks for the IDs

[waelaase]

Hello

Today Readings

Amonia : 0.25

Nitrite : 0.25

Nitrate : 10

PH : 8.2

Specific Gravity : 1.023

Temp : 28 C

 

Lighting is in the way

 

I'll wait another 2 days and make another test

 

thank you

[CosmicAquatics]

Just keep testing and as soon as you no longer read any ammonia go ahead and do a 50% water change and start stocking slowly.

[waelaase]

Hello

Today Readings

Amonia : 0

Nitrite : 0

Nitrate : 15

PH : 8.2

Specific Gravity : 1.023

Temp : 28 C

 

I'll do a water change tomorrow and start checking LFS

 

thank you

[waelaase]

I did the water change today and got a PC lamp

got my AC70 filter and removed the in hood filter (used some of it's media in the new filter)

 

here is a photo of the tank now

 

and here is a photo for the coral that seemed to be dead

 

it's better now

 

even the mushroom start to open better

 

still searching for LEDs and I'll wait another week to be sure that parameters are stable

[BobbyL1212]

the LPS coral above seemed dead. but if there's any flesh, just leave it.

[coralcor]

that goni is a very nice coral and with out the proper care(feed it every day) it will die.... and if thats how long the polyps are all the time its going to die rely fast. not trying to be a downer... but i can see some polyp loss(looks fresh) on the left head....

" Goniopora Care and Feeding

 

While some choose to not feed their Goniopora at all (relying on photosynthesis), others have achieved success in feeding phytoplankton and other small particle commercial foods and brine shrimp. Goniopora Care hobbyists have had success feeding these corals fine particle foods such as oyster eggs and cyclopeeze. It is well known in the coral hobby community that feeding this coral is more of a trial and error adventure.

Goniopora Care and Tank Lighting

 

For Goniopora Care, tank conditions sometimes need to be "perfect" in order for them to thrive. Intense or medium light is crucial to keeping this coral in a tank. Even turning the lights out for 24 hours can have an adverse affect on this type of coral. Goniopora will retreat fully into their skeleton and often die if not lighted properly.

Goniopora Care Overall

 

In general, Goniopora Care and propagation should be left to the more experienced reef keepers. They are traditionally difficult to feed and properly keep in an aquarium setting, although there are many success stories as more people gain knowledge about keeping Goniopora. "

 

 

"Gut contents of some Goniopora have been a roughly even mix of phytoplankton and zooplankton (Toonen, 1999; Borneman, 2001). This might explain why systems with refugiums, deep sand beds and little skimming seem to reportedly allow higher survival rates of these corals. Refugiums and sand beds produce many kinds of zooplankton, larvae and eggs, and skimming removes them.

 

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough in my success with Goniopora has been food. Until very recently, the choices of food for Goniopora have been limited. Lately, two great foods have become available, frozen rotifers and DT's oyster eggs. Cyclop-eeze has been on the market for a few years. These foods are apparently closer to the fare that Goniopora ingest in the wild. I was successful with some Goniopora species for years without direct feeding; however, the systems were already geared towards high plankton growth. I also added some liquid foods including phytoplankton and juices from thawed strained frozen foods, most noticeably Cyclop-eeze. Upon starting a regular regimen of direct feeding, however, I have noticed a marked increase in growth of all species maintained. Larger polyped varieties, including the commonly imported G. stokesi, require heavy regular feeding to support their colonies. I have recently experimented with peppermint shrimp eggs and blood from a bag of fresh striped bass. Many of the hard-to-keep Goniopora had a strong feeding response to these foods. The development of new foods could possibly be directed towards invertebrate egg and larvae production. We can now get many kinds of shrimp to spawn. Their eggs, and I think their larvae, could be harvested as food for Goniopora and other corals.

 

When feeding Goniopora in a system with other animals there is bound to be competition for the food. When present in a system, Nassarius snails, shrimps, serpent stars and fish will help themselves to the food, sometimes before the Goniopora can fully ingest it. Shrimp are perhaps the worst offenders, often causing tissue damage as they pick pieces of food from the coral. It often is necessary to take steps to mitigate this opportunistic "food snatching" by the system's other inhabitants. Pre-feeding the other animals seems to help, or you can chase away fish and shrimp and move serpent stars and snails to the other side of the tank, allowing time for Goniopora to feed.

 

Another question exists as to which foods are best and which combinations are best. Perhaps feeding a coral a stew of 10 different kinds of food might impact its ability to digest the food, or maybe it makes no difference. Carefully testing foods and various combinations would answer this question. It is apparent that my success has been due to the use of smaller sized foods. Cyclop-eeze seems to be the upper size limit for the large-polyped varieties and may be too large for the smaller-polyped species. I supplement all my systems with phytoplankton, usually a refrigerated form (DT's Phytoplankton). Although I dose at about one-third the recommended amounts, I target feed my Goniopora.

 

I would recommend a few Goniopora species as being excellent candidates for captive propagation. Goniopora stutchburyi is one I would recommend to those who have systems geared more towards "SPS" corals. This species thrives in high light and low nutrient environments, and unlike some of its larger-polyped cousins, doesn't seem to need as much food and does quite well without direct feeding. Goniopora norfolkensis would be a great substitute for the commonly imported G. stokesi, which has extremely high captive mortality rates. At first glance it may be hard to tell the two apart. Goniopora norfolkensis, however, is mounding or massive, and is attached to a substrate unlike the free living G. stokesi. The Goniopora planulata growing at Fin and Feather looks like a purple G. stokesi at first glance."

 

the link below is a picture of my friends tank. he has been keeping them for 3 years.

http://s545.photobucket.com/albums/hh361/c...C_0168_1784.jpg

 

i would sugest what i would feed it... but i have tryed 3... brought all back to the store... and none of them would eat anything i gave them...

 

well... i just made your thread rely long... but hey its good info.

[waelaase]

thank you for the information

[waelaase]

it's a month now

every thing seems ok

i have modded the AC

but what should i added in the left chamber?

pictures will come soon

[Weetabix7]

What are your Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and PH levels testing at?

[waelaase]

Hello

my ammonia is 0

Nitrite is 0

nitrate is 20

ph is 8.2 and t's about 8.0 in the morning before lights are on

 

I'm asking what media i should put in the ACfilter it has nothing in the time beeing

[Weetabix7]

You could try carbon.

[waelaase]

Hello,

I'm having problems with nitrate for the last 2 weeks

I dont add food or dosing any thing

i change 10-15% of the water weekly

nitrate go high up to 60

i changed 40% of water last week

but it's now on 20

what should i do

p.s.

i did not add anything new to the tank

[Weetabix7]

What kind of water are you using to mix your SaltWater with?

[waelaase]

hello

thank you for replying

i use RO/DI also i tested newly mixed water for nitrate and it's zero

[CosmicAquatics]

How is your tank doing?