I could use some good advice...

[the life aquatic]

Ok, here we go...

I have done extensive research, but I could sill use some help. I have a 2006 model nano cube (24 gal) and it has been up and running for 3 and 1/2 weeks. First things first:

 

Current H20 parameters:

A = 0

Nitrate = 0

Nitrite = 0

pH = 7.8

S.G. = 1.024

Temp = 80 (avg)

 

Within the first week of the cycle I noticed the appearance of Aiptasia, Detritus, Brown, Green-Hair, and Correline algae. By the middle of the second week the green-hair and aiptasia had become so overwelming that i did a 5 gal water change (to lower S.G. to 1.024) and then added the clean up crew:

 

Turbo snails (2)

Cerith (6)

Astria (6)

Nassarius (6)

Blue-leg (1)

left-hands (6)

emerald crab (1)

peppermint shrimp (3)

 

Aiptasia and nearly all algae were gone w/in 48 hrs. So for all of you peppermint/aiptasia naysayers... I guess it depends upon the individual; mine love to eat the stuff. Since then I have been topping off w/ distilled H20 to try and maintain the S.G. The pH has been gradually dropping (from about 8.0 to 7.8) and while I have yet to have any spike whatsoever in ammonia or nitrates, I am having to use the mag float daily to remove algae from the glass. The lighting is stock, and the only mods I have attempted have been minimal w/ respect to the rear chambers (thanks Steelhair!) In chamber one I have one sponge (cut in half) which I change out for a clean one weekly. In chamber two I have 1 lb of live rock and the carbon that came w/ the cube. Chamber 3 is unmodified. I have added a maxi-jet 400 to the lower left corner of the tank. Before adding "real" livestock I intend to switch this out for a 1200 and use the 400 for mixing. So now for the questions...

 

1) How long untill my cycle is complete? No spikes and the water change at week 2 lead me to believe that I might ought to wait until around the 2 month point?

 

2) While I am extremely happy with my aquascaping (I will post pics soon once I borrow a digi-cam) I wish I had gone w/ a deeper sandbed. Now that the criiters are present, is it too late to add more sand? What will this do to my cycle?

 

3) I had originally intended to focus on "beginner" corals and 2 clowns w/ a host anemone. After researching the anemones I am hesitant as a result of all of the horror stories. Can I use a flower pot or some other coral for this purpose (or will the clowns kill it) or should I attempt a bulb-tip?

 

4) I am interested in yellow stripe maroon clowns but have read that they are very aggressive. Can I purchase an un-mated pair and expect them to get along? Will they limit my potential w/ regard to other inhabitants?

 

5) Lastly, I am wondering in what order to add livestock. Some say add less aggresive fish first, then corals, etc. Others say add corals/anemones first then fish from least-to-most aggressive. What should I do?

 

I love this forum and am so happy that I found it. You guys have helped me more than you know... especially steelhair! Any help is much appreciated!

 

Thanks.

 

~Brianna

[Dave61]

Hi Bri,

I'll give it a shot on a few points... I also have the 24 gallon with stock lighting and while I don't have an overwhelming green hair algae problem on the rocks, I do scrape the glass every 2 or 3 days.

I have tried anemone's in the past, even with more intense lighting but never got past the 6 month point with them (except for the atlantic purple tip which my clowns ignored anyway).

The 'Flower Pot' or Gonapora corals don't have a great track record with novice reef keepers or many advanced keepers for that matter.

Are you keeping your pH up in the 8.0-8.3 range? You noted it was dropping due to using demineralized water that usually has a pH in the 6.5-7.0 range. If so it could be neccessary to buffer the water to a higher pH before using it for make-up (using it for water changes is different since your salt will generally raise the pH for you).

Good Luck,

Dave

ps- had a yellow stripe maroon clown, he hated everyone and everything!! Traded him...

[Bluelegs]

Try a pair of sebae clownfish. They have great personalities! I've had one for 1.5 months and he hasn't bothered my Mandarin at all. In fact, he is sort of "protective" of the Mandarin whenever he comes out from hiding.

 

Adding more sand won't do anything to your cycle, but your tank will get cloudy, even if you wash the sand. It won't kill your inverts, but it might settle out on your rocks which is nasty.

 

I would suggest more lighting for an anemone, but it might do fine otherwise.

 

order of things: anemone,corals, less aggressive fish, more aggressive fish.

[Gimpster]

Clowns will host almost anything if they are going to host. My True Percula has hosted everything from mushrooms to a power head to differnt corners of the tank. I would encourage you to avoid an anemone as the clowns do not need them and they are not well suited to captivity. Before adding any thing else get your PH back up to the right level slowly. Buffer, wait a few days test and repeat as needed and find the reason its dropping, also test the PH at the same time every day. It is at its highest just before the lights go out for the day.

 

When you have the system stable and the paramiters in the right range, I would add corals first, start with the easier ones and slowly move to harder ones, as you get used to caring for them. Then move on to fish, less agressive first. The reason I say coral first is that they will have less impact on the system then fish will. Most of the easy softies do not even need to be feed more then light.

 

You cycle looks like its over but your PH is low.

[Lord Nano]

pH is low, but a marine buffer....in the middle of the day with lights on it should be around 8.2

[neanderthalman]

I'm seriously questioning the pH reading......if the pH dropped to 7.2, I'd expect to see some dead inverts......

[Gimpster]

I'm seriously questioning the pH reading......if the pH dropped to 7.2, I'd expect to see some dead inverts......

 

True. I remember whn I started I was not using the right amount of water in my test kits and as a result all my resultes were way off, but the other way.

[the life aquatic]

"I'm seriously questioning the pH reading......if the pH dropped to 7.2, I'd expect to see some dead inverts......"

 

Thanks all of you for your input... neanderthalman, you're right to question my pH @ 7.2, I typed that in incorrectly! It has dropped to 7.8, that is according to my color coded test strips. Apparently this is still "safe" however I know it is too low for corals. It has held at around 7.8 for around a week. Should I still look into getting a pH buffer, or is there some other way I can bring it up to b/t 8.0 and 8.2? Also, what do all of you use for testing the pH? Is there an affordable test that is more accurate than the color code strips?

 

Thanks,

 

Brianna

[neanderthalman]

Plenty of people dose B-Ionic two part with success. It will raise your calcium and alkalnity at the same time, meanwhile, raising your pH. Dosing buffer lowers your calcium, while dosing calcium lowers your alkalinity. The two-part helps keep them balanced.

 

I'd recommend testing for calcium and alkalnity if you want to go this route.

 

As for testing pH, strips generally aren't great. I'd go for a test-tube style of test. You might be able to find a titration test somewhere. Maybe someone can pipe up if they have a titration test for pH.

 

An expensive option would be an electronic pH probe.

 

Anothing thing you can do is take a sample of your water into the LFS and have them test it. Hopefully they use different test kits, and you might be surprised to see that they measure your pH to be in the 8.2 range.

[the life aquatic]

As of yesterday, the tank has now been cycling for one month. This weekend I went ahead and ordered a refractometer, new test kits, a maxi-jet 1200, and a few other miscellanious items from Dr'sFosterSmith.

 

Anyway, just to be on the safe side, I have decided to wait at least one more week before adding livestock. I decided against an anemone. I just don't want to risk it. After doing some more reading I have decided my first additions will be a frogspawn (hopefully my future clowns will host it), a green bubble coral, and perhaps a yellow leather (fiji) coral. I would probably add these and wait around 2 weeks before the addition of the clowns. Does this sound ok?

 

Also, (for now) I have decided against maroons and hope to find a mated pair of true percula clowns. I still have not been able to compare the true Ps to the Ocellaris up close and at once, but based on the pictures I have found I think I would enjoy a pair of the true Ps more. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks all of you who posted, I appreciate the advice. Have any of you had any experience with ordering fish/corals online? Good results or bad? I am curious. Lastly, I will try to find the time this week to borrow a camera b/c I would love for you guys to see my tank before I make any additions... this way I can get some input on the sand bed/aquascaping... we'll see, school is killing me, but hopefully.

 

Thanks again all of you respondents,

 

~Brianna

[neanderthalman]

The difference between true percs and false percs is very small. The two fish look and act almost identical. I've heard a mountain of anectdotal eveidence saying that one species is more aggressive or more hardy than the other, only to be rebutted by a second mountain of anectdotal evidence to the contrary.

 

The two fish are almost impossible to identify. Most sources cite that the number of dorsal spines determines the species. Trouble is, there is variation within the species, and sometimes you get a fish with one more or one less dorsal spine.

 

Just to help you out, I am told that the best way to tell them apart is to look at the ring of color around the eyes. True percs have an orange ring, while false percs have a darker greyish ring around the eye.

 

As for ordering fish and corals online, a hear about a lot of people doing it with success. None of them ship to Canada, so I can't order from them, so I don't know first hand.

 

Can't wait to see those pics

[fish n' pets]

The best way to tell percs and occelaris (sp?) clowns apart, IMO, is to look at the stripes. False percs have little to no black lining on their stripes, while true percs have thick black bands between the white and orange. Some have black completely covering the orange. I don't think they have any behavior difference. I believe the ture percs are smaller, slightly.

[the life aquatic]

I finally got a camera and have some pics of my tank, but when I try to upload them I keep getting an error message that the file size exceeds the limit. How can I make them smaller so that I can post? I know this is probably a very stupid question, but it's my first digi-cam so I have no idea. Any advice is welcome!

Thanks,

 

~Brianna

[the life aquatic]

???

[cwby416]

???

PM sent......

[the life aquatic]

Ok, I finally got some pics up. Let me know what you think!

 

[the life aquatic]

anyone?

[MrDumass]

Love the Aquascape...

 

I have a 24G jbj...all your experiences sound pretty familiar.

[the life aquatic]

Thanks alot,

 

I added a frogspawn two days ago and I'm worried about it. All of my params are fine, everything seems to be working, but the spawn doesn't want to really come out. My peppermint shrimp have done some messing with it but I don't think they are the cause. We'll see how it goes and if he ever fully extends I'll post a pic.

 

Anyone have a similar experience with a frogspawn?

 

Thanks,

Brianna

[dbldragons]

hey..... love the scaping! Did you glue the LR together???? And how much did you order?

 

oops.... just read your avatar.. did you use ALL 33 or did you end up with leftovers?

[the life aquatic]

thanks,

 

I didn't use an epoxy or anything... most of these pieces actually locked together nicely, only one piece is subject to falling over and it is small. I think i've finally positioned it in a stable space, we'll see. What you see in the pics is all 33 lbs, no leftovers... they large piece on the left side is 16lbs by itself!