6gal NC

[npkelly]

so i've been on NR for a while now. haven't done much posting...mainly drooling. i started a thread about a year ago and never really gave it the attention it need to be successful. so i decided to start fresh and give a tank update.

 

first though. i started back about 4/5 years ago. i had a roommate in Orlando who was really into SW, but more on just the fish side. there was this rad LFS we used to go to in Oveido that had these crazy reef tanks. so hard to look away.

 

my first was a 30L, and then a 6gal NC not too long after. but because i was such an idiot, i wrecked em' both do to the lack of research. R.I.P. soooo much money down the drain.

 

upon moving here to Hollywood, i broke down both tanks and brought the NC with me. i was told that reefing was HUGE out here. the NC sat for months because of school. then i found a LFS in Culver City. their quality wasn't the best, but quantities were huge and very cheap. nevertheless, i wrecked another tank.

 

i then found NR and a new LFS and did some research. i've had my third attempt up and running for about a year and everything seems to be much happier now. NR has been so much help.

 

about two and half months ago i decided to renovate and start fresh again. my current specs are:

 

Lighting

70w retro MH

 

Filtration

1st chamber: purigen, chemipure, rio 600 for flow, surface skimmmer

2nd chamber: rubble, cheato, LED's (fuge)

3rd chamber: maxi 1200 with loc-line

 

Livestock

pair of perculas

various corals

CUC

 

here's some pics.

 

two and half months ago

 

now fts/ts

 

 

i'm sure there will be plenty of question. and i'll do my best to update pics us much as possible.

 

~ cheers

[npkelly]

i have so many question, but first. i've had some major issues with my zoas. some are dying off. others haven't really grown much. i thought they were notorious for mass producing. i read recently that it's good to dose with iodine. does anyone else do this?

[kermitthedaniel]

why do you have 2 fish in a 6G?

[npkelly]

they're a pair. i was told a fish per 2-3gal. they've been in there for a while and seem to be doin fine.

 

nice tank though

[kennyboy019]

they're a pair. i was told a fish per 2-3gal. they've been in there for a while and seem to be doin fine.

 

nice tank though

 

With with freshwater sure. With saltwater its more like one fish per 5-10 depending on size. Yours are still pretty small, but remember those do get allot bigger. How are your levels? Zoas can be real sensitive to salinity levels and temp changes. I had some melt on me and I found that it was because my temps were fluctuating too much.

[npkelly]

thanks for the tip. is it true though that they will only grow to the size of the tank? i always check the salinity. it's usually 1.024/1.025. and temps usually 78-81 depending on the weather. could be. but what about dosing with iodine? i read somewhere that that's one of their main nutrients.

[davidr2340]

Do NOT dose Iodine if you are not testing for it!

Especially in a tank that small.

 

Zoas will thrive if you give them great water quality.

[npkelly]

cool tank man. thanks for the tip. my water's been good with a slight trace of nitrates. and i do my weekly water change/cleanup. i might need to cut back on the amount of food i throw in the tank. it's just weird how some seem to be doing fine while the others die off. i'm actually having more success with my lps and sps. and you'd think it'd be the other way around.

[snowmaker]

First off. I think your an a** for keeping two fish in a 6 gal! Any fish deserves more room than that. Second, your light its really sweet and i am more interested in your retro. I love the way the glass is held. A little cleaner more contemporary look and it would be perfect!!!...

[npkelly]

what's the deal with my fish. they're perfectly happy. clownfish seem to nest anyways and would swim the same proximity in a larger tank. i had a pair in my thirty gal and never left their anemone unless there was food. they're not stressed, they eat plenty food and love the frogspawn. and there's no more fish going in, especially now that everyone keeps giving ish for two. thanks for the compliment on the retro though. i thinks it's pretty sweet too.

[npkelly]

while doing my water change today, i rearranged it a bit according to the light and flow. things seem to be happier now. i'll post pics tomorrow.

[npkelly]

so here's the new look. i put the frogspawn near the top to give it more room to branch out and moved the favites down towards the bottom because it seemed to bleach that close to the light. it's color seems better now. and then glued some frags to the rock. i think i'm gonna call it quits on the coral to give the others room to grow. unless i get my hands on some really cool zoas.

 

 

i've also got a worm problem and was wondering if there were any traps i could use to get him out of there. thx.

[AcroporaLokani]

Looks very nice, I would not worry about that two fish think (They look perfectly happy to me). And with the a fish for every three gallons rule (If you choose to go by it) you should make sure the fish don't get very large (one or two inches). And I can also tell your water is good because you are able to keep SPS.

 

And for the iodine dosing I use this stuff http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...amp;pcatid=4832 I would use one drop once a week for your tank, I used two or four drops per week in my 12 gallon aquapods (display and frag tanks, I would not worry about over dosing iodine, I once put in a whole dropper full of lugol's iodine in my frag tank and every thing was just fine and the dropper this brand comes with holds about three CCs so I never have worried about adding a drop here and there).

 

I like the new look of your tank as well.

[npkelly]

thank you!....lol. finally some love. and thanks for the link. i'll be sure to look into that stuff. yea i read somewhere about dosing once per week. i think marine depot. nice coral selection on the 29. that stuff's really hard to come by in my LFS. and i'm always to late here on NF. if you decide to frag any of the zoo colonies. let me know.

[AcroporaLokani]

thank you!....lol. finally some love. and thanks for the link. i'll be sure to look into that stuff. yea i read somewhere about dosing once per week. i think marine depot. nice coral selection on the 29. that stuff's really hard to come by in my LFS. and i'm always to late here on NF. if you decide to frag any of the zoo colonies. let me know.

 

 

I don't know why people aren't being nice your tank is awesome (They're all probably jealous of its awesomeness )

 

Thanks, all my corals came from my last pride and joy (my frag tank). I actually can't find many corals in my area ether I always end up getting a coral order from an online fish store. I'll be sure to PM you when I frag my zoas (they grow like weeds).

[npkelly]

thanks for the moral support...i could sure use some right about now...lol. yea man make sure to do that.

[AcroporaLokani]

thanks for the moral support...i could sure use some right about now...lol. yea man make sure to do that.

 

No problem, What type of acropora is that next to the frogspawn?

[npkelly]

i'm still learning my ID's, but i was told a green tort. i've only had it a little over a week. my buddy at the LFS said it should be green with blue tipped polyps when fully colored. it seems to be doing well. it hasn't happened to me yet, but do you know why acroporas lose their color? i've seen some like that where they turn brown. weird.

[adolfo425]

Cool Tank don't fret about the clowns on here that follow the per gallon rule on fish as long as you keep up with the water changes and keep the tank clean and the fish fed they should be fine.

 

Looks real good by the way.

 

Adolfo

[npkelly]

thanks adolfo. i figured everyone's gonna have their opinions. just didn't expect to get cornered like that...lol. it's good to see people are interested though.

[AcroporaLokani]

i'm still learning my ID's, but i was told a green tort. i've only had it a little over a week. my buddy at the LFS said it should be green with blue tipped polyps when fully colored. it seems to be doing well. it hasn't happened to me yet, but do you know why acroporas lose their color? i've seen some like that where they turn brown. weird.

 

 

Green tort sounds correct to me.

 

Acropora (and SPS corals) lose color under less UVradiation the nice colors that all reefers want is basically a sunscreen that protects the algae that feed the coral through photosynthesis the "sunscreen" comes from mass amounts of UVradiation and light and this tells the algae living within the corals tissue that it needs to protect itself from bleaching and then it becomes a bright color, When corals are exposed to a lesser amount of light the coral will become a more subdued color because the bright sunscreen is not necessary to protect the algae from bleaching (or in some cases a different kalvin rating like 6K,10K,14K and 20K, usually the higher the kalvin rating the more colorful your SPS will be). For instance if an acropora is blue and purple in a tank lit by a 400 watt 20K metal halide light and then put in to a tank with a 150 10K metal halide the color may be more subdued.

 

Some people don't like different kalvin ratings for some reason, Here is a over view of the metal halides kalvin rating for you.

 

6K, Usually never used for reefs but more likely a refugium or a freshwater planted tank. 6K lights will have a horrible yellow look almost a urine yellow look to them. 6K is more of a rare bulb to come across since it is more used for high end fresh water planted tanks (And those are more rare than an SPS dominant tank is). But they usually can be found on planted tank websites.

 

10K, Usually used for SPS reef tanks that want fast growth. 10K lights will help your SPS grow faster but the SPS colors will be subdued. 10K lights will have a yellow look to them but not as bad as 6K.

 

14K, 14K MH bulbs usually are the choice for most reefers since they have a nice crisp white look to them and give ok color and ok growth to SPS but the growth will not be as good as 10K bulbs and the color will not be as good as 20K bulbs. 14K is basically just a mix for the 10K and 20K bulb.

 

20K, 20K lights will give your corals flamboyant colors, But growth will be less than that of 10K and 14K lights. Most SPS dominant tank of the month tanks (TOTM) have 20K metal halide lighting (Not all but most) because of the nice colors it gives your corals. Some people hate 20K MH bulbs because it is not a crisp white light that it produces but rather a blue light and because of the decreased growth it provides some people would never consider buying a 20K bulb, But they do not way in on what every reefer wants colorful corals. So it is in a way a trade off with the 20K you get awesome colored corals but your SPS will grow about 25% less than under 10K or 14K lights.

 

And just like SPS can turn from blue to brown a brown SPS can turn to basically any color variety (but usually green or if the acropora is an especially dark brown color it may become an awe inspiring blue color). The color change from brown to some bright color may or may not happen depending on the species and tank levels ect.

 

-Acro.L

[npkelly]

it must've been looked over, but i have a fireworm problem and was wandering if anyone knew a way to trap em? i've had chances, but this sob's smart and only peeks out halfway. i wanna get em out asap. thx.

[debbeach13]

Welcome to NR

Nice tank. I like the new aquascape. People do not always come across the best way possible on the internet and maybe the history of crashed or neglected tanks did not help. Every one is only concerned because many places you read like liveaquara part of DR Foster and Smith web site recomend a 10 gallon min. tank for clowns. As stated above keep up with water changes and checking your water quality and they will be fine.

After all we all want happy and healthy live stock.

[npkelly]

wow. thanks for the bundle of info Acro. the light issue makes a lot of since. i'm using a 70w 20k and i'm not sure what the LFS's using. probably a 10k because of the color it produces like you stated above. the wattage is beyond me. i think their tanks are 100g's, but could be wrong. and wouldn't know how many watts. maybe two 450's or even a 750......? my tort hasn't lost much color yet, but i haven't seen it's blue tipped polyps yet either. maybe in time. how long does the transformation usually take? but thanks again. i'll have to make sure to check those things out next time.

[npkelly]

it must've been looked over, but i have a fireworm problem and was wandering if anyone knew a way to trap em? i've had chances, but this sob's smart and only peeks out halfway. i wanna get em out asap. thx.

^