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"The Reef"


abollenb

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Just got a brand new 29 gallon Biocube for my birthday and I love it. I upgraded from the JBJ 12 gallon Nano Cube which I had for a couple of years somewhat successfully. Anyways, I started the Biocube with 20lbs of live sand, 7-8 pounds of live rock, zooanthids, reef water from my LFS. A couple days later I added a pair of false percula clownfish which are getting along great. The female clownfish is almost full grown and the male is barely over a inch long.I also added a peppermint shrimp and two red leg hermits. The LFS tested my parameters for the first time today and he said everything was perfect. Not sure if the cycle is complete yet but so far so good.

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The live rock was actually bought as dry bahamian base rock and was in my 12gallon nano reef for about 2 years. At a year and a half all of a sudden coraline algae grew all over it at a extremely fast rate. Its a really neat peice of rock with lots of wholes and crevices.

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I bought the zooanthids at Petco for $10.00! Probably has around 70 polyps on it. Would go for at least 70.00 at my LFS. The guy at Petco rang it up as a small pieice of live rock which cost me a $9.99! The zooanthids arent in great shape but hopefully i can bring it back. Any advice on what i should be dosing other than calcium and iodine? I have seen some reef keepers have choosen to stay away from dosing iodine. Any thoughts??

 

Here is a side view of the zooanthids along with one of my clowns.

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Picture of Female Clownfish (Caicos). I introduced both clownfish together at the same time even though i bought them at different LFS's. I was nervous that my big female was going to bully the male however the nothing of the sort happened. They have been getting along perfectly since the second they came out of the bag.

 

Male Clownfish (Turks) . Has started nipping at my zooanthids. I have had clowns in the past but never have they nipped at my corals. Hopefully this behavior doesnt continue.

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This week I added 4 blue legged hermits (1.00 each) and 4 nassarius snails (2.00 each )from the Naples Fish Store.

 

So far my cleaning crew consists of:

1 peppermint shrimp

2 red legged hermits

4 blue legged hermits

1 turbo snail

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I bought the zooanthids at Petco for $10.00! Probably has around 70 polyps on it. Would go for at least 70.00 at my LFS. The guy at Petco rang it up as a small pieice of live rock which cost me a $9.99! The zooanthids arent in great shape but hopefully i can bring it back. Any advice on what i should be dosing other than calcium and iodine? I have seen some reef keepers have choosen to stay away from dosing iodine. Any thoughts??

 

Here is a side view of the zooanthids along with one of my clowns.

 

I dose Iodine, strontium, Mag, calcium, trace, and coral-vite every other day in small quanities. However, with iodine especially you have to be careful. It's very easy to OD. I usually just add 5 drops of Kent Iodide daily or 10 drops every other day in my 24 gallon mixed reef. However, my coral load is much higher than yours right now and you need to adjust to what your tank will consume. I have over 30 different corals in my tank from SPS, LPS, and softees. All of which consume different trace elements. I don't think you really need to dose Iodine right now. If your going to test it out do it in small quantities and watch your tankmates to see how they react. Always have water on hand for a 50% water change just in case something happens:)

 

I would just do weekly water changes and not worry about dosing right now. Invest in some good test kits and calculate what your tank consumes. There really aren't any for Iodine or Strontium, but I start off by doing half of the weekly recommended doses and divide it into daily doses. This way you could increase or decrease your dosing without having huge swings. Just watch your livestock and they'll tell you if they're happy or not. You'll notice your shrimp molting more after adding Iodide because it's essential for inverts and their molting process. Have fun and enjoy your new tank...

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Starting to get a breakout of Dinoflagellates. Any suggestions??? Im going to turn the lights off for a day or two and add some chemipure w/ phospate remover and see if that helps.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Last week I bought 10 more blue legged hermits from the LFS. This weekend I bought a really awesome piece of Indonesian LR that weighs about 3.5 lbs. Also, picked up some Chemi Pure Elite and filter floss and added the Nano Koralia 1 to the right side of my tank for my water movement.

 

Did my first water change today. (4 gallons). Brown algae is finally starting to disappear. I am seeing alot more green algae but just on the glass.

 

1st chamber- Stock Pump

2nd chamber- Filter Floss, ChemiPure Elite

3rd chamber- Jager Heater, Filter Floss

 

Lighting- Stock Lighting 10k 8rs......Actinic 10hrs

 

*Clownfish still nipping at Zoos.

 

Livestock

14 Blue Leg Hermits

4 Nassarius Snails

2 Red Leg Hermits

1 Peppermint Shrimp

 

Coral-

Mushroom Coral

Various Zooanthids

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More liverock would be a nice addition imo. How often you feed your clown? Maybe hungry?

 

I feed my clown every other day. But, its only one clown that is nipping which suprises me because zoos are posionous. Think I will just end up trading the clown in to the LFS this weekend. My zoos are barely even open anymore because he bothers them all day.

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Yea Im working on buying more LR. Stuff is just so expensive.I cant find base rock for sale anywhere in my area. I have added some LR lately. Will post pics soon.

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Today I bought an emerald crab and a really neat peice of Haitian Live Rock from the LFS. Will Post pics soon. Still trying to find some people in SWFL area to trade/buy frags with. PM me if you are interested.

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Tank is 27 days old and coming along nicely.Diatoms have diminished and parameters are stable. Going to start adding hardy corals Don't plan on adding anymore fish for the time being.

 

Going to the LFS tommorow. Mos def going to buy some cyclopeeze and a frag...any other suggestions. Maybe

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Updated Picture with some nice new additions:

Feather Duster

Frogspawn

Kenya Tree

Orange Cap Monti

 

I'm getting a dark green algae on my zoonathids. I added a emerald crab and a bunch of blue and reg leg hermits to try and control it with no luck. For some reason it only grows on my zooanthids. Any suggestions?

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Water Parameters:

1.022 SG

0 Nitrate

0 Phosphates

78 degrees

550 Ca

Ph. 8.4

 

Livestock:

Pair of False Percula Clownfish

1 Emerlad Crab

14 Blue Legs

2 Reg Legs

4 Nassarius Snails

4 Turbo Snails

 

Corals

Various Zooanthids

Frogspawn

Kenya Tree

Candy Cane Coral (i think..i will post pics)

10 Pounds of Indonesian and Haitian Live Rock

 

 

Tank is about six weeks old. Everything seems to be thriving. The only small problem I have is a bubble algae growing on my zoanthids.

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  • 1 month later...

Recent Additions:

 

Mandarin Goby

Pink Pulsing Xenia

Pom Pom Xenia

Misc Mushrooms

Live Rock

Orange Star Fish

 

Specs:

8.1 PH

0 Nitrate

0 Nitrate

0 Ammonia

500 Calcium

0 Phosphates

1.025 sg

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  • 2 months later...

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