ifynanceu Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 here is my nano at 3 months and it is doing awesome!! have to give great thanks to Robert & Timmy @ Tides & Tails in Highland, CA. for the hook up on the livestock in the tank, and the killer advise... contents are as follows: 15lbs fiji live rock 1 green tipped bubble anenome 1 red bubble anenome 1 white cup coral (pagoda) 1 green open brain 1 green b grade brain coral (favites) 1 small hammer 1 small yellow soft leather 1 green tube worm/feather duster blue tonga mushrooms pink and green ricordea mushys 1 elephant ear mushy 2 green spotted mushys yellow pollyps misc pollyps 1 maroon clown 1 bar goby/dart fish 1 blue spotted ladder goby 1 red phsycodelic mandarin goby 1 camel shrimp 1 medium (4inch) crocea clam 1 purple sea slug 1 red sea slug 1 red linka starfish 1 Rio 90 powerhead/pump 1 coralife 50/50 28w powercompact light (swapped for original and gives much better color) all of this is kept without problems in a 12gal nano cube...amazing, but true! I use salifert's test kits to mintor water quality and use seachem reef calcium & reef builder, salifert natural iodine, dts plankton, and san francisco bay brine shrimp...with some occasional s.f. bay krill for the bubbles... Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 this pic should post now Link to comment
nanocat Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 You have a mandarin, along with 3 other fish in a nano ? Is he eating frozen mysis, or are you hoping he will live on pods in the nano? I ask, because mandarin are not recommended for new tanks of any size, and generally not acceptable for tanks without substantial live rock (think in terms of over 100lbs.), and a year's worth of pod development. If your LFS told you otherwise, they don't know much about mandarins. Nice tank. Cubes rock, don't they Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 believe it or not, it eats frozen brine shrimp!! it took it a few days to aclimate, but he cruises around picking off the rock and eating brine like all of the rest...i was surprised to sustain things the way i have so far in this little monster, especially with 5 fish in it, but my brother in law and i both have them and he even has more fish and corals than i do with no problems...we do about 2.5 to 3 gallon water changes per week and use calcium and iodine on a regular schedule and all creatures are happy! he has the regular cube bulb in his, but i was able to set this one up with the coralife and it seems to be a little darker, but the 03 actinic part of the coralife brings the colors out much better than the standard bulb....here's another pic Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 here's a better pic of the leather Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 i also feed the mandaring blackworms....likes those too...here are the blue mushys Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 here is the white cup coral pagoda... Link to comment
Acoustic Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Hey guy I will make this short and sweet: Coral eaters ------------------------ 1 purple sea slug 1 red sea slug 1 camel shrimp Fish eaters ------------------------ 1 elephant ear mushy 1 red linka starfish (small fish) Not Nano ------------------------ 1 red phsycodelic mandarin goby (Unless it eats brine) Not good but the corals look nice for now. Chow Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 so far so good with all in the tank...the shrimp keeps my rock under control and doesn't go near the corals, the mandaring is doing well on brine (thanks god, because i have had them in the past and they are very finicky eaters), the slugs stay pretty much on the glass in front of the flow and don't touch corals (but the 1st sign of them chomping and they are history), and as for the rest, most items are way too small to eat any fish i have (done for a reason), but i can say that my red bubble did eat a percula clown (i was very surprised at that one), but other than that, all habitants of the cube are complimenting each other well...gasp! it has been pure luck...i hope... Link to comment
reefsrule Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 I heard that brine shrimp's improper nutrition, Imho they should be in larger tanks Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 i also use zooplex from kent marine, but that is more for the filter feeders. i actually need to find a more appropriate food for the others in the tank...they seem to like the black worms too... Link to comment
EJ7B18C1 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 If the Mandarin Gobie does eat "brine" I suggest soaking the brine shrimp with Selcon so he'll at least get the proper nutrition and boost needed to survive in a fairly new tank like that. Also, I don't think your hearing these guys correctly about their advice but some like to learn as they go so that's cool. Good luck with everything and keep us posted. Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Nice tank but 3 months is a little too early to tell if all your inhabitants are doing well.....give the tank some time to mature and you'll know if it really is coping.... As for the mandarin....i suggest you do some MORE research on it. No doubt it may be eating brine now but research has shown that brine alone would not be sufficient in providing it's nutritional needs. It's a great fish no doubt...and i bet most if not all of us at Nano reef would love to have one in my tank (god knows the amount of times i've tried to justify to myself in keeping one...) but unless you're willing to take the kind of time and patience to provide the right enviroment for the fish...it just wont survive. This reply is not meant as a flame in any way...this site was set up so that others can learn....so read up and get more knowledge. i'm surprised no one has got on your back for having 5 fishes in a 12 gallon just yet... quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted by ifynanceu was surprised to sustain things the way i have so far in this little monster, especially with 5 fish in it -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Imagine being stuck in a room with 4 other mates for the rest of ur life...heck even for a year....there's bound to be issues.... :*( one last note....how much light is the clam getting? and what kind is it.....u might wanna check coz clams are high light demanding animals and tank parameters should be very Stable with proper calcium and alk levels.... Sorry to burst ur bubble if i ended up doing so..... if you've come to this site to learn, then there's no end to the knowledge and wisdom that you have access to in this site...if you're just here to showcase your tank...then be prepared for some criticism... Cheers.... Link to comment
jkj454 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 Just a suggestion, ifynanceu, but you may want to switch to something a bit more nutritional, like frozen mysis or bloodworms. You are quite lucky to have a mandarin accept prepared foods at all, but since you do, you'd better be sure he's getting optimum nutrition, and brine isn't going to cut it, in the long run. Just my two cents worth. -JKJ Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 i do actually appreciate the advise many of you are giving...it is very helpful as this is my 1st reef environment, used to do fish only alot...as for having many fish in there, i actually want to remove the bar goby/dart fish only because it serves no function...the ladder goby cleans and sifts the sand, the clown keeps the anenome happy seeing as how it swims in both and feeds them, and the mandarin keeps picking at the rocks and looks cool..i will take the advise of many of you and try to get some mysis and also a vitamin type soak for the brine...i do feed it live black worms now, but will try other avenues for better health...i do keep the water changed real regularly so there is no major build ups...the lighting is a 28watt coralife 50/50 pc, and the clam stays directly underneath it, plus in the am hours, the sunlight shines through my window directly on the tank and i always allow it to do so for better benefits on natural sunlight. i actually heard from a dealer in fountain valley, ca. (kind of local for me) that JBJ is releasing a new hood for the nano next month for about $100, but it will incorporate 5 t-5's in it...they have one setup with 4 t-5's and it looked sweet, but 5 should be nice (and hopefully it will include fans)! if anyone else out there has suggestions of proper care for the inhabitants of my nano, please feel free to share it with me...to clarify what i was calling sea slugs, they are listed on the net as nudibranch (the store called them slugs)...i have never had dealings with those, so if anyone has suggestions of tips, please share...thanks again to all the replies that have been helpful... Link to comment
ninhsavestheday Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 yeah.. i dont think your clam is gonna do so well under 28 watts. and your mandarin probably looking for some pods to snack on. Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 i am interested in the 70w halide assemblies, but nobody around me knows where to find one (or at least a good one they say), but i was thinking of building a new lid for the tank and incorporating 3 28w pc's or the halide and 2 28w 03 actinic pc's...if i could find a good deal on the halide, i would buy it now...maybe someone out there can point me in the right direction... Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 i see the mandarin police are out in full force on this thread. Give the guy a break. We give advice on how to take care of fish/corals here but if someone wants to get a mandarin and try then thats their choice. If he can make it work great, maybe he could find a new way to take care of them so they arent such a taboo fish to have. Noone ####es and moans when someone says they have dendro and thats incredibly hard to take care of. Anyway, enough venting. Nice tank i like the shrooms and that leather is excellent. If you want ideas on halide go to the diy section and read reefriots thread on diy regent fixtures or krakerg just did a mod on a csl hood with halide, both awesome diy's to look at. Link to comment
southpaw23 Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 It's a good thing that you have a good attitude towards reef keeping. Just be sure to do proper research before purchasing ur inhabitants....especially the clam.....coz the lighting is not going to be sufficient to sustain it.... And about the 70w Halide setup...your clam would love you for it....but check on your other parameters...what are your Ca and Alk levels in the tank? Have you got kits for to test those....it would be good to keep track of those levels as the tank moves along...it'll help you determine if you need to use certain additives and buffers...... But for the Halide setup, check out the DIY section, they have a couple of threads on members who've managed to get this setup up with little hassle. Oh and lastly...be careful of exposing ur tank to sun light...that can cause some unwanted algae blooms... Well....good luck with the tank...keep up the attitude and perserverance and you've definately got a winner in time to come. Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 thanks!!i am hoping that the mandarin stays in good health due to the fact it is a red variation and is harder to find...thanks for the diy tip, i was just checking it out...i am going to go to a local plastics dealer and see what i can come up with in the form of sheet plexi or abs to make a new hood in an original type plastic...this way i can heat it and make the bends i need...it never hurts to try...worst that can happen is it fails, but if it works, then we may be on to something...will keep you all posted... Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 yeah, i hear ya there...i do use salifert's test kits for kh/alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium...i am certainly going to try to make the halide switch, or at least a triple 28w pc setup...i have seen many setups on ebay i can pick up (ballasts and caps) relatively inexpensive (as compared to a dealer) and may try that... i have figured with the regular hood, i can run the 28w pc's from rear to front real well and get better coverage than side to side...i may invest in the parts in the next few days to try my luck...any suggestions as to which pc bulbs to use? coralife, hamilton, etc? Link to comment
Reefer_Buddha Posted February 12, 2004 Share Posted February 12, 2004 pc's are so cheap its hard to define who makes good and bad. I use custom sealife bulbs. ushio and aqualine halides. Link to comment
ifynanceu Posted February 12, 2004 Author Share Posted February 12, 2004 cool! thanks for the info, i was just on ebay to find the halide set ups too...who knows...since my brother in law and i both have these tanks, i can try both ways (oc's alone, or with mh combo) and see which works the best.... Link to comment
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