First month of reefing

[HVani]

My tank has been up and running for a little over a month now. I used LR from a mature system and new sand. The tank is a BC14 and I LOVE it. I could spend hours watching this tank and I often leave the lights on too long, encouraging algae.

 

Anyway I have a few corals, a CUC and a blue tuxedo urchin. Something I have notice is my Hammer coral is by far my most sensitive. If anything is wrong it lets me know. My duncan loves food and is easy to keep. Some of my zoas are touchy and some are easy. I have a single blue mushroom that gave me a ton of trouble. It was never happy where I put it and it took forever to get it to attach to anything. It even spewed its guts but changed it's mind about dying. It finally found a place where it is happy, in the shade. So I have a beautiful blue mushroom living in the shade. Hopefully it spreads into the light a bit.

 

 

Oh forgot to mention, my lighting is 10 CREE LEDs. It's great but I'm looking to add more blue to the tank. I'm thinking a stunner strip.

 

Now that I have some(very little) experience under my belt I'm curious where to go from here. I have been reading about dosing a tank and I'm not really sure if that's needed or not. This tank will be mostly softies with a couple LPS that I already have. I don't plan to get more complicated than that. At what point do I NEED to be dosing? What's an easy way to do that?

 

I would love to have a feather duster down the road but I know they need supplemental feedings. I already feed my hammer and duncan so that's not an issue. What would a feather duster eat? How old should my tank be before I get one? The LFS had a beautiful pink one but I didn't get it because I figured my tank was not old enough.

 

Speaking of age I would like to get a rock anemone for the tank and have it host a anemone crab. I know these anemones are hardier and easier that other species. How old should my tank be before adding one? I am trying to leave a space for one but I'm afraid my coral may take up that space as they grow.

[stifler51]

as far as dosing goes, u dont need to dose unless water changes are no longer enough to keep levels at an acceptable range. Mainly when u have high demanding corals, such as a tank of SPS coral. Id suggest testing your levels after water change and right before the next water change to see if u either A. water change more often to keep levels up or B. need to resort to dosing because weekly WC isnt enough. Remember only dose what u can test for and dont believe everything u hear, every company or LFS will usually try to push product just to sell something.

[lecroj]

Looks like all the softies you have don't need all the light you have. I would suggest you use no lenses on the LEDs. Try to shade some of the corals.

[HVani]

What do you mean remove the lenses?

 

Most of my corals seem really happy with the light, except the blue mushroom lol.

[ferissp]

First: I had a 10 gallon tank and I asked the same question: Should I be using a 2 part system? The answer by the 2k+ post members was that no, I should not. Water changes will provide you with all the benefits of a protein skimmer and a two part dosing system. People dose in larger systems where a 50% water change isn't feasible and/or in systems (like someone else pointed out) where the amount or rate of nutrients being absorbed far exceed those provided in your salt mix. I think the area gets fuzzy right around the 30 gallon mark but for anything under 20g I would just aim for a 100% water change over a month and you should be fine. Especially based on your livestock plans. Keep in mind that this means that 100% of your nutrients come from your salt mix. Make sure to get a good brand. You should have a reef test kit or some way of tracking your calcium, phosphate, and carbonate hardness levels. I would track them for a week (or so) to determine how they fall over a given time period. This will help maximize the usefulness of your water changes and allow you to keep levels relatively smooth over time. Lastly on this subject, the common rule in SW aquaria is, "Do not dose with anything you aren't testing for." Keep that in mind with essential nutrient mixes, iodide, etc.

 

If you want to learn more about dosing, or if you decide to go down that path, this article is great and easy to understand. It was provided by a fellow forum member to me.

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

 

Second: Things will adjust to your light given enough time. I don't think you have too much light. Just watch your corals (especially new ones). Remember that light is part of placement, flow plays a factor too.

 

Third: Feather dusters require Phytoplankton every few days. Look at your LR. If you have fan worms and they are flourishing than you can probably handle a feather duster. My advice would be that you should try and place him in an area of high indirect flow. You should also realize that they will move to wherever they want to be and one they get into a crevice they are a PITA to get out.

 

Fourth: My frogspawn (a cousin of your hammer) and Xenia will sometimes pout for a few minutes. It doesn't necessarily mean the world is ending - I think you know that though. My Duncan is also a cheap date. I think it likes food more than sunlight personally.

 

Fifth: Why not try a sexy shrimp and a maxi/mini anemone? They are a little smaller, very pretty, and just as much fun. I have one and he is a happy camper on the sand in my 40gallon. I would say a hardier anemone is okay after you can go a month with no ammonia or nitrite readings and you are committed to keeping your nitrates as low as possible.

[HVani]

Thanks for the very informative post!

 

Looks I have a few more test kits to get to figure out the whole dosing thing.

 

The only thing about sexy shrimp is I worry my future clownfish will eat them