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Coral Vue Hydros

5.5 Gallon Mixed Reef


Lorekeeper

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New bulb is installed!

 

coralife.thumb.jpg.ab38e8a39aac10e7c104789ff581ca93.jpg

 

It's more purple than I expected, but apparently actinic 03's appear purple to us. They still do the same job.

 

Female ghost is still hanging in there, although I don't really expect to see her make it through to tomorrow.

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I'm sorry about the ghost shrimp!!

 

I'm wondering if the bulb just looks purple to you cause you're used to seeing FW lighting or planted tank lighting. 

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Thanks!

 

I'm not sure, that's a good point. On the tank on my avatar I built my own LED fixture, and that has a lot of Red/green leds, with 6500k and blue's mixed in. So maybe my eyes are just screwed up from seeing all those random LED colors!

 

The shrimp were my fault, me being impulsive. Not my intention, but oh well. Sucks to lose lives. I guess either way, they were destined as feeders.

 

Good news is that this bulb is gonna be just about perfect for lower light corals and macroalgaes. It lights up this tank well, and also does a decent job on my 2 gallon shrimp jar (may be the future home of this setup, depending on the next few months). 

 

If the shrimp does die, I'll do the usual cycle procedure, and then try to find a small crab and maybe some dwarf ceriths to start the tank out.

 

I'm considering maybe moving the rock around and adding some more base rubble I have. Make the whole thing a bit more interesting as far as rockwork.

 

Still working on a stocking list, and I'll go ahead and warn that these are probably somewhat insane. I'm gonna need help picking through them :P

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Inverts:
1 small blue-legged hermit
2 dwarf ceriths

 

Corals:
Pulsing xenia (or a coral that's similar to)
Zoas (not sure on coloring, would like to eventually get some orange/yellows)
Maybe some leathers?
Kenya tree?
Mushrooms?

 

Macros:
Red Fern 
Shaving Brush
Dragon's breath
Maybe some type of carpeting chaeto?
Galaxaura
Blue Scroll (are these hard to keep? I've heard different opinions)
Purple Fauchea

 

I know I probably won't be able to keep ALL of these, and I'm more than okay with recommendations of stuff to stay away from, and stocking issues in the tank.

 

I'm not so sure on the corals I've listed, as I've done way more research recently on macros. I'd definitely like to have a colony of xenia, and maybe some zoas. Although neither of those are set in stone.

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Re-did the rockwork in the tank.

 

I realized that I had actually left off the more porous pieces of rock, and had just used that one big chunk.

 

New-rocks.thumb.jpg.59f8f2068d20b2b33729a8279af30942.jpg

 

Tell me what you guys think! There isn't tons of room in there with that filter. I'll probably end up trading it out for a smaller powerhead when I upgrade this tank (or whenever I get tired of working around it)

 

This also gives the shrimp a bit more room to hide in there. More caves, and the space beneath the filter is much more closed off and cavish.

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Have you thought about doing just an airline with air pump?  That's what I've got on my little tank.  Could keep the filter as backup in case you need to run carbon in an emergency, maybe.

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I actually tried that, but every air pump I found was too loud. The tank is about 5 feet away from my bed, so at night when the house is quiet it was pretty ridiculous.

 

I also have to worry about minimizing noise in the house because of my parents, as well as making sure that there's nearly no chance of salt creep whatsoever. Not my house, not really my furniture, so I'd rather not mess up their stuff.

 

I don't mind the filter in there, because while it does take up a very large amount of room, it allows me to run whatever I want in the filter media, as well as acting as a powerhead.

 

Love your tank Lula, looks great!

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4 hours ago, Lorekeeper said:

Inverts:
1 small blue-legged hermit
2 dwarf ceriths

 

Corals:
Pulsing xenia (or a coral that's similar to)
Zoas (not sure on coloring, would like to eventually get some orange/yellows)
Maybe some leathers?
Kenya tree?
Mushrooms?

 

Macros:
Red Fern 
Shaving Brush
Dragon's breath
Maybe some type of carpeting chaeto?
Galaxaura
Blue Scroll (are these hard to keep? I've heard different opinions)
Purple Fauchea

 

I know I probably won't be able to keep ALL of these, and I'm more than okay with recommendations of stuff to stay away from, and stocking issues in the tank.

 

I'm not so sure on the corals I've listed, as I've done way more research recently on macros. I'd definitely like to have a colony of xenia, and maybe some zoas. Although neither of those are set in stone.

 

I would be very cautious keeping a hermit with cerith snails. They like to kill ceriths for their snails. 

Hermits have always given me trouble, so I usually avoid them. 

 

Xenia, Kenya Tree and Mushrooms would all be easy to keep in this Jar. If anything, they will likely grow too fast and you'll have to frag them and trade in or sell frags. 

Small Leathers should be fine. 

Zoas..... well, Zoas can be tricky. They either work great or they don't, lol. Bam-Bams tend to be a very hardy orange Zoa, not sure on a good yellow one. 

Most of those Macros should be doable. 

I don't think you'd be able to keep the Blue color on the Blue scroll, it tends to like pretty intense lighting. OR if you feel adventurous you could try adding some of the Fiji Mud that encouraged my Blue Scroll to keep it's color. 

I honestly don't remember whether the Purple Fauchea is difficult or not, sorry. 

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2 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

I would be very cautious keeping a hermit with cerith snails. They like to kill ceriths for their snails. 

Hermits have always given me trouble, so I usually avoid them. 

 

Xenia, Kenya Tree and Mushrooms would all be easy to keep in this Jar. If anything, they will likely grow too fast and you'll have to frag them and trade in or sell frags. 

Small Leathers should be fine. 

Zoas..... well, Zoas can be tricky. They either work great or they don't, lol. Bam-Bams tend to be a very hardy orange Zoa, not sure on a good yellow one. 

Most of those Macros should be doable. 

I don't think you'd be able to keep the Blue color on the Blue scroll, it tends to like pretty intense lighting. OR if you feel adventurous you could try adding some of the Fiji Mud that encouraged my Blue Scroll to keep it's color. 

I honestly don't remember whether the Purple Fauchea is difficult or not, sorry. 

Wow, thanks for all the info!

 

Good to know with the hermit. I had two in my ten gallon, but I don't think I ever had any ceriths, as I got a ton of random snails on my LR.

 

The news on the coral is exciting. I don't really have my heart set on any zoas, and I may put those off for a "might get" after the tank has matured.

 

Good to know that the macros I listed will do alright. I'd rather not do any of the Fiji Mud (I saw it on your thread), so I may avoid the blue scroll.

 

Also got an exciting site today - the MTS survived!!! I guess it was just being shy and I disturbed it when I moved rock around earlier. 

 

The ghost shrimp is looking a lot better. I think a full day of a constant salinity/temp plus a WC has done her a lot of good.

 

She's also come out a lot more since I redid the rocks, so maybe she feels safer in the crevices vs. the big slab I had in there before.

 

MTS.thumb.jpg.30849b0b7e662d17d2fb3d7edf4a57e3.jpg

The MTS. It's shell has gotten paler, probably due to the dust in the sand/the extra calcium in the water. Almost resembles a cerith!

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Shrimp made it through the night.

 

Ammonia: 0.25

Nitrite: 0.25

Nitrate: 0

 

Been dosing prime, to help out with the shrimp. Trying to keep her alive.

 

If these inverts survive, I won't be ordering any more.

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Female ghost shrimp died.

 

Also had a power outage that lasted for about 45 mins, tornado touched down about a mile away from my house!

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1 hour ago, Lorekeeper said:

Female ghost shrimp died.

 

Also had a power outage that lasted for about 45 mins, tornado touched down about a mile away from my house!

 

That's never good! Have you considered getting a small battery powered airstone backup just in case that ever happens again? They are relatively cheap and available at most pet stores. 

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1 hour ago, Lorekeeper said:

Female ghost shrimp died.

 

Also had a power outage that lasted for about 45 mins, tornado touched down about a mile away from my house!

Eep!  Sorry about the shrimp, tornado is yikes!  I second the idea of a battery powered air pump, I've been looking to get one myself sometime soon.

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I actually use potato power.

 

When peeled potatoes are mixed with hydrogen peroxide, they produce oxygen. Not tons, but if you get the ratio right, they work in a pinch.

 

I took the opportunity and moved the entire system into a 2 gallon jar and downgraded my FW shrimp to the 1 gallon.

 

I'll post pics tomorrow when the water clears. As far as I know, the MTS is still alive.

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8 hours ago, Lorekeeper said:

I actually use potato power.

 

When peeled potatoes are mixed with hydrogen peroxide, they produce oxygen. Not tons, but if you get the ratio right, they work in a pinch.

 

 

Holy freaking Cow dude, can I adopt you??? :o:flower:

I just told my 14yo son about this and that he might be getting a new brother and he thought it was pretty cool. 

 

We're in Greenville, SC and got some of that same weather system yesterday, ended up picking up the kids early from school yesterday, but luckily no tornadoes for us. 

Sorry bout the shrimpie, glad you, the Pico Reef and the MTS snail are safe.

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natalia_la_loca

Potato power??!  You have my undivided attention lol. How would you get the oxygen into the tank? 

 

Your stock list looks good. I can't speak to the macro list, but the corals sound fine. Xenia is awesome but can be invasive. You could get around that by attaching it to the wall of the jar or putting it on its own rock.

 

Rather than ceriths, I would suggest Trochus snails. Very efficient cleaners. My blue leg hermit has never bothered the trochus snails.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Holy freaking Cow dude, can I adopt you??? :o:flower:

I just told my 14yo son about this and that he might be getting a new brother and he thought it was pretty cool. 

 

We're in Greenville, SC and got some of that same weather system yesterday, ended up picking up the kids early from school yesterday, but luckily no tornadoes for us. 

Sorry bout the shrimpie, glad you, the Pico Reef and the MTS snail are safe.

Lol!

 

Glad y'all are safe. Not much damage our way, other than a few trailer parks that got beat up pretty bad. Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, natalia_la_loca said:

Potato power??!  You have my undivided attention lol. How would you get the oxygen into the tank? 

 

Your stock list looks good. I can't speak to the macro list, but the corals sound fine. Xenia is awesome but can be invasive. You could get around that by attaching it to the wall of the jar or putting it on its own rock.

 

Rather than ceriths, I would suggest Trochus snails. Very efficient cleaners. My blue leg hermit has never bothered the trochus snails.

 

 

Well, let's say you use a 20 oz pop bottle.

 

I use 20% peroxide that you have to order from medical supply stores. Peel a potato (I don't weigh it, but I'd guess I usually use 1/2 LB?), and then fill the bottle most of the way up with peroxide, leaving about 1/4" of air at the top of the bottle.

 

Then, drill a hole in the bottle cap, and thread some airline into the cap. Needs to be airtight, so if you use a 6 mm drill with 7 mm airline tubing, it seals well.

 

Attach an airstone to the other end of the bottle, and voila! You don't get as much as air as you would with a mechanical air pump, but it still provides enough agitation to help out.

 

I was actually thinking about attaching the xenia to the back wall of the jar, both for effect, and also to keep it from overrunning the tank.

 

I'm not sure on what inverts I'll be keeping now that the shrimp are gone. I don't really want sexy shrimp, as I've heard they tend to pick at corals. I'd love to find an invert that's active (ie doesn't hide 24/7) and reef safe, if you guys know of any.

 

Tank is still a bit cloudy, so I'll upload pics here in about an hour. 

 

Ammonia - 3.0 PPM (if it hits 4 I'll do a WC)

Nitrite - 1.0 PPM

Nitrate - 20 PPM

SG- 1.020

 

I think I mixed my new water wrong last night, so I ended up mixing water at around 1.016 instead of 1.023. I'll be doing top offs with SW until it gets back up to my target salinity.

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Well, here's the new setup. I wasn't really sure how to scape this, but I'll gladly take suggestions. I do have on more chunk of rock, similar to the piece on the left.

58e64c07369e8_2GalReef.thumb.jpg.47dd7a6baf41f51786792e77b7e49b91.jpg

 

The CFL doesn't light this tank quite as nicely as the other, but I still think it'll be fine for softies/macros.

 

58e64c7ee0ce9_2.5and2.thumb.jpg.16fb14eb40a34b6860fee988b4914eaa.jpg

 

Size comparison vs. my 2.5 gallon betta tank.

Here's what became of the pickle jar:

58e64cda7b4e2_1gal.thumb.jpg.a6c38de5178e8810b887f2e51232d4fb.jpg

It's now home to my few remaining RCS, and a crap ton of mixed foliage. 

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Hmm...

 

I personally like the Pederson shrimp out of the three of those. It's reef-safe, and I'm assuming that it doesn't actually NEED an anemone, correct?

 

I was also wondering about the CUC again. Say I build around the Pederson shrimp. I'd still need a snail or two, so what may be the best choice there?

 

Since I would have the shrimp, would I want anything else, like a hermit?

 

I've never had to stock a CUC before, as all of mine have been planned for me by vendors.

 

 

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Nope, it doesn't need an anemone, and they're very active and visible even tho they're tiny. 

Get Trochus snails if you can find them. 

Or Astrea or Cerith. 

You could add a Hermit if you wanted but I personally don't like them, they've always bulldozed over frags with me, stolen food from them, etc. 

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Well, I turn 16 in a month, so I'll be taking some of the money I get then and putting it aside to order my first livestock for this tank.

 

I'm thinking something like this as my first order:

Pederson Shrimp (or maybe some of the other tiny shrimp, not sure yet)

2x Trochus 

OR

2x Astrea

OR

2x Cerith

 

and then maybe a hardy macro such as chaeto or maybe a shaving brush.

 

With all that, I can get my inverts as well as start figuring out how to go about macros.

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I love pom-pom crabs but discovered last night that adding two to a small tank can sometimes be a very bad idea.  So one pom pom if you decide to go with it.  They are neat little creatures.

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8 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

I love pom-pom crabs but discovered last night that adding two to a small tank can sometimes be a very bad idea.  So one pom pom if you decide to go with it.  They are neat little creatures.

 

Yep, I almost suggested one of those but got distracted. :P

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Pom poms? I'll look into them.

 

I just got finished moving the entire rockscape back about 2", to give a much larger perspective on the whole tank. Also added about another 1lb of base rock.

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