12 Gallon Nano

[Braun036]

Hello everyone

 

it has been a couple weeks since I have checked in. I have made a lot of changes to my tank since I have last posted. Today I am very excited I took my Colt coral back to the LFS it was becoming to big for my tank. I am super excited because I replaced it with a bubble coral I have always wanted one.  But the guys at another LFS I stopped going to kept talking me out of it as they said it is impossible to care for. So I look forward to the challenge. I also added a torch and trumpet. Which I will post pictures tomorrow, I just added them tonight so not much to take pictures of. Lol. I added a watch men goby to help shift the sand around. Update on my clowns they are doing really well. My hammer frogspawn and green star polyps are growing really nicely. Which is pretty excited to watch. My Xenia already grew another stalk which I can't believe happened this fast. The Duncan seems to be doing well. One of my favorite corals to feed. I just have to watch because the cleaner shrimp loves to steal his food. The red flower pot despite what the LFS told me is doing extremely well. I would like to thank this form for all they good advice you men/women have given me. I look forward to posting some pictures tomorrow to share with you. 

[Braun036]

Looks like the torch is still getting use to its new home. I would imagine it could take a day or two.  And the hammer is still waking up. But I really like the way everything looks. 

[Weetabix7]

I had been wondering how you and your tank were doing, and I have to say, that tank is looking pretty good!!

I'm glad you're enjoying it as well. 

[Nano sapiens]

Off to a good start

 

Surprising that a LFS would say that Bubble Corals are difficult/impossible.  They are actually quite hardy given low to medium-low light and low flow (otherwise, the bubbles can tear).  Weekly feeding is also helpful.

[Braun036]

Yes my dad passed away and I was and still am dealing with that.  So not a lot of time for the fish tank.  I made sure everything was feed and the water was good.  But last night I went to the LFS and picked up some goodies. I try my best to keep care of everything I have and read up as much as I can on the animals I have. I was planning on feeding the bubble every three days or when his feeding  tentacles are out. I have him in a pretty low flow area I just had to make some adjustments to the power head.  And I hope my light is not to much for the bubble or the torch.  I have the bubble as low as I can, but the torch is pretty high. I was thinking since the hammer, torch and frog spawn are part of the same family and the frog spawn and hammer are doing great.  

[Braun036]

here is a quick 30 second video of my tank! 

[Weetabix7]

50 minutes ago, Braun036 said:

here is a quick 30 second video of my tank! 

 

Your tank is looking really gorgeous, I love it. 

It also looks like you've got the Bubble Coral in a really great spot, flow wise. 

Watching the video gives me a feeling of serenity, and it hope it does for you as well. 

I am sorry to hear about your Dad, I somehow missed that when you first posted it. 

I hope that this tank provides you with a positive and fulfilling outlet to balance out some of the difficult things in life right now. 

[Braun036]

Thank you. Yes being able to work on this tank and just sit and look at it has kept me busy. But I just love how peaceful it is. No matter how hard my day was I come home and just sit and watch them. Before my dad passed away he bought me the green star polyps. So I really hope nothing happens to them 

[Weetabix7]

1 hour ago, Braun036 said:

Thank you. Yes being able to work on this tank and just sit and look at it has kept me busy. But I just love how peaceful it is. No matter how hard my day was I come home and just sit and watch them. Before my dad passed away he bought me the green star polyps. So I really hope nothing happens to them 

 

They'll be good, they're Miracle Polyps.

[Braun036]

Well another weekly update things were looking a little grim. I kept wondering what the problem was everything I was testing for was great. But I never checked  magnesium never had to worry about that before. But I guess with my tank being so stocked I am going to have to really keep on on dosing everything a reef tank needs. So just after a couple of days of dosing my tank looks wonderful again. 

I am really impressed with how fast the Hammer is growing 

The red flowerpot coral seems to be enjoying the tank as well 

[Braun036]

I know it might seem crazy but I am going to try to add one more coral early next week once I get my  magnesium  level back up in the 1300's. I am planning on putting it before the bubble coral. I know some of you thinking STOP adding stuff your tank is full. But I think it is okay I am going to be getting a 75 in December. 

[Braun036]

[Braun036]

i added a hybrid hammer/frogspawn to the tank I think it is just amazing 

[Braun036]

i added a hybrid hammer/frogspawn to the tank I think it is just amazing 

I am just hope that the bubble coral and the hybrid don't bother each other. 

[Braun036]

Well I added one more thing to the tank and I promise that is my tank is fully stocked. I have been keeping up with water changes every 4 to 5 days doing about a gallon each time. Everything seems to be doing really well which I am very excited about.

[Braun036]

Crazy story as I just I do water changes very frequently which should mean that I should have to add really anything. But after every water change I would have to add a ton of chemicals to get my levels back up to where they should be. And I would do this week after week. So I buy my water from the LFS if you didn't know.  So last week I go down to the LFS and I purchase some water and then I leave and come back and say hey can you test my water. They said how are you keeping anything alive with the number being so low the calcium was 190 the magnesium was 100 and I can't remember the rest but as you can guess everything was off. I simply responded with well that is the water I just bought from you and you are advertising it as reef crystal water and charging 2.75 a gallon for. So after a couple of days they called me and told me that they spoke with the Red Sea rep and they said there is a  defect  with that order of salt. So long story short I plan on just buying my own salt and making my own water. The only problem with that is I would still have to go there and buy their R/O water.  Which I would have no idea how to test if the water is really R/O! So who knows.  

[Braun036]

Water testing from today still trying to boosted that magnesium up! 

[Weetabix7]

19 minutes ago, Braun036 said:

Crazy story as I just I do water changes very frequently which should mean that I should have to add really anything. But after every water change I would have to add a ton of chemicals to get my levels back up to where they should be. And I would do this week after week. So I buy my water from the LFS if you didn't know.  So last week I go down to the LFS and I purchase some water and then I leave and come back and say hey can you test my water. They said how are you keeping anything alive with the number being so low the calcium was 190 the magnesium was 100 and I can't remember the rest but as you can guess everything was off. I simply responded with well that is the water I just bought from you and you are advertising it as reef crystal water and charging 2.75 a gallon for. So after a couple of days they called me and told me that they spoke with the Red Sea rep and they said there is a  defect  with that order of salt. So long story short I plan on just buying my own salt and making my own water. The only problem with that is I would still have to go there and buy their R/O water.  Which I would have no idea how to test if the water is really R/O! So who knows.  

 

You can get a TDS meter fairly cheap to test the RO water yourself, think I got mine from BRS. 

Don't go too fast on boosting the magnesium, I learned that one the hard way. 

Slow and steady does it.

[Braun036]

I have heard about not raising the magnesium level more than 100 PPM a day as it could really stress the corals out. So I will just take my time. 

How have you been anyways it has been awhile. Do you have any new projects going on 

[Braun036]

Weetabix7 I have a question for you? With my bubble coral and hybrid being so close to each other. Would you see a problem with me moving the bubble coral down on to the sand and then moving the Duncan to where the bubble was. I am afraid that the hybrid and bubble are going to start fighting.  

[Weetabix7]

18 hours ago, Braun036 said:

I have heard about not raising the magnesium level more than 100 PPM a day as it could really stress the corals out. So I will just take my time. 

How have you been anyways it has been awhile. Do you have any new projects going on 

 

I do have a new project going on, I'm getting ready to start up a 40 Breeder tank that I'll be doing some special stuff in, I'm really nervous and really excited at the same time!!!

 

On the Mg, I wouldn't raise it more than 25 a day, personally. 

 

When you say the Hybrid, are you referring to the coral on the front left side of the Tank?

If so, they don't look too close to each other to me. 

All the corals looked super happy in the video you posted earlier as well. 

Have you seen any sign of coral warfare?

Be careful not to create a problem where there isn't one. 

Having said that, it likely wouldn't hurt anything for you to move positions and see how the corals respond. 

The corals will let you know if they are happy, watch whether they are fat and fluffy or squinched up.

[Braun036]

A breeder tank sounds like fun.  What do you plan on breeding. 

 

The hybrid I was talking about is the purple and green on to the left of the bubble.  I have seen no signs of any fighting and everything does look okay. I just wasn't sure how well things would get along as they started getting better. 

 

I would really ally like to trim my GSP and put the cut piece on the same rock just next to it.  I don't really like the way it is growing off the rock and straight up. But I am afraid of harming them so I guess it is whatever.  

 

I agree with with you on the magnesium as well after doing some research last night.  Just trying to get all my levels back up after that crazy water I was dealing with. 

[Weetabix7]

The placement and spacing of the corals all looks really good to me right now. 

 

As for the GSP, feel free to go ahead and trim it with a razor, exacto knife or even scissors (I've done it!) and glue the new frag wherever you like. 

[Braun036]

Can I razor blade it with it in the tank or do I need to rock out. 

[Weetabix7]

9 minutes ago, Braun036 said:

Can I razor blade it with it in the tank or do I need to rock out. 

 

I would take it out, personally, gives you greater control.