Looking for tips, tricks, and general advice on reef maintenance

[Mills358]

Hello,

I have a half-moon 10 gallon Nano reef. The tanks has been running for about 3 months now. I have an API drop test kit for saltwater and all my readings are steady safe. Nitrates hover around 20 ppm.

 

Livestock: i have a black ocelaris clown, an engineer goby, a seahorse (hippo. Erectus), yellow (spotted) mandarin dragonet, a fire peppermint shrimp, 1 horned snail, feather duster, and a margarita snail.

 

corals: a fairly large fungia, green torch coral, 7-polyp green zoas, ~30 polyp red zoas, a quarter sized plate coral

 

filtration: Aqueon quietflow 10 (up to 20 gal.) and Cora life biocube protein skimmer attached to the back panel. The thermometer is set to ~73-74 F. A circulation pump pushing 100 gal/hr

 

lighting: Hipargero Touch Control 30w CREE Nano LED 

 

Help I am seeking:

all my fish are eating like champs and look healthy. Seahorse eats like a horse without much competition as I send the clown on the food chase and feed the seahorse very directly with a turkey Baster. Luckily for me, my mandarin enjoys frozen mysis and brine shrimp which compliment her constant grazing around the tank for copepods. My trouble pertains to my corals. The torch coral seems to be thriving without problems. My zoas and fungia however have issues opening up. I have been trying real hard to find the right balance of light and 2 part plankton feed but it’s been very difficult. The light I have is adjustable with 5 dimmer settings. I have been keeping it at the lowest setting for no more than 7 hours at a time seeing as anymore causes traces of a diatom bloom happening. I have attached pictures of my tank and would love some advice on how to go about getting my reef to thrive and not just survive. Thanks for your time!

 

Its night time and I turned on the lights briefly for attaching pictures, the torch coral is usually very open and flamboyant.

 

 

[WV Reefer]

11 minutes ago, Mills358 said:

Hello,

I have a half-moon 10 gallon Nano reef. The tanks has been running for about 3 months now. I have an API drop test kit for saltwater and all my readings are steady safe. Nitrates hover around 20 ppm.

 

Livestock: i have a black ocelaris clown, an engineer goby, a seahorse (hippo. Erectus), yellow (spotted) mandarin dragonet, a fire peppermint shrimp, 1 horned snail, feather duster, and a margarita snail.

 

corals: a fairly large fungia, green torch coral, 7-polyp green zoas, ~30 polyp red zoas, a quarter sized plate coral

 

filtration: Aqueon quietflow 10 (up to 20 gal.) and Cora life biocube protein skimmer attached to the back panel. The thermometer is set to ~73-74 F. A circulation pump pushing 100 gal/hr

 

lighting: Hipargero Touch Control 30w CREE Nano LED 

 

Help I am seeking:

all my fish are eating like champs and look healthy. Seahorse eats like a horse without much competition as I send the clown on the food chase and feed the seahorse very directly with a turkey Baster. Luckily for me, my mandarin enjoys frozen mysis and brine shrimp which compliment her constant grazing around the tank for copepods. My trouble pertains to my corals. The torch coral seems to be thriving without problems. My zoas and fungia however have issues opening up. I have been trying real hard to find the right balance of light and 2 part plankton feed but it’s been very difficult. The light I have is adjustable with 5 dimmer settings. I have been keeping it at the lowest setting for no more than 7 hours at a time seeing as anymore causes traces of a diatom bloom happening. I have attached pictures of my tank and would love some advice on how to go about getting my reef to thrive and not just survive. Thanks for your time!

 

Its night time and I turned on the lights briefly for attaching pictures, the torch coral is usually very open and flamboyant.

 

 

 

A plate coral should be in the sand. 

[1967type1]

That’s a lot of live stock in a ten and seahorse should be in a tank with only other seahorse and/or pipe fish. The clown is fine. Same with the engineer goby but the mandarin needs a steady population of pods that a ten gallon just can’t handle. It’s a cool likening tank though and I’m glad nothin has gone south on you yet but it will soon. As for other advise just take things really slow and use RODI water.

[Mills358]

My mandarin seems to have been steady grazing and also eats plenty of frozen food. I seeded my tank for a couple weeks before putting her in. Definitely more plump since I picked her up from the store. 100% ready to donate her as soon as I see any signs of malnutrition, is that a fair stance for me to take? 

 

also so I mix my own salt 2 cups/5 gallons of RO/DI water. 30% change every 10 days

[1967type1]

I would say that’s fair I didn’t see the part where she’s eating frozen food that’s really good. The thing with mandarins is they almost lack a stomach so they do need to eat all day so just monitor the pod population. Do you know what kind of seahorse that is. Is it a dwarf or a regular seahorse because the regulars get bit and will need a much larger tank.

[Mills358]

I’m not exactly sure, maybe dwarf? Fish book says it’s max size is 7” uncurled and I would peg it at no less than 6” right now

Advice on monitoring pod population?

[Lula_Mae]

Dwarf seahorses are zosterae, not erectus, I believe.  It will outgrow your tank.  to Nano-Reef!  This is a great site for good information about reef keeping.

[Mills358]

the Maximum size is listed at 7”...do they get bigger?

[xthunt]

1 hour ago, Mills358 said:

also so I mix my own salt 2 cups/5 gallons of RO/DI water. 30% change every 10 days

 

Whats your salinity? With Instant Ocean, I needed to do a smidge more than 1/2 cup per gallon to get 1.025, same with Reef Crystals. What salt you using?

[Lula_Mae]

2 hours ago, Mills358 said:

the Maximum size is listed at 7”...do they get bigger?

I'm not sure, but I do know that all seahorses except dwarves need at least 30-40 gallons.  Plus a 7" fish is huge in a 10 gallon. @vlangel has ponies, she can probably direct you to some good resources for pony care.

[vlangel]

Hi Mills and welcome to NR.  That is a very cute little tank but it is definitely way too small for a seahorse.  Also seahorses should not be in a tank with any stinging coral like a torch since they do not have scales.  A minimum of 30 gallons is necessary for a pair of seahorses and no less than 20 gallons for a single pony.  They are very dirty and in anything smaller the water will quickly degrade and the seahorse will be susceptible to a bacterial infection.

When I keep a single pony in a 10 gallon to QT or HT, I change half the water every day.

[Flexin]

What are all your water parameters including salinity?

 

 How often do you test?  

 

How often do you change the water?

 

Even though you did not ask, yes that is a huge bio load for that tank.  They may FIT now but all will grow.  This comment goes hand in hand with the corals and my questions above.  So much goes wrong so quickly in a small tank.

[Clown79]

Too many fish in a 10g particularly that seahorse. 

 

It needs to be rehomed, not the proper environment for it. 

They have special needs and requirements.

 

The plate coral needs to be on the sand

 

What are your alk, ca, mag, and salinity?

 

I'm not trying to sound rude but it appears that more research needs to be done. 

Coral needs, fish compatibility etc.