Newbies IM 25 AIO

[Llorgon]

As an overall, the tank is doing well. My main issues right now are aiptasia and bubble algae. For the aiptasia, I've been killing the ones I see every few days with aiptasia x. The bubble algae, I'm trying to remove as much as I can with each water change. I haven't tested nitrates and phosphates in awhile so I assume they are getting a bit high.

 

I ordered a media caddy for the tank so I can replace the filter socks. I might try and modify it to create a little refugium or something like that.

 

On the fish side, I have 2 clowns and a royal Gramma. They are doing well eating like pigs. The royal Gramma is pretty shy, but the clowns will come right up and nibble on my hands when im working on the tank.

 

The corals are doing pretty well for the most part. Seeing growth in pretty much all of them which is great. I've been feeding the acans about twice a week with reef roids. Most seem to be enjoying it, but one of my older pieces is having some issues and looking a bit deflated. It's also lost a head. I can't see anything bothering it and it hasn't moved much in quite awhile. So hoping it turns around.

[Llorgon]

Some more tank shots.

[Llorgon]

A few more

[Nixperience]

50 minutes ago, Llorgon said:

ya the sand bed seems to like to stay green instead of white. I do a weekly water change and vacuum the sand, but by the end of the week it's starting to turn green again.

 

I haven't tried the pods or phyto. What sort of benefits have you seen from adding those?

Put it this way. I started a new tank 2 months ago and Swedes pods and dose phyto every other day, and I never even got a hint of unglued stage. Any hint of diatoms that showed up, was gone the next day. If the algae gets too long or too thick, not much will eat it, but if you sick it out and have a good Pod population with phyto, it should help keep up with it and clear it out. 

[Llorgon]

On 1/10/2022 at 2:35 PM, Nixperience said:

Put it this way. I started a new tank 2 months ago and Swedes pods and dose phyto every other day, and I never even got a hint of unglued stage. Any hint of diatoms that showed up, was gone the next day. If the algae gets too long or too thick, not much will eat it, but if you sick it out and have a good Pod population with phyto, it should help keep up with it and clear it out. 

Hmm I'll have to give that a try. I just can't seem to keep the sand white in this tank. Maybe the pods will help a bit.

[Llorgon]

Picked up a few frags from a local reefer this weekend. Got a sunset monti for cheap because it wasn't doing well in his tank. I decided to give it a try since the mystic monti I got from him is growing like crazy. I also picked up some starburst montipora and added a small piece of an SPS frag that had a branch break off on the way home. Can't remember the name of it though. Unfortunately when I glued it, I glued the side that was facing the light away from me so I will have to wait for the colour to return. The other frag is red with some green.

[TheKleinReef]

what sand did you use?

[Llorgon]

1 hour ago, TheKleinReef said:

what sand did you use?

It's a mix of carib sea fiji pink and reef sand.

I like the sand, heavy enough to not get blown around. The sand in the 75 is too light and blows around.

Now if I could only keep it white...

[Jaren45]

Do you have a conch in the tank?

[Llorgon]

I don't. I have 5 nassarius snails. That's it for the sand. Is a 25g big enough for a conch?

[TheKleinReef]

19 hours ago, Llorgon said:

It's a mix of carib sea fiji pink and reef sand.

I like the sand, heavy enough to not get blown around. The sand in the 75 is too light and blows around.

Now if I could only keep it white...

 

I regret getting heavy sand, i'm having a similar algae problem cause the sand doesn't move and gets stagnant.

and i'm struggling to find critters to stir it

[reefer_evo5]

i have this tank and i have a intank media basket for the rear chamber and grow cheato in the fuge basket with a fuge light i had this algae problem and the cheato helped it disappear in my display. 

[Jaren45]

6 hours ago, Llorgon said:

I don't. I have 5 nassarius snails. That's it for the sand. Is a 25g big enough for a conch?

Yes there are conchs that stay under 3" or so, I have a large one in my 20g nuvo and he does great

[Llorgon]

7 hours ago, TheKleinReef said:

 

I regret getting heavy sand, i'm having a similar algae problem cause the sand doesn't move and gets stagnant.

and i'm struggling to find critters to stir it

I don't mind the heavy sand with the exception of the algae. I have a fighting conch in my 75g and it made a huge difference in the sand. Went from gha in the sand to none. I might have to look into one for this tank.

4 hours ago, reefer_evo5 said:

i have this tank and i have a intank media basket for the rear chamber and grow cheato in the fuge basket with a fuge light i had this algae problem and the cheato helped it disappear in my display. 

I was actually looking at those the other day. A little pricey to ship to Canada, but might be worth it. I could replace the ghost skimmer that never really seems to work well. What fuge light do you use?

56 minutes ago, Jaren45 said:

Yes there are conchs that stay under 3" or so, I have a large one in my 20g nuvo and he does great

I didn't know that. I will have to look into those. I know the fighting conch made a big difference in my 75g

[reefer_evo5]

15 hours ago, Llorgon said:

I was actually looking at those the other day. A little pricey to ship to Canada, but might be worth it. I could replace the ghost skimmer that never really seems to work well. What fuge light do you use?

I got the Innovative Marine ChaetoMax Refugium LED Light from amazon it is the perfect size for the rear chamber and it has two mounting options one is a hand over the tank option and the other is a velcro option to stick it directly on the glass which is what i did its stuck on the glass of my rear chamber and i have it on a timer for 12 hours on after my display tank light goes off. ive seen on youtube people make the basket out of square plastic sewing canvas and make a box the size of the chamber maybe that can be a cheaper option for you a DIY option and a decent refugium light. 

15 hours ago, Llorgon said:

 

 

[Llorgon]

2 hours ago, reefer_evo5 said:

I got the Innovative Marine ChaetoMax Refugium LED Light from amazon it is the perfect size for the rear chamber and it has two mounting options one is a hand over the tank option and the other is a velcro option to stick it directly on the glass which is what i did its stuck on the glass of my rear chamber and i have it on a timer for 12 hours on after my display tank light goes off. ive seen on youtube people make the basket out of square plastic sewing canvas and make a box the size of the chamber maybe that can be a cheaper option for you a DIY option and a decent refugium light. 

 

Thanks. I'll check out that light. Did you have to remove the black background on the tank to attach it to the glass? If so, was it hard to get off?

[reefer_evo5]

23 hours ago, Llorgon said:

Thanks. I'll check out that light. Did you have to remove the black background on the tank to attach it to the glass? If so, was it hard to get off?

yea I cut a hole the size of the light all i did was trace the light with a pencil over the chamber I wanted it to light and I ran a razor through the pencil mark I make to cut the rectangle shape out and no the black vinyl is really easy to remove its pretty simple 

[TheKleinReef]

On 1/25/2022 at 4:29 PM, Jaren45 said:

Yes there are conchs that stay under 3" or so, I have a large one in my 20g nuvo and he does great

 

where'd you get it? and what kind?

I tried one from reefcleaners but it came DOA cause packaging was..... not good.

[Llorgon]

1 hour ago, reefer_evo5 said:

yea I cut a hole the size of the light all i did was trace the light with a pencil over the chamber I wanted it to light and I ran a razor through the pencil mark I make to cut the rectangle shape out and no the black vinyl is really easy to remove its pretty simple 

Nice. I'll have to see if I can fit my hand behind the tank to cut a hole!

6 minutes ago, TheKleinReef said:

 

where'd you get it? and what kind?

I tried one from reefcleaners but it came DOA cause packaging was..... not good.

Not sure of the kind. It just said fighting conch when I ordered it. Seems to be doing well although I really only ever see an eye poking up out of the sand. I got it from a fish store here in Canada. They are about 4hrs away from me so short shipping time.

[Jaren45]

7 hours ago, TheKleinReef said:

 

where'd you get it? and what kind?

I tried one from reefcleaners but it came DOA cause packaging was..... not good.

From my job at an lfs, it was a tiger conch. Or Tonga fighting conchs stay small (under 3.5") too. Just don't get a florida fighting, the big spiky guys get much too large for our nanos 🙂

[Llorgon]

Here is the photo from the site of the fighting conch. Mine looks similar, but the shell isn't as pointy at the back. One of these days I will see if I can get a picture of it.

[Llorgon]

Not the best picture since I haven't cleaned the glass, but it seems I got a hitchhiker on the sunset monti.

[Llorgon]

Some full tank shots post water change today.

 

I have a big empty spot on the back left of the tank under the mp10. Need to find some good corals to fill that space.

[Jaren45]

Some nice open brain corals like a trachy!

[Llorgon]

Trachys look pretty cool. If I can find one for under $200. I will definitely try it out!