30 Gallon Stocking

[Tired]

Clown gobies are actually immune to a lot of anemone stings. Look 'em up, there's pictures of them sitting in different types of anemone, completely unharmed. But if you don't like them, fair enough. 

 

Cardinalfish, maybe? Not a perching fish, and there's a couple relatively chunky species in the hobby. 

 

A female clownfish being aggressive towards the male is pretty common, and doesn't necessarily mean she'll be aggressive towards other fish. 

[jt8791]

I like cardinals but they just aren't very active, have had pjs and banggai. Plus wouldn't seem right to only get one cardinal, the pjs seemed better in a group and the banggai seemed better in a pair. Although they didn't hardly move much I'm debating on doing another tank just for cardinals later on down the road to see if there is a difference being a cardinal only tank. Haven't really decided on that one, that will be on a someday 33g long if I ever get around to it. Maybe being a longer tank with just cardinals, pair of banggai and 5 pjs, they will be a bit more active but I could be wrong. 

 

Heading the lfs today to see if they have red ogo and sea lettuce, so I'll see if they have anything else to suggest that might work. I'm not really sure what else would really fit this tank well, definitely nothing peaceful or small with a near 3" six line and a female clown that's half maroon. An active swimmer would be nice, clowns pretty much stick to the nems, six line swims around some but mostly in and out of the caves. The last six line I had swam around a lot more with a coral beauty, but I had way too many fish in the tank at the time which stressed it out.

[jt8791]

Clown gobies don't seem terrible but not sure they are a good fit for this tank, I can't see adding a small peaceful clown goby with a 3" six line wrasse and clownfish that are half maroon. I see the little thing getting chased right out of the tank. I am debating on a 20g long for a pair of standard ocellaris so clown goby might work for that tank, been trying to figure out what else I would stock that tank with.

 

Edit: I'm not a fan of green clown gobies but I do really like the Citrinis clown gobies. Debate on a pink streaked wrasse for that tank but they are so hard to find. DD had some but price was nuts.

[DevilDuck]

Clown gobies seem to be such an odd shaped and hide in rock crevices and coral that most other fish do not identify as a threat. 

My green clown goby share his home with my aggressive princess damselfish. The damsel will chase every other fish but leaves the goby alone and my clowns alone.

 

When I target feed the tank with my pipette feeder, the clown goby is the only fish to recognize the feeder as a source of food and swims right up to it.

 

[jt8791]

Okay I’ll add it onto the list as a possible on the future 20 long. Picked up a coral beauty angel, some fluval biological booster, they were out of biospora, and an ac30 carbon insert. Don’t usually run carbon but that bloom from the overfeeding gave the tank quite the odor.
 

Got nutrients now so it’s sprouting up gha in the rocks, cb has something to munch on since the urchins are slacking. Heading to the lfs later to pick up some macroalgae. Hoping for gracilaria and sea lettuce but might grab a few other things if price is reasonable. Worst case I’ll end up with macroalgae growing in the rocks till the nems fill the tank. Free food for the cb and urchins.

 

Gonna put off any equipment upgrades for the moment and pickup the 33g long tank at my lfs later this month, if they still have it. Take my time piecing it together. So worst case if the cb outgrows the 30 I’ll move it to the 33 in the bedroom. Such a sharp looking tank for an Aqueon I want to grab one if it’s available. 
 

Edit: 20 long will be later on, miss having a tank in my bedroom. Landlord will go for the tank once he sees it, already got a solid wood entertainment center in there to put it on.

Held a 50 gallon tank no issue, granted I only filled it with water and realized it was too much for the floor joists. Worst case I’ll put a catch pan under the stand like he made me do on the washing machine.

 

 

[Tired]

Clown gobies taste so bad that they're immune to biting. A fish will nip one once, and never do it again. Plus, they don't tend to set off a lot of aggression in the first place. 

[jt8791]

Hmm not sure what brand 33 long they used to carry but it was nicer than the aqueon 33 long. The one they have isn’t terrible but the center brace is gonna be a chore to work around. Debating if it’s worth the effort to modify an ac110 to divert the flow around the brace. Probably not worth the effort.

Can’t seem to find the one they carried a couple years ago, corners were black, no visible silicone and came with a leveling pad installed. Think the simplest bet would be two medium aqua fuges but that’s $450. Will have to think on that one a while.

 

Edit: Although with a little diy I imagine I could mod an ac110 output around the center brace. Seems like a more logical option than spending twice that money for a fancy acrylic box. Separate fuges is handy for growing different macros, would have to think of a third slow growing macro.

[jt8791]

Well diatoms are back but just gonna blow them off the rocks and sand from time to time and see if it works itself out. Noticed some gracilaria in the tank seems to be dying off and the tank seems a bit dim so I’m veering off from the 1:4 sps lighting schedule.
 

Had tried bringing them down to 60% blue and violet 15% white red and green but the tank was too dark so bring white red and green up to 50% of the blue intensity. Trying 80% for the peak period, probably gonna make the gha take right off but will see what happens. 

 

Nems didn’t like 100% blues and read they like a bit of white light, still trying to figure out exactly how to dial in the lights. Tossed a handful of gracilaria in the tank, haven’t noticed the cb eating it but the urchins are going for it or just carrying it around. Lfs didn’t have much sea lettuce and once again it’s disintegrating in the fuge. Turned the flow down but worst case I’ll toss the remaining bits in the tank and just do gracilaria in the fuges.

 

Edit: Didn’t have the fuge light up very high last night, 50% red, blue and cool white so turned those up to 100% and the two yellow spectrums to 5%. Also put a capful of each of the plant fertilizers I used while I was doing macros only. Might help the macros or the gha so might have been a bad idea.

[Tired]

Have you tried dosing Chaetogro to help the macroalgae out? It works great for me, when I remember to dose it. 

 

When dialing in the lights, remember to take into account what you like the look of. No sense in having a tank full of incredible growth if you don't like looking at all the growth. 

[jt8791]

Yeah I forgot all about ordering chaetogrow but still have the flourish plant fertilizers I was using previously. Tried a capful of each to see if it makes an improvement.

[Clown79]

54 minutes ago, jt8791 said:

Well diatoms are back but just gonna blow them off the rocks and sand from time to time and see if it works itself out. Noticed some gracilaria in the tank seems to be dying off and the tank seems a bit dim so I’m veering off from the 1:4 sps lighting schedule.
 

Had tried bringing them down to 60% blue and violet 15% white red and green but the tank was too dark so bring white red and green up to 50% of the blue intensity. Trying 80% for the peak period, probably gonna make the gha take right off but will see what happens. 

 

Nems didn’t like 100% blues and read they like a bit of white light, still trying to figure out exactly how to dial in the lights. Tossed a handful of gracilaria in the tank, haven’t noticed the cb eating it but the urchins are going for it or just carrying it around. Lfs didn’t have much sea lettuce and once again it’s disintegrating in the fuge. Turned the flow down but worst case I’ll toss the remaining bits in the tank and just do gracilaria in the fuges.

 

Edit: Didn’t have the fuge light up very high last night, 50% red, blue and cool white so turned those up to 100% and the two yellow spectrums to 5%. Also put a capful of each of the plant fertilizers I used while I was doing macros only. Might help the macros or the gha so might have been a bad idea.

Where did you hear nems don't like blue light?

 

My nems were under 80% blues, violets, uv.

 

White was 10%

 

Red and green 0%

 

Nems had multiple babies and grew so large they took up a good portion of my tank

[jt8791]

No think it was 100% blue they didn’t like, I think the tank looks better with more blue light but pretty dim unless blues are 80-100%. But that was also with whites at 25% and tried 50% previously. Maybe I need to trying turning the whites down more and bring the blues back up again.  
 

Turning the white, red and green up probably isn’t gonna help the gha and diatoms. Not too concerned in how I like the tank to look, trying to get the nems growing good. The two new nems have shrunk themselves right down. Photon 24-V2+ 11” above the water.

 

Had read that they like a bit of white light but seem to look much better under the blues.

[Clown79]

12 hours ago, jt8791 said:

No think it was 100% blue they didn’t like, I think the tank looks better with more blue light but pretty dim unless blues are 80-100%. But that was also with whites at 25% and tried 50% previously. Maybe I need to trying turning the whites down more and bring the blues back up again.  
 

Turning the white, red and green up probably isn’t gonna help the gha and diatoms. Not too concerned in how I like the tank to look, trying to get the nems growing good. The two new nems have shrunk themselves right down. Photon 24-V2+ 11” above the water.

 

Had read that they like a bit of white light but seem to look much better under the blues.

You know changing your light settings frequently effects the nems and corals.  It can take months to see negative effects from or positive.

 

Its far more important to choose a setting and let it be for months because it takes quite a while for the livestock to acclimate to changes than most think.

 

Constant changes is 1 of the reasons for corals/nems to go downhill.

 

Here is an explanation on what each led colour does and its importance.

 

Blue is one of the most important colours.

 

[jt8791]

Yeah just trying to figure out a setting that works so I can just leave it. Hard to find people running this light with just bta’s to go off their schedule. Think I will go with the 80/10, just lost on how long peak period and ramp up should be. Seen some people doing 2-3 hours ramp up and 8 hours peak seems to be the common option. Had tried running the royal blues at night for moonlight but think I will just go dark at night.

 

Edit: think I got it locked down, lights out at night, 25%@9,50%@10,80%@11-7pm,50%@8pm,25%@9pm

[Clown79]

3 minutes ago, jt8791 said:

Yeah just trying to figure out a setting that works so I can just leave it. Hard to find people running this light with just bta’s to go off their schedule. Think I will go with the 80/10, just lost on how long peak period and ramp up should be. Seen some people doing 2-3 hours ramp up and 8 hours peak seems to be the common option. Had tried running the royal blues at night for moonlight but think I will just go dark at night.

Anything you change should be gradual. So if you have been running blues at 60%, jumping to 80 in 1 day is too much. That should be gradual over a month.

 

Moonlighting, most only run it for a few hrs and blue should be between 2-5% for moonlights.

 

Ramp up/dow isn't even necessary but most do 1-2hrs.

 

I ran a modified brs AB setting on a non Ai light. Worked fine.

[jt8791]

Think I will have to restock on some snails to combat this diatom outbreak. Noticed a lot less snails coming out since I removed sand, may have lost some in the sand after all. Also haven’t noticed as much out since adding the six line, hard to say if I’ve lost some or just hiding.  

Another mistake I’m noticing now that I made was upping the group of bumblebee snails. Thinking I will add a few trochus, cerith and maybe nassarius since I hardly see them anymore. Might even have to start removing bumblebee snails.

[Tired]

Bumblebee snails are to eat pest worms/sessile snails, so unless you have a load of vermatids, you don't need bumblebee snails. One might be fun to have for a little variety, if you don't want your assorted fan worms. 

[jt8791]

Well lesson learned, either don’t buy coral beauty’s at Petco or this tank just isn’t big enough for one. 4 days later it ended up just like the last one, laying on the sand gasping for breath. I did the only logical thing and put it out of its misery like the last one.
 

Only common factor between those two cases was a six line wrasse. Haven’t noticed any major aggression but did notice the six line get a bit defensive when the clowns swam by last night. Thinking everyone on r2r was right and my best bet is to make the tank just for the clowns. Will catch the six line this morning.
 

Have noticed snails either hiding or disappearing since adding the six line as well. Nitrates are at 10 and phosphate was between .25 and .50 so I think I will be fine as long as I maintain that level of nitrates. Phosphate could be a bit lower, won’t be doing a water change for a while I guess. 
 

I will invest in some Hanna checkers since I’ll probably end up having to dose. Can’t see playing a guessing game of match that color with api and dosing. Sea lettuce isn’t working out very good so I’ll probably pull it out and spread the gracilaria between both fuges. Still a few clumps in the tank anyways.

 

 

[jt8791]

Haha whoops, a bit too much of the flourish, time to get chaetogrow. The tank is green, well urchins have plenty to eat, most of it is pretty short. I better test nitrate and phosphate in the morning. Suppose I could have added the lettuce nudibranch I saw at the lfs the other day. Wrasse is out, gonna shut the red, green and white lights off while the urchins work on it. Not gonna stress over it too much as long as nutrients don't bottom out. Gave up on the sea lettuce and just gracilaria in the fuges, if that doesn't grow not sure what will. Don't think I have a big enough bioload for chaeto. Got the fuge light turned as high as I can get it without spilling over into the tank, 100% red, blue and cool white 25% pure and warm white
 

Edit: a lot of back and forth information but guess the lettuce nudibranch doesn’t eat gha

 

[Tired]

Lettuce nudibranchs are only for large tanks with a huge amount of algae. They'll slowly starve to death otherwise. If you want a single heavy-duty algae eater, that urchin I see in the picture is it. He'll eat some amount of GHA, especially if you pull out the long tufts by hand to keep it short.

[jt8791]

Yeah it’s only a few small patches here and there, I imagine the urchins will wipe it out no problem. Nutrients didn’t really budge, nitrates still at 10, phosphate dropped a tad to .25. Will be ordering Hanna checkers soon so I know the exact number.

 

Gracilaria in the fuges is turning white and disintegrating, didn’t have luck with it last time either, lights are up as high as possible and still dying. Guess I’m gonna have to go back to chaeto, maybe keep the lights really low and hope it doesn’t suck out all the nutrients. Although I imagine if I go back to chaeto with this light bioload I’ll have to either dose nutrients till the clowns hit full size or add a third fish.
 

Not really sure what would even work without causing issues. A Midas blenny would be really cool but not sure how well that would go. Something that would use the caves and maybe an open water simmer, main reason I considered the Midas.

 

Edit: I added the flourish in an attempt to get the gracilaria to grow but I can’t seem to get this stuff to grow. Always dies off on me. Oddly enough it seems to grow fine in the display, maybe they need reef lighting and not planted.

[Clown79]

40 minutes ago, jt8791 said:

Yeah it’s only a few small patches here and there, I imagine the urchins will wipe it out no problem. Nutrients didn’t really budge, nitrates still at 10, phosphate dropped a tad to .25. Will be ordering Hanna checkers soon so I know the exact number.

 

Gracilaria in the fuges is turning white and disintegrating, didn’t have luck with it last time either, lights are up as high as possible and still dying. Guess I’m gonna have to go back to chaeto, maybe keep the lights really low and hope it doesn’t suck out all the nutrients. Although I imagine if I go back to chaeto with this light bioload I’ll have to either dose nutrients till the clowns hit full size or add a third fish.
 

Not really sure what would even work without causing issues. A Midas blenny would be really cool but not sure how well that would go. Something that would use the caves and maybe an open water simmer, main reason I considered the Midas.

 

Edit: I added the flourish in an attempt to get the gracilaria to grow but I can’t seem to get this stuff to grow. Always dies off on me. Oddly enough it seems to grow fine in the display, maybe they need reef lighting and not planted.

Loved my midas blenny but they are not algae eaters if thats what you are looking for.

 

My midas was lazy, he rarely left his home but gorgeous fish with character none the less

[Tired]

If it grows fine in the display, why not just keep it in the display? You could tuck it behind something if you don't much like the look of it. 

[jt8791]

Almost question if I should swap the fluval plant for a fluval marine model on the fuge. I don’t mind it in the display, was hoping to grow it in both. Odd part was I only had 10% red white and green and 80% blues, maybe gracilaria needs more of a reef type of lighting.
 

Might explain why it died off in the display with the plant light previously. Probably a bit more expensive but simpler than adding another fish. Only thing I noticed was the nems get irritated if the macro is touching them. I moved it all to the fuges so the urchins would eat more gha.

[jt8791]

I suppose $160 on a light if it gets the job done wouldn’t be terrible. I would rather not stress these clowns with another fish, they are calming down now that they have the tank to themselves but any bit of stress and she starts beating him up. Probably either sell the plant lights or save them for a fw planted tank someday.