30 Gallon Stocking

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, jt8791 said:

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.

Lights that had the best growth for fuges were ones with red, blue leds, violets. This spectrum provides exactly what plant life needs

 

BRS did videos testing various lights on chaeto and its worth watching as its very informative.

 

The newest fuge lights on the market are the IM and Tunze which have good reviews

 

https://www.tunze.com/en/details/8831.000-led-eco-chic-refugium.html

 

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/chaetomax-2-n-1-refugium-led-auqa-gadget-innovative-marine.html

[jt8791]

Those might work, only concern is they seemed geared towards growing chaeto. The fluval plant grows chaeto no problem, even with just blue red and cool white leds. But it can’t grow gracilaria for crap. The fluval marine has all the same spectrums as my tank, minus green and different white temperature, so imagine it should be able to grow gracilaria.

 

I might consider the chaetomax but assume it’s designed to grow chaeto so not sure how well it will work. Plus the fact that it only lights a 9”x4” area is a bit of a downfall. Every time I look up gracilaria I mostly see people having luck growing it in the tank with reef lighting.

Tunze doesn’t even list the color spectrum of the light, honestly they don’t give you much information in general other than brand name and price tag. Plus one light over both fuges simplifies it a bit, it’s already a bit tedious having two fuges. Heck ecotechs are supposedly the best lights on the market but most of them stop working within three years.

[jt8791]

Lfs had a 24” fluval marine light in stock so took a gamble with it, according to them it should grow ogo no problem. Already seeing fresh growth in a few hours at 25% intensity. A bit more light spills over into the display, so trying red and white at 25% and blues and violet at 75%. Keeps it reasonable on spillover, but also added 1% royal blue for a moonlight on the display since it’s partially lit from the fuge light anyways.
 

Also got copepods, phytoplankton, 5 trochus and 5 cerith snails plus more macro for the fuges. My lfs has a yellowtail pygmy angel on order for me to top off the stocking once it goes through their quarantine. Have been vacuuming the sand bed for the diatoms and it’s getting a bit thin, will probably pickup a bag and rinse it before adding. Thinking either 1-2 5lb bags of ocean direct original grade or maybe a 10lb bag of special grade reef sand if I can find it locally.

 

Decided to forget about the 20 gallon tank, doesn’t seem worth the hassle or money, also not doing the 33 in the bedroom, seems simpler to keep the tanks in the living room. Shifted the living room furniture around again and debating on the 33 long between the 30 and the tv. Just have to decide what to stock it with for fish. Thinking a 48” fluval marine should be enough for bta’s with the scape 6” below the surface.

 

Edit: I dropped the moonlight, one of the nems didn’t seem happy with it. Might have to cut down the intensity on the fuge as well. Think this nem gets the worst of the light spillover.

Edited October 12, 2021 by jt8791

[jt8791]

Gonna solve this the simple and cheap way, 10lb oolite and 20lb Fiji pink in store pickup at Petco for $27 to bring my sandbed back up to 2”. Will pickup a conch hopefully Friday to take care of what’s left of the diatoms and help turn the sandbed. Gonna rinse it with the gravel vacuum and tank water, just cut the top corners and sit in a bucket to get most the dust out.

 

There might be cheaper options if I order online but this is the cheapest option locally. Was gonna grab 20lb special grade but that’s $38. Was thinking I went overboard pulling sand out, especially when you consider how much surface area that was. The sand that’s  left on the bottom now should be a mixture of oolite and Fiji pink. 

[jt8791]

33 long would be too tight of a squeeze, wouldn’t leave much room between tv and the other 30. I think the most logical option would be another 30 and go for different macros since I already have the fluval plant lights.

Seahorses are tempting, from what I read a 30 is enough for a pair but seems a bit on the short side. Not tall enough to get into seagrass, I could see 2” sandbed but anymore would trash the swimming room. Would be tough to fit a lot of rocks for the pods, sand and not take away too much swimming room for seahorses.

 

Last thing I want is another overcrowded community tank to avoid dosing nutrients, always ends up bad for the livestock. Wouldn’t mind another try at macros, I only tried ogo, ulva and chaeto, still a lot of macros to try. Just figuring out the right livestock to make it all work that’s the difficult part. Definitely not ambitious to do another fw planted tank,  doesn’t seem worth the effort.

[Tired]

Caulerpa prolifera is a good seagrass-ish shape, and from what I've read, is easy to grow. Invasive, but so are a lot of other macros. Just yank 'em as needed.

[jt8791]

Yeah I’ve been tempted to try some caulerpa species. I’ll have to start back up on researching them. Ended up going a different direction on the other 30 but still have the lights and room to fit another tank so might as well go for two tanks. Just gotta figure out what I’m putting in it before I start getting everything.

 

Edit: Had started further researching seahorses as well and may have think on that for a while. Think I would have to find a 38 or 45 gallon tank for that. Might get a bit more in depth than my experience can handle. Not sure I want to push my luck too far on weight on that corner of the room either, even another 30 gallon on that floor joist might even be a bit much. Logically a 45 tall might be the best in that footprint for seahorses, so I will pass on those.

[jt8791]

Although at the moment I'm still stumped as to what settings to run this Photon light at. 80% blues and 10% white didn't look bad but still debate if it was overkill. LFS told me to increase white to 15% for the red ogo but not a fan of the way it looks. I might have to see if either lfs in the area rents par meters. Only other option is adjust the intensity and watch for growth in the reg ogo and see how the nems respond. 2 newest one are still really small so guess I will try 80/15 maybe see how they do on 80/20 again. See some people run these lights way higher with higher white so hard to say what these nems will prefer.

 

Edit: 2nd tank won’t be happening until this one this one is situated. Not sure the red ogo is even growing, nems aren’t getting any bigger yet.

[jt8791]

Had to drop the fuge light down to 25% blues and violet, 6% red and white to get rid of the light spillover. Will tweak it some more when I get home from work tonight to see if I can get more intensity without light spilling over. Trying a new route on the display, 7 hour peak period with 3 hour ramp up and down 1:4 ratio with 1 hour period at 100:25. Might be overkill but gonna try it a few days. Toothbrush has been doing wonders on the rocks, might try for a different brush with stiffer bristles.

 

20/5

40/10

60/15

80/20

80/20

80/20

100/25

80/20

80/20

80/20

60/15

40/10

20/5

 

Still probably too long but will give it a couple days and see how the tank reacts.

[jt8791]

Had to run all over due to their inventory issues but rinsed it the best I could. It’s hard to get all the dust out of oolite but I like it for all the surface area. It was already starting to clear up an hour later when I left for work though so might not be too terrible.
 

Also managed to find a fighting conch in the process, a gamble buying at Petco but that particular stores tanks are usually pretty clean. Ended up with a bit more than I planned but should work out in the long run. It’s not quite spread out but should end up around 2.5”.

 

A macro tank is tempting but it almost seems simpler to get this tank exactly the way I want it and then just build the new one the same way. Would make maintenance a bit simpler, not sure if I would to the same fish but the blood orange clowns are quickly becoming my new favorite fish and it would make it simple.

Not sure yet on the 100/25 but definitely liking the 1:4 light ratio, the fish color up much better under 80/20 vs 80/15. Red ogo is hardly growing anyways so I don’t think 5% is gonna be a major deal. Notice I’ve still got a few turbo snails so that might explain why the ogo is disappearing quickly. I might just have to pull them out after the gha is gone.

Hard to say how much red ogo the yellowtail Pygmy angel will eat, never had them before. That’s one major reason I hesitate on going with macros again, I’m far too attached to my urchins. Have been debating if 3 in a 30 is overkill, figure move one pincushion over next summer and get a blue tuxedo for variety. 

[jt8791]

Although I haven’t seen much ogo dying in the display lately. Think it’s finally starting to outcompete the gha, which I’ve done a lot of manual removal, glass scraper and toothbrush do wonders. Betting the turbo snails are devouring the ogo before the gha, didn’t think I had any left but think I will start pulling them out as I see them, saw a few earlier. Have been doing that with bumblebee snails as well.

[jt8791]

Well guess I didn’t quite need the bag of oolite, looks like it’s gonna end up about 2.5” maybe a few spots closer to 3”. Oh well it’s in there now, maybe it won’t be so difficult to get the copepods re-established with a decent sand bed.
 

The fluval marine seems to grow the ogo just fine but can barely turn it up without light spilling over into the tank. Makes it difficult to keep the tank dark at night, I’ll just give up on that and run royal blues at 1%. Think it’s the dust from the sand making it worse, had blues and violet at 25% and red and white at 5% with barely any spill over but now it reflects across the top of the water.

 

Will get more copepods and phytoplankton Friday. I also dropped that hour of 100/25 down to 80/20, trying 7 hour peak with a slow ramp up for now. Worst case I’ll buy a few more handfuls of ogo and toss it into the tank. Will look decent when the dust settles, will probably add a tiger conch as well if I can find one locally.

 

Curious if the lfs got that yellowtail Pygmy angel in this week, almost having second thoughts on adding it to start with. Hard to judge stocking when the fish I have got a lot of growing to do still. Still bits of algae here and there for it to eat and I could easily start pulling turbo snails as I see them and see if the ogo grows more in the tank, think it’s getting eaten.

[jt8791]

Used the turkey baster and filled some low spots in, left it a bit deeper in the open area on the right, will let’s snails and conch handle it. So far the fighting conch barely moves, might still be settling in.

Gha is still popping up no matter how many times I remove it, will probably grab a couple more cerith and trochus tomorrow and see if they have a tiger conch. Don’t remember how much ogo I put in the fuges but they were getting pretty full so I pulled a handful from each and tossed it in the tank.

[jt8791]

Thinking about cutting down my peak lighting period to 6 hours, so the whole schedule is only 12 hours, 14 if you count the auto ramp up and down. Nems seem to like the 80/20 but seem to react better to the new slow ramp up/down and shorter peak period. Was starting to question if the intensity was too high or lighting period too long. Also makes it a bit more complicated since I’m trying to grow red ogo in the display.

 

Edit: went ahead and went with that. 80/20 is probably overkill for this shallow of a tank anyways so I’ll keep it shorter 

[jt8791]

Well picked up Red Sea test kits and saw how complicated it was and think I’m ordering Hanna checkers. Seems like quite the process to play match that color. Grabbed a bottle of flourish nitrogen and ordered a bottle of chaetogrow. 
 

Weather is gonna be cooling off pretty soon at night, looks like next week nights will drop to 30s. Pygmy angel didn’t make it in, lfs was actually missing a whole box of fish. I went to the other lfs that is actually closer and he agreed with my gut feeling that the tank is better off with just the clowns.

 

Didn’t see any tiger conches, difficult to get in according to both lfs. They had a fighting conch that was 1/4 the size of the one I have. They think mine is just settling in, buries itself then hardly moves. 
 

Edit: The lfs closer to me has a better supply of phytoplankton and copepods.

[jt8791]

P04 is .08 by Red Sea, maybe a bit under that. My lfs pointed out the flourish has phosphate and nitrates. Waiting on the nitrate test, was between 5-10 on api. Not going to dose until the checkers come in Wednesday.
 

Ordered some neonitro as well as the chaetogrow, not using any flourish products, they seem geared towards freshwater. Ordered neophos just in case, hr nitrate checker, lr phosphate checker and reagents for both. Tired of playing the guessing game, might as well go for some fancy gadgets.

 

Edit: Gotta get off the Amazon app for a while, ended up ordering a few other small things as well as the salinity checker and calibration solution. 

[jt8791]

Hanna checkers are so much simpler, dosed some neonitro to bring nitrates from 3.5 to 5. Starting to debate again if I have dinos or diatoms. Lr phosphate checker won’t be in till Wednesday but Red Sea came up with .8. Ordered microbacter 7 and clean to have on hand. Might try each to see if they make a difference, suppose I’ll have to order a microscope as well.

 

Edit: went above that and dosed enough to bring nitrates close to 10, just a bit neophos for a .2 increase. Ordered a 200gph pico pump to hook the uv back up. Think next week I will order calcium and alkalinity checkers/reagents 

[Tired]

If you have nitrates and phosphates, you probably don't have dinos. Probably. 

[jt8791]

Maybe, thought it was diatoms at first but starting to look like Dino’s. Was off on my water volume and phosphate ended up at .12 and nitrates at 11.2. Starting to question the water at my old lfs so gonna start getting water from the new one I found. Less than half the drive anyways.

Gotta order the rest of the Hanna checkers, at least alkalinity and calcium. Alk is 7.7-8.2 according to Red Sea and calcium was 400. Mag is testing way high around 1480 maybe higher depending on matching the color at the end. Dosed some reef complete to bring calcium to the 420-425 range but thinking I will regret that, hopefully it doesn’t drop alk too much or increase mag much. 

 

Actually weird how low alk is, it was much higher like 10-11 according to api. Highest I’ve ever seen calcium, initially used Petco saltwater and calcium was stuck at 340. I should pick up something to dose alk as well. Microbacter clean will be in tomorrow and chaetogrow and lr phosphate checker on Wednesday.
 

Microbacter 7 will be later this week, unsure of which I should be using. Holding off on the uv, have been adding a massive amount of live phytoplankton so not sure it’s worth adding the eyesore of a pump in the tank. Will stock up on saltwater this weekend and most likely do multiple 10 gallon water changes. May have to dose nutrients back up if the microbacter clean knocks them down.

 

Edit: the old lfs had spirulina phytoplankton and questioning how good it really is. New lfs has nano phytoplankton and the same copepod blend as the 5280 pods. Have seen a lot of pods since getting their pods and phyto this past weekend.

[DevilDuck]

First things first, do this quick test to see if it's dinos or something else: (19) Helpful Method for Identifying Dinoflagellates | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum

 

Once you know what you're dealing with, you can plan your next approach.

 

 

[jt8791]

I’ll have to try that, doesn’t look like most cases of Dino’s I’ve seen but sometimes it doesn’t quite seem like diatoms either. Although come to think of it I’ve noticed the change the more Red ogo I’ve added which takes in silica just like diatoms. Shot in the dark but ordered some brightwell spongexcel, seems safer to try vs the lab grade stuff

 

Edit: red ogo growth has slowed down since I added more to supplement what the urchins and turbo snails had eaten. Could be silicates or something else that chaetogrow will hopefully take care of 

[jt8791]

Well made a few screw ups and gonna try going back to Petco saltwater, will work at this moment. Alk, cal and mag are on the high end 11.8, 480 and 1520. Also misread the directions on the spongexcel, thought it was 1 drop per gallon for a .20ppm increase but guess it’s .20 per drop, whoops.

 

Between dosing nutrients and I guess the microbacter clean bringing nitrates down alk spiked, it was around 7.8-8.2 a few days ago. Would be fine if I had things to consume all that alk, cal and mag but no coralline, still plenty of gha though. Only got 10 gallons of water, will retest tomorrow and see if everything came down to a reasonable range. Picked up 6 super Tongan nassarius snails. 
 

Salinity was showing low with the Hanna and refractometer so ordered calibration solution for the ref. Hoping the Petco water will bring that up, it’s usually around 1.026. Having a hard time deciding if I want to keep using the lfs mixed saltwater, will have to find out what salt mix they use.

So many options it’s hard to say which would be the best option for my tank. Petco water might not be perfect but it’s the closest to natural sea water without driving to the ocean, although a bit pricey.

Edited October 23, 2021 by jt8791

[jt8791]

well that’s bizarre, no idea how the numbers ended up there unless the gf did the test wrong. Gonna leave it as is since I’m a bit baffled at the moment. Maybe I actually got a good batch of petco saltwater but I find that hard to believe.

This was after a 10g and 15g water changes with Petco saltwater. I did dose some chaetogrow and trace elements after the last water change but can’t see that much calcium being added from them. Come to think of it I probably didn’t need the trace elements, pretty sure it has those in it already.

 

according to Red Sea pro test

Alkalinity 7.8

calcium 490

magnesium 1360

 

hanna 

Nitrate 8.1

phosphate 0.1

 

Only dosed microbacter clean for a few days then 7 over the weekend. I debate if I should keep dosing the 7 and some neonitro to bring phosphate down more but not sure I want to keep changing things.

 

last thing I dosed was neonitro after the 15g wc, nitrate was at 1.1 and phosphate at 1.5. Think I dosed mb7 that night as well but don’t remember. Still adjusting the the fuge light intensity to get the red ogo to grow, has slowed down recently.

[jt8791]

Although there is one change I’m thinking of making but it’s not so major. Tired of looking at the 150w heater in the tank. Planned to replace heaters annually anyways so figure I might as well save money and go with basic Aqueon preset heaters.

Apartment is a bit cold right now since the heat isn’t on yet, waiting on the landlord to bleed the air out of the hot water baseboard lines. Had a 50w preset heater I had ordered for a qt tank I never bought so i buried it in the rock rubble in the ac50 filter.

 

Not sure if a 50w heater in each filter would be enough to heat the whole tank or not. Almost consider 2 50s and a 100 but think that would be overkill unless the apartment gets really cold, which doesn’t typically happen. Normally keep the place at 70F, figure 3 50s would be the safer bet in case one fails on.

Suppose I could consider hooking them all up to a controller but not sure it’s worth the expense if I’m replacing heaters annually anyways. Already got the filters on a separate surge protector with the heaters but gonna get another one just for the heaters so I can shut heaters off before shutting the filters off. Simpler than unplugging the heaters every time I service the filters or clean the prefilter sponges.

[jt8791]

Went ahead with the 3 50w heaters, seems to be working fine. Gha took right off, must have overdone it in chaetogrow combined with bad advice to increase red and white lights from the lfs. Did another 15g water change and turned the lights down. Ditched the long ramp up/down and opted for a 9 hour peak with 1 hour ramp up/down. Turned white, red and green off completely and cut back on the blues.
 

Thinking I will stick with the 60% and 30% ramp period for a few days then slowly bring them back up to where they used to be. The nems were used to the 80% light intensity and even higher than that but not sure they like it past 80. Had tried going down to 45% and they bubbled up a bit but their colors didn’t look very good.

 

Edit: also ditched the blues at night as a moonlight. Nems seemed to like the royal blues on at night but probably made the gha worse