Royalgramma001's 55 Gallon NPS Adventure

[RoyalGramma001]

I've kept them on the sand and it has 3 more polyps in a month! Pistol shrimp likes to move him around though!

[RyanReef]

21 hours ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

I've kept them on the sand and it has 3 more polyps in a month! Pistol shrimp likes to move him around though!

Does them stretching mean they aren't getting enough light? I have mine mid-tank and they are still stretching

[RoyalGramma001]

1 hour ago, RyanReef said:

Does them stretching mean they aren't getting enough light? I have mine mid-tank and they are still stretching

Palythoa have longer stems than zooanthids do so I think you are fine

[RoyalGramma001]

Update finally! I got a fluval Sea 48 inch light! 59 watts and I'm going to pair it with my current marine orbit so 80 watts. 500 par at the top so maybe I can get some easier Acropora like Bali green slimers. Not sure on stocking yet but I'm looking at some fish on among the reef! Had my eye on the joculator angelfish! Friends think I'm crazy. But can't wait to see what happens with this tank

[RoyalGramma001]

Also looking at a wrasse bass too!

[RoyalGramma001]

Getting my stand tomorrow probably. 

[RoyalGramma001]

Anyone have any stocking suggestions? Looking for a list that has algae eaters and other sort of pest eaters? Would a yellow tang work I've heard mixed results online and I wanted your opinions?

[RoyalGramma001]

Ok forget about a tang realized it would not have been a good choice

[RoyalGramma001]

Here is the stocking list I'm going to stick with unless some fish is not compatible with another

1x tomato clown

1x yellow watchman goby

1x yasha goby

1x flaming prawn goby

1x court jester goby

1x McCosker's flasher wrasse

1x yellow coris wrasse

1x neon goby

1x radial filefish

1x orange banded prawn goby

1x Dracula goby 

1x green clown goby

 

 

 

 

trying to keep stocking peaceful. Bio load should not be too bad I'm running dual filters.

[RoyalGramma001]

Progress made! Got the tank and stand up! Light also looks nice!

here is the light at its brightest point of the day

pink 10%
cyan 100%
Blue100%
purple 100%
white 20%

[RoyalGramma001]

How many different gobies could I keep in a tank. I was looking to have yellow watchman goby, Dracula goby, green clown goby, yasha goby, orange banded goby, court jester, flaming prawn, and neon goby. Is this too much I was thinking it might work since they are mostly all different genus but I couldn't find any information on line? What do you guys think?

[RoyalGramma001]

I am going to do an nps dominated system @banasophia since you keep nps coral and sponges what do you think of this feeding schedule I put together.

phytofeast 5 times per day

oyster Feast once per day

Roti feast once per day

R.O.E once every 2-3 days

pe mysis every other day 

 

Also what should I keep the tanks parameters at for a nps and sponge with macro algae dominant system? If this schedule is not good could you recommend something? I am looking to have sun corals, fathead dendros, nps gorgonians, sponges, carnation coral, Christmas tree rock, goniopora, and macro algae.

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

I am going to do an nps dominated system @banasophia since you keep nps coral and sponges what do you think of this feeding schedule I put together.

phytofeast 5 times per day

oyster Feast once per day

Roti feast once per day

R.O.E once every 2-3 days

pe mysis every other day 

 

Also what should I keep the tanks parameters at for a nps and sponge with macro algae dominant system? If this schedule is not good could you recommend something? I am looking to have sun corals, fathead dendros, nps gorgonians, sponges, carnation coral, Christmas tree rock, goniopora, and macro algae.

Hi @RoyalGramma001, here’s my feeding schedule I used for a long time, from my TOTM:

 

***

I feed my tank heavily, on a daily basis, due to my NPS (non-photosynthetic) corals and my mandarin dragonet. In the beginning I fed twice per day, but I currently feed once per day in the evening, and monitor closely to ensure my mandarin and NPS are well fed and happy.

 

• I turn off the pump and wavemaker and add two pinches whole and two pinches crushed Sustainable Aquatics Hatchery Diet pellets.
• Three days per week I then pour in some fresh hatched baby brine shrimp which I hatch in a Shrimpery (one batch produces 3 nightly harvests).
• I wait 15 minutes and then add frozen (typically a mix of Reef Frenzy Nano, Marine Cuisine, and Coral Gumbo) mixed with a pinch of Coral Frenzy or Reef Roids powder. I often feed a meaty piece to the emerald crabs (to keep them fed well enough that they don’t eat the polyps from the pipe organ corals) and then I squirt a little of the mix on the sun corals to get them to open, if they’re not already.
• Approximately 15 minutes later (when sun corals are fully open) I feed more to the suns, and let it sit for 15 minutes.
• I then turn on the powerhead only to swirl the food around the tank for 15-30 minutes.
• When all done, I turn the pump back on. 

 

I also add phytoplankton and zooplankton a few times per week, especially if my spider sponge and chili coral aren’t opening up. All of this is not an exact science, sometimes I skip the frozen on the nights I do the baby brine shrimp, and I often skip feeding on water change day, or just do the pellets. The main thing is that I watch closely to ensure the mandarin is maintaining weight and the suns and other NPS are opening up.

 

Of note, I was also culturing my own pods for a while, and added them on a weekly basis, but the cultures got some algae growth that looked like briopsis, so I shut them down an I will restart cultures in the spring. For now, I purchase pods as needed, typically on a monthly basis. 
***

 

 

Dendros and sponges are probably easiest on your list so I’d probably start with those and suns and see how they do with the foods you listed. Personally don’t think you’ll need to feed things 5 times a day in a nano tank but maybe with some of the more sensitive corals on your list? 
 

I’m not sure what my parameters are, but in the beginning I had to figure out how to control them while feeding heavily, so for my tank what works well is 25-30% water changes once/week and I dose NoPoX daily... that was to get my nitrates around 10-15... I used to need to use PhosphateRX from time to time to decrease phosphates as well.

 

[RoyalGramma001]

11 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Hi @RoyalGramma001, here’s my feeding schedule I used for a long time, from my TOTM:

 

***

 

I feed my tank heavily, on a daily basis, due to my NPS (non-photosynthetic) corals and my mandarin dragonet. In the beginning I fed twice per day, but I currently feed once per day in the evening, and monitor closely to ensure my mandarin and NPS are well fed and happy.

 

• I turn off the pump and wavemaker and add two pinches whole and two pinches crushed Sustainable Aquatics Hatchery Diet pellets.
• Three days per week I then pour in some fresh hatched baby brine shrimp which I hatch in a Shrimpery (one batch produces 3 nightly harvests).
• I wait 15 minutes and then add frozen (typically a mix of Reef Frenzy Nano, Marine Cuisine, and Coral Gumbo) mixed with a pinch of Coral Frenzy or Reef Roids powder. I often feed a meaty piece to the emerald crabs (to keep them fed well enough that they don’t eat the polyps from the pipe organ corals) and then I squirt a little of the mix on the sun corals to get them to open, if they’re not already.
• Approximately 15 minutes later (when sun corals are fully open) I feed more to the suns, and let it sit for 15 minutes.
• I then turn on the powerhead only to swirl the food around the tank for 15-30 minutes.
• When all done, I turn the pump back on. 

 

I also add phytoplankton and zooplankton a few times per week, especially if my spider sponge and chili coral aren’t opening up. All of this is not an exact science, sometimes I skip the frozen on the nights I do the baby brine shrimp, and I often skip feeding on water change day, or just do the pellets. The main thing is that I watch closely to ensure the mandarin is maintaining weight and the suns and other NPS are opening up.

 

Of note, I was also culturing my own pods for a while, and added them on a weekly basis, but the cultures got some algae growth that looked like briopsis, so I shut them down an I will restart cultures in the spring. For now, I purchase pods as needed, typically on a monthly basis. 
***

 

 

Dendros and sponges are probably easiest on your list so I’d probably start with those and suns and see how they do with the foods you listed. Personally don’t think you’ll need to feed things 5 times a day in a nano tank but maybe with some of the more sensitive corals on your list? 
 

I’m not sure what my parameters are, but in the beginning I had to figure out how to control them while feeding heavily, so for my tank what works well is 25-30% water changes once/week and I dose NoPoX daily... that was to get my nitrates around 10-15... I used to need to use PhosphateRX from time to time to decrease phosphates as well.

 

Thank you for the advice. I think I will feed the more sensitive corals 5 times a day with spot feedings and feed the whole tank twice for suns and dendros.

[RoyalGramma001]

Also @banasophia I am using a 75 gallon hob filter and a 20 gallon hob filter, is that enough filtration?

[banasophia]

42 minutes ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

Also @banasophia I am using a 75 gallon hob filter and a 20 gallon hob filter, is that enough filtration?

Not sure, I’ve only ever used tanks that are all in ones. 

[banasophia]

FWIW I wouldn’t plan a tank to be that high maintenance personally... it will be a lot of work and make it difficult to plan vacations and stuff. 

[RoyalGramma001]

5 minutes ago, banasophia said:

FWIW I wouldn’t plan a tank to be that high maintenance personally... it will be a lot of work and make it difficult to plan vacations and stuff. 

When I go on vacations I personally am very lucky to have a friend that will know what to do he has done very well in the past with the fish tank. I think I am ready for the challenge of the maintenance and feeding. If my friend think it will be too much work I will figure something out with an automatic feeder to schedule and a dosing pump. I think it could work I just need to plan out a couple things in case 

[banasophia]

If you’re on Facebook, check out this reefer:

 

[RoyalGramma001]

9 minutes ago, banasophia said:

If you’re on Facebook, check out this reefer:

 

Thank you that's awesome. I need to learn more about carnation corals and others!

[RoyalGramma001]

Alright here's the gameplan

I am going to let the tank establish for about 3-4 months before I add the NPS. Also going to save up for a reef octopus HOB Skimmer. Going to dose prime to control algae. 
Clean up crew consists of

Tube worm

Macroalgae

2x porcelain crabs

3 various squat lobsters(experimental to see if reef safe but I'm assuming with all of the food from an NPS system they will be happy😃)

army of hermit crabs

army of snails

2x brittle stars

3x Caribbean thorny oysters

4x stag horn hermits

1x crinoid starfish for the squat lobsters to enjoy

my pistol shrimp who snapped at me once

 

Stocking list will be

1x radial filefish

1x horned blenny 

1x green clown goby

3x harem of Caribbean basslets from liveaquaria(idk if that's a good idea but let me know)

1x tomato clown 

1x yellow watchman goby 

1x longnose Atlantic butterfly (stays under 4 inch moderately reef safe shouldn't bother nps butterfly's usually go for sps I've heard so we will see how he behaves)

 

Corals:

my current collection along with...

 

4-7 sun corals black, emerald, yellow, red, pink

(I want them all)

3 fat head dendrophyllia

2-3 carnation coral depending on how the first does

Various nps gorgonians

Goniopora

sponges 

tunicates

other nps I come across

 

 

 

 

 

[RoyalGramma001]

I think I have a decision to make sometime soon. I might have to sell my current corals to keep azoox gorgonians. I might not get azoox gorgs so I guess I have some decisions to make. I need to keep the lights very low because azoox gorgs cannot have algae grow on them is what I've heard correct me if I'm wrong. Weird thing is though I am slightly attached to my corals. Who said you can't be attached to a coral I guess... correct me if I'm wrong though but I will see what to do. I still will keep other nps if I keep the others but I guess it depends if I want azoox gorgs

[RoyalGramma001]

I think I have come up with a solution to the problem of the current corals and azoox gorgs. I will keep them placed under caves and overhangs to shade them from algae growth!

[RoyalGramma001]

@banasophiaDoes this lighting power work for nps if anybody knows?

this is the tank at its highest point in the day for lighting

pink 10%
cyan 100%
blue 100%

purple 100%
white 20%
 

should I make it lower but keep in mind I have other coral other than the nps system I am making?

[banasophia]

45 minutes ago, RoyalGramma001 said:

@banasophiaDoes this lighting power work for nps if anybody knows?

this is the tank at its highest point in the day for lighting

pink 10%
cyan 100%
blue 100%

purple 100%
white 20%
 

should I make it lower but keep in mind I have other coral other than the nps system I am making?

A lot of NPS corals are not actually harmed by light, they just don’t need it. 
 

Sorry I’m not being very helpful... my lights are all stock lights so the spectrum is not adjustable like that. 😬🤗