Josh's Softy Reef(s)

[Jakesaw]

On 11/16/2021 at 9:22 PM, joshthebox said:

I might have to rehome the Goniopora as my clownfish keep torturing the poor things.

I'm having trouble with corals and clownfish too.  My tank is a 10 gallon with a 2 year old Clown that has gone pertty good sized with a Talbot Damsel.  The clown is big for the tank and pretty much just a cave dweller to come out and feed and knock down corals in his way exploring the tank. 

 

He tortures my red candy canes and a blue duncan.   Had put them at sand level with some ceramic disk holders.  The fish is big enough he just lines up his snout and swims inth them knocking the corals out of stand or flipping the bases altogether.  

 

Tonight I did mr clown a favor ( I thought ) and removed both corals from sand so he could have his home space open.  Cleaned heavilly some B ubble algae off a top rock and temporarily mounted the corals in rock holes.  Walk away for 10 minutes and the mighty clown has knocked the entiire rock off it's base to flip the corals back into the sand. 

 

Currently I've been planning back and forth in 20 gallon Long tank.  Beginnng to question if I can even have any corals in the tank with my clown.  He's tooo big for the 10 and probably big for the 20L as well.   I'd also toying with scape with no cave to get a little more open swim.  Not sure he'd like that.  I really think the Clown would like  nice75 + Gallon tank to himself,.  Not in teh cards.   If he weren't my first OG fish, I'd swap him for something small to re-train into new environment.  

 

 

[joshthebox]

4 minutes ago, Jakesaw said:

I'm having trouble with corals and clownfish too.  My tank is a 10 gallon with a 2 year old Clown that has gone pertty good sized with a Talbot Damsel.  The clown is big for the tank and pretty much just a cave dweller to come out and feed and knock down corals in his way exploring the tank. 

 

He tortures my red candy canes and a blue duncan.   Had put them at sand level with some ceramic disk holders.  The fish is big enough he just lines up his snout and swims inth them knocking the corals out of stand or flipping the bases altogether.  

 

Tonight I did mr clown a favor ( I thought ) and removed both corals from sand so he could have his home space open.  Cleaned heavilly some B ubble algae off a top rock and temporarily mounted the corals in rock holes.  Walk away for 10 minutes and the mighty clown has knocked the entiire rock off it's base to flip the corals back into the sand. 

 

Currently I've been planning back and forth in 20 gallon Long tank.  Beginnng to question if I can even have any corals in the tank with my clown.  He's tooo big for the 10 and probably big for the 20L as well.   I'd also toying with scape to create more open swim room and no cave to get a little more open swim.  Not sure he'd like that.  I really think the Clown would like  nice75 + Gallon tank to himself,.  Not in teh cards.   If he weren't my first OG fish, I'd swap him for something small to re-train into new environment.  

 

 

I've essentially been dealing with the same predicament for years now. My clownfish are little terrors, but because I've had them for so long, I can't bring myself to let go of them. I think your clownfish will perform the same behaviour regardless of tank size - at least mine do. You need to find a coral (or anemone) that your clownfish can 'love' without bothering it too much. Then it might be more likely to stick to that one coral. Mine enjoy living in my softies, but occasionally they still smother my trachy and lone goni. I've even seen my clowns attempt to move 5lb pieces of liverock, but of course, they fail. What we do for our fish... 

[Jakesaw]

1 minute ago, joshthebox said:

. You need to find a coral (or anemone) that your clownfish can 'love' without bothering it too much. Then it might be more likely to stick to that one coral. Mine enjoy living in my softies, but occasionally they still smother my trachy and lone goni. What we do for our fish... 

Clownfish gave me heck when I tried putting 2nd fish in there as well.  After a year of living by himself, did not want to share small tank at all.  Terrorized any new fish til they jumped out, stressed out, and died. 

 

Had to re-scape the tank from 1 big structure to 2 smaller ones.  Removed fish and introduced 2 fish in new scape at same time - so Clowny didn't recognize the neighborhood block.  Turned off the lights off for a few days til they worked out territory.  The clown and talbot get along well now, with an occasional dart of aggression from clown to defend his cave.  

 

Adding the 3rd fish should be interesting but it'll go in at same time in the new tank.  I've been considering the new fish in structure as well. but with Current behavior it'll be tough slog. 

 

Wherever my sand starts it;ll end up on one side of tank wth all the rocks dug around to expose glass I'm sure. 

 

Interesting hobby we chose for sure.

 

 

 

[Jakesaw]

On 12/23/2021 at 11:12 AM, ptora said:

 You're right! I remember paying $70 for 2 baby maxima clams back in the days, crazy how times have changed.

I wasn't in the hobby yet, ( just lurking  )  but I seem to remember you could get a giant box of 45 pounds of live rock sent in from Amazon for around 50 bucks ( or what it 80 bucks- back around 2005 ish ).  And pukani was abundantly available too. 

 

 

[Jakesaw]

On 5/5/2022 at 9:18 PM, Zer0 said:

For what it’s worth, I can’t seem to grow coralline for shit either. I have little blotches here and there, but not many. It also rarely grows on the rocks for me. I’ve used a few bottles of additives and seed rocks over the past year as well, but still nothing. Maybe it’s the lights, idk

 

I had a long time with no corraline algae growing.  Eventually added a rock with Some growning from LFS and it started it's way around the tank glass and rock.  It won't just come naturally without external source is my understanding and experience.  

[Jakesaw]

@joshthebox Really like your tank btw.   The RG and Clown intereact nicely with your corals. 

 

What size is it - may I ask  ( gallons ).  

 

After being in the hobby on the cheap for 2 yrs with smaller standard aquarium sizes, I am learning to appreciate the deeper tanks front to back and why I see so many cube aquariums in the hobby. 

 

Fish need their swim room and 10 - 12 inches isn't much for them to move around.

 

[joshthebox]

On 10/29/2022 at 12:18 AM, Jakesaw said:

@joshthebox Really like your tank btw.   The RG and Clown intereact nicely with your corals. 

 

What size is it - may I ask  ( gallons ).  

 

After being in the hobby on the cheap for 2 yrs with smaller standard aquarium sizes, I am learning to appreciate the deeper tanks front to back and why I see so many cube aquariums in the hobby. 

 

Fish need their swim room and 10 - 12 inches isn't much for them to move around.

 

The tank is roughly 23g, and the sump holds around 20g. I like the added footprint and the reduced height, as it allows for more coral placement and swimming room for the fish! 

[joshthebox]

Sometimes I forget just how orange clownfish are. Running blues really masks their true colour. 

 

[The Rainy Day Aquarium]

I am team daylight all the way. It’s fun to see the fluorescence of corals under heavy blues, but I definitely prefer a more white spectrum. 

[joshthebox]

[ml86743]

Such a unique and beautiful tank.  Love it!

[mcarroll]

7 hours ago, joshthebox said:

That giant light over that little tank is quite the juxtaposition! 😉🙂 

 

Have you considered switching up the pumps for something that can be hidden somewhat?  Or maybe placing them on the back wall with the plumbing?

 

Corals all look pretty good – even the stonies!!  👍

[mcarroll]

On 5/7/2022 at 7:48 PM, joshthebox said:

Because it is only a single drain, I don't have any valves controlling the flow towards the sump. Due to this, it makes a bit of noise.

You can eliminate the noise by cutting flow to around 50% of it's rating.  

 

A 1" gravity drain is rated at 600 GPH, so if that's what size you plumbing is, target ≤300 GPH of return flow and see if the noise clears up.  It should.

[mcarroll]

On 3/6/2022 at 10:01 PM, joshthebox said:

Thanks! I am no longer dosing nutrients. I was having some issues with RTN, which I attribute to the nutrient dosing because as soon as I stopped the nutrient supplementation, the RTN went away. I am hesitant to start dosing them again. 

You have to prioritize phosphates or you can cause problems.   Dosing nitrate on top of zero phosphates will burn up the corals from the inside....like running a gas engine without oil in it.

 

If that wasn't the problem (ie you dosed phosphates first, and to proper levels of >0.03 ppm, then it wasn't the nutrients.

 

Worth pointing out that the damage done from "no oil in the engine" is cumulative, and it's possible that too much damage was done BEFORE you started dosing nutrients and the corals succumbed in spite of dosing....not because of it.  You probably saved the corals that didn't die off.  👍

 

(Reading the thread backward.....LOL)

[mcarroll]

On 11/26/2021 at 7:28 PM, joshthebox said:

I was able to increase my nitrate to detectable levels, but phosphate is still undetectable.

Eek.....this is the "bad way" I was mentioning....so at least the mystery is gone.    Don't do that again! 😉 

 

Phosphates always matter more than nitrates, and should be dosed first.  

 

Unless you're fighting a major dino bloom, I'd almost suggest that dosing nitrates is unnecessary in addition to being slightly dangerous, as you found.   (Ok to dose in order, and in balance with phosphates of course.)

[mcarroll]

On 11/28/2021 at 8:41 AM, joshthebox said:

Here's my sump. Super simple, a single drain going into a media cup that is empty (I don't use floss). Refugium section has a heater and some bio media. Passes through a baffle with a bubble trap, and into the return chamber 😁 I siphon out the bottom of the sump each time I water change. 

Consider ditching the excess bio-media.....I'll be curious to see if you stop having dino flare ups and so many nutrient-bottom-outs.

 

Also consider putting a little flow pump down there to keep the detritus from settling – that's wasted coral food!!!  🙂 

[mcarroll]

On 11/30/2021 at 3:53 PM, joshthebox said:

I wonder how accurate the salifert phosphate test is... 

When you're dosing phosphates, you should be targeting something like 0.10 ppm.....should be well within range of your Salifert test.  That said, try using a second vial of plain tank water for comparison to make out the blue color....the contrast will help you pick the right shade of light blue.   🙂  Preciion is not important....being >0.03 ppm is what really matters.  (Higher is better.)

[mcarroll]

On 12/7/2021 at 10:32 PM, joshthebox said:

Well I went to my LFS today and bought a Hanna ULR phosphate checker. While Salifert has been consistently reading 0, this is what the Hanna tells me... Well now I know to stop dosing phosphate LOL. I'll do a big water change this weekend, and the skimmer should also help pull it out. I wonder if this could be contributing to my dino issue... 

NO water change needed....nothign wrong with that PO4 level....and that's NOT the way dino's interact with phosphates....

 

Check out my dino mega thread and try to digest the whole first page before you do anything else vs dino's....fire back here with any questions:  https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/dinoflagellates-–-are-you-tired-of-battling-altogether.293318/

(don't worry about reading the 500+ pages of replies just now!!!)

[mcarroll]

On 11/23/2021 at 7:02 PM, joshthebox said:

My target is a nitrate of 5 and phosphate at 0.03 

This was part of your problem going into those dino blooms.....

 

0.03 is not a good target level....that is the minimum level for corals.   You'd still dose UP from there.

 

But for any other purpose (like dino's) you want something higher....sometimes a lot higher.   0.10 ppm is the level I always suggest to begin with....but a higher level would be fine as well.  (See that dino thread....this is where we experimentally came up with the 0.10 ppm.....it's not from out of the blue.)

[joshthebox]

7 hours ago, mcarroll said:

That giant light over that little tank is quite the juxtaposition! 😉🙂 

 

Have you considered switching up the pumps for something that can be hidden somewhat?  Or maybe placing them on the back wall with the plumbing?

 

Corals all look pretty good – even the stonies!!  👍

Personally I've always had success with pumps facing each other (worked in my SPS tank), so I leave them there. I've tried the back wall, but I can never get the flow the way I want it. This tank wasn't really intended to be a display tank, so I don't mind the pumps. All I care about is if the corals grow 🤣

 

Also, thanks for the tips with dinos. I got rid of them a long time ago now. Will stick to live rock for future builds, not a fan of dry rock. 

[joshthebox]

Doing great here. Will be heading to a coral show here in Canada next weekend, should be good fun. Last time I was at a frag swap was during RAP Chicago years ago. 

[ptora]

Whites all the way! 

 

Enjoy the KW Coral show, hope you score some nice goodies!

[joshthebox]

9 hours ago, ptora said:

Whites all the way! 

 

Enjoy the KW Coral show, hope you score some nice goodies!

Thanks! Will probably pick up some more softies (for my new tank), and maybe a rainbow chalice if I find one for cheap. 

[joshthebox]

[joshthebox]

A few of the corals I got from the show this past weekend.