7 Gal. ??????"S

[rmedtr6]

I set up a 7 gal bow front the first week of August with the following:

100W Jalli titanium heater

Rio 90 Power head

Prizm Skimmer

CSL 2/32W- 10,000K & Actinic

10lbs. lS

12lbs LR

Current inhabitants are:

4 Blue leg hermits

3 Zebra hermits

2 Scarlet hermits

1 astria snail

2 Bumblebee snails

2 Unknown snails

1Citron Goby (I feed every other day with frozen brine).

 

I currently do 1 gal. WC every 7-10 days using deionized water and Reef Crystals Salt.

 

Unfortunately, I started this tank before I found this site and think there are alot of things that I should have done differently. I couldn't find any really good cured live rock in the area and ended up buying about 5 pieces of uncured live rock at a LFS. This rock $ucks! After 7 weeks I still don't see anything 'live' about it. It would probably make nice base rock though. The pieces looked small at the store but one I got them in my tank, I can't even clean the glass.

First question , is it OK to break the pieces of live rock? Will I go to reef hell for this?

Second question, If I change out this live rock, assuming I can figure out what to do with it, will my tank have to recycle? I would love to get some of Cquariums Alor rock, but it is only sold in 25lb minimum.

Third question Obviously my lighting is very intense, would I be able to downgrade this and still keep a clam in say 8 months? I know that the tank is no where near being ready for that type of animal. I was thinking of getting the retro kit that fits the standard hood for the tank. Fourth question I also have a Remora C protein skimmer, would this be too efficient for this size tank? Should I ditch the skimmer all together and put on a standard power filter? I also have a Millenium 2000 by aquarium systems in storage.

Fifth question I have 2 Microjet 320's that I picked up and a Natural wave pump timer. The Microjets are rated at 32, 48, and 73 gph. I was going to set them at 32gph and to alternate 20secs on and off. Where should these be placed? I was thinking one at the surface and one about a third down, on either side of the tank facing forward. Is this flow to weak?

Last question, I promise! Does anyone know of any really good LFS in the Boston/Metrowest area? I currently use Inland reef in Nashua and Tropic Isle in Framingham. I got all of the info for my original setup from these two places.

 

I know this is alot of ???????'s and having visited this site enough time I realize I'm bound to get some flaming (thats cool as long as its constructive), but any help will be greatly appreciated.

[FCLymond]

rmedtr6,

 

As you read in the other thread, I am considering the same setup w.r.t. lighting and tank. When you say that the lighting hood doesn't really fit the tank, how badly is it off? Could you post some pics so I could get some idea of what this setup looks like?

 

Thx,

 

FCL

[Gilman]

Can't wait to see both of your very bright setups! I have been running a single 32watt retro, and am considering a custom hood upgrade and possibly another 32 watt or maybe just a 13 or 18 watt. If you guys do well with your dual 32's I may have to go that route though!

 

1. You Can Break Live Rock. No Reef Hell For You.

 

2. If you are going to replace rock later on in the tank, chances are there will be at least a light cycle depending on the quality of the rock. If the rock has any sort of real die off on it, or is just not well cured, it will be a harsher longer cycle, especially in such a small environment.

 

3. Dont worry about clams now.

 

4. I = skimmerless (many people use skimmers though with good results)

 

5. Our Mini Jet 404 is rated at 108 gallons per hour. You can see where it is placed on the website in my signature.

 

6. No Clue.

 

Looking forward to photos,

 

Gil

[tinyreef]

breaking up the rock should be fine. you may come across a honking big worm but other than that it should be ok. i chop up my lava, tufa, and limestone to get the fit and aquascaping for each specific tank. i try to position the rock first though because the rock doesn't always split the way you intend it to. the rock won't recycle as long as you don't keep the rock out long (

[printerdown01]

I am curious, why are you interested in downgrading the lighting? If you have already purchased 2x32 retros why not use them? Another idea is that you can just remove one, or simply turn one off, if you really don't want the extra light in the mean time (i.e. perhaps a major algae out break, that could be better controlled with less lighting).

[rmedtr6]

I am pretty much just exploring options right now. The only reason I would down grade the lighting is for ease of maintenance and aesthetics. Its a hassle to get into the tank to feed etc... It also overhangs the tank quite a bit in the front. It does illuminate my bookcase well though. I was just hoping to get some other opinions on the matter. Another option I am considering is deleting all protein skimmers and HOB filters and just getting a full piece of glass for the top. That would alleviate the aesthetics issue and I could then hinge the front portion of the glass for maintenance.

[printerdown01]

For the future plans: I know that people have kept clams in 7 gallon tanks (well actually 6 gallon front tank 1 gallon sump) with 27W of PC. However, I don't know if you will experience any color loss or localized bleaching (I suspect the former, but not the latter -although this is going to be species dependent). I would guess that color would fade a little bit, but the clams that I had seen in these set-ups definitely didn't have bleaching problems (appeared quite brilliant and healthy). However, they were small clams, and thus have thinner mantles. A thinner mantle is easier for light to penetrate; therefore, it is easier to stimulate and grow zooxanthellae within the clam. If you don't have fish you will have to add something like phyto or yeast to the water (I have never tried to feed clams either). They will only take the food in small quantities (so don't try to feed them directly!!).

*never mind the clam feeding thing, I just looked up and seen that you have a goby...

[KevinS]

As far as a LFS for the boston area, I also have been to tropic isle in framingham, not a bad store, high prices on the dry goods, but I usually get them to match thatfishplace.com without argument (did it with my RO/DI, they dropped $55 off of their price to match it!) Anyway, check out coral reef aquarium in seekonk, ma (www.inverts.com) I got my LR from there, and while not a big store (call and ask for directions or you won't find it easily) they guy really knows his stuff, and they have a lot of corals and reef critters.