How am i doing?

[mrhammy]

Just getting started, 29g tank. I have cycled and added a bit of life (not all at once) on top of 10 lbs of live rock, 10 of clean rock, and 20 of live sand. How am I doing (be brutally honest!)

 

Fish

Banggai Cardinal

Ocellaris Clown

Coral

Duncan Coral frag

Other coral frag (Candy Cane Coral)

CUC

Emerald Crab

Blue leg Hermit crab x2

Cerith Snail x2

Turbo Snail

[mcarroll]

Pretty good start – if a little fast on the fish.  Just be on the lookout for signs of algae growth – which means your CUC needs an upgrade.  (Not "if"...."when".  Might already be time.)

 

Keep us posted!

[mrhammy]

Thanks!  CUC upgrade planned for this coming weekend,  a few more ceriths and hermits for sure, maybe some other snails. Just the starter team I have is making a big difference already.  ANy real winners I should look to add? 

 

[mcarroll]

focus on herbivores – mainly that means snails.   Crabs are more on the scavenger side of things.  

[lakshwadeep]

Yes, focus on more herbivorous snails like ceriths because hermits are not super useful and a threat to small snails (having extra shells can help). For scavenging, try Nassarius snails. Overall, things look good, and the hardest part is to let things fill in naturally since a lot of the rock still looks bare and will go through stages of algae and other growth.

[Staticmoves]

How long was your cycle.

always nice to do lights out for the first month or two, while you fish up slowly.

how ever, you have coral, but if things get out of control, you could reduce light duration.

 

things are looking great.

[mrhammy]

2 hours ago, Staticmoves said:

How long was your cycle.

always nice to do lights out for the first month or two, while you fish up slowly.

how ever, you have coral, but if things get out of control, you could reduce light duration.

 

things are looking great.

The cycle was 3 weeks with Dr. Tims and ammonia. I did lights out until the first coral and fish (and have upgraded the lights already)  my numbers are looking ok, and doing 10% water changes every week for now.  More snails this weekend. I have a bunch of new crab condos if they need them, I have scattered them around the tank  

[fenderchamp]

All you can do is wait and watch, and change water, each tank is a bit different.  

 

Be patient and if you figure it's not going to do much until it's at least a year old, you probably are not too far off. 

 

Temper your expectations and don't start throwing more fish at it if you lose one. 

 

Try to maintain it and keep it looking good always, that way it won't get out of hand and develop real problems due to neglect.

 

I enjoy watching the white rock turn "reef colored" that will take a while still.

 

Seed it with pods, live phyto, bristle worms, micro brittle starts, amphipods, sponges and anything else you can manage to get into there that isn't an invasive pest.

 

Until all of the rock is dull and dark and doesn't have much of anything except corals or coraline growing on it, don't even consider the tank stable even though it might be cycled. 

 

I'm not terribly experienced but I try to err on the side of too little when it comes to light and flow and filtration, I think it's served me well and bit me when I've not done so.

 

I've had better results with both of my picos with 8hr light cycles than with longer cycles.

 

I'm not really sure, but It kind of looks like you could use more rock to me, the rock seems to balance and stabilize the reef more than anything else.  I've never used any sand though so that might make a difference and maybe you have plenty of rock. 

 

It's also been my experience that Duncan corals grow like gangbusters and use a lot of calcium up so enjoy that process.  

 

Thanks for sharing.  and keep posting pictures please. 

[Rhetoric]

Becareful asking the internet for advise you will get a lot of miss leading answers. 

 

Try and find someone you trust or a tank you like a lot and listen to them.

 

I think your tank is coming along nicely. 

 

Might consider a couple nassarius snails to help move the sand a bit.  They aren't algae eaters persay, but will help get left over food bits ect. (Like that one?  Don't trust the net... then I give advise!  LOL!)

 

Good luck.