IM 15G fusion nano reef (noob)

[Luism23]

Hey guys, this is my first saltwater setup! 15 gallon nano reef with 3 fish(cardinal fish, clown fish, blue damsel) also have some snails and a cleaner shrimp. My coral assortment are a Zoas, GSP on back wall, Xenia on front left of tank on its own island, hammer coral and a Duncan! Can’t wait for things to start growing! I just upgraded to a 320 gph from the stock 166gph pump. Only running the new one at about 30 percent as don’t want to disrupt too much! Any advice or criticism alike is welcomed! 

[mcarroll]

4 hours ago, Luism23 said:

Hey guys, this is my first saltwater setup! 15 gallon nano reef with 3 fish(cardinal fish, clown fish, blue damsel) also have some snails and a cleaner shrimp. My coral assortment are a Zoas, GSP on back wall, Xenia on front left of tank on its own island, hammer coral and a Duncan!

Congrats!!  Have you have other aquariums before?

 

Sounds like this one is already fully stocked – how old is this tank?

[Staticmoves]

Welcome.

Heads up on that Hollywood stunner on the sand bed, it will send out sweeper tentacles at night up to 8-10” long to sting other corals and maintain its real estate. Best to give it a wide berth of area.

 

[debbeach13]

Welcome to NR. 

[Luism23]

6 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Congrats!!  Have you have other aquariums before?

 

Sounds like this one is already fully stocked – how old is this tank?

This Sunday marks 4 week for this aquarium. This is my first salt water setup as my past experience was a 55 gallon fresh water setup with Cichlids and Tiger barbs. Do you think i rushed too much into the tank too quick? 

[duganderson]

You're off to a great start!  Welcome to NR 🙂

 

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, Luism23 said:

This Sunday marks 4 week for this aquarium. This is my first salt water setup as my past experience was a 55 gallon fresh water setup with Cichlids and Tiger barbs. Do you think i rushed too much into the tank too quick? 

Probably a little. 😉  Somewhat depends on how you started the tank...but in general Nothing Good Happens Fast In A Reef Tank.  

 

The thing with a reef is that it's brightly lit and can grow algae FAST.  Because of this, it's generally a good idea NOT to introduce your fish (and their nutrient load) while the rock is still bare/coming to life.   (Exception here if you were able to start with ACTUAL LIVE ROCK.)

 

Seems like most folks shortcut the process, not always in a fortuitous way.   For example, folks commonly use fish tank bacterial supplements (or worse, supplement+ammonia) to be able to add the fish to the reef on "Day One".  Technically feasible (tho it regularly goes wrong for folks), although that's a move you'd "ideally" only want to do on a fish-only tank....for the above-mentioned reasons.  Also, most folks don't seem to know that a fish (or reef) tank will cycle itself within 30-40 days, almost without you doing anything at all.....just need to make sure it's gradually stocked, with fish last.  So taking one's time is a good thing overall, for many reasons.

 

In your shoes, I'd just be Eagle Eye when it comes to algae – notice it AND REMOVE IT early, and often.  Also make sure your cleanup crew is up to snuff – what do you have for herbivores currently?  (This mainly means snails in a tank your size.  Crabs and shrimp are scavengers.)

[Luism23]

3 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Probably a little. 😉  Somewhat depends on how you started the tank...but in general Nothing Good Happens Fast In A Reef Tank.  

 

The thing with a reef is that it's brightly lit and can grow algae FAST.  Because of this, it's generally a good idea NOT to introduce your fish (and their nutrient load) while the rock is still bare/coming to life.   (Exception here if you were able to start with ACTUAL LIVE ROCK.)

 

Seems like most folks shortcut the process, not always in a fortuitous way.   For example, folks commonly use fish tank bacterial supplements (or worse, supplement+ammonia) to be able to add the fish to the reef on "Day One".  Technically feasible (tho it regularly goes wrong for folks), although that's a move you'd "ideally" only want to do on a fish-only tank....for the above-mentioned reasons.  Also, most folks don't seem to know that a fish (or reef) tank will cycle itself within 30-40 days, almost without you doing anything at all.....just need to make sure it's gradually stocked, with fish last.  So taking one's time is a good thing overall, for many reasons.

 

In your shoes, I'd just be Eagle Eye when it comes to algae – notice it AND REMOVE IT early, and often.  Also make sure your cleanup crew is up to snuff – what do you have for herbivores currently?  (This mainly means snails in a tank your size.  Crabs and shrimp are scavengers.)

Hey man so my time line was the following:

week 1 was live rock and live sand 

week 2 blue damsel and cardinal fish , star fish and 2 snails and cleaner shrimp 

week 3 two clown fish(small clown as bullied by damsel and died unfortunately) star fish also died (was told sand might have been too clean as water parameters were perfect 

week 4 hammer coral , Duncan coral , GSP coral , 8 mini snails 

week 5 current week- Xenia, zoas, Hollywood stunner chalice 

 

i top off with RO every morning and every Friday clean the sock filter and once a week go to my local store to check water parameters 

 

lighting schedule starts at 1pm with 1.5 hour ramp up and then sunset ramp down from 6-8 with blue lights shutting off at 11 pm. 
 

on a side note my zoas is being shy as it’s closed from when i put it in about a day ago. Any thoughts? Again thanks for the welcome! 

 

[KoralsandKicks]

Cool tank I started mine about 2 months ago good selection on coral and fish you might want to get extra cleanup crew for algae when I started getting algae they were the biggest help along with Manuel cleaning of course.

[mcarroll]

4 hours ago, Luism23 said:

Hey man so my time line was the following:

week 1 was live rock and live sand 

Nice!  Is your live rock aqua cultured?

 

4 hours ago, Luism23 said:

week 2 blue damsel and cardinal fish , star fish and 2 snails and cleaner shrimp 

week 3 two clown fish(small clown as bullied by damsel and died unfortunately) star fish also died (was told sand might have been too clean as water parameters were perfect 

I probably would have added those one at a time with at least a week between each addition...more time would be better.  I'm not sure I see 2 damselfish and a clownfish working out in a 15 Gallon....damsels are usually a min of 30 gallons. 

 

4 hours ago, Luism23 said:

week 4 hammer coral , Duncan coral , GSP coral , 8 mini snails 

week 5 current week- Xenia, zoas, Hollywood stunner chalice 

Sounds like a good compliment!  How are the snails doing?  Any sign of algae or diatoms yet for them to eat?

 

4 hours ago, Luism23 said:

i top off with RO every morning and every Friday clean the sock filter and once a week go to my local store to check water parameters 

 

lighting schedule starts at 1pm with 1.5 hour ramp up and then sunset ramp down from 6-8 with blue lights shutting off at 11 pm. 
 

on a side note my zoas is being shy as it’s closed from when i put it in about a day ago. Any thoughts? Again thanks for the welcome! 

 

Zoanthids just have personality like that.  Keep a close eye on them though because it seems like they are one of the more common pest-carriers.

[Luism23]

9 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Nice!  Is your live rock aqua cultured?

 

I probably would have added those one at a time with at least a week between each addition...more time would be better.  I'm not sure I see 2 damselfish and a clownfish working out in a 15 Gallon....damsels are usually a min of 30 gallons. 

 

Sounds like a good compliment!  How are the snails doing?  Any sign of algae or diatoms yet for them to eat?

 

Zoanthids just have personality like that.  Keep a close eye on them though because it seems like they are one of the more common pest-carriers.

Hey man so not sure what you mean by aqua cultured but it was in salt water tanks at my lfs…. The damsel is only 1 not 2…….everyone tells me they are the assholes of the sea and I see why lol. The 1 large snail and little snails seem to be doing great all over the sand bed, the rock, the glass. Thanks for the heads up on the Zoas! 

[KC2020]

On 2/15/2024 at 6:54 AM, Luism23 said:

This Sunday marks 4 week for this aquarium. This is my first salt water setup as my past experience was a 55 gallon fresh water setup with Cichlids and Tiger barbs. Do you think i rushed too much into the tank too quick? 

Are you testing your water daily ? You definitely are pushing the limits for a new tank. 

 

[Luism23]

On 2/16/2024 at 2:37 PM, KC2020 said:

Are you testing your water daily ? You definitely are pushing the limits for a new tank. 

 

Testing every 4-7 days but just picked up a marine reef test kit today and going to test tomorrow 

[geekreef_05]

Daily or even twice daily testing is great to understand what elements your reef is using. 

 

Then you can suppliment correctly for the specific needs of your reef. 

 

Thing is, at first when stocking the reef, it creates a bioload ripple. The inhabitants absorb alot of the things they want like calcium, alk, mg and then expel waste like c02, ammonia, nitrates.

 

So the key here is that your able to dose and replenish those elements at the rate they're used. Those key paraments swing through a tight range, throughout the day. 

 

Thats why its important to test at the same time(s) of day.

 

After the intial bioload shock things will trend to an equilibrium. You'll be able to dose less. 

 

Eventually as coral grow, dosing needs will too.

 

Down the road... in time that bioload ripple will catch up and manifest into an algae explosion. Which kinda algae depends on your specific aquarium. Keep an eye out and be prepared to make adjustments accordingly. 

 

Hope that helps! 

[Luism23]

Hey guys i have another question. When it comes to lighting this is the “daylight” setting my lfs guy set. I see pretty much no cold white? Is this correct? Give me your thoughts as the blue looks cool but just don’t want to slow any growth. 

[mcarroll]

Here's an easy way to think about it....

 

Blue does the work.  White light just makes things look good for you.

 

So if it looks good, them IMO it's set up OK.

 

If it looks "too blue" then you should turn up the whites until it looks good to you.  👍

[Staticmoves]

7 hours ago, Luism23 said:

Hey guys i have another question. When it comes to lighting this is the “daylight” setting my lfs guy set. I see pretty much no cold white? Is this correct? Give me your thoughts as the blue looks cool but just don’t want to slow any growth. 

Have a search online for spectrum recipes for your light.