Enough Light (Tank Overview)

[Bmgrocks]

Newly Set up 30 tank, been up for around 2 weeks

Got it for free from a friend

did a quick cycle with Marine Bio spira, and seeded established tank sand

8.2 ph
1.024 salinity
.5 ppm NitrAtes
0 ppm NitrItes
0 ppm Ammonia
Carbonate Hardness >240

40 lbs live rock
25-35? unsure lbs Crushed Coral

Stealth 100 watt heater kept at 80 degrees F
SeaClone 100 Protein Skimmer

Stock List
1 Green Mythrax Crab
1 Royal Gramma
1 Ocellaris
2 Zebra Hermits

New Lights That i Bought

Coralife Aqualight T-5 Series Double linear strip

18 watt 10,000k daylight T-5 flourrescent lamp
18 Watt True Actinic 03 Blue T-5 Fluorescent Lamp

Thats the light, would it be sufficient for some soft corals, zoa's etc?

What could i do to improve on my tank? would the addition of some soft corals accent the tank well.

[sir_dudeguy]

did a quick cycle with Marine Bio spira, and seeded established tank sand



dont be so sure its cycled. That stuff just breaks down amonia and all that...it does NOT cycle the tank like some say. Because a tank needs amonia for it to cycle, but if you take it all away, it cant cycle can it??

That being said, you say you've got a good amount of live rock, so if that rock is cured (or cycled in other words...they're the same thing) then you should be fine.

Do get the crushed coral out of there tho. It will just cause problems down the road.

The skimmer....since this is only a 30, you may not see the full affects of not having a skimmer...because thats basically what a seaclown does...nothing. But like i said...30's are kinda small so if you keep up with regular water changes, you may get by with it. I'd get a remora down the road tho (or at least a coralife superskimmer 65 which is much cheaper, but i pretty much hate my css 65)

For you stock list...those will all work eventually, but dont be surpised if you get a few deaths. You added them all somewhat early, and you dont normally wanna add more than one fish at a time (about 3 weeks apart between each fish) in a tank this small..

Your light unfortunately, will not get you much at all. Mushrooms for the most part, MAYBE some other very low light needy corals, but definately not more. I got a 2x65 over my 29 and its not enough for what i want. Hopefully you like shrooms :)

To improve your tank, number one i would take it slow. Only bad things happen here...go much slower than you seem to have already gone.

second, get a better skimmer. The seaclone wont do anything, altho there are tons of mods you can do to "improve" them. Like i said, at least get a coralife skimmer, but preferably an aqua c remora. Much better.

Last, depending on what type of corals you like, get better lights accordingly. If you want sps, clams, or anemone's, pretty much you have to get t5's or MH. If you just want softies and maybe a few lps, stronger pc's are fine, like maybe what i've got on my 29 would be ok for that on yours. It was only 150 or something like that online at hellolights.com

[Bmgrocks]

wow, thanks for that, that was really helpful.

i do keep up on my water changes Religiously, 20 percent weekly, do i need to add a HOB filter (penguin 150) (Aqua Clear 30?)

As far as the skimmer, its not doing much PERIOD. But i guess for free i can't quite complain. I will however look into a better SKIMMER

As far as lighting, i am running Coralife T-5's

As far as corals, Im going the Zoa's Xenia, Finger Leather, and Shroom root. Heard they are pretty easiy to maintain and cultivate, Would My Current T-5's Be sufficient


And is it too late to remove my crushed Coral? What are the Pro's and con's of it?

[AquaPython]

are the T-5s individually reflected?

[Bmgrocks]

no their not... Should they be,

what about the crushed coral

[AquaPython]

the only reason to get T-5s is to take advantage of their ability to triple their PAR output when individually reflected. If they were it could be good, but not sure. but it would be at least 3 times better than not.

definitely replace the substrate with LS

[akrimmel]

if you use CC you will have lots of waste deposited in it overtime. and we all know what the waste if left alone will do to the tank

[Bmgrocks]

oohh makes sense to replace, is it too late to replace it?

would i be able to keep all the decorations in while i replace it, LR etc? just move it around and scoop it out?

[akrimmel]

yes just turn off all pumps first.

[smurray]

Also... I really wouldn't waste your time with a HOB filter. They aren't worth it IMHO. (Trust someone who's spend the $$ only to regret it later, LoL!) If you don't have a sump, I'd get one. They are VERY much worth the effort. You don't need to drill the tank (especially at this critical point), so you can get away with a hang-on overflow.

Do you have a camera? A picture of the lighting set-up would greatly help! =]

Skimmer... Get rid of the seaclone. Again, something that I made the mistake with as well. Some say it works, but its one of those skimmers you gotta tweak every couple of hours, PITA if you ask me. The Remora one is great! =]

Good luck!

[AquaPython]

one trick to reduce cloudiness when you are dropping in new sand is to cut an X in the top of the bag, keeping that side up, drop the bag to the bottom of the tank, then gently roll it over and lift the bag up, emptying the sand slowly.

[Bmgrocks]

good to kno, yeah i'll try to get my hands on a camara, can't find the cord to connect the pics, but i think you will enjoy them.