How am I doing?

[MechEng99]

First off, thanks to everyone for making this place so full of info!

I have a 40g long tank. I'm going on my third month now, and I thought I should check in before I got too far into the hobby. (First saltwater tank.)

Lighting:
260W PC with actinics and moons

Filter:
90+ lbs LR
40+ lbs Live sand
10g sump with wet bioballs, live rock, chaeto, 2 mangroves & media filters

Critters:
1 Sally lightfoot crab
1 S horseshoe crab
2 S zebra hermit crabs
10 XS blue-legged hermit crabs
4 M scarlet legged hermit crabs
1 XL common hermit crab
1 M staghorn crab

4 S run-of-the-mill snails
2 XL turbo snails
1 M Mexican turbo grazer
8 S narcissus snails (5 in sump)

1 flame scallop
3 damsels

Birds nest coral
Xenia
Green star polyp
Zoanthid (hitchhiker)

Specs:
Calcium 450 ppm
PH 8.4
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
SG 1.024
Temp 75 degree F

Dosing:
Kent Tech CB parts A&B
Kent Coral Accel
Kent Microvert
Mix of several types of flake food & frozen brine shrimp
SeaChem Kalkwasser

Sorry this was so long. I appreciate everyone's time and effort to help me out. Please don't fuss if I'm doing everything 100% wrong...I'm trying my best, and goodness knows, like all of us...this hobby has TAKEN OVER my life!!!


http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/146723Tank_Small.JPG

[Shagsbeard]

I've heard that a horseshoe crab needs a lot more space than most home aquariums can give them... like 25 square feet of sand or something. Hope yours does ok though.

I'd get a backing for the tank... it would really help it's appearance. Some just paint it. Just go with blue or black... not the "scenic" kind.

If those rocks aren't bolted or glued to each other, you're asking for trouble when they fall against the front glass. Be overly cautious with regards to rock falls.

But the tank looks great. I wish mine looked as good.

[MechEng99]

Thanks for the comment!

Yeah, the horseshoe crab is just a baby thankfully. This summer, my dad is donating his old 300g aquarium to my addiction, and I'm planning on putting him in that so he can grow as big as he wants.

Your right about the paint in the back. One weekend, that'll be another project. I'm also planning to make a canopy at some point to match the homemade stand. Other than black acrylic, is there any way to easily camoflauge that overflow box? It's pretty ugly, especially while going through algae blooms.

No, the rocks aren't glued together unfortunately...but they're all pretty secure (I hope). I can't make them tumble without pushing more than any critter in my tank could. Any recommendations on some coral safe glue?

[Fast Eddie H]

Hey Mech. The tank looks great! My only comment is that you might want to consider getting rid of the bioballs. They are nitrate factories and will definitely lead to problems down the road. I know they probably came with your sump, but you will do alot better without them. At this point, you will probably have to take them out a handfull at a time, every three to four days to avoid a major shift in water params, but it will be well worth it. You can leave than chamber of your sump empty, or replace the biobals with some live rock rubble.

[sir_dudeguy]

imo you might be going a bit too fast. For one, you definatetly need to take out that horseshoe crab. It will die pretty quick in just a 40g tank. They get huge (close to a foot i believe) and require TONS of open sand. Nothing that a 40 can provide.

just as importantly, take out those bioballs and any other filter media asap. They'll only cause problems later on cuz they all make nitrates. Whats more, theres not even any point in having them since you've got way more than enough live rock (thats not a bad thing at all. The more the better....till you start making no room for fish lol)

Next thing, i'd take out all the hermits. They're not the best cleaners, and they'll just kill your snails for their shells. Personally, i'd replace them with cerith snails. Those are my favorite snails and always work the hardest for me. They clean the sand, rock, glass, and even get the alga thats below the surface of the sand but on the glass. No other snails can really get that spot but them.

I think the last thing i'll say is dont count on that birdsnest doing so well in the longrun. For one, that light is probably nowhere near enough for birds nest. Birds nest is one of the harder corals (or i should say that it is somewhat picky with its requirements) but they require lots of light. PC lights arent gonna give you enough light for it longterm, and only 260w of pc at that. Those lights are fine for any softy coral tho, and maybe even some lps corals, but i wouldnt bother w/sps with just those lights. I've got a 40 breeder (which is quite shallow) and i've got 384w of pc lights (4x96w) and i cant keep sps in there. Course it doesnt help that my bicolor blenny picks at them, but they didnt even get better once i took the bicolor out and all my levels were right. I took the same corals that were doing crappy for me and gave them to my aunt who's got a 3g pico and 3x9w pc's..lot of light for a little tank. Within a week its back to how it should be already tho (the coral i mean).

Sorry if that was a bit "harsh" or whatever you may call it. Its all just my opinions and hopefully you see why i mentioned all that.

[tedmc2]

Tank looks good. I use Two Little Fishies Aquastik Stone Grey Epoxy for cementing the rocks together. It works great and covers with coralline.

http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=TL1611

[luke33]

Yup, definately remove the bioballs. Your doin well for a newbie though. I wouldn't suggest sps for the tank with those lights, but any softy should be fine and a tank full of softies looks great imo.

[MechEng99]

Hm, now I'm confused.

I originally bought a wet/dry filter...and converted it into a sump. Before the conversion, I had high nitrates. Once I converted it into a sump, my nitrates went to 0ppm. Aren't bioballs submerged in water the same thing as live rock? It's just more surface area, right?

As for the horseshoe crab...like I said, he's getting a 300g in hopefully 4 months. If he can't wait that long, he'll go back to the LFS for credit. No biggie. He seems wonderfully happy though. (Thanks for the concern!)

Oh no! I'm sooo sad about the birdsnest...I absolutely love it and have been dying for it. Hmm...grrr.

Thanks guys! This has been great! Keep it coming! (And keep me procrastinating on schoolwork!)

[MechEng99]

OH...and I do weekly 10% water changes...20% if I notice anything out of the ordinary (which hasn't been for almost 2 months now.) Is that ok too?

[luke33]

Sure thats fine with the water changes, you could actually do less imo. The reason to take out the bio balls is over time they will become nitrate factories. It usually takes a while, but why not remove them now. LR doesn't do this. Your filter floss in your wet dry was probably holding nitrates and when you removed they went away. My guess. But in time your bio balls will do the same.

[MechEng99]

Hmm. Well...I guess bio-balls aren't too bad for my biggest concern.

Ok, so I am doing some more research on the birdsnest coral...I'm not so sure if that's what I have now. When I was placing it in the tank, it felt waaay too much like a leather. Does anyone know of any good SPS/softies ID pages?

Since I've been told my lighting isn't good enough for a SPS...I'm guessing the staghorn crab needs to go back? (The bf brought him home as a surprise.) He's picked up a lot of color...but I don't know if I'll be able to get him to 100%...or even 50%.