55 Gallon Mixed Reef

[maybeshewill]

Hey guys, so over the past few months I've been doing a lot of reading and gathering all the equipment I need for a reef aquarium. This will be my tank journal, as well as a consolidated place for me to ask questions (and hopefully get some answers from you lovely folk :wavehand:).

Here is picture of it currently (1 week since adding live rock). Please note this is not the final aquascape, but just some live rock piled with base rock to hopefully seed it. I'll move it all around once it starts to seed.

http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/7877/004xsr.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/12/004xsr.jpg/)

There is a 40 gallon sump below, which I am still trying to decide what to do with the refugium. Currently I have a couple of piece of quite large live rock in there as it's too big for my tank.

Here are the parameters as of one week since adding the live rock:

Ammonia 1ppm
pH 8.2
Nitrite 1ppm
Nitrate 10

Do these parameters seem normal at this stage of the cycle?

Diatoms are also starting to grow on the sand and the live rock. There's also a red/dark purple colored algae, is this normal for a tank at this stage also?

[maybeshewill]

Yeah, I'm certainly being patient. Just hoping my parameters are in check (so I don't have to drop in a shrimp or something) and that this diatom and algae problems is also normal. I'd imagine a clean up crew after the cycle will probably get rid of it.

[maybeshewill]

A quick update, my tank is cycled and I have a couple of new inhabitants!

Before new fish and coral:

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/476/img41611.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/10/img41611.jpg/)

http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/3249/img41501.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/803/img41501.jpg/)

2 new oscellaris clowns (around 1.5") and an aussie elegance (2.5").

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/4278/img41971.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/684/img41971.jpg/)

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/2014/img41961.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/94/img41961.jpg/)

[maybeshewill]

Accidental double post.

[tcbarr]

nice looking tank, what are the dimensions and lighting??

[maybeshewill]

Thanks mate. It's a 36 X 18 X 18. Lighting is 120W LED 1:1 Blue/White. They are on individual switches.

[__SKINNY__]

Tank looks good ,it cycled in like 14 day's? or am i missing something? i would think it take a little longer then that.

[maybeshewill]

It's a long story, I started this journal well after the water was in and first batch of live rock was in. When I started this journal, I had just added a little more live rock, which only triggered a very small cycle. The parameters had been all 0 for a week before I put in the clowns and coral.

All in all it's been 4.5 weeks since adding the first live rock I believe.

[tcbarr]

a second cycle would only last days...

I like the dimesnions, alot better than the standard 55 (the worst tank size IMO).

what are your plans for the tank in terms of livestock and equipment??

[ovrboost]

wow that cycle really quick...nice tank.

[maybeshewill]

a second cycle would only last days...

I like the dimesnions, alot better than the standard 55 (the worst tank size IMO).

what are your plans for the tank in terms of livestock and equipment??

There's a 2.5' sump below, Skimmer > Refug > Return.

I have been a little up-in-the-air with my fish stock list. Everything I really do like at the fish stores are problematic in some way.

Six-Line Wrasse - Eats Peppermint shrimp which I want to use to contain any aiptasia that pop up.

Royal Gramma - See above.

Scooter Blenny - Will get beaten for pods by six-line wrasse.

Kole Tang - Maybe a tiny bit too big.

Flame Angel - Might pick at corals.

These are ideally the fish I would like, but there's down sides to all of them.. so at the moment I have no idea what's going in next.

As far as corals go, I will be adding mainly LPS. A nice yellow/gold tip torch, probably a hammer, a small brain of some kind, a small rock separated from the main structure with a small zoa colony.

I may add a couple of really nicely colored SPS up the top, where it's closest to the light and has the highest flow, but that would be when I know the water is pristine.

I will also add an anemone for the clowns down the track.

[WetShepherd]

Over time you may discover that you don't have any aiptasia and that at least frees up a couple of fish on your list. 55s make it tough on fish selection because we're too small for any type of Tang, and it's really the only reef safe fish with that disk shape.

For blennys, I've heard midas and starry can be a lot of fun and should be easier to feed.

Regarding your Aussie Elegance, are his tentacles still puffed up like that? Mine is only a few weeks old but I've never seen them quite like that. At first I thought it was some kind of bubble tip until I noticed the pattern on the inside. Here's what mine does as reference (http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk60/duergan/Studio%20Tank/eleg01.jpg) - though he sometimes only comes about halfway out for a day or two - not sure why.

edit: nice tank ;) The rock-work is especially nice. There's lots of room for coral potential; it's vicariously exciting.

[maybeshewill]

Yeah you're not wrong on fish selection, though unfortunately until I move out of home it's all I have room for. I'll upgrade the tank in a couple of years.

About the elegance, it's only a baby, and I was told it will be like yours as it's tentacle grow. The whole coral is only about 2.5 inches wide, so the bubble tip things are tiny.

As far as the blennies go, here's where I'm limited even further. It's extremely rare to see a midas or starry blenny in Australia, I've sure never seen one in an LFS. I have seen the watchman gobies, which are nice, but they are $100+ which is ridiculous.

As far as aiptasia, I have one sitting in my tank right now. It's very small, so I want to get a couple of peppermint shrimp in there ASAP! I thought if I can keep them in there permanently I shouldn't have any issues.

Thanks for the praise :)

[maybeshewill]

I was thinking, is it possible to get a couple of peppermint shrimps to clean off this one tiny aiptasia, then put them in my refugium with some live rock and macro?

That way they are always there in case I ever need them again, and I can put the Six-Line Wrasse and Royal Gramma in the DT?

[WetShepherd]

About the elegance, it's only a baby, and I was told it will be like yours as it's tentacle grow. The whole coral is only about 2.5 inches wide, so the bubble tip things are tiny.


Thanks, it's hard to tell the size from the photo - it looked a lot larger to me. Mine was pretty close to it's current size when I bought it so I haven't seen one at an earlier stage.

That's unfortunate news about the blennys. It sounds like a great opportunity for a breeder if they can find out how to get a mated pair shipped there.

Regarding the peppermints - it's always an issue to make sure nothing in the sump / fuge can get to your pump, tubing. People do it though so there must be ways. They might need supplemental feeding though - I'm not sure. My solution to the mojano I found on my LR was to poke it (it retracted into the rock) then cover it with a tiny piece of epoxy putty. If you just have a couple that would be an alternative option for you. Remember that the shrimp aren't guaranteed to eat aiptasia. GL!

[tcbarr]

As far as aiptasia, I have one sitting in my tank right now. It's very small, so I want to get a couple of peppermint shrimp in there ASAP! I thought if I can keep them in there permanently I shouldn't have any issues.)

ZOMG, get that aptasia NOW! if you can see one, then there will be more and before you know it it will be impossible to control. use joe's juice or put some epoxy putty over it, NOW!

[maybeshewill]

Thanks guys, I don't actually have either of those things, I'll have to go down to the chemist today and buy a syringe and try with lemon juice.

Do I just take the live rock out of the water then stick my needle into it's hole and spray the juice into it?

[maybeshewill]

Actually screw it, I'm taking that rock piece out and using it as a friz-bee, I hate aiptasia, really don't want it going anywhere else before I can treat it. I can replace the rock for under $10 anyway.

[maybeshewill]

Does anyone have any idea why my phosphates are at 1.15? I just got my hanna checker in the mail..

I tested the NSW I use from my LFS and it was .04, which should not cause mine to get up to 1.15 right? My RO water is 0.0. Does anyone have any idea how my phosphates can be so high in a new tank?

[maybeshewill]

Anyone? :)

[tcbarr]

How are you preparing your water? Your tap can have P04 and if you aren't using a RO DI it will be in your tank. P04 can be present even in some low quality salt mixes too, I recommend Red Sea Coral Pro mix (~50/ gallon bucket). Also, sometimes activated carbon can have P04 that leaches into the system, always make sure you thoroughly rinse your carbon before using it.

[tcbarr]

Curing the live rock also releases PO4.

[maybeshewill]

As for my water, I use NSW from the LFS which reads 0.04 phosphates, and RO water from my LFS which reads 0.0 for phosphates.

I never have used any carbon of any sorts.

[maybeshewill]

Anyone else able to chime in with any ideas?

[tcbarr]

I put my money on it is from the die off when intraducing your live rocks.

You should buy a GFO reactor and media, you can get a reactor for like $45 and they are easy to set up and very efficient, you can also mix carbon in with these which is always a good thing to have on your aquarium...

here (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php) is a great recourse for learning about phosphate in the marine aquarium.

[maybeshewill]

Thanks mate

[Reefsi]

As of now what do you have in your sump? Filter pads/bio balls? The live rock at times may be leaching it, but that is probably not the case. You can always test this by taking a clean 5 gallon mix of salt and put a piece of live rock in there for a day and then test phosphates. Have you thought of adding a GFO reactor at all? Carbon dosing/adding carbon is always a good way to build bacteria in the tank to get rid of unwanted nutrients.

[maybeshewill]

I haven't no, I've never actually seen one. If they are cheap enough I will consider getting one. I'll also be getting an RO/DI water maker so I can stop putting the 0.04 phosphate NSW from ym LFS in.

Currently I don't really have any media in my sump. I have a 3-4 inch sand bed and a couple of small bits of live rock in the refugium, but that's it (besides the return and skimmer obviously).

I've been looking for some chaeto but it's near impossible to find it here in Australia. LFS' don't stock it, they only stock caulpera and I really don't want to use that.

[tcbarr]

I used caulerpa for a couple years and never had a problem with it, people warn of it going sexual but I have never heard from anyone first hand that it actually did this.

[maybeshewill]

My main problem I have with Caulerpa is that if a little bit breaks off and gets into my DT, it could blow up into a mighty mess.

[maybeshewill]

Just a quick update.

The two clowns have been in for a week now, and all is going awesome.

They aren't shy at all. If I put my head up to the tank they come swimming up to the glass and look at me. They also love going through the current from my power heads lol.

As far as I can tell, the smaller guy has given up power already to the slightly bigger one, there's no more nippiness between them. They are also very much enjoying the new life spectrum pellets, but I'm feeding them a few mysis shrimp every third day.

Elegance is going great, always open and looking very healthy.

My phosphate is still a little high, so I'll be adding a phosban reactor within the next couple of weeks, as well as an RO/DI system so I don't have to keep doing trips to the LFS for water.

I'm still unsure of the next fish to go in my tank. I really want a six-line wrasse, but I'm thinking that I won't get one as I definitely want a mandarin or scooter once the tank and pod population is well established and the six-line would steal all the pods. I'm thinking maybe a royal gramma, though they are super expensive here in Australia..

I have a nice frag of bleeding heart zoas arriving tomorrow, and a very small yellow/gold tip torch as well.. I'm hoping the clowns take a liking to it :)

[maybeshewill]

Just wondering if you guys can help mr ID something I saw in my tank last night? It was coming out of a large hole in one of my rocks. It was shaped pretty much like those really sweet, red strap lollies, but it was thinner, clear and had what looked to be pink dots spread randomly through it.

Sorry no pictures but it was sort of hanging out of a hole in the rock, flowing with the current.

[maybeshewill]

Anyone? :)

[CCLAXX]

Thanks mate. It's a 36 X 18 X 18. Lighting is 120W LED 1:1 Blue/White. They are on individual switches.

If you dont mind me asking Where did you get this tank, and also where did you get these lights?

[maybeshewill]

The tank and cabinet I bought from eBay, the lights from amdbulbs.com.

[maybeshewill]

Hey guys, any ideas on what fish I should put in the tank next? It's going on two weeks since I adde the clowns, so I'm heading down to look for a possible newbie :)

I really want a scooter blenny down the road, so that cuts out a few choices of fish I like (six-line wrasse/royal gramma) as they are too much competition for pods :(

I also really like the longnose hawkfish, but he'll gobble up my peppermint shrimp.

[maybeshewill]

Anyone?

[WetShepherd]

I'm not so sure that a scooter rules out your choice of a Royal Gramma. Your scooter will sift the bottom of the tank, and I've never seen my RG down there. Second, while my RG may nip at the occasional pod that he finds in a cave somewhere mid-level (i've never actually seen this - but he is the least seen of my fish) in the tank, he's by no means a hunter of them - certainly not like my wrasse does. Lastly, getting a Scooter Blenny to eat alternate, frozen food is a lot easier than a Mandarin. At least that's been my understanding - by all means, cross check with multiple people.

[maybeshewill]

Thanks for the info. When you say your royal gramma is the least seen fish, do you mean he's very shy and always hiding? I'm looking some active, free swimming fish that will enjoy swimming through the holes in my rock work and doesn't mind swimming at the front of the tank.

[WetShepherd]

Yes, while some fish start shy and get over it in a few days to a month, his nature is to remain somewhat shy. Sitting 4 to 5 feet away I see him swimming around but staying close to the rock. If I approach, he will swim behind the rocks, or into a convenient cave - always about midway up. In contrast, my other fish swim to me.

In short - you will see him lots, but he'll never be one of the ones eating out of your hand and he'll be a bit more challenging if you want to snap pictures.

[Brando8719]

I cant really say about other royal grammas but mine usually swims in the open areas and is fairly active. However, I kinda messed up when stocking my tank and put both a red elongated dottyback and royal gramma in. These fish do not mix. The first bit in the tank they were very hostile. However, they have seemed to calm down and leave each other alone unless they meet at a corner inches apart..

So my royal gramma may only swim in the open areas because it doesn't want to join the dottyback in the rock work.. but I cant tell you for certain.

[maybeshewill]

No problems thanks guys! So I'm pretty sure I'll get a royal gramma, and I know I'll be getting a scooter down the track. That leaves me with just 2 more fish to choose. I want my fish to all be different colors.

I like some wrasses, like the banana, but pretty much all the wrasses would either eat my scooter's food or jump out my tank. The bangai cardinal's aren't bad, but the ones I've seen aren't very active. Maybe a couple of dispar anthias?

[maybeshewill]

Sorry double post.

[WetShepherd]

As a general rule, Anthias like to be in groups and require a disproportionately large tank to their size. That may not apply to your specific choice though. I don't know a lot about them - worth checking out.

I'm totally with you the cardinal - people seem to either love them or just not.

[calbert0]

Royal Gramma's are great fish, and most have quite a personality. They choose a little home and guard it well. Shooting out all the time with their mouth wide open.

[maybeshewill]

Long time no update! Internet has been down for over 2 weeks.

I have some new additions!!!

A six-line wrasse. He's an awesome fish, exactly what I was looking for. He actively swims in between all the holes in the rocks, in the open water, does dances. Very pretty fish.

The addition I'm also VERY excited about, a scooter blenny! He's beautiful.. and he also eats everything I have put in the tank so far (frozen mysis, frozen bloodworms, live brine).

I'll get some photos up after my camera has finished charging.

I've just purchased a 4 stage RO/DI unit today, so that should be coming early next week. I'm still having phosphate troubles, but they seem to lower every time I do a water change, so as soon as my RO/DI unit comes I'll do a very large change and try to eradicate the problem.

I am battling green cyano on the sand, as well as still diatoms, though I think it may be the result of the high phosphate levels, and I'm not worried about it until I get my phosphates under control.

Besides that, all other levels are excellent and I've had no issues. The smaller clown is now pretty much as big as the bigger one was. I did have a couple of aiptasia pop up, so I bought 2 peppermint shrimp, and 4 days later they are now gone.

I've added a nice brown with gold tipped torch coral, as well as nice nice pink/purple zoas. The corals seem to be growing as well. The base rock is now lightly covered in green/brown, which is a good sign. There is no coraline growing anywhere on the base rock yet, or on the glass though.

Will try get these pics up ASAP.

[VoiceInTheDeser]

Your tank looks really good. The dimensions on that are way better than on my conventional 55.

[maybeshewill]

Sorry about the quality guys, youtube killed it lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGVy2p5zEhc

[maybeshewill]

No one likes? :(

[WetShepherd]

Not sure what's up with the video - 2:30 to the end is just black. Maybe it was stretched out to accommodate the rest of the song?

Anyway - on to the reef - it looks great ;)
It has a very nice mix of large and small caves and the tank isn't 'full'. You also have what looks like lots of room on the sand bed which is good for corals that you want to control the growth of and for your sand dwellers. Very smart!

Is your rock work relatively secure? If anything is tippy, I'd stick some epoxy putty where the unstable rocks meet to avoid any potential disaster. It's not to hard to snap apart if needed.

The corals are nice too - I have mostly the same ones and a couple of other SPS. I'm not familiar with your lights, but you might need to build a bit closer to the surface if you add any SPS yourself. I just added a new Aussie torch this week - it fluoresces orange - very exciting ;). And my elegance is Aussie too - I'm curious what the cost difference is locally to what we pay here in Canada. Pretty much anything from there runs around 135.00 here. They are amazing though - my elegance was about 7" across when I bought it.

That cyano doesn't look like a good time - I'm starting to get a bit in my tank as well. zigzag1 (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=19489393&postcount=5) suggested I run some GFO so you may want to give that a shot as well. At only 55g I'm going to base it on this reactor (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/brs-gfo-and-carbon-reactor.html) so it should be relatively inexpensive to get in to. I'd start with just a media bag, but no one sells it locally if you can believe that.

Anyway - looking good and GL with the cyano!

**edit** I meant to ask what you shot the video with. It appeared to be a DSLR - mind if I ask which one?

[maybeshewill]

Cheers mate, appreciate your thoughts. Yeah the rock are secure believe it or not. The only one that was half was not too secure was the top left which I've secured down.

Yeah the algae is a bit of a pain. Every water change my phosphates go down, so I need to do a large 50% water change or so, but I just can't lug that much water from the LFS, and I don't have an RO/DI yet.

The camera is a Canon 7D. The quality was much better, but unfortunately it would have taken a millenia to upload to youtube at the size it came to at full quality :(

Oh, the lights are 120W LEDs.

[GaZaLoC]

Hi can u tell me wat is the led lighting for reef tanks

[maybeshewill]

Quick update.

Finally got around to buying the TWF Phosban Reactor 150. Hopefully this will clean the mess that is covering my sand and drop my .60 phosphates. I really want to make this mostly an SPS tank, but no adding SPS till these phosphates go down.

I have been a little down about the tank recently. My skimmer isn't working anymore. All of a sudden just started filling up with water and I can't figure out why. I blow down the two little tubes on the top of the tubing and water bubbles, so I know that's not blocked.

Sick of looking at this algae, but I'm going to get the tubing and pump needed for the phosban, and some rowaphos tomorrow so hopefully that will be up and running by the weekend and knock down my phosphates.

Fish situation hasn't changed, still waiting on the last few fish I want to come into my LFS. A kole tang, royal gramma and lineatus wrasse. I'm selling the 6-line as he won't stop pestering my scooter.

That being said, the corals I do have in there are still healthy, and I've had no problem with my fish, they are all happy as Larry.

[CRC88]

Is your Skimmer bubbling over or just not producing any water/bubble-mixture at all to fill the column?

If it's bubbling over, you could have added a chemical of some sort that changes the surface tension of your water and makes it bubble very easily. This would leave you with a cup full of water and a constant stream of bubbles no matter how much you adjust it.

If it's NOT bubbling over and just sitting there "simmering" then you could have the opposite problem where a chemical breaks the surface tension. This happens to me every time I put my hand / arm in the tank. The oils on my skin mean the skimmer doesn't produce anything for an hour or two.

If it's doing neither of these...then your pump might have died. If you bought it less than a year ago you can probably get it replaced under warranty. Contact the manufacturer and see what they say.

I also had an Algae problem with my tank. I ran Phos pellets and got the Phos levels down to 0.0. It took about two weeks of 0.0 before I noticed a significant reduction in my algae. Now the glass is so algae free I only clean it 1x a week.

Goodluck with everything and hope this helps!

[maybeshewill]

Is your Skimmer bubbling over or just not producing any water/bubble-mixture at all to fill the column?

If it's bubbling over, you could have added a chemical of some sort that changes the surface tension of your water and makes it bubble very easily. This would leave you with a cup full of water and a constant stream of bubbles no matter how much you adjust it.

If it's NOT bubbling over and just sitting there "simmering" then you could have the opposite problem where a chemical breaks the surface tension. This happens to me every time I put my hand / arm in the tank. The oils on my skin mean the skimmer doesn't produce anything for an hour or two.

If it's doing neither of these...then your pump might have died. If you bought it less than a year ago you can probably get it replaced under warranty. Contact the manufacturer and see what they say.

I also had an Algae problem with my tank. I ran Phos pellets and got the Phos levels down to 0.0. It took about two weeks of 0.0 before I noticed a significant reduction in my algae. Now the glass is so algae free I only clean it 1x a week.

Goodluck with everything and hope this helps!

Thanks mate, that's what everyone asks first. It is bubbling over, but I haven't added a single chemical to the tank. My glass is actually algae free, it's just my sand bed that is absolutely covered in it.

Really hope I can get the issue with my skimmer sorted, because It's worrying me that I haven't had it on for a couple of weeks now. I doubt I could get anything replaced under warranty, the website I bought it off is known to not be very good with warranties unfortunately.

It's strange, the skimmer had been working great, then all of a sudden one day I looked in my sump and it had filled up super quick and was overflowing. Ever since then, whenever I turn it on this is what it does.

[maybeshewill]

Issues with skimmer sorted, working perfectly.

Added a phosban reactor to attack these high phosphates (.60). They are now down to .08 4 days after adding the reactor, and dropping more each day. Using rowaphos in the TLF 150.