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chadisrad
02/22/2014, 07:25 PM
hello, this is a log of a ten gallon aquarium that I plan grow corals and an anemone in for the clown fish. I have years of fowlr experience with a 75 gallon tank but have not ventured into corals. The tank started 4 days ago where I bought everything, I know I should not have bought a fish yet but I wanted something nice to look at while it cycles.

I just started it I have,

ocellaris clownfish
wavepoint 16w led fixture (in the mail)
5 lbs of dry sand
2-3 pounds of live rock
$10 whisper internal filter
hydor koralia 240
2-3 nassarius snails
1 cerith
1 turbo snail
2 hermit crabs
ro/di w/ instant ocean salt


I plan to have

more live rock
anemone
sps corals
another small fish
cleaner shrimp


Do you think it is a good idea to do a 10% water change every other day while it cycles? or is that too much?

Thanks for looking and I look forward to any comments!

TundraGuy
02/22/2014, 08:43 PM
Ummm........
Fail.
This set up will never work.
Not enough bio filtration.
Not enough chemical filtration.
Not enough water movement.
Not enough room for nem for clowns and sps.
Even with water changes the water will never be stable enough to support healthy sps or nems.
You could take back the fish get 10 more ponds of rock and let this cycle ie let the rock cycle in the tank or you will start the cycle over by adding more latter. Get rid of the internal filter for a hang on back like an AC 50 or better a 70 and mod it for a fuge, and skimmer combo set up, or one or the other.
Even with huge water changes the water stability will never support sps.
But hay I do like the spongbob snail.

chadisrad
02/22/2014, 08:57 PM
sorry, I thought sps stood for soft polyps but after I googled it I realized it is stony. I have no intentions of keeping hard corals, just the soft easy ones. I am going to add base rock when I find a good piece. The submersible filter will be replaced in three weeks by a 9 gallon sump.

TundraGuy
02/22/2014, 10:05 PM
OK that a better start. For base rock I like Marco rocks. Its dry so 10 lbs will give you a lot to work with more then you need intact but that will allow you to brake it up and allow you to reshape it. You can glue and build killer shapes.

Sharp your rocks so that the rocks touch the sand as little as possible and stack them so as much water can move through it as much as possible.

chadisrad
03/26/2014, 10:12 AM
Hello, every thing is going great so far. Sorry the pic is not that great, my tank is really blue and the camera is having trouble adjusting. I can not turn off the blue lights separately.
I have added:


Smaller Ocellaris Clown fish (hopefully they mate)
Green Clown Goby
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
Zoas
Button polyps (I believe)
Mushroom
Torch


http://i1276.photobucket.com/albums/y462/chadhager03/e2174a3a-4f6a-4d4d-ac84-63003dc9b1bb_zpsd7a5c23a.jpg (http://s1276.photobucket.com/user/chadhager03/media/e2174a3a-4f6a-4d4d-ac84-63003dc9b1bb_zpsd7a5c23a.jpg.html)

arnoldrew
03/27/2014, 12:54 PM
I'm glad your clownfish survived living in poison for so long.

hersheyb
03/28/2014, 01:42 PM
poor fish... research research... but ur headed the right direction, just ask question and you'll be fine

Jandawil
03/28/2014, 03:16 PM
I just don't get it. You've said you've been in a 75G FOWLR for a long time so that means you know about the nitrogen cycle and how toxic it is when there is ammonia and nitrites in your tank...therefore you can't chalk it up to ignorance. You willingly torture an animal just so "you have something nice to look at while it cycles". Like it's a decoration and not a living creature. You pretty much are not rad IMO.

chadisrad
03/28/2014, 06:26 PM
Yes I did know, but I really don't consider the living conditions poison, and plus non-captive bred fish probably go through much worse weeks being transported to America. Ammonia has been tested every other day and has been under .25 ppm, nitrates haven't gone up, nitrites have been 0, the only thing that's been of concern is the ph which dropped to 7.6 for a week. I did tons of research and I walked into the store not wanting to cycle with a fish but $14 for a clown was hard to pass up.

Although i do agree using a fish to cycle is not ideal, I made this thread to document my experience because there are not too many 10 gallon reef builds. So on that note, I've been doing 1 gallon water changes every 4 days, and running only filter floss in my filter. So far everything's is going great except the skunk cleaner shrimp died 2 days after I bought it. I purchased another (hopefully that one was a fluke) and update if this one dies as well.

And to everyone, have a great day!

Halo_003
03/29/2014, 09:41 PM
Yes I did know, but I really don't consider the living conditions poison, and plus non-captive bred fish probably go through much worse weeks being transported to America. Ammonia has been tested every other day and has been under .25 ppm, nitrates haven't gone up, nitrites have been 0, the only thing that's been of concern is the ph which dropped to 7.6 for a week. I did tons of research and I walked into the store not wanting to cycle with a fish but $14 for a clown was hard to pass up.

Although i do agree using a fish to cycle is not ideal, I made this thread to document my experience because there are not too many 10 gallon reef builds. So on that note, I've been doing 1 gallon water changes every 4 days, and running only filter floss in my filter. So far everything's is going great except the skunk cleaner shrimp died 2 days after I bought it. I purchased another (hopefully that one was a fluke) and update if this one dies as well.

And to everyone, have a great day!

Damsels are only $5, and people don't use them to cycle because it's cruel. You could have gotten a bottle of biospira for the $14 you spent to subject that clown to toxins. Also that is not a special price, they're that much every day at most places.

Also that light is probably not going to support much IMO.

tldr: should have taken livestock back, especially the clown. (my $.02)

chadisrad
04/07/2014, 08:06 PM
well I have some bad news, the second clown I added just over 10 days ago died. He was doing great until yesterday when I noticed he had white slime, specks of white, and cloudy eyes, I took him out and treated him with coppersafe but unfortunately he died. I suspect he had marine velvet or possibly poor water conditions. The only changes I have made to the tank in the last week or so was adding another cleaner shrimp, purigen, and phosguard. I test my water frequently and everything is 0 except pH dropped to 7.4. I figure it is due to the phosguard I added Friday. The reason I added phosguard and purigen was to get rid of hair algae, I have since removed them. After the fish died, outside of the water, his eyes cleared up and the white specs were no longer visible.

Do you think the purigen or phosguard could have contributed to him getting sick? I added both products late Friday. Saturday evening when I got back home the fish looked bad and he was not eating (usually ecstatic to eat).

Do you think it could be poor water quality? my tank is going through "the uglies" with lots of hair and bubble algae.

I do wish I would have listened to advice and not bought any fish at all. I enjoy the corals more than the fish anyways and I feel like it is my fault he died. I hope the other clown does not get sick because running two tanks in a dorm might be against rules.

Salt Kreep
04/08/2014, 08:16 AM
Relax, slow down and take a deep breath. It takes about a year for a tank to mature and start to run smoothly. I have a little nine gallon tank that's been running for 15 months now. I've gone through all the phases, hair algae, bubble algae, diatoms, cyano...and you will too. It shall pass. Keep one fish until your tank can handle that load smoothly. Do weekly water changes of about 10-15%. You have a small tank so just use tiny amounts of phosgaurd or whatever. I like to use Chemi pure elite. Every water change I rinse the bag, open it up, remove about 2 tablespoons worth, then add 2 tablespoons of fresh. This tiny amount doesn't shock your system.
I now have two fish, LP's , sps, zoas, sun corals, acans...but my tank is mature.

neontreefrog5
04/08/2014, 12:19 PM
my lord that poor clown. ive had my tank running for almost 2 years and i just now added a nice clown. and if you knew that you shouldnt have added one during cycling, you definitely should not have gone ahead and bought a second one when you admitted the first was a wrong decision. if he had specks of white, he may have had marine ich. with the additional symptoms it sounds like possible brooklynella.