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View Full Version : Recently entered this saltwater addiction , can you guys assess my tank?


KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 03:01 AM
Greetings fellow reefers! :celeb2::wave:

This is actually my first time posting on forums and such , only been in the hobby for 6 months and I must give credit to this wonderful site as my go to source of info. My purpose for starting a thread is simply a general assessment of my tank. I had the tank as a gift to myself and it happened, I jumped to saltwater and now reefing without any previous experience.

Let me squeeze a quick opinion out of you guys , should I remove the mat of polyps as the rock where it sits is overgrown with tube worms / feathers , sponges etc. Needless to say , some spots are way too shy to come out. I've brushed and blasted the poor thing twice already.

Oh boy! I hope my first post wasn't too text heavy , judge my tank and go easy on me! Happy reefing RC!

nmotz
03/06/2015, 03:24 AM
Well, strictly speaking in terms of aesthetics you seem to have learned quite well from your studies on Reef Central. Nice clean look, I like it. I would leave things as they are for the most part, maybe add another powerhead on the other side for more flow as you add more corals.

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 04:00 AM
nmotz , Thank you for such a pleasing response. Other than planning to reaquascape (eg. avoiding my lr to look centered , having proper space for coral placement) to achieve more depth and aesthetic balance, It calms my reefing soul a bit that it looks okay. I'm looking to add another PH as well, Kinda worried about my hammers tho since my scape doesn't really offer any shelter from too much flow.

Savant
03/06/2015, 06:50 AM
Looks great! May I ask how long the tank has been set up?

CuzzA
03/06/2015, 06:51 AM
Welcome, your tank looks nice. However, I'm pretty sure that starfish looks like a Red Knob and is not reef safe. You may want to think about rehoming it.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+528+562&pcatid=562

Electrobes
03/06/2015, 07:01 AM
'Scape looks great as it is, I wouldn't change it, and +1 to what CuzzA has said.

Any chance you could list your equipment and parameters? I like where this tank is headed. :)

Guygettnby
03/06/2015, 07:10 AM
Picture 2 has a good amount of aiptasia, so you will want to take care of that issue ASAP before they take over. Beyond that your tank looks like it will mature in to a very good looking tank. Keep up the good work and remember every thing takes time in this hobby!

viper12775
03/06/2015, 08:44 AM
I think they are clove polyps not aiptasia, tank looks great how old is it

FraggledRock
03/06/2015, 09:04 AM
nmotz , Thank you for such a pleasing response. Other than planning to reaquascape (eg. avoiding my lr to look centered , having proper space for coral placement) to achieve more depth and aesthetic balance, It calms my reefing soul a bit that it looks okay. I'm looking to add another PH as well, Kinda worried about my hammers tho since my scape doesn't really offer any shelter from too much flow.

i think you should leave the "centered" look.it is rather appealing.

once coral starts to grow it will give a nice top level scaping on its own.

i tried a billion time sto avoid a centered rock setup, but it works. Better flow, less dead spots and open area for growth

looks like you may have aptasia. get some cleaner shrimps.

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 12:10 PM
First of all , I admit i'm a bit too overwhelmed and excited by the positive responses. I'm so new to the hobby that, i'm not familiar with any local reefer in this country i'm currently based in. Thank you for the best welcome RC members! :beer:

Looks great! May I ask how long the tank has been set up?

@Savant - Thanks for the kinds words :D , I originally had it set up FOWLR on its first 3 months , its now 6 months old and very happy with its(and my reefing) growth.

Welcome, your tank looks nice. However, I'm pretty sure that starfish looks like a Red Knob and is not reef safe. You may want to think about rehoming it.

@CuzzA - Thank you! for the warm welcome , He came before I even planned/thought of taking care of corals. I'm not 100% about this but I studied online about them and juveniles won't have the taste for corals yet? So far he hasn't touched them and I guess its hard to say goodbye to them yet :hammer:

'Scape looks great as it is, I wouldn't change it, and +1 to what CuzzA has said.

Any chance you could list your equipment and parameters? I like where this tank is headed. :)

@Electrobes - Thanks for the insight! Well my equipment is pretty humble (thrifty? lol) TMC Prov2 450 skimmer, sicce voyager v3 , **Dymax 4lamp pc fixture (55w). ca = 400ish , sal = 1.026 , mag= 1350ish , ph = 8 , nitrate/trite/phos = almost 0. (last test was week ago).

Picture 2 has a good amount of aiptasia, so you will want to take care of that issue ASAP before they take over. Beyond that your tank looks like it will mature in to a very good looking tank. Keep up the good work and remember every thing takes time in this hobby!

@Guygettnby - Thanks for informing me early , I used to think these were fan/feathers as they retreated quickly everytime something unusual is in front of it. And totally agree on taking things slow, this is probably the best advice there is for any beginner like me.

I think they are clove polyps not aiptasia, tank looks great how old is it

@viper12775 - Thanks a lot! It's been running for 6 months , basically the first time I ever had a tank (not even fw) , just trying to learn and grow with the tank.

@FraggledRock - I had my share of endless tinkering of LR too and decided I was done with it so basically left it this way. Unfortunately, I just finished my research regarding aquascaping so pretty much got me itching to move that damn LR again :spin1::debi::hammer:

dustinkimpel
03/06/2015, 12:16 PM
Looking good! what size tank?

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 12:17 PM
I know it may not seem much but all the positivity in this site/thread definitely inspired me even more. Looking forward to years and years of RC and happy reefing everyone! :D

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 12:20 PM
Looking good! what size tank?

Thanks mate! 120g on a 48x24x24 footprint.

dustinkimpel
03/06/2015, 12:24 PM
Do you QT or no? Just curious on other success

dustinkimpel
03/06/2015, 12:29 PM
What do you think of my newest sumpless tank:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2484620

julie180
03/06/2015, 12:33 PM
Nice looking tank. I second the starfish not being reef safe. You might be ok if you feed him a lot. Big problem is the day he decides to eat corals, he can do a lot of damage quickly.

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 12:36 PM
Do you QT or no? Just curious on other success

I haven't tried QTing anything yet. Livestock get the standard (corals/15min. temp float) (Fish/invert : floats and drips) acclimation.

jminick2
03/06/2015, 12:41 PM
1. take out the star fish.

2 nice looking aquascape.

3 pic 2 does not have aiptasia

looks more like bleached out GSP and the rest aren't opening because something is wrong with parameters, speaking of parameters what are yours? ammonia nitrites nitrates alk mag calcium these are the things you need to be watching. What is your Salinity? The first three only in the early stages of your tank the last 3 always if u want to keep a reef.

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 12:45 PM
Nice looking tank. I second the starfish not being reef safe. You might be ok if you feed him a lot. Big problem is the day he decides to eat corals, he can do a lot of damage quickly.

I guess i'm in that part of the hobby where certain specimen (actually all of them? :spin1:) are home to my heart and as long as it's well behaved , i'll keep it. But yes yes , you guys are right he shall be rehomed soon enough.

jminick2
03/06/2015, 12:53 PM
you are also going to need a lot more flow and surface agitation. I have same tank I have a mp40 on one end and maxspect gyre 150 on the other. with two return lines for the surface agitation.

tidus10
03/06/2015, 12:53 PM
Your tank is rectangular and hold water

assessment complete ;)

i like the scape :) youll want to get rid of the star before it eats your stuff..

Good job on the new tank and have fun!

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 01:01 PM
1. take out the start fish.

2 nice looking aquascape.

3 pic 2 does not have aiptasia

looks more like bleached out GSP and the rest aren't opening because something is wrong with parameters, speaking of parameters what are yours? ammonia nitrites nitrates alk mag calcium these are the things you need to be watching. What is your Salinity? The first three only in the early stages of your tank the last 3 always if u want to keep a reef.

Thanks for the insight , had the gsp 3 days I think , my lfs had offered to sell it cheaply since it wasn't doing good. (wasn't given what it needed to thrive) I've been seeing it weeks back sometimes it was facing down , sometimes leaning on the glass, long story short I bit the bullet in hopes of replenishing it back to life.

Sal - 1.026 , first three = nearing 0 mark , last three cal - 400ish , mag - 1350ish , alk is low 6-7 range. Apologies for the tricky params i had my lfs test it last week or so. Neat reminder of params :)

And holy smokes i've been dreaming of that amazing gyre tech. I'm well aware i lack the turnover rate for such a tank, just waiting for my order to arrive, lighting fixture and another sicce v3. The thing is quality brands are hard to come by around here and ample time for research about these brands should be considered. Thanks for the advices!

ecfort57
03/06/2015, 01:02 PM
Very nice tank

jminick2
03/06/2015, 01:05 PM
I see well that explains their distress then. Hopefully they bounce back. Your are off to a good start. Everything else looks great.

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 01:08 PM
Your tank is rectangular and hold water

assessment complete ;)

i like the scape :) youll want to get rid of the star before it eats your stuff..

Good job on the new tank and have fun!

:lolspin: Thanks for the input, I may be having too much fun learning and watching the ways and means of reefkeeping already. :D

Very nice tank

Thank you!

@jminick2 , It means a lot and I hope they recover ASAP! would you suggest I brush and blast debris off it tho?

Coralfreak09
03/06/2015, 01:12 PM
Again on the starfish. If you are really wanting an easy to keep red star, try adding one from the Fromia genus. Reef safe and eat algae, also eat detritus and other things. I had a red knobbed star I looked after from an insistent client of mine... one day he turned evil and ate everything. GSP are either hard to keep or easy. They really seem to like aged water. Some people have great luck, some experienced keepers can never get those suckers to open.

Your tank looks great. I like the look. It will grow into a very nice mature reef one day just remember be patient and remove that starfish.

Invest in a good test kit, refractometer and Ato if you have not done so already

jminick2
03/06/2015, 01:15 PM
they don't like being blasted I wouldn't unless they are just absolutely covered in sand or something.

IdahoCindy
03/06/2015, 01:35 PM
My vote is aiptasia on that rock along with the other things. Zap 'em before they get out of hand. The starfish is not reef safe. Besides, he seems out of balance with the rest of the tank, which looks great, by the way!

Shadowflynt
03/06/2015, 01:36 PM
I haven't tried QTing anything yet. Livestock get the standard (corals/15min. temp float) (Fish/invert : floats and drips) acclimation.

Welcome. Am new today here as well :)

All I will say is quarantine, quarantine, quarantine assuming qt is used as quarantine.

Voice of experience. My tank is only a few months old and I have always done well with no quarantine. Approx a month ago I put a couple new fish in my 29 FOWLR tank. About a week after that a few of my fish stopped eating. A couple days after that the death toll was rising fast. Sadly, in the end, all the fish died that were in the tank from marine velvet. Fast disease that I was in no way prepared for and by the time I figured out what it was, it was too late. Last two fish alive made it through a freshwater dip and were on copper treatment but it was too late. Within 5 days, all the fish were gone. Tragic for me considering one of the fish I had had for several years alone in a 10g tank.

Anyways, moral is, quarantine everything including fish, coral, invertebrates (have read that ick can potentially travel on the shell of crabs/snails, not sure if that is live or the cyst) and even macro algae (found that out today here 😳)

Anyways, best of luck and the tank looks great 😃

lifeoffaith
03/06/2015, 01:43 PM
I love the tank. I also thought there were some aiptasia in there, but I could be wrong. I'd probably get a peppermint shrimp anyway, just to be on the safe side.

jminick2
03/06/2015, 02:52 PM
I promise you those are not aiptasia please don't kill them.

this is an aiptasia

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 02:52 PM
Again on the starfish. If you are really wanting an easy to keep red star, try adding one from the Fromia genus. Reef safe and eat algae, also eat detritus and other things. I had a red knobbed star I looked after from an insistent client of mine... one day he turned evil and ate everything. GSP are either hard to keep or easy. They really seem to like aged water. Some people have great luck, some experienced keepers can never get those suckers to open.

Your tank looks great. I like the look. It will grow into a very nice mature reef one day just remember be patient and remove that starfish.

Invest in a good test kit, refractometer and Ato if you have not done so already

Thanks for looking into my tank , seeing how unforseeable a change of heart these species are capable of, I will rehome it asap. I have a red/orange banded linckia sea star, reef safe?

And yes , I feel like so many things should be bought/taken care of. Which brand of test kits do you suggest? Cheers!

My vote is aiptasia on that rock along with the other things. Zap 'em before they get out of hand. The starfish is not reef safe. Besides, he seems out of balance with the rest of the tank, which looks great, by the way!

Thanks for the appreciation, It's weird how off key he does look on the tank (weird??) Never saw it before.:blown: Would it be best to bring it back to lfs along with the sea star? Crazy how I used to think those things were feathers!

Welcome. Am new today here as well :)

All I will say is quarantine, quarantine, quarantine assuming qt is used as quarantine.

Voice of experience. My tank is only a few months old and I have always done well with no quarantine. Approx a month ago I put a couple new fish in my 29 FOWLR tank. About a week after that a few of my fish stopped eating. A couple days after that the death toll was rising fast. Sadly, in the end, all the fish died that were in the tank from marine velvet. Fast disease that I was in no way prepared for and by the time I figured out what it was, it was too late. Last two fish alive made it through a freshwater dip and were on copper treatment but it was too late. Within 5 days, all the fish were gone. Tragic for me considering one of the fish I had had for several years alone in a 10g tank.

Anyways, moral is, quarantine everything including fish, coral, invertebrates (have read that ick can potentially travel on the shell of crabs/snails, not sure if that is live or the cyst) and even macro algae (found that out today here 😳)

Anyways, best of luck and the tank looks great 😃

This is why RC is the best, learning from other people's misfortunes and mishaps isn't nice but thank you for sharing. Its a bit late :D sorry for your lost to say the least. That experience is defintely an eye opener on how fragile things can be on this hobby. Goodluck and hope your tank recovers sooner!

I love the tank. I also thought there were some aiptasia in there, but I could be wrong. I'd probably get a peppermint shrimp anyway, just to be on the safe side.

Would it be best to bring my gsp in our lfs? How does one eradicate aipastasia, wouldn't want them spreading. Thank you for the compliments! Happy reefing!

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 03:05 PM
I promise you those are not aiptasia please don't kill them.

this is an aiptasia

Thanks for the clarification once again! And here I am losing my mind on a possible aiptasia infestation. What riddled me was, these things on my gsp rock retreats in a very swift motion. I'm actually deciding to keep it this way for awhile. No pic avail. But two beautiful sponges started growing (lavender & bluish). Any thoughts on keeping the sponges? I find them pleasing and interesting.

jminick2
03/06/2015, 03:15 PM
the things that are retracting quickly are feather dusters.

ReefsandGeeks
03/06/2015, 03:18 PM
Welcome to RC! I remember before I joined I always thought forums were full of amature people speculating about stuff. Joined because I couldn't find the answer to one of the many quesitons I've looked up, and boy was I wrong. RC is full of experienced individuals willing to help for the betterment of the hobby. Now I'm on RC all the time and love it. I'm sure you will too. I also don't know anyone personaly in the hobby but me, so RC has been invaluable to me.

I really like the look of the tank. Off to a great start. Good choice on the 120g. I got a 40 gallon and after about a month I've been kicking myself for not going much larger.

ReefsandGeeks
03/06/2015, 03:23 PM
ohh, and that rock does have lots of little feather dusters on it, as well as what looks like aptasia. I've luckly never had it in my tank, so I can't identify it better than anyone else on here. Don't forget to stop and enjoy the tank from time to time. It's easy to get carried away with fiddling with equipment, fixing algea problems, figuring out why this coral is fading or whatever. Take some time to just sit down and enjoy the tank. I do every day. the girlfriend doen't know how to respond when she asks what I'm looking at so closely, and I say "I think there's a tiny worm in this rock, I'm waiting for it to come out".

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 04:29 PM
Welcome to RC! I remember before I joined I always thought forums were full of amature people speculating about stuff. Joined because I couldn't find the answer to one of the many quesitons I've looked up, and boy was I wrong. RC is full of experienced individuals willing to help for the betterment of the hobby. Now I'm on RC all the time and love it. I'm sure you will too. I also don't know anyone personaly in the hobby but me, so RC has been invaluable to me.

I really like the look of the tank. Off to a great start. Good choice on the 120g. I got a 40 gallon and after about a month I've been kicking myself for not going much larger.

First and foremost thank you for reviewing my tank and secondly, I agree with everything you said about rc being there as a guide and archive of valuable knowledge. It's refreshing to hear that all the effort i've invested in our hobby is recognized by a community of experienced reefers. Literally learning along the way so far. I was inspired to join and give in fulltime to marine tanks by none other than Mr. Paul baldassano. The man is a legend and I often lose count of time when I read articles/threads related to him.

"I think there's a tiny worm in this rock, I'm waiting for it to come out".

This is probably the most relatable bit of awe moment I have read all week! Have a good one my friend!:beer: :wave:

Michelem526
03/06/2015, 05:10 PM
Hi guys!! I'm recently new to the saltwater hobby (5 mo) and was curious about something. My first tank was a 55gal and consisted of 58lbs of dry rock and live sand. It took about 2 months to cycle and what not but I decided to upgrade to a bigger tank for my fish. I now have a 90 with a sump (also new to me) and it has 25 lbs of buna ultra live rock (from live rock n reef) 25lbs of of the reef saver I think it's called from brs...25 lbs of dry Fiji also from brs. And then I purchased some dry shelf pieces from another place that got good reviews on this site. Anyhow...i wanted to try to make this tank way better than my 55 so I did a lot of reading and stuff and it seemed that most people acid bathed their dry rock so I did that and then let it sit in a tub of saltwater with a pump and heater for 10 days. My live rock also sat in a separate tub of saltwater with a pump and heater for the same time. To make a long story short...the guy from live rock n reef told me to add bio spira to my tank when I got it up and going so I did. Got the rocks all in place and used RO DI water. My question is this ( and excuse me if I'm not posting where I should be as I am trying to figure out the navigation here) but my question is my ammonia is reading a .25 nitrites a 5 and nitrates are 40. I'm not having a huge spike in my ammonia so I'm curious if my cycle has started or at least is ok! Can anybody tell me if im doing this right??

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 05:34 PM
Hi guys!! I'm recently new to the saltwater hobby (5 mo) and was curious about something. My first tank was a 55gal and consisted of 58lbs of dry rock and live sand. It took about 2 months to cycle and what not but I decided to upgrade to a bigger tank for my fish. I now have a 90 with a sump (also new to me) and it has 25 lbs of buna ultra live rock (from live rock n reef) 25lbs of of the reef saver I think it's called from brs...25 lbs of dry Fiji also from brs. And then I purchased some dry shelf pieces from another place that got good reviews on this site. Anyhow...i wanted to try to make this tank way better than my 55 so I did a lot of reading and stuff and it seemed that most people acid bathed their dry rock so I did that and then let it sit in a tub of saltwater with a pump and heater for 10 days. My live rock also sat in a separate tub of saltwater with a pump and heater for the same time. To make a long story short...the guy from live rock n reef told me to add bio spira to my tank when I got it up and going so I did. Got the rocks all in place and used RO DI water. My question is this ( and excuse me if I'm not posting where I should be as I am trying to figure out the navigation here) but my question is my ammonia is reading a .25 nitrites a 5 and nitrates are 40. I'm not having a huge spike in my ammonia so I'm curious if my cycle has started or at least is ok! Can anybody tell me if im doing this right??

Hello michele , A warm welcome from a fellow saltie!

It seems like your tank is still under its cycle, It may have started earlier than you expect it would. Essentially, a cycle will see spikes and declining levels of ammonia & nitrite, consequently followed by the appearance of nitrate (upon your description, your tank is still on its cycle).

So yes, so far so good mich! The "cycle" is considered to be completed once ammonia and nitrite readings are no longer measurable. Nitrates on the other hand should ideally come closest to zero aswell but 5-40 ppm is generally accepted. Goodluck and welcome to the darkside :D

Michelem526
03/06/2015, 05:41 PM
Thanks Kabayan! I was hoping I was heading in the right direction but I was nervous because these levels aren't as high as what I saw in my other tank.

Michelem526
03/06/2015, 05:48 PM
I also saw and read where you put a shrimp in your tank to help it cycle. Should I be doing that or just go with what I have going on right now?

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 06:04 PM
I also saw and read where you put a shrimp in your tank to help it cycle. Should I be doing that or just go with what I have going on right now?

I hope you are aware that it must be dead. The reason being; decaying material(dead shrimp) provides food for the "good" bacteria. In your case since you have added , i'm assuming, "bacteria food" by dosing what was suggested/sold to you. It would help the cycle if you drop shrimp altho be sure to have ample flow. Do you have any aquacultured live rock in the tank atm?

Michelem526
03/06/2015, 06:10 PM
Yes it would be a raw shrimp like what you eat. At least that's what I've read. As far as the rock it's a mixture of live that was already cured and basically dry rock from bulk reef supply. It's called reef saver I think and also there's fiji dry as well. But none of those are aquacultured I don't think. I just keep reading a lot of different things and I want to make sure I'm doing it the correct way. My last tank which is still up and running till I can move my fish over had high reading when it was cycling but this one doesn't and it had me a little alarmed. I just wasn't sure if it's because I am now using a RO DI system for my water or that I now have live rock and a sump. It basically just alarmed me because the levels are much much lower than I guess I thought they would be from my first tank.

KabayanReef
03/06/2015, 06:20 PM
I guess thats the thing about reading too much online -- it gets in your head sometimes but for now, I can safely say that everything is on the right path for your case and probably go out (a nearby spa awaits you!) and relax for the mean time :). Goodluck mich!

- Malcolm J.

Michelem526
03/06/2015, 06:34 PM
Thanks for your help! And believe me when I say my spa time is sitting in front of the tank! Lol