Need advice, for Frogfish Tank

[samuel88]

Hello guys, i need advice. so here's my tank details.

2 feet tank, 15 gallons with a 10 gallon sump. T5 lighting and the lights on the sump and tank and on alternate lighting. Tank is off/on, sump is on/off.

Protein skimmer Deltec mce600 rated for

Stocking

Normal Stocking 700 Litres (155 gallons)

High Stocking 450 Liters (100 gallons)

my tank has been running for 3 weeks plus now and i have been cycling it using a bacterial culture. plus since last week (I hope that this is the right practice) i have been adding in fish pellets and a small capful of live phytoplankton daily to feed the copepods and corals and get the biological bacteria in my tank multiplying to get ready for my ultimate goal, a frogfish.

Current livestock

2 mini maxi carpets. one BTA, one small hammer coral head and one leather coral frag.

Current weekly maintenance

5 percent water change with bacterial culture dosing.

feeding anemone's with a small slice of fish.

calcium, alkalinity and magnesium additives, and a phosphate remover.

Current Parameters (with all the test kits i have at the moment)

API - Ammonia - 0 ppm, Nitrate - 0 to 5 ppm,

Seachem - Ph - 8.1, Alkalinity - 4.5 meq/L, or 12.5 dKH,

Salifert - Calcium - 320 ppm

Salinity - 1.024- 1.025

Temperature - 26 degrees, using chiller.

I have had a frogfish before however i made the mistake of - i think - not getting my tank's biological filtration up to speed, which caused a bacterial bloom and ammonia spike. because prior to the frog fish there were no fish at all, so perhaps the biological filtration couldn't keep up with the sudden jump in ammonia source.

so my question is, what can i do to make sure that my biological bacterial in my tank will be ready for a frogfish?

i'm in no hurry to get a frogfish until my tank is ready.

advice from people who have kept a frogfish successfully for 3 months and above would be much appreciated.

PS: I am thinking of adding a carbon source, like vodka dosing or some other alternative, so if you have some comments on that, feel free to let me know if its a good idea in my case.

[Gouldian]

Hey bro,

Good job on your patience and dedication in getting your tank ready for the frog fish, i can also see success around the corner.

However on the prudent side, you did not indicate the amount of LRs and LS you have in your tank.

IMHO predatory fishes need more surface area for nitrifications through LRs LS or trickle filter to process waste.

I am a little worried with the amount anemones in your tank as some may sting your frog fish who is more benthic. If I were you I will remove the BTA as they will expands greatly when conditions meet their needs.

Last issue to address is your selection of your frog fish, that I feel you may have already covered after reeding your above conscientious efforts.

Hope that helps, looking forward to your tank thread.

[samuel88]

Hey bro, Good job on your patience and dedication in getting your tank ready for the frog fish, i can also see success around the corner. However on the prudent side, you did not indicate the amount of LRs and LS you have in your tank. IMHO predatory fishes need more surface area for nitrifications through LRs LS or trickle filter to process waste. I am a little worried with the amount anemones in your tank as some may sting your frog fish who is more benthic. If I were you I will remove the BTA as they will expands greatly when conditions meet their needs. Last issue to address is your selection of your frog fish, that I feel you may have already covered after reeding your above conscientious efforts. Hope that helps, looking forward to your tank thread.

oh yes, i forgot to mention that, i have about 1-2 inch of sand, and for the rocks, well, i didn't record how many pounds, so here is a picture. in my sump i only have a handful of liverock rubble. There's alot of microalgae i know, which i think is why my nitrates are so low, i'm hesitant to remove them manually however as i feel they are part of the ecosystem/bio stability and will fade in time.

i'm afraid about not having enough surface area for bacteria too, i wanna add liverock in my sump but do i need strong flow there as well? don't really wanna add another powerhead if possible, worried about overloading the power outlet. do let me know if you think i have enough surface area for bio filtration and what i can do.

i'm thinking of moving all the anemones into the display tank or sump as i have thought about the safety of the frogfish.

[samuel88]

ok, i've decided to stuff my sump with liverock, so i added in about 5 to 6 kg of live rock into the sump.

i shifted all my anemones into the display tank, and i think because of the nature of the mini maxi's i might not be able to keep fish, maybe not even clowns, but i'll opt for anemone shrimps instead.

meanwhile, the sump shall be for the frogfish, the protein skimmer is also located in the sump, so perhaps it will alleviate the waste from the frogfish faster.

[Gouldian]

I suggest you clean / brush your Glass and LR from nuisance algae. And to siphon your sand-bed from diatom and cyano.To be honest, leaving them there do nothing to improve your water quality but will in fact, cause the deterioration of water quality.

[samuel88]

I suggest you clean / brush your Glass and LR from nuisance algae. And to siphon your sand-bed from diatom and cyano.To be honest, leaving them there do nothing to improve your water quality but will in fact, cause the deterioration of water quality.

icic, ok i'll manually remove them.