comy's newbie tank

[comycus]

hi comycus...

nice tank setup. i'm sure with the right equipment and husbandry... with or without sump, the tank can be a success!

look forward to more updates from ya!

Btw: mixed reef with tangs? or dwarf angels??

Thanks bro! hope to learn from all the nice reefers here.

Not so ambitious yet to do anything big, looking at LPS and softies first, hoping eventually to add 1 or 2 tangs, cardinals, anthias and clownfish. Still pretty nervous about my setup actually. (newbie jitters?)

The toadstool still refuses to open, and after the dip in tmpcc on sat night, still has some mucus on its skin even with my mp20 blowing at it. Hope it opens up soon...

[[d]3v|L]

nice chromis!

where did u got them from?

[comycus]

Bro, chromis got from AM. Settling v. nicely in the tank. 2 of them either like smooching or fighting. (keeps 'kissing' each other) I think its the latter, but think overall they are quite peaceful.

Been really busy the past week. Tank's definitely having a diatoms bloom or some sort of algae breakout. Really hoping to get some Ceriths this weekend to help me control the nuisance algae. Can some helpful soul help me ID and suggest how to solve it? Maybe 20 Ceriths will do the trick. I don't really wanna add anymore chemicals like algaefix to my tank coz kinda dosing quite alot of stuff now already I think.

Just checked my tank parameters. With the help of AZ NO3 and SORB 4, my nutrients level are more under control now, so hopefully the algae can stop growing!

Salinity: 1.025

pH: 8.03 (have trouble buffing pH up to 8.2 using Reef Buffer, alkalinity and aeration shouldn't be the problem)

Alkalinity: 12.2dKH

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 5

Calcium: 390

Phosphate: 0

Temperature: 27-28.5 degrees

Dosing AZ NO3 and Purple up daily...

[Gouldian]

Bro, chromis got from AM. Settling v. nicely in the tank. 2 of them either like smooching or fighting. (keeps 'kissing' each other) I think its the latter, but think overall they are quite peaceful.

Been really busy the past week. Tank's definitely having a diatoms bloom or some sort of algae breakout. Really hoping to get some Ceriths this weekend to help me control the nuisance algae. Can some helpful soul help me ID and suggest how to solve it? Maybe 20 Ceriths will do the trick. I don't really wanna add anymore chemicals like algaefix to my tank coz kinda dosing quite alot of stuff now already I think.

Just checked my tank parameters. With the help of AZ NO3 and SORB 4, my nutrients level are more under control now, so hopefully the algae can stop growing!

Salinity: 1.025

pH: 8.03 (have trouble buffing pH up to 8.2 using Reef Buffer, alkalinity and aeration shouldn't be the problem)

Alkalinity: 12.2dKH

Ammonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 5

Calcium: 390

Phosphate: 0

Temperature: 27-28.5 degrees

Dosing AZ NO3 and Purple up daily...

Bro, you need to keep the nitrate below 5ppm.

Personally, I find that you may be experiencing "new tank syndrome" where:

1) diatoms/algae are feeding on the silicates, phosphate from the sand bed and LRs

2) algae feeding on the nitrates created as a by-product of nitrification

HTH

[comycus]

Bro, you need to keep the nitrate below 5ppm.

Personally, I find that you may be experiencing "new tank syndrome" where:

1) diatoms/algae are feeding on the silicates, phosphate from the sand bed and LRs

2) algae feeding on the nitrates created as a by-product of nitrification

HTH

I know bro, tt's why using AZ NO3 now to quickly cut down my nitrates, and slowly wean off my system in future. Phosphate and NO3 levels have gone down tremendously over the past week.

Other than this, will Cerith snails help me get rid of these ugly looking stuff on my sandbed? Or will they just die off naturally as my nutrients taper off?

[comycus]

Meanwhile, some new additions to the tank from GO this evening.

Zoas still not fully opened, hope to have a zoas garden when tank is more settled.

[Gouldian]

I know bro, tt's why using AZ NO3 now to quickly cut down my nitrates, and slowly wean off my system in future. Phosphate and NO3 levels have gone down tremendously over the past week.

Other than this, will Cerith snails help me get rid of these ugly looking stuff on my sandbed? Or will they just die off naturally as my nutrients taper off?

Cerith are good as they will consume and also aerate the sand bed.

Nuisance algae or diatoms are limited by nutrients, thus when nutrients are low, they will not grow.

HTH

[comycus]

Cerith are good as they will consume and also aerate the sand bed.

Nuisance algae or diatoms are limited by nutrients, thus when nutrients are low, they will not grow.

HTH

Thanks bro!

Anyway other than the diatoms problem, hopefully I have everything in check for the time being. *cross fingers*

1 of my pair of turbo snails feeding on LR to clear algae off my rocks. Seems like I do need more of them, they are not called snails for nothing!

Some growth in coralline algae...

And lastly, my toadstool's finally opening up!

[comycus]

smelly like hell!!!

[comycus]

Added 15 Nassarius snails. They look similar to the super tongan nassarius snail in liveaquaria. These things are really like zombies! rise of the dead when its feeding time. Spookily entertaining though.

[yikai]

imo, that diatom bloom will go away naturally. usually new tank will have this but after awhile, no more liao. u might want to consider a tuxedo urchin. mine is EXTREMELY EXTREMELY useful and HARDWORKING!! no joke and im not exaggerating. it cleared my entire rockscape from diatoms in about 1 week. all those brown stuff gone. and it eats alot of cyano too. i had a small patch of them growing on my return pipe and it cleared all away.

never had such a good algae cleaner before. it even outworked my 3 snails and hermit crab. i might want to add another one.

ps that urchin also eats coralline algae. im willing to sacrifice abit of coraline for cleaner rocks any day! haha

[Gouldian]

imo, that diatom bloom will go away naturally. usually new tank will have this but after awhile, no more liao. u might want to consider a tuxedo urchin. mine is EXTREMELY EXTREMELY useful and HARDWORKING!! no joke and im not exaggerating. it cleared my entire rockscape from diatoms in about 1 week. all those brown stuff gone. and it eats alot of cyano too. i had a small patch of them growing on my return pipe and it cleared all away.

never had such a good algae cleaner before. it even outworked my 3 snails and hermit crab. i might want to add another one.

ps that urchin also eats coralline algae. im willing to sacrifice abit of coraline for cleaner rocks any day! haha

Yup loved tuxedo urchin, been wanting to get a small specimen for quite sometime liao. Just heard that CF have some.

I like them because, besides nuisance algae, they will also feed on coralines. This is always welcome in tanks that run CR and have coralines growing too fast and compete with stony corals.

[comycus]

The diatoms kinda dying off already i think... it was much worse last week. Been wanting to get some ceriths to help me do the job but haven't been able to find them.

seems like I gotta get myself one of them tuxedo urchins! Thanks for the tip!

[yikai]

Yup loved tuxedo urchin, been wanting to get a small specimen for quite sometime liao. Just heard that CF have some.

I like them because, besides nuisance algae, they will also feed on coralines. This is always welcome in tanks that run CR and have coralines growing too fast and compete with stony corals.

i dont run a CR so i dont have excessive coraline growth. but those urchins still do a great job!

btw comy, the urchins are great. do a search on them to see how they look like. they will attatched small pieces of stones and other funny stuff to their back. mine attatched a pipe organ frag. and now it goes around with a flower on its back. real cutie

[comycus]

i dont run a CR so i dont have excessive coraline growth. but those urchins still do a great job!

btw comy, the urchins are great. do a search on them to see how they look like. they will attatched small pieces of stones and other funny stuff to their back. mine attatched a pipe organ frag. and now it goes around with a flower on its back. real cutie

sounds real cool! maybe get 1 from AM tmr... think I saw some kinda urchin there today... will call to cfm tmr.

their LPS shipment like kena snapped up so quickly, by the time I went down in the evening, hardly had anything left.

[szone]

any pic for the tuxedo urchin??

looking for algea cleaner too ...

Yup loved tuxedo urchin, been wanting to get a small specimen for quite sometime liao. Just heard that CF have some.

I like them because, besides nuisance algae, they will also feed on coralines. This is always welcome in tanks that run CR and have coralines growing too fast and compete with stony corals.

[comycus]

any pic for the tuxedo urchin??

looking for algea cleaner too ...

Didn't manage to get a tuxedo urchin. Got some normal pincushion urchin from AM last week. Its really cute! Its like the star attraction in my tank now, with its sticky needles scouring over the rocks. Doesn't look like it really helps with diatoms control... but I'm not really complaining. Constantly roaming ard the tank.

To help me clean my sandbed, got a small sand sifting starfish from AM too. It's really efficient in cleaning half my sandbed. Dunno why refuse to clean the other half even when I push him over... So now I have nice white sand on one side of the tank and brownish dirty sand on the other side. Should I get a tigertail to help me out? Quite paranoid of them spilling their guts in my tank!

[comycus]

New corals added to the tank over the past 2 weeks...

Rpe Zoas

True Octo (v. luminous tips, looks really pretty)

came with a really nice looking feather duster thingy at the side. Will this grow fully?

Can anyone tell me what's the scientific name of true octo and share how to care for it? Neither google nor liveaquaria has matches on 'true octo'. Its currently residing on my sandbed, hoping to put it high up in a high flow area eventually. And is it a filter feeder too or solely light eater?

[comycus]

Luminous bubble!

Moon coral

Lastly, my fav n most expensive coral to date...

Open brain! Think its a Wellsophyllia

[yikai]

New corals added to the tank over the past 2 weeks...

Rpe Zoas

True Octo (v. luminous tips, looks really pretty)

came with a really nice looking feather duster thingy at the side. Will this grow fully?

Can anyone tell me what's the scientific name of true octo and share how to care for it? Neither google nor liveaquaria has matches on 'true octo'. Its currently residing on my sandbed, hoping to put it high up in a high flow area eventually. And is it a filter feeder too or solely light eater?

true octo is the local name bro. the scientific name is Euphyllia Paradivisa. as for all euphyllid corals, they like moderate light and moderate flow. no blasting of flow against them as their sharp septa (skeleton), can tear their flesh. they do not need to be fed but appreciate feeding of small meaty foods like mysis.

[comycus]

Some updates of frags from fellow reefers. All doing v. well, adding some needed colour to my bare tank.

Green Favia from Lemon. I really dunno how to capture the colours well. the green really looks much better in person

Sunflower Zoas from Reddevils. Really beautiful frag!

Zoas from Hellbliss. (anyone can ID?) Starting to see a third polyp growing out!

[comycus]

Update on my new fish additions for the past month:

2 baby nemos! Got these juv true percs from Joe_p. They are currently housed in my beta box with a huge insulation pipe as their host. They refuse to come out of the box even when i've opened up the sides. Will force them out when they are bigger. The chromis are still bossing them around.

My Yellow clown goby... the source of my anxiety, and current algae bloom... Still refuses to eat when I'm feeding. I think somehow or rather, it's finding some source of food which I'm not aware of. Or maybe it has turned vegetarian. I'm still rather pessimistic on whether it can survive in my tank though.

[yikai]

cant see pictures =( hope its fixed soon. and glad u enjoy the frag

edit* i see it now. very nice LPS! nice tank.

[comycus]

cant see pictures =( hope its fixed soon. and glad u enjoy the frag

edit* i see it now. very nice LPS! nice tank.

Pics are up! your frag makes me wanna get more favia, then can put them all tog w/o worrying about them stinging each other. (err... right?)

[yikai]

Pics are up! your frag makes me wanna get more favia, then can put them all tog w/o worrying about them stinging each other. (err... right?)

im not sure leh bro. favia also got different kinds. i have 1 more lumi green favia frag if u want lol. the only place i can put it is at a corner where it cant sting my other corals. but that corner doesnt showcase its true beauty.