Scaredone

I am new to the world of Saltwater tanks but have been so far sucessful in not killing my rock

Current Tank stats 1.5 weeks running

34gallon Red sea
30lbs live rock
2 t5 blue/white compact florescent
1 circulation power head

Temp 27C (-/+ 1)
salinity 1.022
ammonia >0.25
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 0
Phosphates 0
calcium 420
KH - 16

WISHLIST

Fish:
2 clowns (nemo type and one black and white)
Purple Firefish
Dwarf Flame Angelfish
Neon Goby
Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
2 Turbo Snails

Corals:
Pulsing Xenia
Green Star Polyps
Yellow Polyps
Bubble anemone


Ok question time

1.My KH value is rather high and is suggested that it should be 8-12, some sites that I have read say that KH value isn't really an important issue is this true? If not how do I lower the KH value without lowering my Calium levels?

2. Too much bio load?

3. When it comes to corals should the fish be added first or work on building the soft corals/anemone first? (was told clowns beat up soft corals and anemones)

4. When adding supplements to a coral setup (strontium/iodide/calcium), is there any risk of chemical shock to the system if added without doing a 20% water change?

5. Throughout the day the temperature on my tank goes from 27C > 28.2C during the lighting time, cools again when the lights go out. I have a cooling fan to help with the lights but would there be any problem in having the lights come on in 3 on 1 off cycles?


Sorry for the barrage of questions I'm sure more are to come, just trying not to screw this up too bad right away

owndcheif

i know this wasn't one of your questions but, you shouldn't mix different species of clownfish, they'll fight (http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-ClownFish.htm)

nemo addict

1. your kh aint that high and is ok
2. should be ok but i would add a hermit or 2 to the CUC
3. anemones should only be put in a mature tank over 6 months old clowns are normally ok with corals and may host soft corals and anemones

4. test and add as needed dont over dose as this will cause problems
5. your timings should reflect there normal times of daylight / moonlight so as not to cause stress

also mixing clowns can somtimes cause conflict but normal percs and black percs do sometimes mix also fire fish are good jumpers so need a covered tank

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!! Im not a salty person but we have plenty that are and they will be very helpful im sure...got pics? we totally love pics

Scaredone

Ill get a few pics up when I can, right now its just live rock

Are the tank stats that I have at the moment good enough to be able to start adding a few fish/corals?

Scaredone

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3...6/DSCF0004.jpg Front view
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h3...6/DSCF0005.jpg Side view

The rocks aren't very tightly packed I made sure to leave a lot of caves and hiding spots, and to make sure it got a lot of circulation. The rock is only touching the back wall in 3 points and hopefully shouldn't make for much algae growth.

nemo addict

at the moment your tank is still cycling as you have a ammonia reading wait till it reads 0 before adding corals but you could add a hardy fish like a chromis or even a clown this will aid your cycle too

Scaredone

All nitrate/nitrite/ammonia/phosphorus at 0
Salinty 1.022


Picked up 2 clowns (black and orange percs, i know the risk but they are both juvenile added at the same time)
Purple firefish
2 hermits
2 turbos

Bit of a brown algae growing at the moment, will the hermits and snails help clear that up?

Oil_Fan

The algae is called diatoms. Pretty much everyone gets them. They should eventually go away. They're a nuisance but nothing harmful. The snails will help a bit.

Try to keep direct sunlight off of the tank and watch how much you feed everyone.

Scaredone

Yeah sunlight doesn't come anywhere near the tank made sure of that when i set it up. So far everyone seems happy, I didn't think i made as many caves and places to hide as these buggers found.

For the future I want to begin adding some polyps and leather corals, how long should I wait before doing this? Also what types of corals would host clowns? (not too keen on anemones yet, they just seem evil by nature). And do polyps/corals add to the bioload or would they be the opposite?

Coryd55

Wait until your tank is well matured - 6 months to a year - before you add any coral or anemone. The longer you wait the healthier they will be.

Corals do not add to the bioload significantly. Though when you feed them certain foods, some might not get eaten and create nitrates. But that is the only instance in which corals would add to your bioload.

nemo addict

most soft corals are pretty hardy and can be added to a new tank just check there requirements fedding lighting need s ect ect but anemones need a mature tank
clowns have been known to host some softies black / orange percs should be ok mixing just keep a eye on for a while

au01st

What about a frogspawn instead of an anemone? I have read that clowns will host in that as well as an anemone, and if the frogspawn dies, it doesn't tak everything else in the tank with it.

Oil_Fan

I have that coral and my clowns love it. They host in just like it's an anemone. They even feed it. heh

I've heard a couple of stories about frogspawn taking out a tank when it dies but I'm not so sure that's the whole story. I know I've had my frogspawn for about 5 months now and it's doing great. I think it's one of the most interesting corals that I have in my tank.

Now you do need decent lighting for frogspawn. Not mh ones but decent ones. Plus then you're now looking at a reef tank which adds more things to do. Such as calcium levels and what have you.

au01st

Yeah, I have T5 over my 75gallon, appx 19" from the surface of the water to the sand, which from what I've read is pretty good (anything over 24" is MH, right?). I plan to get a green frogspawn and place it mid level and hopefully my 2 clowns will take to it.

nemo addict

frog spawn can use two different types of defense mechanisms. One of which is a sweeper tentacle wherein the coral reaches its tentacles out to try to damage another coral with nematocysts. The other is when the coral releases a minute amount of toxin into the water to poison another coral and this also can happen when it dies but more is released

Scaredone

what steps should be taken to introduce star polyps?

nemo addict

not much very hardy quick growing low care coral mines gone mad

sgould

What I call a "standard" acclimation is fine for them. Float for 15 minutes for temperature, then add a cup of tank water to the bag every 10 minutes for an hour, then go ahead and add them to the tank and dispose of the bag water.

Scaredone

Also ive read that Polyps tend to spread like weeds if they start to like the place, how do you control the mass spread? No idea how to frag yet

nemo addict

star polyps you just break of and either glue to another bit of LR or pass on swap w/e