First Timer

[lewiss]

Thanks Seffie, I've been away for a while and had a friend complete my tank maintenance etc. Apar Nitrate has been the same at 10 for the last week.

I can't find a nitrate remover on the Internet, is it called something else and are there any natural ways to remove Nitrate? Maybe a curtain coral or something? Also my algae is going crazy, there a brown slim algae on my rocks. Anyway to rid it?

I'm please to say my clowns have stopped fighting too!! They're swimming together every where now. They do still twitch though, is tht the
mating?

Anyway thanks for your replies and help so far!!

Lewis

ps. Do you think it's safe to add a couple more fish now? The clowns have been in two weeks.

 

[nick87]

I can't find a nitrate remover on the Internet, is it called something else and are there any natural ways to remove Nitrate? Maybe a curtain coral or something? Also my algae is going crazy, there a brown slim algae on my rocks. Anyway to rid it?

Have a goole for nitrate reactor.

As for natural methods, do you have a sump? If you do you could do a refugium, with a deep sand bed and macro algae, or you could try a hang on back refugium

ps. Do you think it's safe to add a couple more fish now? The clowns have been in two weeks.

What fish were you thinking of adding?

 

[lewiss]

No I dnt have a sump, just a fluval 250.

I was going to add a humbug damsel and a wrasse..
All other levels are fine, just the no3 thts high. No2 is 0. Will more fish make the levels higher?

 

[nick87]

Damsels can be a right pain, they can be very aggressive, and what species of wrasse?

Adding more fish means a bigger bioload, more food and more waste which equals more nitrates.

 

[seffieuk]

Agree with Nick, dont get a humbug, you are likely to regret it they can be little and you really dont want to upset your lovely clowns now that they are behaving The twitching is just a natural part of clown behaviour.

Look up Purigen, its a nitrate reducing satchet

Seffie x

 

[lewiss]

I've read quite a bit about about Damsel's. I'm planning on getting a very very small one so there won't be any issues, unless you still think no?

Not sure on wrasse, any recomendations? It will need to be reef safe. I like colourful fish! Lol.

L x

 

[seffieuk]

Small ones get big and this is when the trouble starts have you ever tried to catch a fish in a reef.........its a rpita!

I love wrasses, some am biased - take a look at the wrasse thread in the fish of the week - there are some beauties there

Seffie x

 

[lewiss]

Seffie, I can't find tht page, I've seen it before, is it on the marine topic board?

Anyways guys! Exciting news! Went to a aquatics place, where I bought most of my stuff. The woman there, showed me a few fish that I could add. One of them was a spotted Mandarin! So I asked her about my tank not being established yet and only being a couple of months old. She said that it was fine as the mandarin has taken to frozen food. There was a very small rock in there with it and it looked very very fat, therefore healthy. So I said I'd give it ago, bearing in mind I may need to return it if it looses it's fat cheeks!

So I fed it mysis today and it actually charged to get some! It's a beautiful fish and really cool. He's about 2 inches long (so small) and I have a lot of codpods in my tank to, so he'll enjoy those aswell as the frozen stuff.

I know there will be a few people who disagree with a mandarin in a two month old tank but she is a qualified marine biologist, and my thoughts are if it looses it's cheeks I'll return him!

I also bought a regal tang (1 inch long). And she is swimming and befriended my clowns! She won't leave them alone! I know she'll need a bigger tank when she grows, so my friend will take her (Doree, of course) when she gets bigger!

Water is fine again! Nitrates a little high but only at 5/10.

I'd like to add some pictures, how do I do that? Seffie thanks for your help, I'm going to wait for the Humbug D. What's your favourite Wrasse out of curiousity? I saw the dragon wrasse which looks really cool but it's not reef safe ! Dam it!

Lewis

 

[seffieuk]

Seffie, I can't find tht page, I've seen it before, is it on the marine topic board?

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/303501-fish-of-the-week-wrasses-28-august-09/

One of them was a spotted Mandarin!
Mandarins need at least 90lbs of live rock for there to be enough copepods for the Mandy not to lose weight and slowly starve to death! Or you can supplement the tank with copepods. Your 'marine biologist' has failed to tell you that although they eat frozen, pellets etc they NEED copepods to survive -you have two options, supplement the tank by starting a culture or take the mandy back before it starts to starve. Lewis, did you read the Dragonet Fish of the week thread?

I know there will be a few people who disagree with a mandarin in a two month old tank but she is a qualified marine biologist, and my thoughts are if it looses it's cheeks I'll return him!

There will not be a few people Lewis, there will be many, your 'qualified marine biologist' may well understand about fish in the ocean but clearly knows nothing about them in tanks

I also bought a regal tang (1 inch long).

Again, your 'qualified marine biologist' should have told you this fish gets to be 12 inches long and should not be kept in a tank your size. Take it back and complain


I'd like to add some pictures, how do I do that?

Opne a free photobucket account and uplaod your photos to it, then copy and paste the IMG code

Seffie thanks for your help,

You are , but not sure will be so pleased when you have read this post!

I'm going to wait for the Humbug D.

Dont get it at all

What's your favourite Wrasse out of curiousity?
There are too many to choose....... I like the flasher wrasses like the McCoskers and the gorgeous Labouti, so many

Lewis

Seffie x

 

[drsquirrel]

Thanks Seffie, sorry to be an idiot but what's a powerhead??

PH - 8.0
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate NO2 - 0
Nitrate NO3 - 0

It's good you're mentioning NO2 and NO3 as Nitrite NO2 and Nitrate NO3 are two different things

 

[lewiss]

Hey Seffie,

I'm not at all upset by your post! I need the advice!

Firstly the Mandarin, I started a colony when I started the tank by placing a cave in the rock which fish can't get to. I then placed Shrimp within it. There are now loads of pods all over the rock. It's over run!! I didn't read a link on here but I have read numerous websites, and have a book about marine tanks which covers Mandarin's. I have about 16kg of rock. The woman in the shop said she'd had the mandarin for 3 months, and as I say he had one small rock and is looking fat. She told me to feed him a diet of frozen food, and live brine (which they sell) and that he'd also feed on the codpods. I'm not trying to argue back, your experience is far more valid than mine, and you clearly know your stuff. What do you think? Take it back now or see how he gets on?

The tang, as I say a friend of mine has a HUGE tank in his kitchen, no idea of the size, but it's a whole wall of water! I was planning on giving him the tang when it reached about 4inches. Would you say this would be bad for it?

The last thing I want to do is cause any harm to any of my fish, I appreciate your advice! What do you reckon?

 

[seffieuk]

Firstly the Mandarin, I started a colony when I started the tank by placing a cave in the rock which fish can't get to. I then placed Shrimp within it. There are now loads of pods all over the rock. It's over run!!

Its not enough, if you really want to keep it then start a culture in a container with an air pump, then after three weeks you will be able to start to harvest

The woman in the shop said she'd had the mandarin for 3 months, and as I say he had one small rock and is looking fat. She told me to feed him a diet of frozen food, and live brine (which they sell) and that he'd also feed on the codpods.

This marine biologist sure knows her stuff live brine shrimp have little nutritional value and as I said, Mandys NEED copepods to survive - three months is nothing, when she has kept one for a year or more then listen to what she has to say! if she is not supplementing that tank with copepods that poor little mandy will be starving, slowly You can buy the culture on line, buy some for the tank and some to start your culture

The tang, as I say a friend of mine has a HUGE tank in his kitchen, no idea of the size, but it's a whole wall of water! I was planning on giving him the tang when it reached about 4inches. Would you say this would be bad for it?

It is fine to transfer the tang to a larger tank, but probably needs to go sooner rather than later, they grow fast and sometimes you don't notice.


Seffie x

 

[Morri]

I have to agree with Seffie a Regal tang will be banging his head against the glass even though he is small now they still need a lot of swimming space 4ft min when young 6ft+ when fully grown.

The other thing to bear in mind is these fish are prone to whitespot when stressed and he will become stressed very soon in a 155L tank then you run the risk of loosing all your fish.

Mandarins can be kept this small but you will need to dose copepods weekly at least 100 pods a week I have a pair in 100 Gallon with a healthy pod population and I still dose cost me £12 a month.

 

[seffieuk]

a Regal tang will be banging his head against the glass even though he is small

that is a great post, might steal that one

Seffie x

 

[Morri]

Regal Tangs are my bug bear TMC import loads of them last time I was there they must have had 40 in 1 tank a lot of people see them from Nemo and want them in a small tang these are a stunning fish but need lots of room.

I rarely recomend any Tang outside the bristoltooth family although yellows are not to bad.