Mojo Dojo's 20 Gallon

[GAB99]

well, i do not want to deal with both my 20 gallon and the bigger tank which will be up and coming soon hopefully, so i jut want to ask a few quetions to fix my 20 galon to what it used to be. (sorry for the spelling errors my cpu is running exremely slow for somw reason)

1. i still have that cyano problem and what i have now id as hair algae, would it be ok to get some chaeto to put in the main tank (i hae no sump or fuge) and attch it in one place using the magnetic algae scrapper?

2. some xenia has decided to attach itself to a bad place in the tank and looks like a scrunched up sock, how can i detach it to put on a higher part of the tank? bascially what im asking is fragging right?

3. i do have the go ahead to get more coral, they are gonna be softies as im gonna get lps and sps with the big tankplus are 7 day rv trip to the house, would it be OK to get more softies even though we will be moving?

4. does fragging help stimulate coral groth? and how do i frag zoas?

5. well i have notced that on other sites as well as here there are 20gal tanks or less with no sump or fuge but with my stocking (2 clowns) and 1 other fish, my dad has been asking for another one of course after the phophates are dealt with, and since they are going to be eventually moved to the larger tank to make way for a hopefull either cardinal or firefish breeding regime would it also be ok to get say the jaw fish or the fire fish
(just one) or the blenny?

dont worry ill take lots of pics if you want

 

[GAB99]

hello?? im going to the lfs today so a response would be great that way i know what to do

 

[-Nemo-]

well, i do not want to deal with both my 20 gallon and the bigger tank which will be up and coming soon hopefully, so i jut want to ask a few quetions to fix my 20 galon to what it used to be. (sorry for the spelling errors my cpu is running exremely slow for somw reason)

1. i still have that cyano problem and what i have now id as hair algae, would it be ok to get some chaeto to put in the main tank (i hae no sump or fuge) and attch it in one place using the magnetic algae scrapper?

That's fine, I would even suggest putting it in something like a mesh bag so that nothing eats. Do you run any phosphate remover?


2. some xenia has decided to attach itself to a bad place in the tank and looks like a scrunched up sock, how can i detach it to put on a higher part of the tank? bascially what im asking is fragging right?

You can move it fairly easily. I best way I find is to get a fairly sharp/new razor and scrape it off from UNDER THE BASE and then just cut the base where you want to take off.


3. i do have the go ahead to get more coral, they are gonna be softies as im gonna get lps and sps with the big tankplus are 7 day rv trip to the house, would it be OK to get more softies even though we will be moving?

Fine to add corals, just more to move later!


4. does fragging help stimulate coral groth? and how do i frag zoas?

I'm not sure if it would hep to necessarily stimulate growth. After you frag a coral it needs time to heal itself.


5. well i have notced that on other sites as well as here there are 20gal tanks or less with no sump or fuge but with my stocking (2 clowns) and 1 other fish, my dad has been asking for another one of course after the phophates are dealt with, and since they are going to be eventually moved to the larger tank to make way for a hopefull either cardinal or firefish breeding regime would it also be ok to get say the jaw fish or the fire fish
(just one) or the blenny?

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking. If it is OK to add another fish to the 20G now? If so, I don't see why not, just watch your water params as usual and keep up with maintenance


dont worry ill take lots of pics if you want

You had better!

 

[GAB99]

thanks nemo,no i dont run phospate remover and on the trip to the lfs i got a salifert phosphate test and turns out it was just tons of nitrates (25) not phosphates (0), not to mention i saw a gorgeous leather coral... . we did a 33% water change as well, but we couldnt find any rubber bands to keep the coral in place, is there anything else to attach the coral with? pics after we test the water again.

 

[GAB99]

ammo: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10-15 (down from 30)
phosphate: 0

couldnt find any chaeto at the lfs so best bet i think is gonna have to be ebay
pics when i attepmtto frag xenia, that way i can take more.

 

[GAB99]

we are deciding to super glue the fraggged xenia soon, but are some pics before any further changes are made

fts, sorry for the flash, and the poorly xenia is in the large green patch underneath the clowns.

poorly xenia

zoos, dont know what kind

good xenia, both the clowns are mis bars

gunk on the sand its a little better

 

[GAB99]

heres an update, i was able to frag (move) the xenia and i have to admit its fun, i scraped the whole thing off using a blade of some sort, youll see in a sec, and then krazy glued them onto small pieces of rock, and that stuff sticks well, before i was curious and ended up gluing my hands together in less than 10 seconds of application, so for about 3 hours it looked like i was praying lol. and i have to do another test tomorrow but here are some pics, the stuff isnt regrowing anymore and is receding, most of the gunk on the sand is now reduced to some pin head fragments.

materials, i ended up not using the glove and tape so i wouldnt squish the xenia

hunk of rock 1 size comparison

xenia piece 1 next to new home

hunk of rock 2 size comp.

xenia chunk 2 next to new home

fta 2

clownie

xenia 1 next to xenia 0 (mother colony)

really fast

zoanthids and clownie 2, the zoas are like that cuz i poked them

xenia 2

i placed xenia 1 next to the original for a definate recover, i placed xenia 2 directly under the power head for more flow, ill post pics up to show the tanks progress and what not

dear god those last two pics are terrible!!

 

[simonas]

its coming on mate

you should get the leather/toadstool you saw they are so impressive

 

[GAB99]

its coming on mate

you should get the leather/toadstool you saw they are so impressive

well its super slow growing as we are moving and my dad is all paranoid that all of the livestock will die (which i think is bogus if he listens to me. ) ill post water tests later, and the algaeon the sand has regrown alittle, woulda 66% water changeover the weekend be ok?

 

[GAB99]

well, the 2 frags are gone, munched on by my 2 hermits (caught them), they were much taller than they were in the bottom of the tank, about 2" tall with .5" stocks, but they were in pretty bad shape and they werent healthy to begin with, so im hoping that was it plus the hermits and not something else, ill have to test the water tomorrow got tons of hw today.

 

[GAB99]

and forgot to go into detail with the moving, do you think that for 1.5 weeks max the 2 clowns can go into a 5 gallon tank with 5lbs of live rock and an HOB with the coral and the sand? and how can i keep the other 15lbs of LR from dieng out during this time? we have to go as small as safely possible for the trip and tbh itll be much less than 1.5 more like a week if we do some side tracking, which well do because its a cross country us trip through 7+ states (i think).

and if the leather is still at the lfs i might get it, ill surprise you

 

[GAB99]

well i was finally able to get the stats here we go

salinity- 1.0195 i know its low but my lfs stores RO is crud salinity wise, im thinking that when we go either today or tomorrow ill buy some salt as well and MAYBE that new toadstool

pH-8

Ammonia (nh4 or nh3?)- 0

NO[sub]2[/sub]-0

NO[sub]3[/sub]-20 +5 from last time!!

PO[sub]4[/sub]-0

im told to add that dumb natural nitrate remover and then tomorrow off to the lfs

 

[GAB99]

well, i managed to shoo away a hermit that found one of the pieces of xenia and that is now firmly rubberbanded to rock lol.

i also did another 66% water change yesterday i think i got it! ill post a few pics in a few days as well as test the water


and can chaeto live off of nitrates and is there an alternative to other, less ugly macroalgaes that are safe?

 

[GAB99]

NH[sub]3[/sub]- 0
NO[sub]2[/sub]- 0
NO[sub]3[/sub]- 5ppm
PO[sub]4[/sub]- 0
Salinity - 1.021
pH - 8.3


and in the pics that seond thingy is a breeder trap i used to keep fish for a favor in my freshwater, soon to be home to chaeto algae and lots of pods, there are slits on the sides so they can slip in and out but keeps the clowns out as well as anything that wants to snack on the algae.

 

[Reesy1989]

Hi Mojo,

Great start to your tank, looking really good. One question for you though, what is the reasoning behind culturing copepod in the tank? Are you possibly thinking of a Mandarin Dragonet in the near future?

Regards

Reesy1989