My Five Week Old Reef

[Rumpy Pumpy]

Yellow tang with pair of clowns - These were my first additions, one of the clowns was killed the small one here is the replacement

This Zoa frag is growing like crazy - I'm hoping it will spread to the large rock next to it

This one is also spreading but not as quickly - note the little star polyp growing alongside (that's what I'm told it is)

Only had this a week but it seems to be growing and has sprouted some little new 'uns

Was a bit concerned about this one - It didn't look happy at all for the first few days. Moved it a few times and it seems to be coming around now. Still doesn't look much though.

These mushrooms were brown, but now they've turned pink & green. Go figure. They've grown a lot so they must be ok I guess

I've seen this fella clean everyone except the Yellow Tang, who keeps out of his way.

Another zoa frag. This was looking a bit sad at first but seems to be coming right now

What you lookin' at?

This feather duster has grown a lot too, in four weeks. The crown is possibly 50% bigger than when I got it.

Are these the basdids that killed my clown?

Makeshift Nori holder

This guy's camera shy

No paparazzi!

 

[ColdwaterJosh]

Wow it looks amazing! Would love to see some more corals in there

 

[Rumpy Pumpy]

Wow it looks amazing! Would love to see some more corals in there

Yep, so would I!

I'm new to corals and marine so I'm taking it slow. I'll be adding more corals (softies) as I learn more about keeping them happy.


It is additive though, I'm already thinking about a bigger tank!

 

[ben1987]

Looks like a very nice start, can we have some more details please? like size, dimensions, equipment etc.

one thing id say is dont rush into upgrading, i did. theres so much to learn other than softies. i ended up hating my big tank as i just wasnt experienced enough to set it up how i wanted it

 

[Morri]

I would say slow down if the tank is only 5 weeks old stocking that fast will start causing you problems

How much LR have you got in there and what sort of flow

Probability that the Chromis did kill the clown is high they can be nasty have seen them harrasing fish before

 

[MisterAtlantis]

Looks good,
9 fish in 5 weeks is a lot
Wish you well

 

[Rumpy Pumpy]

Looks like a very nice start, can we have some more details please? like size, dimensions, equipment etc.

one thing id say is dont rush into upgrading, i did. theres so much to learn other than softies. i ended up hating my big tank as i just wasnt experienced enough to set it up how i wanted it

It's a 4ft tank of about 200 litres with a 50 litre sump, so taking away the sand and rock I think I have about 200 litres of water (around 55 US gallons).

I have a 5000 l/hour rated pump in the sump but it's set at around two thirds capacity so allowing for the head I think I'm getting about 2000-2500 l/hour through the sump. There are two small power heads behind the rock in the tank to help prevent dead spots and two Koralia 2's in the tank which should be moving about 1200 gph between them.

There's about 100 lbs of live rock (some is in the sump) and four inches of live sand in the sump and a little in the tank.

I have no skimmer, instead using a self built algae scrubber (detailed here http/bit.ly/96pM2a ). I also have a couple of litres of Seachem Denitrate in a bag in the sump and a small amount of Purigen.

I have no detectable ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or phosphate and so far have made no water changes (I am dosing Seachem Reef Builder, Reef Complete and Reef Plus instead)


And yes, I will take my time before upgrading. I've been keeping freshwater fish all my life but this is my first marine system so I have a lot to learn.

I would say slow down if the tank is only 5 weeks old stocking that fast will start causing you problems

How much LR have you got in there and what sort of flow

Probability that the Chromis did kill the clown is high they can be nasty have seen them harrasing fish before

I know, but I seem to have gotten away with it. I won't be adding any more fish for a while now and only one or two more eventually.

The L/R and sand came from a local guy who was breaking down his system. I was going to cycle it for a few weeks before adding livestock but after 3 days with some dead shrimps there was no ammonia spike so I took a chance and introduced 3 fish and some clean up critters. (still no ammonia or nitrite although nitrates did rise to about 10ppm before the scrubber got going)

100lbs LR, flow as detailed above.

I think it was the Chromis because the other clown started going for them in the few days afterwards. I haven't seen the Chom's attack anything but I reckon they might have been responding to the clowns defending what they saw as their territory after I introduced the chroms. They all seem to have settled now though.

 

[simonas]

good luck!!

I did the same but didn;t get away with it cos 8 weeks in I had problems and lost my coral beauty and all my clowns that I;d bought

Looking good though

 

[Rumpy Pumpy]

good luck!!

I did the same but didn;t get away with it cos 8 weeks in I had problems and lost my coral beauty and all my clowns that I;d bought

Looking good though

Sorry to hear that. I'll keep a close watch on mine.