Nat's 125 Litre Juwel Rio Marine!

[ben1987]

Looks great nat.
Dont think phosphates will affect the growth or your corraline though. More like MAG and CALC

 

[natwood]

I've realised now that both my shrimp seem to be carrying eggs. I'm guessing they're both just male/female at the same time.

Thanks for that Ben, I'll take a look at ordering them test kits.

Also..I keep turning off my pump every night for about 15mins to let the slower invertebrates get a chance of eating some food, and when I do this..my whole tank seems to come alive. Like, everything comes out from its hiding place and my clownfish swim around a lot more. Could my powerhead be too strong? It's the 3000 l/h Sunsun one.

 

[Harry1996]

i dont think so because i have 2 1500LPH powerheads like yours so i wouldnt of thought that would be the case. maybe you should of got 2 1500LPH ones to even out the flow but i dont know

 

[ben1987]

maybe harry is right, that could be one reason that teh clowns are under the powerheads been as that would be a slow flow under there.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

You could aim the powerhead towards the back wall of the tank to disrupt the flow a bit. Personally I wouldnt have thought it would be too much of a problem as long as the flow is not to direct (i.e. as long as there is not a jet like stream of water coming out the powerhead it will be fine). I personally would get another small powerhead for the other side to give more random flow patterns in the tank.

With regards to the cleaning shrimp. It is apparently fairly common for them carry eggs but nothing normally comes of it.

For the flake food. I have found with the clowns I have had that they are often slow to figure out that flake food can be eaten. I would try using it for about a week and once they get hungry enough they will start to eat it. Normally once they figure out it is food they will wolf it down.

If they dont eat it after a week feed them some frozen mysis shrimp for a few days and then try again.

 

[AK77]

Hi Nat,

I think it would be worthwhile getting a phosphate test kit, just to see what the levels are, especially if you plan on adding corals in the near future. Ben is right in that the coraline like the higher calcium and magnesium levels but, high phosphates inhibits the calcification process and could be a reason why yours has died off. I have added no suppliments to my tank and the coraline is finally spreading over the new ocean rock after doing two big water changes and adding almost a breeze block sized clump of chaetomorpha to the sump. My camel shrimp now lives down there keeping the chaeto clean lol.
The current may be a little bit strong for the clowns at the moment as they are only diddy little things. They go in fits and starts. Sometimes clownfish will be very active and swim all over the place. Other times they just like to host something. Mine just hang out in the little cave I made for them , although they still go to sleep in the bottom left hand corner of the tank lol. They might become more active as they grow. One of mine must be almost 2.5" now with the other just under 2". The female is the larger, fatter one. The male must of married her... that's what ususally happens lol.

As for your tank coming alive like that, you will find that all the little pods and starfish and bristleworms will taste the flake in the water and will come out of the rocks in search of food, regardless of the current.

 

[natwood]

Just got back from my LFS with 3 more turbo snails. 1 more Trochus and 2 more Margarita. I saw loads of really nice coral though, so I've got a feeling it won't be long until I start to crave a bit of coral in my tank. Haha, you did all say it wouldn't be long before I caved in!

What would I need to do differently to my tank if I wanted to keep a couple of corals? I'm going to start having a read about different ones. At the moment I've still got the standard lights that came with my tank, would I need to replace these or is there any corals that only require low lighting and still look really nice?

I've spent so much more on my tank than I ever imagined I would. Haha. Crazy.

Also, does anyone have any experience of keeping anemones? I read about keeping them once but I read that they're extremely hard to keep. Is that true? I'd love for my clownfish to have one!

 

[ben1987]

Hi nat,

you mite get away with a few softies in there. What lights are on it? two T8's? If it is then a new light unit should be your next purchace. Then there isnt much more you need. You got an mce skimmer didnt you?

Bit more light and this would be ideal for a few softies. Then when you get into LPS you need to be testing the whole range of params more. Phos, mag calc etc. Then sps = even more testing and even more light.

As for anenomes, some of them arent THAT difficult imo - bubble tip being prob easiest. You just have to be regular and diciplined in your tank maintainance regime. You will need more light for one - how much depends on which sp nem. Things like the salinity fluctuations you had at the start would have to disapear though. They arent reccomended for a young tank anyway, by the time that came round im sure you would habe it all sorted anyway. You need to have nem safe powerheads too. seffie made a good guard for hers out of mesh and some fishing wire.

Id be looking at 4 tube T5 units if i were you, then you would be cool for LPS, softies and probably a Bubble tip when the time came too. Each Tube should have its own reflector - this makes them more effichient and you get more light for your money

The corals really will make you poor

 

[Harry1996]

ben i dont think that are juwel 125s width of the tank can hold to light units. because when you have the lights in them it would take too much room so you would have to have an over tank light thing. names gone out my head or you could have lots of very costly LED lights. even then some people think that it wouldnt be enough light anyway.

 

[ben1987]

i meant a completely new unit

 

[natwood]

i meant a completely new unit

Yeah I was looking at those light units. I think I'm gonna leave it a bit longer and just do a lot of research whilst I wait patiently (or at least try), lol.

I already have a couple of little bits of coral that sneaked their way in on my live rock, they're all growing quite fast though. My zoanthid that started out tiny has now split into about 6 fairly good sized ones. Also I have 2 small mushroom polyps (at least I think that's what they are).

You can just about see the other on this pic, behind the weird leafy algae thing.

So for now, (or until I get some money together) I will treat them as my luxurious coral pets. Haha.

I'm trying to decide which fish to get next at the moment, I keep changing my mind over my stocking list. I'd really love a black clown and I've read that you can keep 2-3 clowns..do you think I'd be able to add a black one to my pair of clowns?

 

[seffieuk]

do you think I'd be able to add a black one to my pair of clowns?

I'm afraid not - there would be a blood bath you need a very large tank to keep more than a pair of clowns and even then it is hit and miss

Seffie x

 

[natwood]

That's a shame about the black clownfish. Is there any other nice small black fish that I could get? I really want something black and another one that's blue. I was thinking of an African Pygmy Angel for the blue fish, but I don't know of any other fish that are black and stay small. I'm still planning on getting a midas blenny, but I also like neon gobys. Decisions decisions!

 

[ben1987]

midas blenny would be a great addition! id get that over a goby anyday.

http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1636+205&pcatid=205
one of those as your black fish ^ ?

Tbh, why black?

 

[sorgan]

Coral beauty (bottom) is a stunning fish and are very funny to watch.