bee505's tank

[bee505]

Hey Everyone- I'm 3 months into this hobby and enjoy every bit of it. I thought I share some of my pics throughout the entire 3 months period. I started in Nov. 08. I'm a newbie, so any suggestions are welcome.

 

[bee505]

I forgot about the specs.
-24g Aquapod with the Aquapod stand
-sponge filter and a heater
-Koralia 1
-20 lbs of live rocks
-1 clown fish
-algae blenny

 

[Lyn]

Nice rocks and rock work. You did all this in 3 months?

Watch that sponge filter. They can become detritus traps and create lots of nitrates. I had to remove mine from my nano and replace with LR rubble.

 

[pixelpixi]

Looking good! Are you doing anything yet for calcium/alkalinity replacement?

 

[bee505]

[quote author=Lyn link=topic=6227.msg79122#msg79122 date=1233981394]
Nice rocks and rock work. You did all this in 3 months?

Watch that sponge filter. They can become detritus traps and create lots of nitrates. I had to remove mine from my nano and replace with LR rubble.
[/quote]

Thanks Lyn- I think I was rushing it a bit. I started stocking my tank shortly after 2 weeks. The tank went through cyano, red slime. I rinse the sponge weekly, it doesn't get very dirty. My lfs also suggested using LR for filtering. Does that actually keep the tank clean? I was worried that it might clog up the maxijet pump.

 

[bee505]

[quote author=pixelpixi link=topic=6227.msg79155#msg79155 date=1233989847]
Looking good! Are you doing anything yet for calcium/alkalinity replacement?

[/quote]

Thanks pixelpixi. I use purple up. I'm not sure how effective it is as I'm not sure how quickly corals should be growing. But the xenia has been fragged 3 times already, the neon green candy cane got 3 additional heads, and the gsp are spreading outta control.

 

[FinalPhaze987]

opt for a two part solution....a 64 oz of b-ionic will last you forever with a tank size like that...

 

[iani]

I agree with Patrick. I would get b-ionic two part as well. And get yourself some good test kits to make sure you are dosing right.

 

[pixelpixi]

Yeah, be careful with Purple-Up. Calcium and alkalinity are used by corals for calcification at a certain proportion to each other, but purple-up replaces only calcium. If you keep using purple up and don't replace alkalinity, alk will drop causing really severe problems.

You should really only use something like purple-up if you have tested both calcium and alkalinity and your alkalinity is high but calcium is low.

Here's a good article on calcium and alkalinity:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-04/rhf/feature/index.php

And here's one on balanced additives.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

I agree that b-ionic or one of the other commercial two part additive products would be a great place to start.

 

[bee505]

Do you have any suggestions on the brand of b-ionic two part? Any brand?

 

[pixelpixi]

B-Ionic is a brand. There are other brands, like two little fishies c-balance, aquac complete, kent tech-cb. They're all basically the same thing.

 

[FinalPhaze987]

i used b-ionic with great results when i had a smaller tank...

this kit comes with 3 major items at a great price: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Calcium,-Alkalinity-&-Magnesium-Two-Part-Calcium-and-Alkalinity/c1_51/p269/Two-Part-Kits/product_info.html

but like Ian said, get good test kits...overdosing can be just as bad, if not worse, than not dosing at all...