Newbie Nano Tank
- Thread starter Ahruk
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Ahruk
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Everything looking good so far (nitrites,nitrates, phosphates, ammonia). Added some sand sand and one additional piece of live rock that I snagged out of my boyfriend's 40 gallon(he hated the piece but I really love it-the big stick thing that helps make an archway). Excited to put my coral in a few weeks.
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Nano sapiens
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Exciting, isn't it? One of the most difficult parts of a reef tank is right at the beginning where you're itching to add all those colorful corals. However, the best practice for long term success is to take it real slow in the beginning. The reason for this is to allow the 'ecosystem in a glass box' to develop stable bacterial populations and have good sized numbers of all the little micro and macro organisms that help maintain a stable system.
Ahruk
Guest
Yea, it's been very hard. Fortunately my boyfriend has a 40 where I'm currently keeping most of my coral (can't wait to add them but I know I need to take it slow. I have added a few heartier coral and an acan that my boyfriend wouldn't allow in his tank (half the polyps were dead but I've had my eye on it for a couple of months and haven't seen any decline in it). I currently have a hearty pally/zoa in my tank, a discosoma and a hermit crab in the tank.
Nano sapiens
Guest
Your BF was wise to be cautious. I once added a Blasto that I thought I could revive and ended up with a Brown Jelly infection that wiped out 3/4 of my LPS.
Ahruk
Guest
Ok, so its been a couple of weeks since I last posted. It's been going very smoothly, all my numbers look great and I double checked most of them with other tests kits Ender picked up. I added a trochus snail named Gary #10, he mostly hides during the day and works at night so I don't get to see him that often 
. Planning on adding another snail or two since I'm getting a lot of diatoms on the sand/glass and have one rock that's covered in a light layer of green algae. I ordered a blue flourescent bulb which I can hardly wait to come in (hopefully early next week). I kind of splurged and added a lot of coral in the last couple of weeks. I added 2 ricordeas (well actually 3 since one of the frags had two small ricordeas on it-one of which is getting ready to spilt), another discosoma and some DBTC zoas. Honestly considering just making my tank a mushroom paradise xD, but we'll see how that goes. The little guy is my favorite so I included a close up of him.
. Planning on adding another snail or two since I'm getting a lot of diatoms on the sand/glass and have one rock that's covered in a light layer of green algae. I ordered a blue flourescent bulb which I can hardly wait to come in (hopefully early next week). I kind of splurged and added a lot of coral in the last couple of weeks. I added 2 ricordeas (well actually 3 since one of the frags had two small ricordeas on it-one of which is getting ready to spilt), another discosoma and some DBTC zoas. Honestly considering just making my tank a mushroom paradise xD, but we'll see how that goes. The little guy is my favorite so I included a close up of him.
Nano sapiens
Guest
I've been keeping corals for a long while now, and 'Shrooms never get old for me . Word of caution with Discosomas, once they get started they aren't easy to control and they kill almost everything they contact. I find it best to have them on their own separate rock, or not at all. All the other 'Shrooms are much easier to control, but they all pack a potent punch and most other corals will be damaged or destroyed if in direct contact.
. Word of caution with Discosomas, once they get started they aren't easy to control and they kill almost everything they contact. I find it best to have them on their own separate rock, or not at all. All the other 'Shrooms are much easier to control, but they all pack a potent punch and most other corals will be damaged or destroyed if in direct contact.
Ahruk
Guest
Thanks for the head's up Yea, I've heard that before but it's always good to keep it in mind. That's part of the reason that I'm considering making my tank shrooms only. Part of the reason that I started this tank was bc I wasn't allowed to keep discosomas in the other tank. I love all the different varieties of mushrooms and the diversity that the discosomas bring. We'll see if I regret it later xD... I'm one of those people who has trouble reading directions and although I've definitely gotten better at it, I still occasionally have to try things out and see how they go (although if there's a good chance that I'm going to kill the animal then regardless of price I wouldn't get it). I did resist the lure of some of the other (to me) attractive beginner corals that can take over, like pulsing zenia (love how they open and close) and green star polyps. I kind of view my tank like a living art experiment. I can't wait to see how it'll look in a few years and if I'll regret the choices I made today
Yea, I've heard that before but it's always good to keep it in mind. That's part of the reason that I'm considering making my tank shrooms only. Part of the reason that I started this tank was bc I wasn't allowed to keep discosomas in the other tank. I love all the different varieties of mushrooms and the diversity that the discosomas bring. We'll see if I regret it later xD... I'm one of those people who has trouble reading directions and although I've definitely gotten better at it, I still occasionally have to try things out and see how they go (although if there's a good chance that I'm going to kill the animal then regardless of price I wouldn't get it). I did resist the lure of some of the other (to me) attractive beginner corals that can take over, like pulsing zenia (love how they open and close) and green star polyps. I kind of view my tank like a living art experiment. I can't wait to see how it'll look in a few years and if I'll regret the choices I made today
Nano sapiens
Guest
Coral selection and placement is part of the 'art' of reef keeping. But even those longest in the hobby make mistakes and miscalculations that you likely won't hear about
Ahruk
Guest
Ok. Time for a quick update, over the last month I added 2 additional trochus snails and a super small nassarius (who is the BOMB-I love how he comes out whenever there's food and sometimes tries climbing up the glass). Mike surprised me by adding a superman rhodactis to my tank while I was at work which was super sweet So mostly a low-key month but today I impulse bought a pom-pom crab (oops!) but after reading up on them I feel a lot better about the purchase. He's so freaking cute too, dug a little hole under a rock near the front of the tank and is camped out in there. 
So mostly a low-key month but today I impulse bought a pom-pom crab (oops!) but after reading up on them I feel a lot better about the purchase. He's so freaking cute too, dug a little hole under a rock near the front of the tank and is camped out in there.
Nano sapiens
Guest
Pom-Poms are great little critters. Tip - Trochus are generally quite hardy snails, but if you see one obviously dying make sure to remove it right away. A decent sized decaying snail in a 12g can turn the water milky as bacteria bloom and ammonia can spike to dangerous levels quickly. I don't have large snails in my 12g for that reason, but not saying that you shouldn't
Nano sapiens
Guest
Ok, thanks for the heads up
Only tiny Collunista snails that came in with my live rock....and a blue-leg hermit for the bigger stuff.
Nano sapiens
Guest
I've never seen the micro snails for sale. The ones I have are around 1/8", so really small. People sometimes have trouble with them because they can jam some types of flow devices.
Ahruk
Guest
Okay, so it's been an eventful week for my tank (mostly in good ways) At the frag swap on Saturday I picked up some awesome frags: a super small speckled gbta, a beautiful frogspawn and a green/orange favia. I was so elated when I got home (although stressed out a bit trying to properly acclimate all the new coral). Everything has been doing good and the anemone hasn't moved from where I placed him (dunno if he's still just so exhausted from the stress of being dragged around in tupperware for 5+ hours or he's actually happy where he's at). I'm really really surprised he's stayed there for as long as he has. He doesn't have a hole in the rock to put his foot in and it's about an inch off the bottom of a tank that's running compact flourescents... I would love him to stay b/c he's front and center and it's a smallish rock so he's more then welcome to have the entire thing....it just doesn't really make sense given everything I've read about bubble tips. He's still bubbled and speckled. Ok, onto more exciting news, on monday I purchased a small black clown from Neptunes. He's so cute and eats pellets. He's currently in quarantine with Mike new cleaner goby. They're soooo cute totally in love.
Ok, so now onto the worrisome news the last couple of nights I've heard some clicking coming from my tank. Still trying to rule out all equipment but starting to freak out... I did add a couple of small pieces of live rock from aqua exotic a couple of weeks ago. Really hoping it isn't a mantis... I have seen all of my snails and crabs alive so if it is one it hasn't killed anything yet so crossing my fingers.
totally in love. Ok, so now onto the worrisome news the last couple of nights I've heard some clicking coming from my tank. Still trying to rule out all equipment but starting to freak out... I did add a couple of small pieces of live rock from aqua exotic a couple of weeks ago. Really hoping it isn't a mantis... I have seen all of my snails and crabs alive so if it is one it hasn't killed anything yet so crossing my fingers.
bluprntguy
Guest
The only rock I've noticed at Aqua-Exotic's is actually just dead rock that they've re-seeded with bacteria to make it "live" again. It shouldn't have any hitchhikers. Pouring soda water over the rock will make your hitchhiker come out though, and it doesn't' affect the rock, bacteria, or coraline.