ryanc1025
New Member
Just a quick update and looking for some feedback on my Parameters, algae, and livestock.
I filled the tank and started cycling mid/late march with couple of clowns and tims one and only. Ammonia has stayed around 0 the whole time except a spike up to 1.0ppm a few weeks ago for a day. After that spike my nitrites shot up to 10+ per my api test and nitrates went to around 5. Experienced diatoms for a few days and they went away. Tank has stayed relatively clean other than the diatoms , but I do have this bright green algae that becomes more prominent when the lights are off . Pictures of tank with parameter updates attached.
Here are some milestones.
Day 1. 3/15/2024. Added 2 clowns. They are thriving
3/28/2024: Added a watchmen goby and pistol shrimp pair. My pistol shrimp came out daily but disappeared about a week ago. Guessing it's gone at this point but not going to replace. The goby is thriving but does seem a little lost since the shrimp disappeared. Any idea what could've happened? Also added 20 dwarf blue legged, 2 emeralds, and 2 sand sifting stars(more about these further down) around this same time.
4/7/2024: Added duncan coral. Has 5 heads and has doubled in size. It looks really good during the day. Added the kryptonite. Hasn't shown any growth but it really comes out during the day.
4/28: Added the birds nest or acrapora and acan last weekend. Unsure what they are, but got them for $10/each. The acan is mostly expanded, more so during the day when the lights are on.
I've got 5 turbos, 3 troacus, and 5 nasarrius snails. I Added about 10 larger hermits anf a couple of sand sifting stars as well.
The only thing I've lost is the pistol shrimp(assumed dead or could be molting?), 3 or 4 of the smaller hermits. I've seen the larger hermits rip them out of their shell. Not sure if that was to be expected?
I feed twice a day because I was misinformed about the sand sifting stars and them being more for well established sand beds.
I spot feed the duncan twice a week and I've seen the kryptonite grab onto a couple of mysis shrimp.
Also, for reference, I have a 33 gallon sump with 2 x 7" filter cups filled with floss. A large bio block sitting below them. A regal150s varios skimmer in the 2nd chamber and my return pump in the 3rd chamber. I only started running the skimmer a week ago to break it in and currently have it on the lowest speed. Doesn't produce much skimmate, but does add some aeration to the tank. I've got my gyre and nero 7 running on random mode at 55%, so plenty of surface agitation and flow for the corals. I run my hydra 32s on the saxby setting. Seems to be working but open for suggestions.
I know I broke the QT code but I have one set up now. I've got a flame angel and purple dottyback on order with dr reef. They're qt'd but I'll have them in my own qt tank for a few weeks at minimum to see how they acclimate after delivery.
Lastly, ignore the crappy coral placement. This is not permanent, I have a frag rack on the way and I'm going to replace the large, green and white rock on the right with a more minimalist rock for a mixture of sps/lps. I'll be putting in some rocks to better hide the plugs.
Open to any and all feedback. Good or bad. I'm starting to get a grasp on all of this and learning new things every day. Anyways. Happy reefing!
I filled the tank and started cycling mid/late march with couple of clowns and tims one and only. Ammonia has stayed around 0 the whole time except a spike up to 1.0ppm a few weeks ago for a day. After that spike my nitrites shot up to 10+ per my api test and nitrates went to around 5. Experienced diatoms for a few days and they went away. Tank has stayed relatively clean other than the diatoms , but I do have this bright green algae that becomes more prominent when the lights are off . Pictures of tank with parameter updates attached.
Here are some milestones.
Day 1. 3/15/2024. Added 2 clowns. They are thriving
3/28/2024: Added a watchmen goby and pistol shrimp pair. My pistol shrimp came out daily but disappeared about a week ago. Guessing it's gone at this point but not going to replace. The goby is thriving but does seem a little lost since the shrimp disappeared. Any idea what could've happened? Also added 20 dwarf blue legged, 2 emeralds, and 2 sand sifting stars(more about these further down) around this same time.
4/7/2024: Added duncan coral. Has 5 heads and has doubled in size. It looks really good during the day. Added the kryptonite. Hasn't shown any growth but it really comes out during the day.
4/28: Added the birds nest or acrapora and acan last weekend. Unsure what they are, but got them for $10/each. The acan is mostly expanded, more so during the day when the lights are on.
I've got 5 turbos, 3 troacus, and 5 nasarrius snails. I Added about 10 larger hermits anf a couple of sand sifting stars as well.
The only thing I've lost is the pistol shrimp(assumed dead or could be molting?), 3 or 4 of the smaller hermits. I've seen the larger hermits rip them out of their shell. Not sure if that was to be expected?
I feed twice a day because I was misinformed about the sand sifting stars and them being more for well established sand beds.
I spot feed the duncan twice a week and I've seen the kryptonite grab onto a couple of mysis shrimp.
Also, for reference, I have a 33 gallon sump with 2 x 7" filter cups filled with floss. A large bio block sitting below them. A regal150s varios skimmer in the 2nd chamber and my return pump in the 3rd chamber. I only started running the skimmer a week ago to break it in and currently have it on the lowest speed. Doesn't produce much skimmate, but does add some aeration to the tank. I've got my gyre and nero 7 running on random mode at 55%, so plenty of surface agitation and flow for the corals. I run my hydra 32s on the saxby setting. Seems to be working but open for suggestions.
I know I broke the QT code but I have one set up now. I've got a flame angel and purple dottyback on order with dr reef. They're qt'd but I'll have them in my own qt tank for a few weeks at minimum to see how they acclimate after delivery.
Lastly, ignore the crappy coral placement. This is not permanent, I have a frag rack on the way and I'm going to replace the large, green and white rock on the right with a more minimalist rock for a mixture of sps/lps. I'll be putting in some rocks to better hide the plugs.
Open to any and all feedback. Good or bad. I'm starting to get a grasp on all of this and learning new things every day. Anyways. Happy reefing!
