New Fluval 52l - Next steps?

[zerozero]

Just a quick update
Hand fed the Duncans today. Got some pellets moist and went on a bombing run over the corals. Got a direct hit on each head after the pellets got past the clowns.

The diatoms have started to go down. There's noticeably less build up on the sand bed and glass. Still there but easy to deal with. I realised I'd inadvertently extended my diatom bloom by adding extra CaribSea Life rock (dry) to my sump, to prop up some frags to stop the hermits knocking them over on the sand bed and a couple of islands in preparation for new corals. Live and learn.

NO3 went down to 0.02 and PO4 had never been above 0.03 before I started increasing feeding. Currently:

NO3 0.02 -> 5.0
PO4 0.03 -> 0.1
Alk 8 -> 9

I throttled back the feeding a little after losing one of my hermits. There's just the beginnings of algae film starting to appear on surfaces, so the way forward for me is to tackle the algae by biological means (as suggested by Ollie76).

New CUC

• 2x Nassarius
• 3X Banded Trochus
• 1X Orange lipped Conch
• 3X Electric Blue legged hermits (small ones)

and...

• 1x Red Fire Shrimp (possibly)

I realise I've been a bit under-CUCed because initially I didn't want the inverts to starve, but haven't kept up with where the tank is at now. Lesson learned. I think the mix of CUC should have my bases covered with film algae, GHA, dinos and cyano before they take hold.

New inhabitants
These have all been spotted in the past week:

• Stomatella snail (well over an inch)
• 5 or 6 new tiny feather dusters (where did they come from?)
• A small star fish (quite dark)
• A "white ant" trolling across the glass. Assume it was an amphipod

Copepods & Rotifers
I've finally found an online seller that sells the above with Phytoplankton in a package. They will be another part of biological algae control and food for any inverts. As I feed phyto, I think the UV steriliser won't really be an option unless things get out of hand.

If there any errors in my thinking, please let me know. Any ideas or suggestions welcome.

 

[zerozero]

Update
We wanted to go to the Aquatic Design Centre in Balham, not my local LFS, but the best in London at the weekend. Sadly my son wasn't feeling very well so I had to make a solo trip.

I picked up three Trochus snails, a couple of corals...


and...


My son was insanely happy when I brought it home. He's a little shy and hangs out in his cave, but he's started to settle in and comes out when we feed the tank. I'm still sticking with feeding twice a day and the NO3 is still reading 5.0 and the PO4 0.05.


The whole family wants to get a torch and as the Duncans were doing well I thought our time had come. The guy in the LFS insisted I wait a bit longer (appreciate this) and I got a hammer instead.

It's a really nice specimen and has five tiny heads on the stem.

One of the Trochus snails didn't move at all when we put it in and the next more the hermit appeared to be feeding on it. It didn't react when touched and smelled bad so I took it out. As I couldn't get all the CUC I was planning to get, I have a conch, 2x nassarius snails and two more electric blue legged hermits on the way.

I also have the copepods on the way and will put them in the tank after lights out.

 

[tbrown]

Update
We wanted to go to the Aquatic Design Centre in Balham, not my local LFS, but the best in London at the weekend. Sadly my son wasn't feeling very well so I had to make a solo trip.

I picked up three Trochus snails, a couple of corals...


and...


My son was insanely happy when I brought it home. He's a little shy and hangs out in his cave, but he's started to settle in and comes out when we feed the tank. I'm still sticking with feeding twice a day and the NO3 is still reading 5.0 and the PO4 0.05.


The whole family wants to get a torch and as the Duncans were doing well I thought our time had come. The guy in the LFS insisted I wait a bit longer (appreciate this) and I got a hammer instead.

It's a really nice specimen and has five tiny heads on the stem.

One of the Trochus snails didn't move at all when we put it in and the next more the hermit appeared to be feeding on it. It didn't react when touched and smelled bad so I took it out. As I couldn't get all the CUC I was planning to get, I have a conch, 2x nassarius snails and two more electric blue legged hermits on the way.

I also have the copepods on the way and will put them in the tank after lights out.

Wait wait wait... Your son has a cave to hang out in????

 

[zerozero]

Wait wait wait... Your son has a cave to hang out in????

Ha ha, that was badly phrased.

Just noticed today that one of the Duncan's tentacles actually has some texture.

 

[tbrown]

Ha ha, that was badly phrased.

Just noticed today that one of the Duncan's tentacles actually has some texture.

Mine get all twisty and ugly upclose.

 

[tbrown]

And I knew you were talking about the shrimp, it's just fun to take things out of context sometimes.

 

[zerozero]

Mine get all twisty and ugly upclose.

They look amazing! Ours only have two heads each. Early days but my favourite corals at the moment.

 

[tbrown]

They look amazing! Ours only have two heads each. Early days but my favourite corals at the moment.

They once they settle in they start to take off. You'll start seeing little nubs around the base, then those nubs will start getting little lashes, then more nubs, then the base will expand and more nubs and then you'll have a colony! (Colony wanted to autocorrect to colonoscopy... I'm not that old yet Google!)

 

[zerozero]

They once they settle in they start to take off. You'll start seeing little nubs around the base, then those nubs will start getting little lashes, then more nubs, then the base will expand and more nubs and then you'll have a colony! (Colony wanted to autocorrect to colonoscopy... I'm not that old yet Google!)

Just had a check; no sign of any nubs at this point. I'm really enjoying watching the tank develop. There's something new to see every day.

(And if a colonoscopy was a part of reef keeping that's a privilege I'd defer to the boy. It is his tank after all)