ReeferMadness1023
New Member
Okay so I started this 14 gallon journey three months ago. My daughter is really into Finding Nemo and Finding Dory. I used to have tanks about 12 years ago so have a bit of knowledge but always larger tanks than this one. Everything was going great for two months and now its getting wonky and with never having such a small tank I'm looking for advice and help to get my husbandry foundation more solid.
Purchased a used Oceanic Biocube 14 w/ stand
Light was upgraded already to an older Nicrew or similar blackbox LED
Adjustable 930 GPH Marineland return pump
Added Hygger Mini 530 GPH Powerhead
Intank Media Insert (Chemipure Elite, Matrix mixed with ceramic media, purigen, and Fluval Bio Foam Filter Block.
10 lbs of dry Aragonite Sand
8 lbs CaribSea Life Rock
Beginning of tank, checking my rockscape and sandbed before filling it up.
Filling it up.
I did a fish cycle. Added Fritz 900 and one Clown fish(Nemo). Made it through the nitrogen cycle without fuss. Everything leveled out and stayed consistent after about 15 days. Unfortunately no pictures of the cycle period. On day 21 I did a 20% water change and have been doing that weekly since.
After a month I brought in a Purple Firefish(Blueberry) and five Astrea snails. Of course Blueberry hid for about 18 hours and finally came out and started interacting with Nemo and has been a great addition. I waited another two weeks and went out and grabbed some zoas and a Branching Montipora as well as an emerald crab.
I let everything settle for another month. During this time I tested every 3 days just trying to learn any absorption and increase rates. I started dosing Fritz RPM Part 1 Alkalinity. Alk was staying around 7. I dosed the adjustment dosage once a day for two days. It leveled back out and now i am able to just maintain dose it a couple times a week. After getting that figured out I grabbed two mushrooms. They are actually still in a jar/ shotglass with rubble.
Okay so the tank today.
Parameters:
Alk: 9.0 dKH Nitrite: 1.5 ppm Ammonia: 1.2 ppm Calcium: 440 ppm
pH: 8.0 Nitrate: 7.5 ppm Phosphate: 0.25 ppm Magnesium: 1280 ppm
Salinity: 35 ppt
I'm using RedSea Tests and Salifert for Cal., Phos., and Mag. Refrac for Salinity.
I've only been dosing the Fritz RMP Alkalinity at this point. Feeding frozen Brine Shrimp and Mysis. I target feed the corals ReefRoids. I found broadcast was too much for my phosphates. I feed the fish twice a day very tiny amounts. Brine in the morning and Mysis at night. I have been feeding ReefRoids once a day at night. Corals mostly seem to be okay except the Montipora has been keeping its polyps sucked in most of the time. It was fine at first but its definitely not been happy. It does extend polyps when I feed it thankfully but still not all of them or a full extension.
I am currently waiting on an AI Prime HD non 16 to get here next week. As well as scouring and brainstorming how to get a sump/ refugium going on it. Also looking at smaller powerheads/ wavemakers to lower my flow. This isn't a low budget setup but definitely not looking to spend a lot of money on it either. Buying used and DIY is more my speed.
You will see in my last pictures that I'm also dealing with flow issues. I have too much at this point or can't figure out how to break it up enough to not move the sand bed around. (This could also be part of the Monti’s issue?). I was moving it around almost daily for awhile but have vowed to let it rest and see if the monti levels back out.
Any advice is welcome. I really need to get this figured out and have a routine so i can keep it dialed in and everything thriving. Right now I am doing weekly 20% water changes, cleaning out my sponge in fresh RODI once a week and replacing half a month. Plan on replacing partial bio media once every month. I will not be adding anything else to the tank until I get it under control. Thank you in advance and Happy reefing!
Purchased a used Oceanic Biocube 14 w/ stand
Light was upgraded already to an older Nicrew or similar blackbox LED
Adjustable 930 GPH Marineland return pump
Added Hygger Mini 530 GPH Powerhead
Intank Media Insert (Chemipure Elite, Matrix mixed with ceramic media, purigen, and Fluval Bio Foam Filter Block.
10 lbs of dry Aragonite Sand
8 lbs CaribSea Life Rock
Beginning of tank, checking my rockscape and sandbed before filling it up.
Filling it up.
I did a fish cycle. Added Fritz 900 and one Clown fish(Nemo). Made it through the nitrogen cycle without fuss. Everything leveled out and stayed consistent after about 15 days. Unfortunately no pictures of the cycle period. On day 21 I did a 20% water change and have been doing that weekly since.
After a month I brought in a Purple Firefish(Blueberry) and five Astrea snails. Of course Blueberry hid for about 18 hours and finally came out and started interacting with Nemo and has been a great addition. I waited another two weeks and went out and grabbed some zoas and a Branching Montipora as well as an emerald crab.
I let everything settle for another month. During this time I tested every 3 days just trying to learn any absorption and increase rates. I started dosing Fritz RPM Part 1 Alkalinity. Alk was staying around 7. I dosed the adjustment dosage once a day for two days. It leveled back out and now i am able to just maintain dose it a couple times a week. After getting that figured out I grabbed two mushrooms. They are actually still in a jar/ shotglass with rubble.
Okay so the tank today.
Parameters:
Alk: 9.0 dKH Nitrite: 1.5 ppm Ammonia: 1.2 ppm Calcium: 440 ppm
pH: 8.0 Nitrate: 7.5 ppm Phosphate: 0.25 ppm Magnesium: 1280 ppm
Salinity: 35 ppt
I'm using RedSea Tests and Salifert for Cal., Phos., and Mag. Refrac for Salinity.
I've only been dosing the Fritz RMP Alkalinity at this point. Feeding frozen Brine Shrimp and Mysis. I target feed the corals ReefRoids. I found broadcast was too much for my phosphates. I feed the fish twice a day very tiny amounts. Brine in the morning and Mysis at night. I have been feeding ReefRoids once a day at night. Corals mostly seem to be okay except the Montipora has been keeping its polyps sucked in most of the time. It was fine at first but its definitely not been happy. It does extend polyps when I feed it thankfully but still not all of them or a full extension.
I am currently waiting on an AI Prime HD non 16 to get here next week. As well as scouring and brainstorming how to get a sump/ refugium going on it. Also looking at smaller powerheads/ wavemakers to lower my flow. This isn't a low budget setup but definitely not looking to spend a lot of money on it either. Buying used and DIY is more my speed.
You will see in my last pictures that I'm also dealing with flow issues. I have too much at this point or can't figure out how to break it up enough to not move the sand bed around. (This could also be part of the Monti’s issue?). I was moving it around almost daily for awhile but have vowed to let it rest and see if the monti levels back out.
Any advice is welcome. I really need to get this figured out and have a routine so i can keep it dialed in and everything thriving. Right now I am doing weekly 20% water changes, cleaning out my sponge in fresh RODI once a week and replacing half a month. Plan on replacing partial bio media once every month. I will not be adding anything else to the tank until I get it under control. Thank you in advance and Happy reefing!
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