FishChannel Forums / Saltwater Forums / For Reefkeepers

Transporting a 29g Reef Tank

Tate — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 06:27:35 GMT

Guys I need your advice transporting a 29g Biocube reef tank.
I planned to use a few 5gal buckets to transport all the coral.
I have xtra water already prepared for the setup. Looking for advice on
what to avoid and anything that would help make the move easier for the coral. its only a 15-20min trip.

Return Pump Size

thirty0six — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:31:17 GMT

I just setup a new 76 gallon reef ready Oceanic half circle. I have been keeping saltwater fish and corals for over 10 years but never a reef ready setup. I am curious as to what size pump should be used for the return. A local aquarium store sold me a mag-drive 9.5 (950 gph). The overflow is keeping up but I get almost a wave action to the sump. The water comes to certain level in the overflow chamber and then rushes out with a gurgling sound to the sump (very noisy). It then repeats the process. If I kink the hose to slow down the flow things seem to settle down. I am thinking that the pump is to large and have ordered a ball valve for the pump so I can adjust the flow and hope to take care of the problem this way. Anyone know what the proper pump size would be for this size tank?

Test Kits

jsmith11618 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:57:42 GMT

Besides the basic tests pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Calcium, what other tests are needed for reef keeping.

I dont keep any corals on purpose yet, but do have a small colony of some sort of coral living on a small piece of live rock, and some random mushrooms on live rock as well.

Sometime next year I'd like to venture into keeping some corals but am just not sure what all I will need test kit wise.

My tank is a 40 breeder, contains 50-60lbs of live rock, not sure of the exact weight since I bought 70 pounds but did not use it all. I currently have 2 96 watt power compacts, as well as 2 39 watt T5 HO's. Houses 1 damsel, 10 hermit crabs, 3 peppermint shrimp and whatever else might be in there that hitched hiked in.

Tank is now 5 months old, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all 0, Silica is 0 as is phosphate.

Everything appears healthy, and coraline is now taking off like crazy.

quarantine for invertebrates??

Corona — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 22:11:22 GMT

So fish has to be quarantine for a few weeks, but how long should inverts be quarantine for before they are moved over to the main tank? I cant seem to find any info on this. I'm gonna start stocking my tank in a few weeks or so and I'd like to make sure I know what I'm doing before I do so.

condy vs. new life form

10 acre woods — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 13:04:30 GMT

I had a condy wich was doing great untill I couldn't get silver sides any more at my lfs. The only thing they had was krill wich my seabea love but the condy didn't. The condy started to look very sick so I finaly found some silver sides but by that time it was too late it wouldn't eat anymore. I think it crawled in the back of the tank and died. Anyway I couldn't get it out and assumed that it had gotten eaten. I now have anemone looking like things in my tank, small but there. There are alot of them the bigest one being a quarter in diameter. But lots smaller. They don't like the light and have a tendency to hang out under rocks. If it would have been for the fact that I had to break my whole system down and move it I don't think that I would have found it.

so now the questions

1. Could the condy still be alive but broken down into smaller little anemones?

2. If not a condy what are these things?

3. Does this line of questioning matter to anyone?

Sorry but can not get good pictrues of item. seems too clear for a camera to pick up good or my camera just sucks

please respond

Lighting

jsmith11618 — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 16:02:50 GMT

I have a 40 breeder. No corals yet.

I currently light is with Power Compacts, 1 10,000k and 1 Actinic both 96 watts.

I also have a 36" T5 HO fixture with the same type of bulb just less watts, I think they are 39 watts each.

I was wondering if I should add the T5 fixture to the tank as well.

Eventually I want to get 1 T5 HO fixture to replace the PC completely since I am not a fan of it or the high cost of replacement bulbs.

I know its hard to answer without knowing the types of coral i am gonna keep, but I am just not sure yet.

Just wanted to hear an opinion or 2.

KH v.s. Calcium Ratios

Steads Aquarium Service — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:55:59 GMT

what have you noticed where you get the best results. if ur calcium is 450 you keep your kh at what. if ur calcium is 500 your kh should be? or at any other levels.

how long can coral surive in a box while shiped

10 acre woods — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:31:04 GMT

is there any of you people out there that have had coral shiped and what was the product and how long did it spend in transit. worried that coral is lost in shipping and will arive dead, it has be 3 days. I am looking for the most time and what condition it was in.

live framing?

savetheseaturtles — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 08:13:52 GMT

i've been thinking of live framing my nano reef tank, but i don't know that much about it or whether it's worthwhile in the end. does anyone have any info on liveframing other than what was in the recent magazine issue?

identification

floridian91 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:31:07 GMT

I've had my 54 gal saltwater reef setup for 4 years. I always enjoy discovering new life among my rocks! Yesterday I noticed a little starfish, about the size of a nickel, moving around my sandbed! It was cream colored and had 5 arms. What can this be? A few months ago, I found a small white starfish that looked like a mini serpent sea star in my tank, but this starfish looks the 5-pointed ones most people associate with when you mention a starfish. Thanks for your replies!

info needed on cyanobacteria

kdbfish — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:53:45 GMT

I have just treated my 24 nano for cyano. I had to treat it 3 times and used elbow grease for most of it. Can anyone give me information on what parameters I can look at/change in my tank to keep the cyano from coming back?

copepods

saltyfresh — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:22:38 GMT

Im just beginning to transform my 55g to be more coral and invert friendly but dont have the space to house a fuge so I went and searched the internet for live copepods and phytoplankton to seed the tank with and to my suprise i found an interesting alternative to the fuge, multiple sites encouraged hobbyist to establish "breeding tanks" and apparently there fairly easy to raise until i saw the price of live phytoplankton but raising phytoplankton doesnt seem too difficult either. does anyone have any experience with this method? Any tips ?

Nova Light

clownfishkid — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 06:14:16 GMT

Hey every body just wanted to get your thoughts and opinions on this new lighting system im going to buy. Im getting the Nova extreme T5 48'' lighting system. I am going to get the 432w one with 8 compact T5 florecent tubes, 2 cooling fans, and it also has lunar lights which i thought was really cool. With all of that watage, it will put almost 8w a gallon in my 55g so i should be able to grow all sorts of cool corals. I currently have 1 48'' 40w coralife florecent tube and 2 18'' 26w white florecent tubes on my tank which is only about 2w a gallon. Thats why im upgrading so i can house corals. I would love to hear what every one thinks of my new lighting decision.

Shrimp

Jtankred — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:00:34 GMT

I have a 20 gal. reef tank with 2 tank raised false perculas, one chromis, one skunk cleaner shrimp, and four blue leg hermits. It also contains red button polyps and a small toadstool leather coral with about 16lbs. of live rock. The question I am asking is if I can add a peppermint shrimp to this setup with little incident between the 2 shrimp species. I plan to upgrade to a 30 gal. tank later and currently run a Marineland C-160 canister filter and RedSea prism skimmer. Any responses would be appreciated.

Calcium Reactors

BEBOX14 — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:56:08 GMT

Hey! I have a 125 gal tank on the verge of becoming a reef. I have a few corals in there nothing fancy yet. Just a few blue mushrooms, zoos have identified what kind, bubble coral, and a bubble tip anenome. I'm looking to add some stony corals to the tank. Not sure what to begin with (any suggestions). I was looking for a good calcium reactor but i don't know what would be a good kind. I also have limited space also. Money isn't an issue.Also one last thing is the liquid calcium that Kent sells that is already reacted any good and is it efficient?

Low light corals

clownfishkid — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:28:55 GMT

Does anyone have any ideas as to what corals would grow in 92watts of light if any? I ask this because i have yet to upgrade to the nova T5 lighting system and i was wondering if any types of coral would grow in my current lighting system which has a total of 92w. By the way the tank is a 55g, so with the current lighting system it has it is about 1.67 wats a gallon.

help picking my filter

Arman — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:57:40 GMT

i am going to get a reef aquarium and plan to have coral and a lot of fish in it, but i have had trouble picking out which filter i should buy. so far i have narrowed it down to three different options and i would like some input on what i should get. also if you have any additional recommendations that would be helpful too, as well as any expirences you guys have had with these filters. thanks for any help:)

here are the links for the filters i was thinking about

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+3587+19052&pcatid=19052

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+3587+18367&pcatid=18367

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+3587+18997&pcatid=18997

Beginner Corals

jsmith11618 — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:00:57 GMT

I am just trying to find the best corals for the beginners.

My tank:

40 breeder
60lbs live rock
30lbs sand
1 YT damsel
3 hermit crabs
3 snails

Lighting:

1 X 10,000K @ 96 watts PC (36")
1X Actinic @ 96 watts

I also have a T5 HO with 1 10,000k (39 watts) and 1 Actinic (39 watts) available for use as well. (36 ")

The tank is almost 3 months old, is cycled.

Nitrates have been at 0 for 3 weeks now, down from 40ppm at the height.

Ammonia/Nitrite have been 0ppm since about week 2 of the set up.

Calcium 380-400ppm.

I've never kept corals before, so I am looking for something reasonably easy to care for that's not overly demanding but nice looking.

I have a Aqua C skimmer, as well as 2 Korallia 2's, and a HOB that I use to put in my phosphate removal media and carbon when needed.

Water Di vs RO

pen — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:19:45 GMT

I have access to DI water. I know it is better then tap, but should I not use DI water?

Mushrooms won't open

BEBOX14 — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:28:02 GMT

I have about 10 blue mushrooms that won't open up. I did a water change and turned my lighting system on(750w sysetem halide and atinic) the mushrooms were fine. I did leave my halides on 2-3 hours more than what I usually run them which is usually 4 hours. The next day when looked at the tank the mushrooms were all curled up very small. More than what they are when the lights are off. I left my system off for a while to see if that would help heal them. about 2-3 days the lights weren't on except for the moon leds. I turned them bak on and the same thing. Im now wondering if maybe there are enough supplements in the tank for mushrooms. Everything else is fine.(bubble coral, two annenomes, and two zoos) really need help.

Mushrooms Acting Weird

BEBOX14 — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:53:08 GMT

Glass tops under metal halide lights

mtfallstodd — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:43:42 GMT

I have a 175w mh light on one side and a 250w mh light on the other on a 125 reef.The evaporation off of the tank has made my basement a jungle. Could I take the factory shields off of the lights and replace it with a glass cover?How thick could the glass be before it had an effect on light getting to corals.

Thanks,

Todd

Mini Abalones?

stewwey — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:29:21 GMT

I'm not sure if I'm doing this right, so please excuse the lameness, but for the last 6 months after the lights go out in the tank, I randomly spot check for the creatures and I see these mini abalones. They look like the huge ones you find on the California coast except that they are, at most a 1/2 inch long. The colors are the same and the shell is exactly like the big guys and they cruise the rocks quickly, but ??;)

New Live Rocks

clownfishkid — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:32:39 GMT

My new live rocks I ordered came in today from Live Aquaria.com. These things are HUGE! They send me 4 pieces. 2 are like 15 pounds, one is like 10, and the last one is about 5 pounds. The 3 large pieces hardally fit in the tank with out touching the front and back glass of my 55g. Tomarrow im going to break out the hammer and chissel. The 5 pounder is nice so i'll leave him, but the others i'm gonna chop up. They are Figi live rocks. I was kinda disapointed in the color of the rocks. There is no red or purple, just green. Thank good ness they were in good shape and I didn't have to recure them. I mixed a bucket of saltwater up this morning so I could scrub them when they arrived. I used half of the water for the first scrub to get the main debre and onther things off. Man was that some dirty water.

I then emptied that water out and poured the other half of water for a second bath. That water was not nearly as dirty as the other. I then put them in my tank 1 by 1 and laid them out to get ideas. Thats when i realized they were way to big and that i was going to have to chop them up. I also did an amonia test and it was 0. I'll do another tomarrow along with a water change. My water really is not that cloudy at all. But any way, critisism is highly appreciated about my actions today.

Curing new live rock

clownfishkid — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 19:20:19 GMT

Im ready to add live rock to my 55g. I am going to order 45 pounds of cured Figi live rock from Live Aquaria .com. I read up on some of their articals on how you are supposed to cure your new live rock as soon as you get it even though it is already cured. There are two methods to curing your new live rock, one for putting live rock into an established tank, and one method for putting live rock into an empty tank with no fish or corals. In my tank I only have two False Percula clowns, one sea urchin, and one piece of live rock. Its been running for about two months. My quesion is that with as little life as I in my tank would it be smart to use the method of curing that takes place right in the tank where theres supposed to be no life? Would the spike in amonia and nitrates kill the two clown fish and the sea urchin? Or would the extra work to cure the rocks in a separate container be the better way to go?

One more quick question, does anyone know how many watts per gallon it takes to keep the live rock healthy?

uv sterilizers

saltyfresh — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:47:40 GMT

i have an algae issue in my tank that has gotten better with bi-weekly water changes and phosphate removers. i cut back on feedings and hrs of light per day, but despite my best efforts the tank continues to grow a soft brown flat algae on the glass and it requires constant cleaning. twice daily! i have some reef safe fish and a few soft corals. i recently installed a cryptic tube fuge and sectioned off a portion of my sump and created a small fuge there as well. I'm planning to create another 10 or 20 gal fuge next to the tank. my cousin has a fowlr and has a UV sterilizer in her sump and swears by it for curing trouble algae. is this just masking a larger problem or is this a reasonable application for my situation? my concern is that is will kill off everything that is needed to keep a healthy fuge and coral. I'm sure it wouldn't be too detrimental if i turned it off during feedings, but again I'm not 100% sure.

Bubbel Coral Feeding

BEBOX14 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:03:22 GMT

So I've had a bubble coral for a few weeks and i've been giving it phytopplan some cheap stuff my bro bought(Doesn't seem to be working). I am going to upgrade to Kents zoo and phyto but i was wondering if there is anything else. Help plz cause it feeding tentacales are out after feeding it a day later. OR do i feed it everyday?

Help! Majanos!!!

thegreez — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:44:41 GMT

I have a majano outbreak. It is taking over-taking my tank and my corals. I have tried injecting them with Kalwasser and bought a Copperband Butterfly, which was attacked by my Powder Blue Tang. I can't get any results. Help!

reef lighting

jmarc616 — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:19:47 GMT

I am looking to set up another tank. It's at least going to be a 50 gallon. I want a reef tank with a clown and anemone and a few pieces of coral (leather, etc). There are many choices out there (compact, vho, metal halide). Any suggestion ? Money is an issue too

I'm so excited!

Hailey — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:18:32 GMT

I just got an email from my former marine bio teacher who had said a long time ago that she would give me any livestock I wanted from the class tank after this semester was over. I asked if this still worked for her and she said yes. At the end of the month I am going to go pick out what I want and we'll arrange a good time for me to take them. She already has gorgonians of different types and some anemones, and she said she'd have lots of other stuff soon. Last year I got some livestock from that tank as well and there were corals of various kinds, anemones, sea stars, urchins, sea cucumbers, clams, crabs, snails, sponges, etc to choose from. It should be similarly well stocked this time...I can't wait to see it. I'll pick and choose carefully to make sure everything is compatible and will thrive in my tank though.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my excitement. Thanks for listening (err...reading...LOL). :)

ANTHIAS FOR REEF

SCARFACE — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 09:30:34 GMT

I am on the market for anthias. Have read there are very few types that will last in the home aquaria. Need to eat often. What kinds of anthias have you been able to keep over long periods of time? Also how did you do it? (food types, water temp, etc.) Theyre expensive little buggers and a big healthy school is not very common outside the ocean from what Ive heard and read. But there must be people on this site who have some good experiences with various species so please tell all.

corals for a t5

plecodiscus — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 06:08:24 GMT

I just got a t5 system with 2 39w "super glo" (as opposed to normal strength t5s) t5 bulbs. Super glo bulbs are supposed to emit more light in each area of the spectrum. Both bulbs are full spectrum, but they max out in the blue area of the spectrum. The tank is 36" wide, 14.5" deep (i measured from the surface to the substrate), and 12" from front to back. If i add any corals, though, they will be within 10" of the surface. The light is 3" from the surface due to its mounting brackets. I am wondering what kinds of corals and other photosynthetic animals I can get with this light over my tank. I love LPS corals, and i was planning on getting tons of them for my tank, but i wanted to check first.

how often do you change your light bulbs?

paulo645 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:11:48 GMT

people often don't change their light bulbs often enough to manage their invertebrates and corals for a reef tank This not only affects fish color, besides diet, and not sufficient lighting can harm your fish as well as your corals and invertebrates

T-5 lighting

bnel — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:27:42 GMT

I have a 90 gallon marine aquarium that is 24 inches tall. I want to keep the lower light corals such as mushrooms, star polyps, etc. Is four 54 watt T-5 bulbs on this tank enough? I don't want to get into the more expensive corals and have to worry about a chiller right now. This hobby can be expensive and I am trying to do this without too much expense. Thanks.

anemone for 20 gallon

reef aquarist — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:43:07 GMT

I have a 20 gallon saltwater tank with live rock, a brittle star, two hermit crabs, and currently no fish. I was thinking about getting a bubble tip anemone and one tomato clownfish. I have a compact fluorescent light system that has 60 watts. I have a power filter and one powerhead. I do two water changes of 1.5 liters each week.

The ammonia level is 0 ppm

The nitrite level is 0 ppm

The nitrate level is 0.5 ppm

The PH is 8.4

The temperature is 82 degrees

The specific gravity is 1.026

I was wondering if my tank was okay for the bubble tip anemone and the tomato clown. Thanks for the help.

TANG QUESTION

SCARFACE — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:03:25 GMT

What are the best fish for eating flat worms

lighting needs

blenny123 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:03:19 GMT

can i keep mushrooms under a flourescent single bulb lighting system or do i need metal halides the tank is quite shallow about 11 inches.

coral ID

saltyfresh — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:53:23 GMT

i put a piece of live rock in my tank last week that has some button polyps on it and an unknown soft coral. i've been looking for a web site where i can compare photo's in an attempt to ID this guy. any suggestions?

Coral Needs

tmac1rebok — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 15:25:09 GMT

What are the needs for soft corals as far as water additives go. I have the whole saterwater thing setup and running amazingly smooth. Now I need to know what chemicals soft corals need to grow(none of the stoneys). Here what I think is needed...

Iodine; Calcium; Strontium and Molybdenum

Is there anything else I need or anything on the list unnecessary. This is all being added to sater w/ salinity at 35ppt, 8.2Ph, and temp. at 81 degress. The water was also tested multiple times and is has low nutrient levels. Feel free to check out my profile on fishchannel, simply search for tmac1rebok.

Glass Anenomes

deluxerider — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:02:45 GMT

I have several glass anenomes appearing in my live rock, any suggestions on how to get rid of them? I have tried squirting them w/ calcium and so far it has had little effect.