First marine tank build (New pics/changes Feb 3rd)

[Mr.nintendo]

Ya my xenia have three little split off colonies now, it's amazing... especially since the tiny ones all pulse as well!

I'll post pics tomorrow, the royal gramma and shrooms need some time to adjust. I also notice there are some super green small zoo's on the mushroom frag! score!

[Myka]

Hi there!

I used to keep a tank very similar to yours. I had a 33g with a 2x39w Hagen GLO light fixture (no sump though). If you are careful to pick quality bulbs you can actually get quite a bit of intensity out of that fixture since the tank is so shallow. I found the light wasn't strong enough for most SPS, although Montis did ok, they didn't grow very fast though. I could keep any LPS in that tank. I started out with the exact same bulbs you chose (the Hagen ones), and found my tank greatly improved when I used better bulbs. Take note that you can buy blue bulbs instead of actinic and you will get much greater intensity. Actinics are kind of a waste of a bulb when it comes to intensity and are better used in situations where people have many bulbs, and one lacking PAR isn't a big deal. Blue bulbs will give you a similar effect (some argue better) than actinics, but you get much more intensity. Another thing to note is that the higher the Kelvin rating the lower the intensity, but if you get too low (like under 10,000K) algae growth is encouraged. A great happy medium is around 14-16,000K. I really enjoyed the color and the intensity I got from using an AquaScience 17,500K and a Korallen-Zucht Fiji Purple. It looked very nice on that tank.

Here is a pic of what my 33 looked like (I have a 90 now) with the above mentioned lights too. If you want more information on the corals in there, just ask. Also, you can find many more pics if you click on the link in my signature that says "Myka's tanks: Clicky", then click on the 33 gallon tank.


Some suggestions I would have is to take the GSP (green star polyps) off the rock, and place them on the sand away from the rock because they will spread a lot, and will cover all your rock.. The green you see on the rock on the left of my tank is GSP. You might think that's a good thing, but they will get on other corals and irritate them. It's best to confine them to a space you choose. If you arrange your rock so that it's not touching the glass then you can get the GSP to grow up the glass. Keep an eye on the Xenia too, it will spread like a plague!! It will split and drop babies everywhere, it get all over the place, and is tough to get rid of.

Oh ya, and buy the EuroReef 80 skimmer that's for sale in the classifieds on here! Those are great skimmers. They are no comparison to the BakPak.

[Boomboy]

Listen to myka she knows what shes talking about.

[BlueAbyss]

Originally Posted by Boomboy

Listen to myka she knows what shes talking about.

+1, she's been very helpful. EDIT: Where she mentioned Xenia and GSP as being invasive (or at least spreading quickly) I would also add most soft corals can be this way, if they are happy... some people put mushrooms in the 'invasive' group for this reason, since they don't get along overly well with stony corals (stinging and chemical warfare and whatnot). I understand that the stony corals often recede from contact with soft corals.*

If you're interested in trying some LPS, open brain corals EDIT: Mine is a Trachyphyllia* have a reputation for being very hardy and adaptable, and they are also interesting and colorful. I have mine around 12" from a 70W metal halide on the sandbed, so they can take a fair amount of light (but I understand they do well with low to moderate light... I consider my lighting to be moderate). They do need to be fed regularly though, I've been reading between 3 and 5 times a week (mine gets fed every second or third day with finely chopped mysis... sometimes I double up and feed two days in a row). Other than that, light to moderate flow, and some open space on the sandbed for them to expand fully without hindrance is all they need... apparently they aren't exacting on parameters but being a stony coral they'll need adequate calcium, alk, and magnesium. Mine has done very well in the past two months, I would recommend open brains to any noob.

You mentioned trace elements and such... I wouldn't worry about 'trace' elements, unless you are talking about calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity. These you may need to test for (and dose), but everything else will be replaced with regular water changes.

[Mr.nintendo]

Thanks for the replies! was hoping I would get some good suggestions!

One thing I was considering doing is doubling up the lighting and adding another dual t5 fixture ( maybe one of the http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/fl...82-39W%29.html ) but if I do get some better bulbs maybe that's the better route to take.

I'm not sure what to do with the xenia, might have to move some stuff around in the tank. I love the stuff has always been one of my favourites but ya, I really dont want it to over-take everything along with the green star.

[Mr.nintendo]

Well here's a few shots of the Gramma, I'll hopefully be getting a better cam then my iphone soon but it works for the time being. I can't get the gramma to eat when I'm around yet but it's already scouting around for food and hanging out with the clowns. The star ployps are nice and green and the new shrooms are so nice but the colour just doesn't show up with the low quality cam

[Myka]

Thanks for the props guys.

Originally Posted by Mr.nintendo

One thing I was considering doing is doubling up the lighting and adding another dual t5 fixture but if I do get some better bulbs maybe that's the better route to take.

I wouldn't suggest you add more bulbs to that tank. Many of my LPS had to be out of direct light of the two T5s (with the good bulbs). Remember that tank is very shallow. Once the sand bed is counted in there is only 12-14" of water between the lights and the sand bed. All my open brains (Symphyllia, Trachyphyllia, and Lobophyllia) all had to be out of direct light in that tank. I have found Acans to be more light tolerant than open brains. Now, if you were interested in SPS I would definitely suggest you add more bulbs. LPS generally need a lot less light than people think. Less light, more food (target feeding, not water column feeding).

For a small tank like that, check out some little inverts like small shrimp (not cleaners, fires, or peppermints...too big for a 33), crabs (porcelain, Pom Pom, etc), even small gobies (Yasha, Warpaint, Clown, etc). Some have very interesting habits. Pom Pom crabs are really cool. Anemone shrimp or Porcelain crabs (in a commensal anemone) are cool, but they don't share very well with clownfish. Your lights (assuming the bulb upgrade) would support a Squamosa clam and/or a Bubble Tip Anemone. Small tanks are nice because they are easily interactive, so non-photosynthetic corals like Dendros, Sun polyps, and Rhyzos are really cool (some are rather pricey though). Even a photosynthetic gorgonian would do well provided you're careful with specie choice as some would be too light demanding for your tank.

Oh, I forgot to mention...don't worry about your clowns picking on eachother. They have to determine dominance, and the dominant one will change sex into a female. This will take a few weeks or a month. One day they will decide they love each other.

Honestly though, if you can handle it, I would suggest you don't add anything more to the tank until after Christmas, or as long as you can handle it. Starting with uncured rock puts you at a disadvantage, the reef needs to mature, and balance itself out. At no point should you ever experience any algae after the initial diatoms disappear. Algae is an obvious sign of imbalance, and new tanks are prone to that. To keep yourself happy though, you could add a Ricordea here or there, or some Zoas or something. I would wait on the LPS and inverts for a bit yet.

[Mr.nintendo]

Ya my plan from this point is to wait with the exception of a few frags. I don't wanna push it to much

[Mr.nintendo]

Just noticed some hitchhikers on my green star polyps, little starfish with black and white striped arms

Can anyone I.D these?

Nevermind found them, there are about 5 black brittle stars from what I can tell

[Mr.nintendo]

Algae issues are down to almost nothing, some brown here of there but hair barely comes back.
The Gramma is a pig! eats anything I throw in now and fights with the clowns for the food! It has a whole large portion of rock with lots of little cave areas and tunnels defended and swims circles all around it and is quite active.

The mushrooms I got seem to be doing alright, one is a little hagard looking but still is lively. The Zoo's that came on the frag as hitchikers have a third head poping out now, and another type of starfish! Not sure what this one is but that's 6 stars I've seen so far, just little babies. Both pieces of corals came from J&L so I'm thinking they had a baby boom recently