24 Gallon Reef

[ajer]

Hi,
I know i am starting my reef tank blog late, as I have already added my starter fish but, as they say "better late than never"!
My current list of equipment is as follows:
AquaPod 24
Orbit 80 watt (replaced Aquapod fixture due to heat issues)
Reef Octopus BH-100
Portable Refractometer By Sybon
Visi-Therm 100 watt heater
DIY acrylic hood with fans
Hydor Koralia 2
296 GPH Sump pump
Purigen Chemical filter
25 BioBalls
Stocking list (current):
2 Occelaris Clowns (mary and pipin)
25 pounds Fiji premium live rock
20 Pounds Live Sand
I have 20 pounds of sand on the way also to thicken my LS bed to 2 inches.
Future Stocking list (about christmas):
Corals:
1- Purple or Lemon Tree Coral,
1- Neon Pineapple Tree Coral or 1 Taylor's Tree Coral,
1- Taro Tree Coral,
1- Evergreen Starburst Polyp,
1- Silver Branch Pumping Xenia,
(Drs. Foster & Smith Certified Soft Coral Frag 5 Pack)
1- Australian Big Polyp Blastomussa Red
All of these corals are aquacultured
Fish:
Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse
Purple Firefish
Inverts:
4 Dwarf Red Tip Hermit Crabs
4 Dwarf Yellow Tip Hermit Crabs
4 Dwarf Zebra Hermit Crabs
24 empty hermit crab shells
4 Margarita Snails
4 Nassarius Snails
4 Banded Trochus Snails
1 Blood Red Fire Shrimp
I do weekly pH, Alk, Ammonia (total and free), Nitrite, Nitrate.
Monthly I test Iodide, Iodine, Silicate, Phosphate.
Last test results:
Salinity: 1.025
pH:8.1
Alkalinity:6
Total ammonia:0
Free ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:2.5
Phosphate: .2
Silicate:0
Iodide:.06
Iodine: 0
I LOVE SALTWATER!

Current picture of my tank:

 

[whisk]

cool so far, when did you officially start the tank?

 

[ajer]

Early may (Tank, LS), added LR in mid june, Fish in early Oct.

 

[ajer]

I should be getting my 20 extra pounds of LS tomorrow. I am planning on removing the clowns, and putting then in a 5 gal bucket with a power head while I add the sand.

 

[ajer]

I have my powerhead pointed right at a group of hair algae. Is this making it worse or better?

 

[spanko]

IMO not having an affect on it.

 

[ajer]

is it okay to have my heater in my sump? Also, for all these new animals, will I need to upgrade my bio filter, Fluidized bed or more bioballs?

 

[ajer]

I received more LS today. Some reef safe epoxy also. I am currently letting the epoxy dry now. I'll post pic as soon as possible!

 

[patrick8929]

why more sand? looks like you have a good sized sand bed already. but it looks like you off to a good start!

 

[ajer]

Because, from what i have heard, fire fish like a sand bed of 2 inch depth, and I have a 1 inch bed now.

 

[ajer]

I set all my LR on the bottom now to minimize "dead spots" in the sand bed. I'll post pics tomorrow.

 

[patrick8929]

i have not heard that before. well cant wait to see the tank fill out!

 

[ajer]

Thanks! I'll post my test results every week! If any of you want past test results on my tank I can post them.
I hoping to order my fish/corals/inverts on Jan 2.
42 days! If my math is right!
SALTWATER ROCKS!!!

 

[subielover]

I think you need a lot more rock

 

[ajer]

I thought about this a lot before setting up the tank and I decided to do a open feeling tank and try not to make the tank feel crowded.

 

[coraljunkie]

Looks like you are off to a good start. I agree with subie. I would add at least another 20 lbs of live rock.

 

[subielover]

Originally Posted by Ajer
http:///forum/post/2848036
I thought about this a lot before setting up the tank and I decided to do a open feeling tank and try not to make the tank feel crowded.
That is all well and good, but live rock is your filtration. So if you are planning on adding anymore living creatures it would probably be wise to add at least another 10-15 lbs. I understand your thinking, but you will not be able to stock your tank very heavily or even moderately with that little amount of live rock. JMO

 

[subielover]

Also, speaking from experience, I would work on that hair algae before it gets out of control. I put many hours in "cleaning" my tank of hair algae. I can see in your pics that it looks like it is almost covering all your rocks. Mexican turbo snails will help, but the bottom line is YOU have to pull as much as you can, and the snails will maintain it for you. Do you run any chemical filtration? What kind of water do you use? What are your phoshate and nitrate readings?

 

[ajer]

Both test results are at the top. And I have 25 pounds of LR. I run Purigen

 

[ajer]

And If I was going to get more LR I would have to get fully cycled LR right? And even the people that SELL LR say that 1 pound per gallon is enough.