Coral Keepers 8 gall bio cube reef tank diary.

coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
I was looking at my tank with a flashlight right now and saw one small fire worm or bristal worm!!! Should i take him out or leave him in there? And one of my zoos is bleaching i believe. I checked the water and everything was fine, did a 15% water change too, it was bleaching for about 2 days, but only the top, its got 2 little zoos that it grew that are closed but not bleaching, and i found out today why they are bleaching i think. A few amfipods were eating the top part of the zoa!!!!!!!!! What do i do!!?
I got a turkey baster and took out like 2. The amfipods that i cout right now are not going to die yet. They are going to die tomorrow because they are going to be fish food for my fresh water fish!
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
I was looking at my tank with a flashlight right now and saw one small fire worm or bristal worm!!! Should i take him out or leave him in there? And one of my zoos is bleaching i believe. I checked the water and everything was fine, did a 15% water change too, it was bleaching for about 2 days, but only the top, its got 2 little zoos that it grew that are closed but not bleaching, and i found out today why they are bleaching i think. A few amfipods were eating the top part of the zoa!!!!!!!!! What do i do!!?
I got a turkey baster and took out like 2. The amfipods that i cout right now are not going to die yet. They are going to die tomorrow because they are going to be fish food for my fresh water fish!

I guess no one cares.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
My clownfish started hosting my toadstool coral now!!! YAY!!! Now the clownfish hosts the xenia and toadstool!! Ill post a few videos later today.
 
clay12340

clay12340

Member
Amphipods most likely weren't eating your corals. They were probably picking up little things that were stuck to the coral's slime coat.
The reason your corals are bleaching is probably light related. It is a defense mechanism for the coral. They are either getting too much or not enough of some spectrum of light, so the zooanthellae in the coral are not providing enough nourishment. In order to correct this the coral "spits the algae out" in order to "make room" for an algae that is more suitable to the new environment. You might try changing the placement of the coral and see if the color improves.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Ok. Thanks a lot for the info!! Dos anyone like the videos? That zoo coral thats bleaching was on that spot the day i got it, that was about 6 months ago. The only coral thats bleaching is that 1 zoo coral. Ill try moving it to a diff spot and see what happens.
 
nietzsche

nietzsche

Active Member
i did, watch out with the maroon. she could potentially kill the coral since shes being so rough with it. do you plan on putting the fish in a larger tank?
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by nietzsche
i did, watch out with the maroon. she could potentially kill the coral since shes being so rough with it. do you plan on putting the fish in a larger tank?
It hosts my xenia and the toadstool. Is there any way to make it not host the toadstool? Can the xenia die if she hosts it? Yes, i plan on putting her in a bigger tank or selling it when she gets too big for the bio cube. She only gos on the toadstool like 2 or 3 times a day and when the maroon is done the toadstool opens right back up and same thing with the xenia.
 
new2salt1

new2salt1

Member
You asked, so I'll answer.
For me, the tank is not aesthetically pleasing. The algae growing everywhere is ugly. It looks like you have Nano-sized Corals, but then the Clown looks like he should be in a much larger tank.
Do you WANT the algae in there?
If not, why not take the time to learn the chemistry issues and fix it?
Do you test for phosphates?
How long are your lights on??
On another topic: HEY MIKECHA:
Is that YOUR EEL?? If so, he is amazing. Do you have other pictures??
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by New2Salt1
You asked, so I'll answer.
For me, the tank is not aesthetically pleasing. The algae growing everywhere is ugly. It looks like you have Nano-sized Corals, but then the Clown looks like he should be in a much larger tank.
Do you WANT the algae in there?
If not, why not take the time to learn the chemistry issues and fix it?
Do you test for phosphates?
How long are your lights on??
On another topic: HEY MIKECHA:
Is that YOUR EEL?? If so, he is amazing. Do you have other pictures??
I do not want algae in my tank. Day lights are on 10 hours a day and the actinic are on for 11 hours a day. No i don't test for phosphates. How do i get rid of the hair algae?!?!?!
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
First things first, you need to get the algae under control. You have to get to the root of the problem and understand why it happens. Learn why something happens and then taking responsible, corrective action

.
IMO your probably overfeeding and running the lights too long.
I don't think the clown was the best fish choice, corals are irritated.
IMO there are way too many inhabitants for a tank of this size.
.
Here's what I would do,
1)Replace the clown with a watchman goby or other nano size fish.
2)Cut lighting back to maybe 9 hours.
3)Decrease your feeding schedule or cut back on the amount your feeding.
4)Add another 10lbs of LR
.
5)Get a bunch of Cerith snails.
6)Get rid of the crab.
7)The next time you do a waterchange, siphon the tank water into a bucket then take a piece of LR out of the tank, put it in the bucket and use a scrub brush to remove most of the algae, then back into the tank.
8)USE ONLY RO WATER OR WATER FROM THE LFS for water changes.
9)Run some polyfilter or a phosban sponge for a few days
10)I realize it's exciting and fun having a reeftank, but seriously try and understand what and how things are taking place, once you do this, you'll your tank will become balanced or seasoned and from there it's pure enjoyment.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by maxalmon
First things first, you need to get the algae under control. You have to get to the root of the problem and understand why it happens. Learn why something happens and then taking responsible, corrective action

.
IMO your probably overfeeding and running the lights too long.
I don't think the clown was the best fish choice, corals are irritated.
IMO there are way too many inhabitants for a tank of this size.
.
Here's what I would do,
1)Replace the clown with a watchman goby or other nano size fish.
2)Cut lighting back to maybe 9 hours.
3)Decrease your feeding schedule or cut back on the amount your feeding.
4)Add another 10lbs of LR
.
5)Get a bunch of Cerith snails.
6)Get rid of the crab.
7)The next time you do a waterchange, siphon the tank water into a bucket then take a piece of LR out of the tank, put it in the bucket and use a scrub brush to remove most of the algae, then back into the tank.
8)USE ONLY RO WATER OR WATER FROM THE LFS for water changes.
9)Run some polyfilter or a phosban sponge for a few days
10)I realize it's exciting and fun having a reeftank, but seriously try and understand what and how things are taking place, once you do this, you'll your tank will become balanced or seasoned and from there it's pure enjoyment.
Ok, Thanks for all the info!!! Get ride of what kind of crabs? All the crabs? I got hermits, emerald, and a marble crab. That clown was the first fish i got when i started this hobby. Il cut down on feeding and the lights. So the day lights gata be on for 9 hours a day and the actinic blue gata be on for 10 hours a day right? Ill try to add as mush live rock as i can in my sump/fuge, im going to get some chaeto algae on monday.
Thanks again for all the info!! Ill do everything you told be above.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Should i change the sand bed too? I got CC in there. If i should change it what kind and what size of sand should i use?
 
maxalmon

maxalmon

Active Member
Don't go crazy and do everything at once, keep it simple and controlled. Maybe start with the clown, then a few days later get rid of the crabs, then clean the LR and on the same day do a large water change etc...The hermits are fine, the other crabs I'd get rid of IMO...I'm just not much of a crab keeping reefer.
.
Because it's such a small system, you need to do everything in small steps and not shock the system, gota keep the shrimp happy.
.
Get the tank cleaned up and once it's under controll then add a new fish.
.
Don't mess too much with the sandbed for right now. The goal is to be patient and make calculated changes to the tank in order to bring eveything into balance. Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top