dcrawford
Member
I'm seeking advice on next steps for my reef tank as I enter into the 11th month. The main concerns these days are: Bubble Algae control. I would like to "keep a balance" in the tank by introducing the right fish to control the bubble algae, while not stressing any other factors. I've been taking the advice of this site and going slow. This is my first post so you probably need some information:
Here are the tank stats:
Tanks finished cycling in Feb 05. (cycled over 3 months with LR and LS)
100gal 5' long acrylic
120lbs live rock
100lbs live sand
PH 8.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0-.025 (currently 0)
Nitrite 0
Alk 8-11 (currently 9)
Calcium 400 (seems to have stablized here with water changes)
Salinity 1.024-1.026 (currently 1.025)
Temp 78-82 (mostly 80)
Equipment:
300w heater set at 78
Pyramid skimmer
Lighting: 2 True Actinic 03 Blue (65w); 2 10,000K (65w); blue-moon leds for night
Lighting on timers: Blue on 7am-11am and 5pm-10pm; Whites on 11am-5pm; moon always on.
Water flow: 1,300 gal/hr (good surface flow to keep heat down and skum clear)
Rena filter (no filtering blocks, except coal, and various filter pads)
Cabinet w/ hood (leave hood open during summer)
Coral:
green hammer branching (added 4th month)
bubble coral (added 5th month)
green eyed zoos (added 5th month)
plate coral (added 5th month)
pagoda cup (added 6th month)
frogspawn (hosting clowns) (added 4th month)
Fish and Cleanup:
1 scarlet hermit (added 8th month)
5 turbo snail; plus 2 offspring babies (added 1st month)
5 elephant nose snails (added 4th month)
1 gobbie (eats mostly algae; added 5th month)
1 Hippo Tang 5" (Add 8th month)
2 clown perc (added 5th month)
Maintenance:
Water change 10g every 3 times a month (I forget the other week)
Kent Marine dkh buffer 3 times a month
Add a 1/2 gallon of water every day. This is tap water I tested and doesn't have any phosphates so I use it.
food: frozen brine and seaweed selects
Deaths and Setbacks:
After the first month of cycling I added the 5 turbo snails and 2 scarlet hermits. The 2 scarlet hermits died on the 2nd month when the tank went through a second cycle when I added another 50lbs of live rock. - learned something. The snails lived on to this day.
Got a Banner on 6th month, I believe a combination of the weather getting hot (water temp went to 84 for some days) and/or it scratched it's eye caused his eye to cloud over and died about 6 weeks later. I learned to keep the surface flow high and hood up in he summer.
Rookie moves and Problems:
I set the tank up near a sun roof so 1/8 of the tank gets sun light. The positive is that the branching hammer coral loves the light and has grown 2 inches in 6 months. The negative is the algae. All types: red, hair, bubble, vines, brown, plum hairy type. I learned that the sun changes angles throughout the year.
Before getting the Hippo Tang the Algae was out of control on the sunny side of the tank. The other side is fine. The Gobbie seems to only like brown algae and the Tang keeps everything else in check except for the bubble and hair algae.
I also set the tank too close to the wall, limiting my hang-on skimmer choices to the pyramid. I had to use a 5' crow bar to move the platform and tank 1/2" just to get that on the tank. - add that to the worst rookie move list
?? What fish/critter do you recommend to add to control the bubble and/or hair algae. Yellow Tang for bubble?
All suggestions are appreciated as we approach the year anniversary.
Thanks and I learn a lot from the site.
Here are the tank stats:
Tanks finished cycling in Feb 05. (cycled over 3 months with LR and LS)
100gal 5' long acrylic
120lbs live rock
100lbs live sand
PH 8.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0-.025 (currently 0)
Nitrite 0
Alk 8-11 (currently 9)
Calcium 400 (seems to have stablized here with water changes)
Salinity 1.024-1.026 (currently 1.025)
Temp 78-82 (mostly 80)
Equipment:
300w heater set at 78
Pyramid skimmer
Lighting: 2 True Actinic 03 Blue (65w); 2 10,000K (65w); blue-moon leds for night
Lighting on timers: Blue on 7am-11am and 5pm-10pm; Whites on 11am-5pm; moon always on.
Water flow: 1,300 gal/hr (good surface flow to keep heat down and skum clear)
Rena filter (no filtering blocks, except coal, and various filter pads)
Cabinet w/ hood (leave hood open during summer)
Coral:
green hammer branching (added 4th month)
bubble coral (added 5th month)
green eyed zoos (added 5th month)
plate coral (added 5th month)
pagoda cup (added 6th month)
frogspawn (hosting clowns) (added 4th month)
Fish and Cleanup:
1 scarlet hermit (added 8th month)
5 turbo snail; plus 2 offspring babies (added 1st month)
5 elephant nose snails (added 4th month)
1 gobbie (eats mostly algae; added 5th month)
1 Hippo Tang 5" (Add 8th month)
2 clown perc (added 5th month)
Maintenance:
Water change 10g every 3 times a month (I forget the other week)
Kent Marine dkh buffer 3 times a month
Add a 1/2 gallon of water every day. This is tap water I tested and doesn't have any phosphates so I use it.
food: frozen brine and seaweed selects
Deaths and Setbacks:
After the first month of cycling I added the 5 turbo snails and 2 scarlet hermits. The 2 scarlet hermits died on the 2nd month when the tank went through a second cycle when I added another 50lbs of live rock. - learned something. The snails lived on to this day.
Got a Banner on 6th month, I believe a combination of the weather getting hot (water temp went to 84 for some days) and/or it scratched it's eye caused his eye to cloud over and died about 6 weeks later. I learned to keep the surface flow high and hood up in he summer.
Rookie moves and Problems:
I set the tank up near a sun roof so 1/8 of the tank gets sun light. The positive is that the branching hammer coral loves the light and has grown 2 inches in 6 months. The negative is the algae. All types: red, hair, bubble, vines, brown, plum hairy type. I learned that the sun changes angles throughout the year.
Before getting the Hippo Tang the Algae was out of control on the sunny side of the tank. The other side is fine. The Gobbie seems to only like brown algae and the Tang keeps everything else in check except for the bubble and hair algae.
I also set the tank too close to the wall, limiting my hang-on skimmer choices to the pyramid. I had to use a 5' crow bar to move the platform and tank 1/2" just to get that on the tank. - add that to the worst rookie move list
?? What fish/critter do you recommend to add to control the bubble and/or hair algae. Yellow Tang for bubble?
All suggestions are appreciated as we approach the year anniversary.
Thanks and I learn a lot from the site.
