melgrj7
New Member
On 4/14/14 I set up a 15 gallon (24"lX13"wX12"h), fish will be 1 Leaf fish (Taenianotus triacanthus). Added 20 pounds of fine live sand, Reef crystals salt, tap water. Filters are an aquaclear 20 with a foam block and chemipure pouch, and a penguin mini with a biowheel and phoszorb. In the evening, once the specific gravity was testing properly I added about 6 pounds of live rock.
Approximately 6 tiny blue leg hermit crabs came off of my live rock. I thought I had gotten all the hermits off the live rock (got it out of a tank of hermit crabs) but obviously not. I'm not really thrilled with the unplanned addition. I may try to fish them out, but I don't feel like taking all the rock out to do that.
I'm questioning whether or not to add more live rock, I know the general rule is a pound per gallon but the 6 or so pounds I have so far already takes up quite a bit of room. I don't want to take up all of the fish's "walking" room with rock.
I am planning to add for clean up crew:
3 Nassarius snails (to help keep the sand mixed)
7 Nerite snails
5 Trochus snails
7 Cerith Snails
I may do less than that, depends on how much algae growth I get. I won't be adding them until I do have some algae growing, and I can always supplement their food with dried algae I suppose (meat for the nassarius).
Planned maintenance:
a 3 gallon water change every 4 days using R/O water purchased from work.
Top off water will be R/O water as well
Equipment wish list:
24" Dual bulb T5
Eshopps nano protein skimmer (unless I find better recommendations?)
Tunze Turbelle nanostream water circulation pump
Once I get the light (end of the week probably) I will be adding mushrooms and polyps. Not sure if I am going to do anything else, its only going to be a double bulb light and I want to keep it fairly easy. Are there other corals that I could get in a small tank with only a double T5 light?
I was thinking of, in the future adding a small inline UV sterilizer (just hooked up to a power head). Any thoughts on whether these are worth adding, and any recommendations on a decent one that doesn't cost a fortune? Needs to be inline, I don't want it in the tank and I don't have a sump.
Here is the tank today:
Approximately 6 tiny blue leg hermit crabs came off of my live rock. I thought I had gotten all the hermits off the live rock (got it out of a tank of hermit crabs) but obviously not. I'm not really thrilled with the unplanned addition. I may try to fish them out, but I don't feel like taking all the rock out to do that.
I'm questioning whether or not to add more live rock, I know the general rule is a pound per gallon but the 6 or so pounds I have so far already takes up quite a bit of room. I don't want to take up all of the fish's "walking" room with rock.
I am planning to add for clean up crew:
3 Nassarius snails (to help keep the sand mixed)
7 Nerite snails
5 Trochus snails
7 Cerith Snails
I may do less than that, depends on how much algae growth I get. I won't be adding them until I do have some algae growing, and I can always supplement their food with dried algae I suppose (meat for the nassarius).
Planned maintenance:
a 3 gallon water change every 4 days using R/O water purchased from work.
Top off water will be R/O water as well
Equipment wish list:
24" Dual bulb T5
Eshopps nano protein skimmer (unless I find better recommendations?)
Tunze Turbelle nanostream water circulation pump
Once I get the light (end of the week probably) I will be adding mushrooms and polyps. Not sure if I am going to do anything else, its only going to be a double bulb light and I want to keep it fairly easy. Are there other corals that I could get in a small tank with only a double T5 light?
I was thinking of, in the future adding a small inline UV sterilizer (just hooked up to a power head). Any thoughts on whether these are worth adding, and any recommendations on a decent one that doesn't cost a fortune? Needs to be inline, I don't want it in the tank and I don't have a sump.
Here is the tank today:
