My 23g Nano reef diary!

[skate020]

righthtt i found the thing for my phone to go into the pc so theres pics comeing up
the angelfish IS a koran aparantly because i went to the fish shop today and asked, he said deff a koran just could go yellow before it goes grey. fair enough?
got a niger trigger today
i know what your thinking; he's mad puttin these fish into a 23g, but i spoke to the parents today and a upgrade for christmas is coming along nicely
and it'll be atleast 70g or so.
i was wondering about the trigger when i first put it in because the angel is TINY and the trigger is alot bigger then it, its still no where near big enough to eat the angel but im still slightly worried. been swimming around for abot an hour now and gone right up close with the angel and nothings happend yet
so fingers crossed. and if it does have a peck at the angel, i'll simply put the angel in my bro's 10g untill its grown half an inch or so, even tho a 10g is stupidly small for a angel.
clownfish seem to be crapping themselves, but trigger hasnt gone near them, besides, there bigger then the angel so yehh,
oh and he's got abit of a busted tail, but who cares? other then that he's a beautiful fish
he's eating too, and after an hour thats good
and my feeder shrimp bred i think,cos suddenly theres loads of lil ones, and my angel went skitzz on one of them

made me laugh because it's such a jumpy fish, whenever i get up or open the door it rush's behind the rocks, and there it was killing the shrimp lol
so yess s'all good
here are the picss y'all been waiting for

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by skate020
http:///forum/post/3155891
righthtt i found the thing for my phone to go into the pc so theres pics comeing up
the angelfish IS a koran aparantly because i went to the fish shop today and asked, he said deff a koran just could go yellow before it goes grey. fair enough?
got a niger trigger today
i know what your thinking; he's mad puttin these fish into a 23g, but i spoke to the parents today and a upgrade for christmas is coming along nicely
and it'll be atleast 70g or so.
i was wondering about the trigger when i first put it in because the angel is TINY and the trigger is alot bigger then it, its still no where near big enough to eat the angel but im still slightly worried. been swimming around for abot an hour now and gone right up close with the angel and nothings happend yet
so fingers crossed. and if it does have a peck at the angel, i'll simply put the angel in my bro's 10g untill its grown half an inch or so, even tho a 10g is stupidly small for a angel.
clownfish seem to be crapping themselves, but trigger hasnt gone near them, besides, there bigger then the angel so yehh,
oh and he's got abit of a busted tail, but who cares? other then that he's a beautiful fish
he's eating too, and after an hour thats good
and my feeder shrimp bred i think,cos suddenly theres loads of lil ones, and my angel went skitzz on one of them

made me laugh because it's such a jumpy fish, whenever i get up or open the door it rush's behind the rocks, and there it was killing the shrimp lol
so yess s'all good
here are the picss y'all been waiting for

WHY are you putting a trigger in a reef tank?????

 

[skate020]

becausee i love triggers.
and besides, the niger trigger is rather the or close to the most least aggresive trigger, to fish and to corals.
and if fed correctly, with a good range of swimming space, he wont touch the corals.
seems to be fine so far.
also, ALOT of people have managed to acclimitise a niger into a reef and everything has been fine, its like a 50/50 thing.
if i got like a queen trigger or a undulated trigger them it would be problemous.
thanks anyways

 

[btldreef]

Ok, I'm going to rant here, but with information and it's for your own good, because you are steering down a path that is going to lead to disaster, which I know you don't mean to do. I think the LFS you're dealing with is not giving you very good information......
Firstly, in this hobby you can't just buy things that you like the look of without doing any research or having the proper environment for them. And just asking the opinion of a LFS that wants to make money off you is not the greatest research. The anemone should never have been added to your tank so quickly and you got very lucky with the mandarin. But you have fish and no CUC, which really is not a good idea, but I'll get to that in a little bit.
Niger Triggers (Odonus niger) are NOT the "least aggressive/most reef safe." Where did you get your information on this? Please, I'd really like to know who told you this, because they are WRONG. The least aggressive/most reef safe Triggers are of the Melichtys and Xanthichthys species.The least aggressive being the Blue Throat Trigger (Xanthichthys auromarginatus), the Crosshatch Trigger (Xanthicthys mento), and the Sargussum Trigger (Xanthicthys ringens). These three triggers are far less likely to destroy coral or most inverts such as hermits and shrimp that you SHOULD have in your tank. The Blue Throats are probably the safest since they mainly feed on zooplankton, so they are far less likely to be interested in inverts, therefore, not harming them. Nigers also get really big, really fast.
Now, as for the inverts that you should have in your tank. You're adding fish and still have no CUC and from the pictures your diatom problem has not gotten any better. You should not add fish until this is under control. Seriously, it's not good for the fish. A CUC should have been the first thing you added. Your complaint on why you didn't do so was because your LFS charged so much for them, but then you go and spend more on fish that really are not right for your tank. You now have an angelfish and a trigger, which is a huge bio load, both eat A LOT, plus a mandarin and 2 clowns, and still no clean up crew. That is a lot to do to a 23G even if you did have a CUC and you have absolutely nothing. The more waste, the more nitrates, the more nitrates, the more dead fish. See where I'm going here?
You also said, "I won't get the trigger until the clowns are bigger," but then you impulse buy. It's not good for you tank to do this. Yes, right now your trigger is small, but it will grow faster than the clowns and when it gets large enough, you could have trouble on your hands, especially if you don't upgrade quick enough. Adding this much this quickly is just as bad, and makes it even harder on your tank. Your fish need to acclimate properly.
Okay, you say you're going to upgrade. But upgrades are never a guarantee until you own the tank and IMO, you shouldn't purchase fish because you're "planning" an upgrade. What if you don't get a larger tank for Christmas? That Angelfish that you bought is already changing, Christmas is still 2 months away and that fish is going to grow quite a bit in that time frame, or it will get stunted due to the small tank. The other issue with putting these large fish in a small tank while their juveniles is that you're creating/developing aggressive tempers. There simply is not enough room in your tank for these fish. I'm actually shocked that your LFS is being irresponsible enough to sell you so much so fast, and so many items that are not right for your tank. This just goes to show that they really just want your money.
Look, I know how hard it is to have a small tank, because they're so limiting. I had a 14G and then a 40G, both limited what I wanted. Finally I have a 155G and even with this large tank, there are still things I can't have due to size/other fish in the tank. It's tough, but with this hobby you should be doing a lot of research before you buy things. You're really asking for problems with what you have going on right now.
You need to fix your diatom problem before you add anything else to this tank and you've just made it way harder on yourself by adding a trigger that will eat half your CUC and an angelfish which eats a lot and produces a huge bio load.
Again, I'm not trying to be mean. I just feel like you're not getting very good information right now and your tank could crash. It's not a cheap hobby and having a tank crash is the last thing I'd wish on anyone.

 

[skate020]

ok, thank you for the concern and worry but i think i've got it under control.
the diatom problem isnt anywhere near as bad as it was, i got a load of snails the other day, maybe its just a dodgey picture.
and for the anemone's, i admit i've made a mistake, but they seem to be doing fine.
the water levels are perfect. and i have a few feeder shrimp in there (about 10) which are too big for the consumption on my fish, and they help alot supprisingly, they eat algae as they can't come to eating anything else. aswell as the angel and the emrald crab, my tank is getting cleaner.
i'll admit the cleansiness isnt perfect. but is anyones?
and i've seen LOADS of people with niger's in a reef, i will agree with you on the fact the blue throat is probably the least aggresive, but the niger really isnt much more aggresive then that.
and i dont mean to be abit of a snob when i say this, but my mum said she'll get me a upgrade for christmas, and she will,
she's a multi-millionaire, she's not going to run out of money for it.
and i've found a 120g that is within the range of money she'd spend on me, and it comes with overflow and sump.
and i mean, 2 months in a 23g really wont harm the fish too bad unless it does crash. and then the 120g will be set, and then wat, leave it a few weeks to cycle, thats fine, and then, 2 clowns, a manderin, a niger and a blueface juvi in a 120g leave ALOT of swim space.
im not saying that wat you are saying isnt true, i trust that you know a heck of alot more about this hobby then i do. but im not totally stupid, i have read up and have been giving examples
and for instance, the 220 FOLWR diary in aggresive fish, has about 4 different types of trigger in there, and it also has a few corals in it, triggers didnt go near them, and some of them are known to be very aggresive,
i know its a 220g and that its totally different. but you can see where im coming from?
when i've got a sump and the new tank, i'll have about 3 powerheads in there with a TON of snails, maybe a few starfish, the normal stuff.
and the filter and everything else can run through the sump, (external filter)
i can have a refugium in the sump too for a steady flow of pods, and also i could maybe breed some snails?
hermits ok i'll give it to you there i need some, but thats not really going to suddenly one day just screw up my tank
over time yes it could be a danger but its not that highly prioty atm.
niger is doing fine atm, bit jumpy but it hasnt even been in there 12 hours yet, i know i may sound like abit of a newb, but honestly, when it comes down to it, i actually do know a lil bit. maybe not alot, but enough.
i treat my tank with calcium and ph buffer to make sure its at a steady pace, i'll keep the salinity at 1.025 for the anemone's and i make sure the lighting is as close the the water as poss for maximum capacity. atm im putting in pods by hand every other day untill i can get a temporary refugium, but the manderin looks happy and alive
btw also, im not having ago, just i know people on here think im abit newby, but really im not, my dad has had countless number of fish tanks and has a fairly big one now, he directs me in the right way.
and the people at the lfs, ok maybe they do want to make a sale, but they do advise me on things, for instance he said to me the trigger will grow to about a foot aswell as the angel, so a tank upgrade when you can to atleast a 60g will be fine. i mean, there DT's are beautiful, they must be doing something right?
once again, i thank you for the concern, and im not having a go either, but honestly im fine

 

[skate020]

righttt, my sebae anemone has decided to hide under a rock again, where nothing can get to it, and my clownfish are pretty reliant on it, there skitzing out, like digging into the sand to try get to it. wat shall i do? just leave it?

 

[skate020]

okk, i just ordered a new powerhead online is a 6000lph twin head
might be abit powerful i my 23g but for when i get my 100g it'll be ok

 

[aquapod 24]

why are you getting all this stuff for your bigger tank when you dont even have it yet???????? sorry to rain on your parade but im going to say the angle, trigger and/or the mandarin are going to die before christmas.

 

[skate020]

i ordered the tank this morning, its from over seas and its custom so they said it'll be here around december time, but cos of christmas, dont be supprised if its early jan, but its been paid for.
all the fish i have in my tank atm seem to be fine, none of them are perticularly big and i made a refugium bout a week ago and the manderin is still kickin, also feeding it frozen cyclops, which it takes, and the angel is like 2.5" its got plenty of room for its size and the trigger doesnt touch it, if the worst come to worst i'll take the fish to the lfs and ask them to keep them in there for a couple weeks?
im NOT buying anymore fish untill i've got the tank in my room, cycled, and with the others in it,
and if i start buying stuff for it now then i dont run the risk of gettin the tank, then running out of money. i know the 6000lph powerhead is WAY to much for a 23g so i wont put it in.
before i knew anything about fish, and got my first marine tank, i had a 6" lion, a 5" humu humu, and a 5" porcy puffer, with a foxface and pearlscale butterfly both about 3.5-4" and they were there for about 3 months no problem, i then sold them so i could get a reef.
and all my fish are feeding well, none compeating, and so on, i got a cleaner shrimp today aswell, managed to get a pic of it cleaning my trigger, if the trigger can let a cleaner shrimp clean it, im sure it'll be fine with a angel