Returning to a Reef tank after 2 years of nothing...

[velbar]

so after a catastrophic loss of an entire 150 gal tank a few years back I am finally returning to building the tank back uo. I cleaned everything out, cured the rock and sand and let it all sit dormant and dry for a veyr very long time. I got the urge finally to start rebuilding it and decided that I would resume a reef tank but this time instead of critters My focus was to be on corals for the most part.

That being said, My experience with corals was just begining when the great crash happend so what little I knew was lost. So I have been conditioning water for a month, got the Ph up the salinity and calcium and carbonat and nitrates all in safe zones, got a dozen or so snails in there to help keep the system cleaning and build the eco build. So as an early christmas present I took advantage of one of the black friday sales and got a frag 5 pac.... cool....great...aWESOME....

I don't know for sure what I got (just arrived today) so I would very much appreciate some rapid response in identifying the frags I received so I can make sure I have the right chem settings to work together and make the tank all pretty and such. I am going to attempt to attach images of each of the 5 and if you guys would take the time to identify the frags for Me and maybe even give Me suggestions for best conditions n your books for them surviving and hopefully flourishing I would really really appreciate it.....

I do not want to lose an entire tank again....kinda hurts in more places than just the wallet. I am more than willing to answer questions to the best of My knowledge. I am just trying to build the reef tank with corals and plant life for the most part, an anemone here and there with a clown fish but for now I do not want to load the tank up with critter life until I get the rest of things settled and worked through the first several issues that i know I will end up having to deal with.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[flower]

Hi,

I just wanted to welcome you, and tell you I understand about the pain of tank crash. I will leave the identity to others... corals don't like change, so stable water conditions is the goal. As long as you use a quarantine for fish, make sure everything can get along with one another, and go slow when you stock, you shouldn't have any problems. Don't be afraid of keeping fish, corals are much more demanding when it comes to upkeep.

Happy reefing! LOLO...and Happy Birthday!

 

[velbar]

Hi,

I just wanted to welcome you, and tell you I understand about the pain of tank crash. I will leave the identity to others... corals don't like change, so stable water conditions is the goal. As long as you use a quarantine for fish, make sure everything can get along with one another, and go slow when you stock, you shouldn't have any problems. Don't be afraid of keeping fish, corals are much more demanding when it comes to upkeep.

Happy reefing! LOLO...and Happy Birthday!

Thank you for the welcome and guidance. What little I do remember of the corals I was trying was that they were harder than the swimming critters I had had in My tank, some of the fish I had had for years and was going slowish but was definitely starting to branch out to corals because I had come into a very nice and large metal halide hood. I could bemoan the loss at the time but now is the time to be looking forward and I am very much looking forward to the corals. I taught Myself to make reef rock, not necessarily live rock, but that rock like any other can become live rock so I have quite a bit of rock in the tank along with the wave maker power heads and another single power head at the other end so I have a decent circulation and surface area for the corals to hopefully grow and spread over time. I just need to understand what it is that came in the frag pak and hope they are reasonably hardy and begginerish as far as corals could be begginerish. For the foreseeable future I intend to have very little swimming critters (just the reef snails and crabs and the single percula so the grand kids have something to watch when they come over....sadly they are to young to enjoy the beauty of corals just yet...but granpa is working on them lol

 

[flower]

Thank you for the welcome and guidance. What little I do remember of the corals I was trying was that they were harder than the swimming critters I had had in My tank, some of the fish I had had for years and was going slowish but was definitely starting to branch out to corals because I had come into a very nice and large metal halide hood. I could bemoan the loss at the time but now is the time to be looking forward and I am very much looking forward to the corals. I taught Myself to make reef rock, not necessarily live rock, but that rock like any other can become live rock so I have quite a bit of rock in the tank along with the wave maker power heads and another single power head at the other end so I have a decent circulation and surface area for the corals to hopefully grow and spread over time. I just need to understand what it is that came in the frag pak and hope they are reasonably hardy and begginerish as far as corals could be begginerish. For the foreseeable future I intend to have very little swimming critters (just the reef snails and crabs and the single percula so the grand kids have something to watch when they come over....sadly they are to young to enjoy the beauty of corals just yet...but granpa is working on them lol

Corals are why I got into the hobby...LOL...the fish were just decoration that moved....well until I discovered keeping seahorses some years later, they trumped any ocean critter I ever had.

 

[velbar]

So I am 5 days in now to having the new frags (the only living things aside from the percula and some snails and hermit crabs. The snails and crabs and fish are seemingly doing well, but I am still unclear on which corals I have in those frags (pics posted a few comments back) so I do not see much of any change other than potentially diminishing of colors in a few of them. I think My tank chems are alright but I will list them just to make sure,

Ph 8.2, Ammonia 0, Phosphate .25, Nitrate 20, Carbonate 7, Calcium 400, Salinity 34, Specific Gravity 1.025 and a reasonably constant 71.4 degrees Fahrenheit temp. yesterday an orangish algae bloom started in on some of the live rock so I know life exists but whether its first contact or a glancing blow I am just not clear on. I have what amounts to 5 power heads ( 4 in one device called the wave maker that I can adjust individually to a wide range of direction which is placed on one side of the tank on the side wall and then the other singular power head on the other side wall) which are generating a decently strong circulation in the tank. Metal halide bulbs as well as a coral life incandescent bulb, as well as an over the back filtraton system that appears to finally be building the ecosystem with the algae bloom. I have not put a skimmer in yet being that the one I had cracked and ceased working and haven't been able to get a new one yet. I have been adding kalkwasser and magnesium to the tank slowly every few days so I am reasonably sure I have what the tank frags need but am more than open to suggestions and questions that will help Me.

The problem remains that I can not accurately identify the types of corals I got with the frags so I really am mostly blind as to how close to lighting or whether I need to tuck a frag into a crevice to reduce the flow across it. Here are pictures taken tonight vs the ones a few comments up in this thread that are from Wednesday when the frags arrived

 

[velbar]

Well it's time for an update I suppose. A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks (give or take a few days). My early christmas present from My family was a gift certificate here, which along with reef reward points I had built up those few years back as well as some $$ credits I had as well, and ultimately a few more fresh $$ I purchased, last week, a major reef pack for the tank.

It has begun to significantly build the brown algae of a new tank, which I had been fueling by adding some fish food flakes here and there to build up some waste to feed the algae.... so I got a reef 75 pack that amounted to 100 crabs and a 100 snails and a handful of shrimp as well as acquiring a few more (10) assorted coral frags. Now I still have no clue what most of the coral frags are by name and I will get to them in a moment but the build up of algae has definitely been halted and rather enjoyed it would appear as to see the tank now there is significantly less of that brown and green algae.... the eco system would appear to be coming to life rather well with the janitors well in place.

so with the addition of 10 new coral frags the tank is up to 15 little frags, There is one that is clearly some sort of feather duster and one is very clearly orange soft corals.... several appear to be polyps and at least one leather mushroom I think. They are all resting comfortably and at the very least 5 of the total of 15 appear to be surviving and doing reasonably well, the feather dusters have shown their faces 3 times now in the last 6 or 7 days as well as a few others that I wish I knew the names of but at least 2 of them are "blooming" they have a polyp that opens up like an umbrella of sorts and remains rather flat until it gets pulled back in. The water stats are still fluctuating some because of the singular percula that did not endure and so the ammonia levels went up, fortunately not significantly but up enough to be noticed.

So its Christmas, I know the family has purchased some equipment for Me from My wish lists but I do no know quite what for a few more days but I am to a brand new point in My hobbying with the reef..... I am starting to consider construction of a SUMP.... not something I have ever tinkered with before. I have an over the back filter pump that has done Me well but I learned a few hard lessons with the big crash 2 years ago and also learned some more in the last few weeks as I have returned to the hobby. So now its time to ask for opinions again.

I have a 150 gal tank, standard rectangular shape but undrilled. The same tank I have had for many years. I am thinking that the family went in together and got a new skimmer for Me, the last one developed an irreparable split in the plastic, I already have a very good heater as well as what amounts to 5 power heads for circulation, the metal hallide light hood with an additional incandescent bulb hood, and then I also have a submersible pump that I am all but certain I can make use of in the plumbing of a sump. I think that covers most of important equipment. So, I have started reading threads here and on the web in general, about building and plumbing sumps but I will take this moment to ask for opinions, I need to do it as cost efficiently as possible but if I have to do it a little at a time until I finally have all the components to actually put it into use so be it, I have no problem buying pvc and acryllic or rubbermaid or even a small tank, and putting it together off to the side until I have the various compartments set out and such.... a Mentor? suggestions, opinions? There is little room beneath nor behind but there is space beside it that I believe will work just as well....I am just starting to plan and hopping to begin construction maybe this weekend...

 

[velbar]

Well, 37 days down and its been a messy month, the last week and a half more specifically. I finally got enough materials together to start construction of the 30 gallon sump and began by constructing the pvc over flow and using 170 gph pump to return the water from the sump back to the tank.... unfortunately twice I got distracted and flooded out. The first go round I was away for 10 minutes and the flow failed in the overflow and it managed to drain half of the 150 gal tank, of course the 30 gal sump was full so I was able to return at least that water back to the tank while Me and the wet vac did a water dance. After I got everything all dried out a few days later I tried the over flow again and was having difficulty keeping the vacuum going in the pvc but thought I had it figured out and went to get a cup of coffee, came back to find the return flow pump hose had pushed its way out of the tank and promptly emptied the contents of the sump on to the floor this time....awesome!!! not!! so I have hit a small delay because I was out of reef salt thanks to that last flood and I had to order more (doesn't get here until tomorrow) but fortunately the tank was high on salinity so I was able to take the last cup of reef salt I had and mixed a very few gallons of water that were seriously low in salinity in the sump and then began tinkering with the overflow again late last night with just enough water in the sump for the return flow pump to have something to work with and after a 2 hour tinkering with the vacuum line and trying stuff that wasn't exactly how I understood it should work but it did (I wound up having to put a small air pump on the far end of the vacuum tubing with a valve in between and rather than letting it just prime the line once and locking it in to place with the valve once it was working I have to leave the air pump running and persistently drawing on the tubing to keep the drain flow going in the pvc. Now I am running lower water level than I intended to so the weir is a little higher than the water level so its not getting a good fill which is probably the cause for needing to keep the air pump running but for the moment with all things in place and adding the mechanical filtration into the sump as well, I have successfully had the overflow running now for 13 hours with no issues other than minimal flow. so I have it figured out at least but I will have to take it all apart one more time because I set it all up on the front of the tank where I had easy access to everything so I have to undo it all and move it to the backside of the tank but I will wait a few more days to start that until after I have the new reef salt in hand.

About 2/3's of My new coral frags have survived the unplanned disasters as have all the crabs and snails and even the shrimp that are in there. I lost a few frags each time I flooded out but I was able to act fast enough so I learned a whole lot. I am waiting on a replacement halide bulb for one that hasnt worked since the great tank crash 2 years ago as well as the skimmer so that when I have the sump moved I can move the heater, and the skimmer to the sump and when those are done I think it will be finally set at a decent level that I can return the focus of My time to enjoying the corals. Which just brought to mind that I am also wanting to aquire a pair of timed power strips so I can cycle the lighting in a daytime nighttime light cycles. I am thinking of having the halides cut off 9ish at night and not come back on until 7 or 8 the next morning and have a grow bulb come on to be moonlight.

I am going to plug in some images I took last night and I am hoping that some one can help identify the corals for Me, I still have no real clue what I have and want to make sure I get them all set in the right flows and lighting so I would really appreciate other more learned people and comments of what I might be doing wrong or right and maybe even tell Me some of the names of what I have please

 

[beth]

Your pics are bit too blurry to really give ids of these, however, why are you not getting IDs from the store that you bought these from?? That is your best bet. Best thing to keeping a reef tank is to id all creatures (including algae, inverts, corals, fish, etc.) before you acquire them, to make sure all has compatiblity with your set up. A successful tank relies on compatibility and suitability.

 

[novahobbies]

For the pics in your past post, going in order (from where they start coral pics) you have some green star polyps, a small sun coral (feed this, it's not photosynthetic), an unidentified zoanthid frag, can't identify the next pic, then a mushroom coralimorph, and the last coral pic I can't identify. Sorry it's hard to tell, but it's a start!

 

[2quills]

Well, 37 days down and its been a messy month, the last week and a half more specifically. I finally got enough materials together to start construction of the 30 gallon sump and began by constructing the pvc over flow and using 170 gph pump to return the water from the sump back to the tank.... unfortunately twice I got distracted and flooded out. The first go round I was away for 10 minutes and the flow failed in the overflow and it managed to drain half of the 150 gal tank, of course the 30 gal sump was full so I was able to return at least that water back to the tank while Me and the wet vac did a water dance. After I got everything all dried out a few days later I tried the over flow again and was having difficulty keeping the vacuum going in the pvc but thought I had it figured out and went to get a cup of coffee, came back to find the return flow pump hose had pushed its way out of the tank and promptly emptied the contents of the sump on to the floor this time....awesome!!! not!! so I have hit a small delay because I was out of reef salt thanks to that last flood and I had to order more (doesn't get here until tomorrow) but fortunately the tank was high on salinity so I was able to take the last cup of reef salt I had and mixed a very few gallons of water that were seriously low in salinity in the sump and then began tinkering with the overflow again late last night with just enough water in the sump for the return flow pump to have something to work with and after a 2 hour tinkering with the vacuum line and trying stuff that wasn't exactly how I understood it should work but it did (I wound up having to put a small air pump on the far end of the vacuum tubing with a valve in between and rather than letting it just prime the line once and locking it in to place with the valve once it was working I have to leave the air pump running and persistently drawing on the tubing to keep the drain flow going in the pvc. Now I am running lower water level than I intended to so the weir is a little higher than the water level so its not getting a good fill which is probably the cause for needing to keep the air pump running but for the moment with all things in place and adding the mechanical filtration into the sump as well, I have successfully had the overflow running now for 13 hours with no issues other than minimal flow. so I have it figured out at least but I will have to take it all apart one more time because I set it all up on the front of the tank where I had easy access to everything so I have to undo it all and move it to the backside of the tank but I will wait a few more days to start that until after I have the new reef salt in hand.

About 2/3's of My new coral frags have survived the unplanned disasters as have all the crabs and snails and even the shrimp that are in there. I lost a few frags each time I flooded out but I was able to act fast enough so I learned a whole lot. I am waiting on a replacement halide bulb for one that hasnt worked since the great tank crash 2 years ago as well as the skimmer so that when I have the sump moved I can move the heater, and the skimmer to the sump and when those are done I think it will be finally set at a decent level that I can return the focus of My time to enjoying the corals. Which just brought to mind that I am also wanting to aquire a pair of timed power strips so I can cycle the lighting in a daytime nighttime light cycles. I am thinking of having the halides cut off 9ish at night and not come back on until 7 or 8 the next morning and have a grow bulb come on to be moonlight.

I am going to plug in some images I took last night and I am hoping that some one can help identify the corals for Me, I still have no real clue what I have and want to make sure I get them all set in the right flows and lighting so I would really appreciate other more learned people and comments of what I might be doing wrong or right and maybe even tell Me some of the names of what I have please

Pic #4. Green Star Polyps aka GSP. Good beginner coral. Fairly adaptable to a variety of flow and lighting conditions.

Pic #5. Sun Coral (non photosynthetic). Better kept near the bottom of the tank possibly even in a shaded area. Beautiful but not a great begging coral. I've only tried to keep one. Not tough to keep alive but hard to keep them looking great on a consistent basis. Target feeding is recommended.

Pic #6. Some type of polyps possibly, Palythoa or zooanthids.

Pic #7. Can't tell but it doesn't look good what ever it is. Definitely a stony coral though. Wouldn't recommend stony corals to cut your teeth on. Stick with cheaper and easier for a year or two. Your wallet with thank you for it later.

Pic #8. Mushroom polyp. A soft coral that likes moderate lighting. Good beginner coral

Pic #9. Cerith snail would be my guess.

 

[velbar]

Your pics are bit too blurry to really give ids of these, however, why are you not getting IDs from the store that you bought these from?? That is your best bet. Best thing to keeping a reef tank is to id all creatures (including algae, inverts, corals, fish, etc.) before you acquire them, to make sure all has compatibility with your set up. A successful tank relies on compatibility and suitability.

Beth,
thank you for the insight and while I do not disagree at all, in these specific frags realities, I bought them from saltwaterfish,com in the 5 frag miscellaneous deals available just before Christmas day so I had no control over what I got. In fact I had acquired a few frags before hand and asked the server gods what I had but the same reply of sorts was given, My images were to blurry to identify, and I fully trust that as I saw My own images, I just dont have the ability to see clearer into the tank at the specific points I placed the frags.

I am not completely new to the reef tankism but I am also smart enough to admit I don't have a freaking clue what most corals are. Before this tank My priority was fish not coral and I have done a 180 on that . I am extremely grateful for any of the identifications made as well as the best concept of care for them, I am truly grateful to learn from past experiences, My tragic ones as well as the experiences of persons such as you....

Thank you, truly... and I welcome any more suggestions and guidance you care to share with Me please....please. I am limited but also expanding My experience and tank so that maybe, just maybe I can have one of those stunning tanks that are seen beyond a houses walls, maybe even a business's walls.

Please, if any one has thoughts or ideas I very much welcome them even if they may appear against My minuscule experience and I very much want to be a smart hobbiest that maybe, just maybe, I can be the words of wisdom in the future because someone shared with Me.

Thank you

 

[velbar]

2quills, Thank you very very much for the guidance in identification and also how best to set the identified frags up for success, I do greatly appreciate every singular identification and any words of experience that help Me learn to make them all success'

Being that I had no control in what I was given in My tank from the random groups of 5 I purchased, I have asked Mary what many of them might be and even those many days ago My images were designated to blurry to identify, something as a novice photographer I can also understand. I wish I could stick My camera into the water to enable the more clearer images needed but I am can not and am stuck asking for those like you that are far more experienced in the hobby than I am to identify what I got. I suspect I was given a few frags of much higher quality than others and I really, really want to knw what I have and how best to enable them for success.

Thank you all for any guidance and hints!!!!

Pic #4. Green Star Polyps aka GSP. Good beginner coral. Fairly adaptable to a variety of flow and lighting conditions.

Pic #5. Sun Coral (non photosynthetic). Better kept near the bottom of the tank possibly even in a shaded area. Beautiful but not a great begging coral. I've only tried to keep one. Not tough to keep alive but hard to keep them looking great on a consistent basis. Target feeding is recommended.

Pic #6. Some type of polyps possibly, Palythoa or zooanthids.

Pic #7. Can't tell but it doesn't look good what ever it is. Definitely a stony coral though. Wouldn't recommend stony corals to cut your teeth on. Stick with cheaper and easier for a year or two. Your wallet with thank you for it later.

Pic #8. Mushroom polyp. A soft coral that likes moderate lighting. Good beginner coral

Pic #9. Cerith snail would be my guess.

 

[velbar]

Thank you both 2quills and beth, I greatly appreciate learning a few things new to Me knowing I have a lot to learn even having been around a reef tank for a number of years... survival of just a few things back then made Me overconfident perhaps but I still need(ed) to learn a lot and helping identify what I have now definitely helps me though. half My frags seem to be doing well, blossoming so to speak but I have not seen much growth beyond survival, I suspect that may take months being that I am literally elbow deep in constructing the sump for the first time

Those thanks all said, and the admission of learning clearly there.....I'll be damd'd if My tank hasn't spoken, I must be doing ok, barely perhaps because more cleaning can be done now...but damned if I did not walk in at the right time and find one of My shrimp had a baby. I have no clue how many a shrimp might birth at once, but I clearly have captured on image a mother and baby. I know I question if its a baby and just another of the original shrimp I received a month or so ago, but I am absolutely positive this new critter in the tank is smaller than any shrimp I have received since starting the reef back up.... I am a papa for the first time ever in any of My salt water tanks

 

[velbar]

Well, the last of My Christmas toy's finally arrived this morning. My protein skimmer. I now have it set up in the new sump construct. Now I just need to undo just enough to run the pump and power head that drives the skimmer behind everything and take the heater out of the tank and move it down to the sump as well.... and then lastly seeing that the sump appears to be doing what it should be doing....I can take the hob filters off the tank and see how the tank does with just the sump. I sure am hoping all this new experiment and experience with building and using a sump works out so I can let everything settle for several weeks at least and then get 1 or 2 EASY reef fish.

The snails and crabs and shrimp (including momma shrimp and her baby) all seem to be doing better than ok and most of my corals seem stable at least....6 or 7 of them "bloom" several times a day so I must be doing a decent job with the water conditioning though I do need to do a chem test (I have been lax in doing that while building the sump).

I will post some pictures of the sump later tonight after I get the grandkids to bed...

 

[velbar]

So I realized I was forgetting or missing at least one very important detail, probably even more that I just haven't realized or remembered for which I continue watching youtube DIYs for and hope you guys here will point out My errors before they are catastrophic. So a little over a month ago I got 15 frags and placed them at various points in the tank and replaced a dead halide bulb. and I have watched and watched them, most haven't changed much, grown or died...that in itself is probably a win but I did loose a few polyps I think they were and a leather that I just didnt understand well enough yet.

So what did I realize I was missing, well 2 things for the frags actually...first I had not glued them down, a matter I have half taken care of now...half because I only glued half into places while I judge how they do. The half that were doing the best got glued in to where I had them so the dang push hermit crabs quit pushing them around like school yard bullies. So then it occured to Me that aside from the star polyps that might have been benefiting from some of the fish food flakes I was feeding the system (so the crabs had something mostly while the algae system generates its self and establishes better.

So now I have Marine Snow and Coral Frenzy and as of tonight fed in dose to the system with the coral frenzy and spot fed the polyps and what I think are brain (type) . The coral frenzy is specific enough about feeding may 2 or 3 times a week AND I realize I am most likely double dosing with the coral frenzy and the marine snow at the same time but now I come to another point of needing to learn and be guided by recommendation at least. How often should I do spot feedings on the polyps and such. The system dosing as a whole with the coral frenzy may be more than sufficient but I will ask as well.... AM I DOUBLE DOSING? really.... the damn horny cleaner shrimp leapt from their hiding places in the crevices to where the polyps were right after I spot fed them, clearly the shrimp like the snow lol... Can anyone give Me an experienced thought on the used of both Marine Snow and Coral Frenzy, how often I should feed...spot or system dose? Eyes on, help?

Mike

 

[bang guy]

In my opinion there is no need for you to feed Marine Snow.

Spot feeding most corals isn't required but it will speed up growth.

Give your Shrimp a meaty piece of seafood before you spot feed corals. It will give them something to chew on so they don't disturb the coral. Having them reach into the polyps and extract food damages the corals.

 

[velbar]

@bang guy , First thank you for replying.

I wondered if I was over doing it with the marine snow and coral frenzy. I will maybe alternate the coral frenzy and marine snow until the snow is gone and then continue with the frenzy. I do not have anything "meaty" as yet for the shrimp and I do not think any of the limited local stores have anything, even the big pets-mart in town does not even carry test kits or chemicals for saltwater, only fresh water...so I have to mail order or drive an hour and a half one way to get to the "big city" where such things are available.

What would you recommend I acquire as a meaty meal for the shrimp and anything else that would prefer such meaty treats?

 

[lmforbis]

A lot of big box pet stores carry frozen fish food. ***** for sure. You can also buy some frozen raw shrimp or clams at the grocery store then blend it up or chop really small and referee in a ziplock bag in a thin layer. You can break off what you need.

 

[velbar]

@lmforbis, Sadly we don't have a ***** here, the closest one is in Tucson an hour and a half away. Years ago when I started saltwater tanking again I had a mom and pop pet store here in town that actually carried a decent amount of salt water gear and critters but they couldn't survive when Petsmart came to town, unfortunately Petsmart made a conscious decision not to stock anything specifically saltwater... lots and lots of freshwater but if it couldn't be labeled as anything other than saltwater it wasn't stocked and still isn't. I have asked a few times about frozen food stuffs and its simply not in their plans to stock it here, crickets and worms and even feeder fish for other critters but nothing in the lines of what I envision could be food for saltwater critters, that all being said I had not even thought of grocery store shrimp or clams. Thank you for that, at least until I can make a trip into the big city I can use that. I am always up for being taught something new to me for My tank or suggestions.... I am definitely no expert maybe moderate but still very limited to the small handful of critters and such I have experienced over the years.

Mike

 

[bang guy]

Hi Mike,

Are you in Sierra Vista?

for meaty seafood, any raw seafood from the grocery store will work. I'd shy away from freshwater fish but squid, salmon, scallops, etc. will work great. Just a small chunk will keep the shrimp happy for hours. Don't over do it or you could have water quality issues.