Dan's 450l Marine Tank...

[_daniel]

Well, bit of an exciting update. I added me first livestock today!

I purchased five little green chromis, a nice torch coral and a small rock with a brown and green zoa colony. I don't have my camera tonight, so pics will have to follow soon.

They all seem very happy. Both corals extended within about 15 mins of being in the tank. The fish all hid in a little huddle at the back for an hour or so, but are now very active. They also took to pellets and some frozen "marine green" mix readily.

It's very funny to watch them swim directly into my wave maker stream, then get overcome when it switches to 15,000L/hr mode.

 

[_daniel]

Ok, well after some further reading I've discovered that my "easy to keep" torch coral isn't exactly that easy. I had grown to trust that LFS as well. I was determined not to make these sort of mistakes with my tank! Now I know I have to do thorough research on EVERY purchase and not trust anyone else's word.

Does anyone have any tips for ensuring the health of this coral? I know that they require good water conditions, and moderate flow/light. I will carry out my first big water change on the weekend.

 

[SkiFletch]

What's wrong with it?

 

[_daniel]

Well nothing is really wrong with it, but my knowledge is very limited. All the little tentacles seem to be in tact, colourful and everything, but they aren't extending as far as they were in the shop, or when it was first put into my tank.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10

I purchased 15 little black-legged hermit crabs today, plus a decent sized snail (forget the exact name, looks like a cone sheel but isn't).

 

[littleme1969]

New corals will alwasy take a good few weeks to properly settle in even the hardiest Zoos have taken a good 2 weeks for all the heads to open in my tank and my stats are pretty good. Do some research on it as much as you can and just keep an eye on it, i'm sure it will pick up soon once it feels at home

 

[_daniel]

Thanks for that! I needed to hear something encouraging!

I have about 4-5 different types of zoa's in my tank, and they are open non-stop and some are even multiplying. My newly purchased rock of brown/green zoa's opened almost instantly and open/close while feeding every 30 minutes or so.

I love my new little hermits, they are so cute and interesting to watch. They are absolutely devouring diatoms all over my sand!

 

[SkiFletch]

The only way tentacle length can be used to assess the health of a Euhpyllia genus coral is if they are retracted and pulled into the skeleton after lights-on for more than 2 hours. That's a bad sign. But otherwise, the coral will exhibit different tentacle lengths and thicknesses depending on the environment it lives in as far as lighting, flow, and chemistry are concerned. In this first month in your care, it may expel zooxanthellae alae as it gets used to your lighting. This is normal and almoast looks like the coral is "puking" after which for a breif preiod of time the tentacles will be retracted. It should however perk up within an hour or so. Just be prepared for that

 

[_daniel]

Well, more good news. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate are all 0. There's a bit of hair algae growning but as I add my clean up crew it should begin to thin out.

I posted a question about my torch coral here and some questions about future stock options here if you care to have a look and offer some feedback.

 

[_daniel]

Time for an update. First of all, all tank stats are reading fine.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.4
S.g.: 1.024
Phosphate: 0

I have some new stock now! This is what is in the tank now:

Fish

5 x green chromis
2 x ocellaris clown fish (a wild caught pair)
1 x purple/yellow royal dottyback
1 x bicolour blenny
1 x lyretail blenny/yellowtail fang blenny Meiacanthus atrodo
Inverts

1 x large torch coral
1 x brown/green zoanthid colony
1 x small brown leather

CUC

15 x small black hermit crabs
1 x stromb snail

Now for some pics!

I'm not very good at taking fish photos yet! The two blennies are very shy, I really need some better pics of them. The clown pair is proving a little difficult to get together at once as well.

The bicolour blenny is very very funny, I love the way he darts in and out of holes and peeks out at you.

My little torch coral dilema is definately over, it seems to be thriving now. It has apparently adjusted to the light and flow levels and fully extends its tentacles virtually around the clock.

I'm having a little hair algae growth, as well as some cyanobacteria on one of the rocks. I'm running PhosGuard and nitrate and phosphate are both at zero. I know that algae growth could be giving a false reading for the nutrients. I will be adding a refugium next weekend. I want to reduce the lighting in the tank until I can get a refugium up and running. How many hours of light minimum can I run and still keep my coral healthy? I've got it at about 4-5 at the moment, I would like to drop it back to around 2-3.

 

[WayneVT08]

I believe the yellow and purple one is a royal gramma basslet.

 

[_daniel]

I believe the yellow and purple one is a royal gramma basslet.

Gramma

Dottyback

I wouldn't say so at all, TBH.

 

[WayneVT08]

Well you did ask for an idea, I offered one, you didn't have to listen.

 

[_daniel]

Haha sorry, I didn't mean any offence. I'm certain that that fish is a dottyback. I am however unsure of the species of the blenny you can see in the background of the third last picture, the one with the yellow lyre tail. If you can help me with an ID on that one that be muchly appreciated!

 

[WayneVT08]

Try liveaquaria.com they have a lot of fish there, just check out the blenny section and you might find it. I don't have time to look right now, but I will later.

 

[littleme1969]

1 x purple/yellow royal dottyback
Just watch out for that fish I have one and its one evil little mother Fu*ker . Its fine with most of my fish but has taken a real dislike to my scooter blenny. Once they find a fish they can intimidate they will pick on it relentlasly and they sure pack a mean punch too. I'm getting rid of mine as its turning a vry peacfull tank into a war zone. Now all I have to do is catch the little monster