Im Still Not Sure If This Is Going To Work...

[BigBeginner]

Hi Everyone, Im still new to TFF and marine tanks, so I have decided to a try this journal thing on my 55 gal soon to be reef tank, just to help with keeping track of my tank and to get to know people. So any help is appreciated.


Current Organisms:
-Blue Devil Damselfish
-Yellow-Tail Damselfish
-Percula Clown
-Toadstool Mushroom Leather, Green Striped Mushroom & Blue/Green mushrooms
-Green Torch Corals
-Very small Zoo colony
-Emerald Mythrax Crab
-2 Turbo Snails & 2 Astrea Snails
-Chaeto & some kelp
-Chocolate Chip Star
-2 Scooter Blennys (smallF)&(largeM)
-About 24 pounds liverock (First thing i plan to get more of asap)

Future Fish/Inverts:
-Blue/Green Reef Chromis
-Firefish or Purple Firefish
-Banggai Cardinalfish
-Diamond Watchman Goby or 2 to 3 Neon Gobys or Orange Spotted Goby or Yellow Watchman Goby
-Six Line Wrasse or Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse
-1 more Percula clown
-Scissortail Dartfish
-Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crabs, Emerald Mythrax Crabs, Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab (What type should i get and how many?)
-Cleaner Shrimp
-Sleeper Gold Head Goby (sand sifter)
*Are these ok to have? Could i get more? What would be better? I dont plan to have all of them, its just a list of what i want

Future Corals:
-More Mushrooms (Hairy, and anything else)
-Cabbage Leather Coral, other soft corals
-Maybe some polyps

Hitch-Hikers!:
-A million Feather Dusters
-A bunch of baby brittlestars
-A wormy thingy, possibly a Chaetopterid or Spionid? <a href="http/melevsreef.com/id/dualpalps.html" target="_blank">http/melevsreef.com/id/dualpalps.html</a>
-A couple white thingys that look like featherdusters but not really
-A couple of Digitate hydroids <a href="http/melevsreef.com/id/digitate_hydroid.html" target="_blank">http/melevsreef.com/id/digitate_hydroid.html</a>
-And some aiptasia i am killing

Equipment:
-Not sure what type of filter or the gph
-A Heater
-2 Koralia Powerheads (1 small and 1 med)
-Dual bulb lights (1 blue uv light and a 10,000 bulb)
-A hydro-thermo-meter
*Please suggest any other equipment i will need

Last Stat Test:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <20
pH: 8.4
Calcium: 300
KH: 170 ppm
Phosphate: <0.5
Salinity: 1.024
Temperature: 25 C

To Gets/Hopes:
-UV bulb
-A sump/fuge
-RO water filter
-Mysis, brineshrimp, bloodworms, dried seaweed (foodclip), phytoplankton
-Live copepods
-Chaeto/phosphate sponge for cyano bacteria


Pictures:
*Ill put more when i put mroe live rock and such

Questions:
-*Answered* If im not supposed to wash my filters with cold tap water, what am i supposed to do? like how often should i wash it, wash it with what, when do i replace it? ect and other stuff i need to know. cause i have been washing it in warm tap water every couple weeks (im asking for fish in general because i have fresh and salt water)
1.What and how/why do u quarentine fish? (Does not quarentineing fish cause whitespots?)
2.What is a good clean up crew for my tank? (Amount and type)
3.Im starting to have a HUGE issue with hair algae&cyanobacteria in my tank, whats the best way to get rid of it fast?
4.Whats skimming?
5.I was planning on geting another power head for the other side of the tank, but should i get one of those tunze waveboxes or can i live with another small powerhead?
6.Can i and should i get a fuge with out a sump?
7.For my blenny am i supposed to put rubble and cheato in my main tank so he can feed off of pods, or do i put them in a fuge?
-*Answered*Can i live with out a sump?
8.Can someone explain to me about coraline algae like what it is and if its bad or good or just looks nice?
9.What are diatoms? and how do i know if i have them?
10.Can i add chaeto to my main tank to help control my cyanobacteria outbreak? Can i subsitute Chaeto with Ulva Lettuce Algae
11.To provide live pods for my blenny do i add pods to chaeto in my main tank or do i put them in a fuge and just transfer them?
12.Do mushrooms, and polyps, leathers, and other solf corals need any speical additive, or food that i should feed them? Feather dusters also?
13.What is a good sandsifting invert/fish that is reef-safe?
*The bold ones are the ones i mostly want answered

Notes: If you could (this isnt a really big deal) try to use as little amount of abbreviations as possible, as i am still new and ill will probably end up asking you "what does *letter,letter,letter* mean? But its not a big deal if you use them, i dont want to inconvenience you cause of my disabilities. Its just that i've noticed that when i read (i read a lot of the journals) that i frequently come across abrvs. that i dont know.

P.S. I plan to take out a lot of the decor and extra stuff when i get more live rocks to fill it up

 

[n3ont3tra]

Looks like a good start.
A few things to watch out for...
I don't think chocolate chip stars are reef safe.
You really need to find out the exact specific gravity (sg) of your tank. Normal ranges are 1.022 to 1.026. Most oceans are on the higher side, and that is what most inverts prefer (but they will still live with 1.022). You can keep it at whatever you want, the main thing you have to worry about it it fluctuating. You need to add freshwater daily to replace evaporation.

Here's some info on sumps for you:
http/www.melevsreef.com/what_sump.html

 

[BigBeginner]

Alright il watch my Chocolate Star, ive had it for 3 months and its been the best thing i have in my tank (cause everythign else died and it lived)

ill try to get a specific gravity, but my meter is turned the wrong way so i cant see it =( im pretty sure its 1.023-1.024 but ill check

how much fresh water should i add daily? and ur talking RO water right? can i use the water that come in big blue containers that u use for drinking from those water foutains, to add water and do water changes? or will RO water be much better, becuase right now i dotn have a RO filter

 

[SkiFletch]

If you do want to go down the coral route, longterm, RO will be a much better choice . You can also use distilled water if you can find that affordably

 

[BigBeginner]

If you do want to go down the coral route, longterm, RO will be a much better choice . You can also use distilled water if you can find that affordably

Alright ill work on geting RO water (lemme make sure i got this right) i fill a bucket with tap water, leave the filer on there for how long, then i add 1/2 cup salt for every gal, then i wait with the filter off for how long and mix the water every how often

but for now, is distilled water the big blue container water i was talking about?

 

[littleme1969]

To clean your filter take out about a bucket out of the tank water and rinse in that and throw away after use. Top up with freshly made salt water.
The best way to gauge evaporation so you know how much to top up is to have a water level mark somewhere on the tank, that way you have a visual cue as to where to top back upto inorder to keep the s.g. stable.

The more live rock you have the more stable you tank will become as it acts a huge filter , so I would make that your main priority to start with. getting the tank stats stable will help with everything inc algae outbreaks etc.
Tests to buy...
Inorder to keep a good idea on things you need a good range of tests apart from the usualy ammonia etc. Phosphate/Magnesium/KH hardness tests are pretty much a must in helping you to understand where you tanks at and what you need to do to sort any issues.

Also you Nitrate level looks a little high. You have corals in there that really dont like high nitrates. Also CUC tend to be a bit sensertive to high nitrate levels. Work on bringing that down to around 10 before adding CUC

CUC I would reccomend a mixture of hermits turbo snails crabs etc to help with keeping down left overs and battling algae issues.

Good luck with it and keep asking lots of questions as believe me .. it will save your bacon in time of crisis

 

[BigBeginner]

alright thanks, ill try to get a kit with those things and ill make a mark. I am getting live rock 1st right now, i just bought 7 pounds cause i was told to add them slowly since i already cycled and such.

How can i lower nitrate?

hmm ok i have 2 turbos and 2 astreas now, could u give me like a specific quantity of what type of crabs and snails? it would help, around here the only snails i have seen in 3 LFS were turbos and astreas

And dont worry, i will ask alot of questions as i really dont want thing to go wrong, ill probably ask before i do anything.

 

[BigBeginner]

UPDATE:
I had a outburst of cyano, so i took alot of my rocks out and cleaned them, then did a 20% waterchange.
I added about 8 pounds of liverock (including the rock that came with my new mushies which makes about 9 pounds of liverock now.
New Stuff:
A yellow-Tailed damsel
5 blue mushroom heads
1 more turbo snail

Pictures!:
My Yellow Tail, sorry its blurry, he doesnt stay still...

The mushrooms

Here they are open

My featherduster hitchhiker that u cant really see, also i think i got some baby bristle stars, they look like the tentacles and they move...and there was a bristle star in the tank i got this from

My choco star

Blenny grazing on my new liverock i guess...

and a full shot of my new tank..

Question:
-Is is bad if my devil damsel is sortta chasing my new yellowtail damsel?
-Can i live without a sump and use my dual filter system that came with my tank?

 

[littleme1969]

CUC the snails you mentioned will do just fine.. as for others.. hermit crabs are pretty much a must for keeping down algae and cleaning up leftover food. You can also get mythrax crabs that will get to places that the hermits wont go

Nitrates can be brought down in a variety of ways.. water changes, but you have to do pretty large ones to get on top of it. Filter media.. there are special medias that can be added to internal/external filter systems that will bring down nitrates over time . I found the most efficent was the live rock and the stability that it brings. Ive never had a nitrate issue in my tanks so far above 10 and I put that down to good maintenance and loads of live rock.

Filter systems..
Yes you can run a tank without a sump. I ran a 25g with no sump and only an internal filter for 6 months with no problems but I would recomend getting a skimmer of some kind. They do some cheap and easy to use internal skimmers now that do a great job and will help with water quality inc nitrate issues.
I've just converted upto a 100g tank with no sump. Just using a large external filter and an internal skimmer. Only thing is you do have to keep an eye on the water stats a bit more and water changes are more important to keep things in check.
use live rock rubble and filter floss in your internal filter if you can fit any in also carbon . But if its not got any chambers then just use filter floss that can be thrown away once a week. Sponges can prove a haven for nitrate build up.

I would keep a close eye on that choc chip starfish. Ive not read good things about them in small tanks and I'm suprised you where advised to take him with a 55g tank. I'm also assuming thats an american 55g which is even less that the uk gallon.

Damsels..
Bad tempered and will beat up anything that gets in their way..lol what more can I say.. chances are they will find their level and one will be top dog, most likely the fish that was first in the tank. If the problem is still causing an issue to the point where the other fish is hiding most of the time and is clearly unhappy then I would take him back to the shop.
Again this is bad advise from the shop. aggressive fish should be the last into a tank and if you going to have a few of that type they all should go in together that way they are all stressed the same and the peking order will be more about fish domenance rather than who was last in and is the most stressed getting picked on.
But youll just have to suck it and see for the time being..lol

 

[BigBeginner]

-alright and are there anythings i should be watchign for with crabs and hermit crabs will they eat anyhtign i dont want them to eat?
-also how many of each do i need
-what type of hermit crab should i get?

I am just now starting to put live rocks in so thats probably why the nitrates are so high, later when i get more, ill test the water agian, my corals will probably last a week or 2 mroe while i build up liverocks.

-When u say filter media, do u mean the woolly things that u put in filters to catch the stuff when the water goes through it?
-What type of skimmer do u suggest?
-Is there a certain name brand i should look for, or certain type that i should look for?
-There isnt that much space in my filter system for liverock rubble to fit in. What is filter floss, should i just go to my LFS and ask them to explain?
-How do i add carbon to my filter?
-My filter uses a spongey thingy to clean the water, so should i chaneg that to something else?

I have been told that i might have truoble with my choco star, but so far it has does nothing bad and it became my favorite thing in my tank, but ill watch it,
-what bad things will it do?
-and what should i do with it?

O well thats not good.... i dont plan to get any more fish for a while, and the damsel already looked a bit beat up when we bought it so i dont expect it to survive my dad wanted mroe fish inthe tank and he really wanted the damsel

-and i have like 5 baby brittlestars in 1 of my rocks, is there anythig i should do?
-or should i just ignore them?
-feed them something?
-will they hurt anything?

-and for my cyano break out i was told i should add chaeto but since i dont have a sump, can i add chaeto to my main tank?
-will it grow and over take my tank or anyhing?
-since it would also help with my blenny feeding problems ( for pods to start producing, do i have to buy some and put them in the chaeto?)

*Could u answer the bold questions first

EDIT: Theres this weird worm thingy in 1 of my new liverocks i think its possibly a Chaetopterid or Spionid <a href="http/melevsreef.com/id/dualpalps.html" target="_blank">http/melevsreef.com/id/dualpalps.html</a>

EDIT: it just moved to a diff spot and it has 2 tentacles

Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for helping me

P.S. when someone answers these questions could u answer the questions i posted in my 1st post?

 

[BigBeginner]

new coral:
i think!!! its a green torch but i dont know, i wouldnt have bought it but my dad went to the store and came home with it....

so is there anything i will need to know to take care of it?

is it too close to my mushroom?

do i need to feed it anything?

pictures:

PS these picture were a little earlier, the torch now is more open and puffed up

 

[nanoreef11]

All that I feed my corals is a little bit of Phytoplankton every night or so.

 

[BigBeginner]

All that I feed my corals is a little bit of Phytoplankton every night or so.

ok, is that a liquid?

 

[Musho3210]

yep, its greenish, but torches dont really eat that stuff, phyto indirectly feeds corals, which are mainly carnivores. Phyto feeds the micro organisms that feed the coral. If i were you i would still use it though, for the blenny. The phyto will feed the copepods and other organisms that the blenny then feeds on.

 

[nanoreef11]

Yea it comes in a bottle. Green liquid that you keep refrigerated.