My ''cheats Reef'' - Whats In My Tank?

[OscarWilde]

Hi there.

I've been working on a 10G Nano Reef for a few months now but saw an eBay bargain that I could not resist! As a reult I have jumped a few chapters with my Research and am a little out of my depth!

Thanks VERY much for your help!

It is a Orca Nano Reef TL450 (15 USG) and came with all of the built in kit plus

- 10.5 kgs of mature Ultra Grade Fiji live rock
- 2 Clown fish
- Koralia Nano Pump
- Spare 18watt Tubes
- Hydrometer
- Food (Brine Shrimp)

All for £140 delivered and setup!

The Clowns are tank bred and the tank has been established for 2 years now. As you would expect there was a lot of debris from the move but the tank cleared up in an hour or so.



Water Stats (Used brand new API Saltwater Kit):

SG: 1.023 (Used Refractometer)
PH: 8.4
Amonia: 0.25 ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm

I have a few questions and ID's and would really appreciate some help.

1. Are my reading anything to worry about?
2. The tank also came with a large bag of Salt. Not sure I feel confident mixing my own so will I be OK to add premixed water from LFS or will this upset the chemistry of the tank?
3. The Skimmer is collecting but seems to be overflowing, is this normal?



Can anyone also help with ID's?

Could you confirm which type of clown I have?



Unknown Plant 1 and some kind of Anemone?



Unknown Plant 2



Unknown Plant 3



No idea..



Better Pic of Unknown Plant 1



Anemone?

 

[n3ont3tra]

SG: 1.023 (Used Refractometer) -- looks good
PH: 8.4 -- should be fine
Amonia: 0.25 ppm -- No ammonia is good. Keep testing for ammonia, it should drop to zero within a few days. Your tank is going through a mini cycle because of the move.
Nitrate: 10ppm -- fine
Nitrite: 0ppm -- fine

The tank also came with a large bag of Salt. Not sure I feel confident mixing my own so will I be OK to add premixed water from LFS or will this upset the chemistry of the tank?
It shouldn't be a problem, but you may want to test the specific gravity before adding it.
Also make sure you aren't using saltwater for top offs, just use freshwater only.

I have no idea about the skimmer.

Your clowns are either Amphiprion percula or Amphiprion occelaris, Usually percula clowns have wider black stripes but since they are tank bred it could be hard to tell.

This looks like aiptasia and grape caulerpa to me.


I think this is another type of caulerpa


I'm not sure what you want ID'd here, but the bubble is Bubble algae, the glob of green is just some kind of macroalgae.


Hydroids


I'm no expert but I still think its grape caulerpa.


Looks like aiptasia to me...



Great photos. You'll also probably want a second opinion on all of the IDs..

 

[OscarWilde]

Thanks very much for your help n3ont3tra

When you say top-offs are you saying I should use fresh (tap) water for dealing with evaporation and not to use the salt water from LFS?

Can anyone else confirm or deny the ID's and/or help with the Skimmer question?

Thanks again.

 

[@ombomb]

agree with n3on on all IDs he provided

second caulerpa is razer caulerpa i think

the skimmer should settle down in a day or so

top offs should be with RO water if you plan to keep corals

 

[rhysiboy]

google bryopsis maxima for the 2nd picture. Baddd stuff. Seriously after having various caulerpa's in my tank try now to remove as much as you can manually taking care not to leave any roots as it will soon overun your tank and if you plan to stock it with corals youll find yourself with the weekly 2 hour chore of removing it by the handfull

oh and the clown looks like its an occelaris however would need a side profile shot to take note on the spine number.

 

[plutosmate]

OscarWilde,

BIN THE SKIMMER ! ! ! I have the exact same unit and failed for 4 weeks of tinkering to get the skimmer to work.
SO I bought a nano skimmer from ebay.....about 15 quid delivered from our japanese friends.....now it's works 100% not problems what so ever.

As the the pictures..........looks cool....bin the boi balls in the middle chamber.......and get some LR in a cotton bag.......chuck this in the 4th chambers (left hand on).
Get some Joe's juice on the aiptasia's.....else they will mutiply like rabbits.....I have several which just will not go away.

Sorry to plug my feed.....but read : http/www.fishforums.net/content/Nano-Ree...-By-Step-Quest/ for more details and the same problems you will face.

At the end of the day.......watch and keep track of your readings.........see what happens.....do regualar water changes....sorted....
The best days are to come.......when the clowns feed out of your hand (mine did last nite)