New Tank

[sandfire]

Hi guys,

My tank been set up for 6 weeks now, it was in a 8 gal nano but was quickly moved into a 25gal (UK) as I found with the tiny nano being open top I was loosing 1 pint a day in evaporation and this was causing the salinity to fluctuate to much.

I bought live rock which had come out of my LFS ex display tank and some live sand substraight, the set up has 3 x powerheads, 1 x wave making powerhead (with small sponge filter) and a PRIZM Deluxe Skimmer. Plus 110 watts of light which have been on about 14 hours a day.

One of the rocks had a tiny amount of Feather Caulerpa which is now completely covered and looking really pretty.

I have been testing the water daily and after only a week ammonia was 0pmm, Nitrite was 0ppm, Nitrate was less then 5ppm, phosphate is 0ppm.

I did have loads of bubble algae that came in on the rocks which I (painstakingly) removed. I have not had the usually brown diatom algae problem which affects new tanks, I was hoping to add a clean up crew but is there much point when there is not a lot for them to eat? I have been adding some flake food to the tank daily to help mature the system ect, but seeing I have loads of critter's on the rocks and some very helpful bristle worms which are very good at cleaning up left over's, the tank has still not had a ammonia/nitrite spike.

The protein skimmer is also very efficient at removing anything else left over.

Is it safe to start adding a few easy corals now, or should I continue to wait to see if I get a brown algae bloom? I only wanted a pair of tank bred clown fish so should I add them before the corals? I don’t want to get a anemone for the tank, is there another suitable coral the clownfish could use?

 

[chrissaysyes]

What do you mean by a few easy corals? If it's zoas and mushrooms, I'd say go for it if your levels are stable. Just be sure to take your time.

 

[sandfire]

What do you mean by a few easy corals? If it's zoas and mushrooms, I'd say go for it if your levels are stable. Just be sure to take your time.

Yep, that was my plan hopefully some nice captive farmed hardy ones to start me off. I would love to get some Pulsing Xenia corals eventually as well, how difficult are they to keep I have read mixed reviews?

This is my return to marine keeping after about 8 years; I still love my planted FW tanks, but this marine stuff is sucking me big time back into the salt side of the hobby.

Does anyone else find themselves with a torch in the middle of the night staring at a chunk of rock in a fish tank! My other half things I am a right anorak and still keeps joking about my live rock not moving.

 

[nanocubeking]

What do you mean by a few easy corals? If it's zoas and mushrooms, I'd say go for it if your levels are stable. Just be sure to take your time.

Yep, that was my plan hopefully some nice captive farmed hardy ones to start me off. I would love to get some Pulsing Xenia corals eventually as well, how difficult are they to keep I have read mixed reviews?

This is my return to marine keeping after about 8 years; I still love my planted FW tanks, but this marine stuff is sucking me big time back into the salt side of the hobby.

Does anyone else find themselves with a torch in the middle of the night staring at a chunk of rock in a fish tank! My other half things I am a right anorak and still keeps joking about my live rock not moving.

Pulsating Xenia is a very hardy coral and i would recommend it for a beginner. But it is said that they grow like wild fire when i had some it was not a fast growwer at all.

 

[steelhealr]

My opinion is always going to be the safest. If you are planning on adding fish, I would NOT add corals right now. Your tank should be more established. When you add fish, you add a bioload....ammonis and fish poop. Then, you add food...all nitrates. This time should be used for adding your cleanup crew, developing good maintenance habits, like regular frequent water changes, etc. Then...you should add your clowns. Check and see if you can support the clowns and keep your nitrates low. Then.....adding easy corals (softies) would be the way to go.

Most people also forget that the first month or so is when your hitchhikers will show up, cyanobacteria, hair algae, etc. Battling that stuff is not fun if you have expensive corals in the tank. Take your time.

With nano tanks, beauty comes slowly, disaster comes quickly. Have fun and welcome aboard. SH