Newbee Needing Information

[sailin_home]

hi, i've kept tropical for 4 years but lost more fish then i can count due to ammonia n nitrates problems so decided to sell up n buy marine fish instead . bought a complete set up from my lfs including aquaone 620t tank, 10kg live rock and live sand, 25 gallon of salt water and 5 gallon of ro water, skimmer, heater and filter. been running for about 6 months now,happy to report never had any water problems. it's stocked with 2 blue green chromis, 1 yellow bellied damsel, 1 regal tang, 1 clown fish, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 orange & purple lobster and 3 blue legged hermit crabs. got lots of sea grass growing of the lr so thinking of adding a yellow tang after xmas to combat it. basically want to know how many fish/inverts and corals i can safely hold in my tank, to eliminate over stocking. any good ideas for corals would be great. Dimentions are 62x39x52cm and about 130lt. Lighting is T5

 

[Lynden]

Well unfortunately a yellow tang can reach 8'' in length and is too big for a 2' tank long term. Speaking of, a regal gets even bigger. I would look into urchins for the seagrass, if you are sure you want rid of it.

As for stocking, inverts don't take up much room, and neither do corals. What lighting do you have? I ask because it is one of the most important aspects in coral keeping.

 

[sailin_home]

Well unfortunately a yellow tang can reach 8'' in length and is too big for a 2' tank long term. Speaking of, a regal gets even bigger. I would look into urchins for the seagrass, if you are sure you want rid of it.

As for stocking, inverts don't take up much room, and neither do corals. What lighting do you have? I ask because it is one of the most important aspects in coral keeping.

the sea grass covering most of lr so want rid of some of it, not all though. the lighting is t5 (2x small bulbs), was thinking about a moonlight kit as well. the tangs i know do get big but i spoke to lfs about them and their happy to exchange for smaller ones when the need arises. thanks for taking the time to help me out.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well that's nice of them to exchange em for ya. Do the T5 bulbs span the length of the tank? And do they have individual reflectors? Do you know their wattage?

And what type of "seagrass" do you have, there's lots of macroalgaes that could go by that name, some of which a yellow tang wouldn't touch

 

[chrissaysyes]

when you say sea grass you dont mean hair algae do you?

 

[sailin_home]

Well that's nice of them to exchange em for ya. Do the T5 bulbs span the length of the tank? And do they have individual reflectors? Do you know their wattage?

And what type of "seagrass" do you have, there's lots of macroalgaes that could go by that name, some of which a yellow tang wouldn't touch

their's 2 separate bulbs that run the length of the tank end to end, with separate controls for each bulb and a reflector on each, not sure on the wattage, but i can check when i get home in the morning. the "grass" or what ever it is is really fine, hair like substance could be hair algie but not sure just know it started as a little clump like an afro on a little rock and then spread over most of the lr

when you say sea grass you dont mean hair algae do you?

probably is. looks like clumps of fine green hair

 

[SkiFletch]

Sounds like byropsis, aka hair algae. If your regal tang isn't eating it, chances are a yellow wouldn't bother either .

 

[chrissaysyes]

Never seen a yellow tang eat green hair. They tend to like macroalgaes a lot more. You really dont want to let green hair grow in your tank. I'd start ripping that stuff out by the clumps. If it all dies then it could really affect your water quality, not to mention if it's growing that much you may have a nutrient problem.

 

[sailin_home]

Sounds like byropsis, aka hair algae. If your regal tang isn't eating it, chances are a yellow wouldn't bother either .

Regal tang has been eating it, but only introduced him bout 4 weeks ago, just figured he'd need a little help.

 

[sailin_home]

Never seen a yellow tang eat green hair. They tend to like macroalgaes a lot more. You really dont want to let green hair grow in your tank. I'd start ripping that stuff out by the clumps. If it all dies then it could really affect your water quality, not to mention if it's growing that much you may have a nutrient problem.

i'll start cutting it back then, have noticed that it seems to of reduced over last few weeks. it does look nice though. it's funny doing marine, things just seem to pop up out of no where and it's like how did that get in there. for example a couple of weeks after getting the tank i found a 8" bristleworm, then a crab, took them both out though and got em id'd by lfs, they went in their sump.

 

[SkiFletch]

Lol, yeah stuff always pops out of LR. Heck, I just started gettin some macroalge growth I never knew I had

 

[sailin_home]

Lol, yeah stuff always pops out of LR. Heck, I just started gettin some macroalge growth I never knew I had

sure know i got this algie, can't really miss it.

Never seen a yellow tang eat green hair. They tend to like macroalgaes a lot more. You really dont want to let green hair grow in your tank. I'd start ripping that stuff out by the clumps. If it all dies then it could really affect your water quality, not to mention if it's growing that much you may have a nutrient problem.

i'll start cutting it back then, have noticed that it seems to of reduced over last few weeks. it does look nice though. it's funny doing marine, things just seem to pop up out of no where and it's like how did that get in there. for example a couple of weeks after getting the tank i found a 8" bristleworm, then a crab, took them both out though and got em id'd by lfs, they went in their sump.

if i have got a nutrient problem how do i test? and how do i combat? will it affect my livestock?

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, it won't really hurt most livestock, but it can over-grow corals if you have any. With hair algae, the tough part is, you really can't test for Nitrates/Phosphates. Problem is, the algae grows so fast and eats the nutrients up so fast that there's never appreciable amounts for which you can test. The presence of the algae however indicates the presence of a nutrient problem

 

[sailin_home]

Well, it won't really hurt most livestock, but it can over-grow corals if you have any. With hair algae, the tough part is, you really can't test for Nitrates/Phosphates. Problem is, the algae grows so fast and eats the nutrients up so fast that there's never appreciable amounts for which you can test. The presence of the algae however indicates the presence of a nutrient problem

no corals as of yet, but would like some suggestions on some hardy easy to keep ones. gonna give the algie a hair cut tomorrow. my tank needs some colour. really glad for the advice. i'n #### up if i was left on my own devices.

 

[chrissaysyes]

start with zoanthids.