29G Nano-Cube Newbie

[Craigj247]

Well reducing the number of hours could help with algae growth but not tithe level of success that you would get with regular water changes so I would just leave the lighting schedule as it has been... Plus if your coral gave got use to the number of hours of lighting then they have got in to a routine as well so I would say not to change that.

Have you got any bio media other than your live rock? And how much of live rock do you have in your tank?

 

[Wood82ABN]

Well reducing the number of hours could help with algae growth but not tithe level of success that you would get with regular water changes so I would just leave the lighting schedule as it has been... Plus if your coral gave got use to the number of hours of lighting then they have got in to a routine as well so I would say not to change that.

Have you got any bio media other than your live rock? And how much of live rock do you have in your tank?

Bio media? Probably not if I do not know what that consist of. I have 30 pounds of live rock. I was told a pound of rock per gallon.

Another question for those that may know... Is there a reef safe anemone? I have talked with several people at the fish store and some people advice/opinions differ. As seeing my tank on the first page, do I even have room on the ground for an anemone? Would it harm my brain, bubble coral?

 

[Craigj247]

Yup 30 pounds of liverock is perfect... Bio media as in ceramic beads or bio balls in the filter chambers.

In my personal opinion I would not go with an anemone in a nano... Yes they are really nice to have but those guys don't stay in one place for very long and when they do start to move they can become quite the nuisance... But I have seen a lot of people have sebae anemone and long tentacle anemone since they are reef safe... I have tried having anemone twice before but ended up much more stress free without them

 

[Wood82ABN]

Yup 30 pounds of liverock is perfect... Bio media as in ceramic beads or bio balls in the filter chambers.

In my personal opinion I would not go with an anemone in a nano... Yes they are really nice to have but those guys don't stay in one place for very long and when they do start to move they can become quite the nuisance... But I have seen a lot of people have sebae anemone and long tentacle anemone since they are reef safe... I have tried having anemone twice before but ended up much more stress free without them

Oh yes, I do have bio media. It was recommended to me that I do not use the ceramic cylinders, instead switch out to a sandy looking substance, which is what I have in the filtration now. There is the sponge, black carbon stuff and the sandy looking bio media.

Ok, thanks for the advice. I might as well forget about putting in a anemone even though they do look cool. I feel like I have a lot of room for more things but can not decide what to put in there because of how well the tank is doing right now. I have some rogue mushrooms that have recently blossomed and are reproducing. Candy cane coral have tripled in size. I have a kenya tree in the back that is not easily seen... I have cut limbs off of that thing a few times and gave them to a friend of mine. I was going to throw it out because it was getting big and bothering other coral... I keep it trimmed and it seems to never die.

 

[Craigj247]

Well in my experience you can get rid of any bio media you have in the chambers that is not live rock... These man made media are considered nitrate factories and often cause algae issues... Plus it can never come close to the type of bio filtration your live rock gives you... Even I removed my bio media months back and have yet to see any algae in my tank... Don't take it out all at once but gradually reduce it over the next couple of weeks...

For corals you can try some zoas, hammer coral, a small torch coral, some star polyps... These guys are easy to keep and need moderate lighting... Plus they give you the nice motion that an anemone would

 

[Craigj247]

You could also try some pulsing Xenia or waving hand Xenia...

 

[Wood82ABN]

Well in my experience you can get rid of any bio media you have in the chambers that is not live rock... These man made media are considered nitrate factories and often cause algae issues... Plus it can never come close to the type of bio filtration your live rock gives you... Even I removed my bio media months back and have yet to see any algae in my tank... Don't take it out all at once but gradually reduce it over the next couple of weeks...

For corals you can try some zoas, hammer coral, a small torch coral, some star polyps... These guys are easy to keep and need moderate lighting... Plus they give you the nice motion that an anemone would

Would that mean getting rid of both the black carbon and the white sandy stuff or just the white sandy stuff?

I will look into some of the things you suggested. I have the "grass" looking stuff and that has really taken off over the last few months. I really like coral that moves and has nice colors. The frog spawn is one that I really like in the tank and has done really well also.

 

[Craigj247]

No no keep the carbon and sponge... Just the bio media only...

Ah ok if you have frogspawn then a hammer and a torch would be great... It you can swap the torch out for some Xenia... Good luck and keep me posted on any new additions.

 

[Wood82ABN]

No no keep the carbon and sponge... Just the bio media only...

Ah ok if you have frogspawn then a hammer and a torch would be great... It you can swap the torch out for some Xenia... Good luck and keep me posted on any new additions.

Ok. I will be slowly taking out the bio media and see what happens. *now that I know what bio media is!*

Next time I go to the store, I will be looking into adding something new.

Thank you for the advice and suggestions as well.

 

[Craigj247]

No problem at all... I learned a lot from this forum and just passing on the advise that I got and worked for me

 

[Wood82ABN]

I noticed that a lot of photos of specific coral in their tanks. I thought i would do the same.

Image heavy!

 

[Craigj247]

The tank looks cool... You can try introducing a sea hare or a lettuce nudibranch to help with the hair algae... Too much of it does effect the overall Eco system and the coral growth as well.

But really am enjoying the tank

 

[obscurereef]

I bet those corals are thriving because the water is more "dirty" and filled with nutrients than tanks that have weekly water changes. Just a theory...nice compromise of healthy corals and algae, but it would be nice to just have the healthy coral

 

[Wood82ABN]

I am going to start removing the algae. I checked the filtration area yesterday, there is all kinds of "goodies" back there.

I think i am going with the toothbrush method to try and reduce the amount of green hair algae.

I'll post some pictures after my first cleaning.

 

[Craigj247]

Sounds once you start exploring your tank it truly becomes an addiction hence the term reef junky

 

[Wood82ABN]

If you look at my frog spawn closely, I have a feather duster growing on it. I have never purchased a feather duster before. My question is, is it ok to allow the feather duster to live on the frog spawn or should I remove it? If I should remove it, what is the best method of doing that?

 

[Craigj247]

I would say to leave them... They are a really good addition to a reef tank as they are excellent filter feeders... I have loads of small feather dusters growing between the corals and have yet to see any issues.

 

[Wood82ABN]

I cleaned out my green hair algae yesterday! I will say, I was not sad to see it go.

I used the toothbrush method and it went very well. I started by pre-cleaning all of my sponge filters and I removed my bio media. Then I scraped the whole back wall and it came off very easily. The problem I ran into was, I do not have a fish net so I has to try and force, with my hands, the floating algae into the filtration area. I did find a few strangers tucked into the algae, little while starfish.

I will take a picture when my day lights turn on, around 2pm.

 

[Craigj247]

That is great news now you will have to continue this plus water changes for a few weeks before you really see it starting to vanish on it's own... But I am real happy and looking forward to the pics

 

[Wood82ABN]

Right when my day lights came on i snapped a couple of pictures. I still have some algae on the right side that I'm going to scrub in a few minutes.