Critique my reef?

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MyCatsDrool

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Sep 13, 2006
Messages
901
Please? ;-)

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I'm not a "reefer" so it likes awesome to me!
 
Here is the rundown:

20 gallon high tank, drilled (by me and my dremmel)
10 gallon rubbermaid sump
29 lbs figi LR
20 lb caribsea livesand mixed with 4 lbs fl crushed coral

hardware:
4 x 14W T5, 50/50 (two dual strips, coralife)
Hydor pico pump (80 gph)
FISSION nano skimmer
Aquaclear HOB 30 gal filter

Sump:
10 gal rubbermaid
3 gal rubbermaid inside that, as fuge
3/4 in PVC plumbing
Beckett 400 gph pond pump (return)
Tetra tec 150 w heater
surge 600 powerhead

Livestock in tank:

Fish
Ocellaris Clown
6 line wrasse
Pajama Cardinal

Inverts
1 flame scallop
15 blue legged hermit crabs
1 emerald crab
1 red cleaner shrimp
mated pair of coral banded shrimp
a bunch of turbo snails
Condylactis Anemone
some other kind of anemone that lives on the sand and is hot pink on the outside, purple inside that and bright green in the middle and very slimy and squishy, but pretty
Red sea star
Feather duster

Corals:
big, fat colony of purple and green zoos that i broke into 3 sections
pulsing xenia
open brain coral

Plants:
Caulerpa (in tank AND fuge)

I plan to add some green star polyps, perhaps a sun coral, definately a hammer and maybe a bubble coral eventually. and probably some more zoos.

Water parameters:

NH3 = 0 ppm
NO2 = 0ppm
NO3 = undetectable
PO4 = undetectable
Ca = 460 ppm
KH = 11 degrees
Temp 78-79 F
SG = 1.023-1.025
PH = 8.1-8.3
 
That`s quite a rundown. Good looking tank. Is your brain on the rocks. Thet do better on the sand IMO.
 
What I dose:

Seachem marine buffer
Kent Iodine
Red Sea salt
Marc Weiss Coral Vital
Reptical
Reef Pods Copepod bags

Feeds:
Mysis Shrimp
live blackworms
Cyclopeze
Krill
Chopped scallops
fresh garlic, minced
Marine Cuisine
PhycoPure
 
i frequent nano-reef and i keep a 10 gallon nano at my house. you can check it out here.

I just wanted to let you know i'm not a newb so please take my advice.

get rid of the flame scallop. it will soon die. they are filter feeders and would require you to almost foul the water with food to keep it alive.

You could also use a bit more liverock.
 
those hydor pico pumps are awesome! i just added to to my 75g. very easy to hide and really move a lot of water. the tanks looks good. maybe like mentioned a little more live rock or even just some base rock.

steve r
 
zachxlutz said:
i frequent nano-reef and i keep a 10 gallon nano at my house. you can check it out here.

I just wanted to let you know i'm not a newb so please take my advice.

get rid of the flame scallop. it will soon die. they are filter feeders and would require you to almost foul the water with food to keep it alive.

You could also use a bit more liverock.

Your post on nano-reef.com says you set up your first SW tank in June 2006.

that was merely 5 months ago. Not to cause problems or contradict you, but I would say that you are still relatively new to the hobby. It seems from your post there that you are also still in the learning curve.

My boyfriend has been taking care of and maintaining tanks for 10+ years. He helped me set up and pick my livestock. I trust him as most of the info he gives me is dead on with what 90% of people say. He owns his own aquarium maintenence business and is a manager at an aquarium supply shoppe. Funny, that is how we met ;-).

He told me if i target feed the flame scallop daily with 2 ml or so phycopure (live phyto), as well as keeping a healthy supply of copepods and amphipods, that the scallop will be ok. I insisted on having it, despite his warnings that they are testy. But rather than discouraging me, he gave me the information I needed to care for it properly.

So far, the flame scallop is absolutely flourishing. Tomorrow, I will post a picture of it.

Thank you for the advice though. I do appreciate it.


And I agree with both you and Steve R.. I'll be adding about 10 more lbs of LR with my next batch of corals.
 
Tank looks great...I love drilled tanks! And FWIW....my buddy has had a flame scallop for about a year, taking care of it the same way you do!

zachxlutz said:
I just wanted to let you know i'm not a newb so please take my advice.

Wow dude, you have a lot of sand in your tank....you are gonna have all kinda of issues with that in the future.....probably will kill your livestock if you ever stir it at all or move around LR!

Im not a newb either, so take my advise! :lol:

Check out my 10 gal for proof its the sickest ever!!!! :lol: :wink:
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A little modesty goes a long way when giving advice to people you dont know grasshoppa!
 
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