lynn1318
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
30 years teaching middle school probably gave me the patience to maintain a saltwater aquarium, but I've done TONS of reading, research, etc. (which is how I found this site), and still feel like I've only scratched the surface!!!!! I need help.
My son brought his 29 gallon saltwater aquarium home from college, and hooked me! So I bought a 72 gal bowfront with a 20 gal refugium, and after weeks of research, decided to set up a reef tank with no artificial filtration. I keep thinking I'm going to break down and at least get a protein skimmer, but so far, no. It's been up and running for 16 months.
I've had a few losses - actually lost a diamond goby and royal gamma when I did a 50% water change and took all the live rock out to remove 3 domino damsels who were terrorizing everyone. The damsels survived (took them to the LFS); the 2 fish did not.
Amazingly though, my anemone and other creatures stayed healthy through it all!
I really hope I can find answers here to my many questions. I like the tone of this forum. I've read others, and get lost, sometimes, in the put-downs, sarcasm, and inside jokes. When I finish reading, I'm not sure which parts were honest answers and which were tongue-in-cheek!
My tank now houses a bubble tip anemone, maroon clown, one-spot foxface, coral beauty angel, scooter blenny, pajama cardinal, blue damsel, yellow-tail damsel, banded coral shrimp, skunk cleaner shrimp, several emerald crabs, blue-leg and red-leg hermit crabs, numerous snails, 3 feather dusters. I'm adding a bi-color blenny, 2 anemone crabs, 2 sea sponges, 10 trochus snails, 2 zebra snails, a lettuce nudibranch, and a fighting conch.
I am presently fighting an outbreak of hair algae. My salinity is 0.026, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates are 0, ph is 8.3, temperature 80F. Although nitrates are at 0, I read where algae can mask the reading. This week, I'm getting in trochus snails, zebra snails, and a bi-color blenny to help.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'm happy to meet you all!
My son brought his 29 gallon saltwater aquarium home from college, and hooked me! So I bought a 72 gal bowfront with a 20 gal refugium, and after weeks of research, decided to set up a reef tank with no artificial filtration. I keep thinking I'm going to break down and at least get a protein skimmer, but so far, no. It's been up and running for 16 months.
I've had a few losses - actually lost a diamond goby and royal gamma when I did a 50% water change and took all the live rock out to remove 3 domino damsels who were terrorizing everyone. The damsels survived (took them to the LFS); the 2 fish did not.
Amazingly though, my anemone and other creatures stayed healthy through it all! I really hope I can find answers here to my many questions. I like the tone of this forum. I've read others, and get lost, sometimes, in the put-downs, sarcasm, and inside jokes. When I finish reading, I'm not sure which parts were honest answers and which were tongue-in-cheek!
My tank now houses a bubble tip anemone, maroon clown, one-spot foxface, coral beauty angel, scooter blenny, pajama cardinal, blue damsel, yellow-tail damsel, banded coral shrimp, skunk cleaner shrimp, several emerald crabs, blue-leg and red-leg hermit crabs, numerous snails, 3 feather dusters. I'm adding a bi-color blenny, 2 anemone crabs, 2 sea sponges, 10 trochus snails, 2 zebra snails, a lettuce nudibranch, and a fighting conch.
I am presently fighting an outbreak of hair algae. My salinity is 0.026, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates are 0, ph is 8.3, temperature 80F. Although nitrates are at 0, I read where algae can mask the reading. This week, I'm getting in trochus snails, zebra snails, and a bi-color blenny to help.
Any advice would be appreciated. I'm happy to meet you all!
