The tank is coming to life [Update]

[Steven A]

With a visit to the lfs I recieved some information (unaware if reliable or not) and the desire to buy some nice items for my tank.

I returned with two little blue legged hermit crabs, and a featherduster which i love lol. I also purchased another pound of live rock.

Well I felt emberassed because it was the first time I have ventured out to a lfs which is not my regular therefore I didnt get special treatment etc... any way the guy made me feel so dumb etc ... he knew his stuff however he said that two clowns would be fine for my 12 gal do use agree. He also said that a anemone would be fine. This is the closet pic on the net I could fine. It was white like the image below only it has pink tips and was much smaller.

http://www.magnesium.net/~heather/fish/bubble_tip_anemone.jpg

So can I have an anemone .... please lol ?

Aslot here was a baby star fish and it was bright red and was very tiny.
I really liked it and are quite rare where I live so I really want it now as I am unaware when my next opertunity will be. Could I have one of these lol.

 

[austinsdad]

Have you been able to keep the trates, trites, ammonia, and PH in check in the 12g? If adding 2 fish at the same time, those levels can get out of hand and your anenome would suffer as a result.

You say he knew his stuff, but I'd be a little - no, a lot suspicious if he said an anenome would be fine in a 12g new tank ( I presume).

Any other fish in there?

 

[dskidmore]

What kind of lighting do you have? Long term survival of anemones depends on very intense lighting.

Somme people would put a pair of clowns in a 12 gallon, but when full grown they will be overcrowded IMO. Are there any other occupants in the tank?

The feather duster could do well. Do you have a high pod population, or will you be feeding the duster some sort of fine particle food?

Star fish can be fun, but he's going to bite into the pod population in such a small tank. You will need to feed your feather duster when the star eats up all your pods.

 

[Steven A]

No fish in there, I am going very slow because I know that the tank could 'crash' very quickly due to the volume. He sounded as if he new his stuff but, saying that I dont lol, so anything he said possibly sounded good. Everything is fine at the moment. BTW I forgot to mention in the post above that i purchased a new coral. The only thing is, I have not seen its tenticle things since the store. It has now been in my tank for about 4 hours, I just wanted to know if everyting was ok, or if this is normal. My featherduster is fine and so are the crabs. Nothing is 'put together' everything is scattered around the tank because I can not find a posistion of the rocks that looks good so tomorrow I am going to purchase some base rock.
I am thinking about adding another small coral in a week or so if water quality remains fine.
I wanted to add the corals and anenome before fish were added (the 2 clowns) so that they get stable and feel secure because I have read of clowns stressing newly added corals etc .. out. I am not going to add the clowns at the same time. I think I may wait about 3 weeks after adding the first one.

 

[Steven A]

So no star thats fine with me lol, even though he was cute. Lighting 4.4. WATTS per Gal.
Only other occupents are 1 red hermit crab and 2 blue legged hermits (very small).
Today I purchased some 'liquid food for filter feeders in marine aquariums'' It says it is ideal for: Tube worms, Flame scallops, Tridacna Clams, Soft and hard corals.

 

[Hara]

the anemone may roam and kill the coral...depending on the types of both. You should really try to identify what it is that you want instead of being so generic.

I would advise you to not use the filter feeder food unless you want water quality issues.

 

[dskidmore]

I would advise you to not use the filter feeder food unless you want water quality issues.

In a newly established tank, with filter feeders, isn't it wiser to feed them a bit? Certianly minimize feeding, and spot feed if you can. You'll have worse water quality issues if the filter feeders die of starvation.

Is that 4.4 Watts/gallon PC, NO, HO, VHO, or MH? I'd be hesitant to suggest you get the anenome before the tank is 6 months old at any rate.

Might go slow with the corals until you've built up a good pod population to feed them, the liquid food should be a suppliment, not staple. Live rock is the best investment you can make now, if you don't have 12+ pounds already.

Do you have a cleaner crew yet? Some snails and hermit crabs would be a good addition if you don't have them yet.

 

[austinsdad]

Might go slow with the corals until you've built up a good pod population to feed them,

Corals don't eat pods. Many easier corals can be OK just with the proper light and microscopic food in the water column. Try some mushrooms to get started.

I would really consider waiting for months before thinking about an anenome though. Do need stable water, and just getting started as you are, I wouldn't want to see you do that yet.

 

[dskidmore]

Corals don't eat pods.

Doesn't that depend on the coral?

 

[austinsdad]

Not that I know of, but maybe you can help me out - and maybe others learn something. What kinds of coral eats pods? I had no idea they did.

You said it in such a general way - that corals eat pods, I thought it needed some clarification, or qualification, or something like that.

 

[Steven A]

Ok, my digi cam is down but managed to pop into lfs today and the owner said that it wont open up so to speak for 2-3 days, well thats how long it took in there tank.

I am fine with the whole waiting ages before an anenome ... there expensive lol. Can I added a clwon before an anenome is added though?

And of course more corals.

 

[dskidmore]

You're right, I was too general. Many low-light corals eat microscopic foods as you said. Each one has it's own particle size prefrence range. Some like larger particles than others. Some can catch larger pieces. The zooplankton also eat these microscopic particles, so the population of pods is reflective of the nutrients available in the water colum wether the coral you have eats them directly or not.

 

[Steven A]

I have addded some coral rock (not live rock) and I wanted to know how long it will take for the coral rock to become covered in coral algea. Below is an image of my coral wich has still not opened

 

[Steven A]

I forgot to mention I saw a little white bug on the side of my tank.

 

[MT79]

Not that I know of, but maybe you can help me out - and maybe others learn something. What kinds of coral eats pods?

Most do. SPS and the like will eat pods in the sense that when pods reproduce they create plankton and provide a natural food source. Hence the success and popularity of tanks using LR and refugiums. Very few, if any, corals are autotrophic. Most feed on something more than just the sugars produced by their zooxanthellae.

 

[morgan24]

that coral will take awhile to open i bought one and it took about 4 or5 days to open fully but when he did he lokks very nice. And in time he will spread all around i feed mine phyto once a week and he's doing great

 

[Steven A]

Do you have an imahe you could post please