22 gallon hex journal

[Lorna]

The reason that you add all your clownfish (that should read only 2) and of the same species is so that they will pair up. Clownfish added individually are okay provided any addition later is a much smaller juvelnile as the single fish will have turned female if left on it's own for any length of time. I would not try and mate anything to a single maroon as they are difficult to mate up later as the female would undoubtedly try and dominate and attack any other maroon added. I would seriously recommend reading up on maroons if this is your plan. Ocellaris on the other hand can be added later as they will probably mate up provided the first fish is a much larger mature fish and the addition as stated is a juvenile and much smaller.

 

[noob23]

No, no maroons, i will probably be getting 2 ocelarris. I have another question/concern though: I have a total of three snails, one stays hard at work on the live rock eating algae, while the other two are together at the top of the tank on the glass. Why are they at the top on the glass? Theve been like this for several days now.

Ill try to get some pics up of the current set-up, and the firefish.

 

[noob23]

Well came back from the LFS fishless. They had ocelarris there, but the colors wern't that good. I wanted to get a pair, but they recommended me wait until next week for better fish. Pretty cool when your LFS says their stock sucks. They had a really nice looking true perc there, but they only had one. I was almost going to get a cool little Arabian Pseudochromis, but it was 50 bucks. I ended up getting 3 more snails and three more crabs. Looking for either a pair of clowns or a six line wrasse next week.

 

[Lorna]

both the pseudochromis and the six line can be aggressive and should you decide on these add them later after any docile fish are added.....

 

[noob23]

Thanks Lorna, added a pair of nice ocellaris clowns yesterday. Picked up some cool green polyps also. Pics to come..

 

[noob23]

Well heres the pics i promised, the firefish doesn't seem to happy with his new neighbors, hes always hiding.

Green Polyps

One of the Clowns. Sorry about the quality, but these guys are so active, and i dont have the best of cameras.

Unhappy Firefish peeking out of his darthole.

FTS


Nice Aptasia in the first picture huh? I got a peppermint shrimp, idk if you can see him, but hes in the first pic. I placed the coral as far away from those as possible. If the peppermint shrimp doesnt eat them, ill get em'.

 

[noob23]

It seems that my peppermint shrimp has dissapeared. I dont know why, i acclimated him slowly, and he was very active when i put him in. He seemed very healthy, he was looking great yesterday too. I cant find him anywhere, i cant even find a body. Is this something they do? Is he just hiding? What the hell happend?

 

[Chris_A]

It's not exactly uncommon for them to go into hiding the first little bit. Just keep an eye out for him at feeding time, specifically look in the smallest cracks and caves you have. Might even need a flashlight.

Good looking GSP's... Even though they are like the crab grass of the reef world, I've always loved them

Chris

 

[noob23]

I found a dead hermit crab on the floor of the tank today, he was out of his shell. Is this normal?

 

[Chris_A]

Well, if you can, break open the "body" and see if there is anything inside. Might just be a molt.

Other than dead or molt the only time you'll see a hermit out of it's shell is when it's switching to a new one and WOW are they fast at that lol.

 

[noob23]

Fantastic news, bought a 6 line wrasse yesterday, and he seems to have a decent amount of ich on him. It doesnt seem to really bother him, but it defenetley bothers me. Good medications?
Also got my water tested this weekend, trates are starting to become faintly detectable.

 

[Chris_A]

Best medication is preventative. Exactly why quarantine is so important. For the most part the tried and true meds are going to kill your inverts. While there are some that claim to be reef/invert safe, biologicly speaking I don't understand how and the reviews I've heard are not exactly "glowing".

SOooo, maybe try a freshwater dip, feeding garlic/selcon soaked food and perhaps consult a voodoo witch doctor . Other than that if you can, set up a quarantine and treat with copper or Nox-ich (my preferance). Keep an eye on the other fish too, it's VERY possible they could get it too.

By FAR my favorite solution for Ich (fresh or marine) is water changes and a UV sterilizer. Just have to keep in mind it will destroy your cope and amph population. With that in mind I don't run it full time, actually it's been sitting in a box for the last 5 years lol .

Good luck!
Chris

 

[noob23]

For the freshwater dip, just take some of my RO top off water, and let him sit for 5 mins? Will that do the trick?

 

[noob23]

I also wanted to raise another question about filtration:

I know my tank is small, and the level of fish that I want to eventually have will probably cause nitrate problems down the road. Right now I'm running a simple whisper 30 power filter (the existing FW filter) with carbon only (took foam pad out). I have about 17 pounds of LR and a good 2.5 inch bed of premium live sand. What can i do to boost filtration? I do not have a sump, refugium, or even a protein skimmer, which i know is a key part to a successful reef aquarium. Should i start looking into constructing a sump? Is there a protein skimmer that i can get without a sump? Will i be able to do this with my irritating hex tank?

While i'm here, i also wanted to thank all the people who have helped me out so far, primarily Chris_A *thumbsups. Your answers/concerns/comments were, and are still greatly appreciated. The past three weeks have been very fun, and i am really looking forward to the future of this tank. I am already experiencing the rewards this hobby holds. I find myself really not caring what i spend at the store anymore. You get so caught up in the beauty of the creatures, an $83 dollar day at the store for a pair of clowns, coral and some inverts doesn't even hurt. (I would never have spent anywhere close to that amount of FW stuff). So heres to it so far *celebrate, and i cant wait for more!

 

[Chris_A]

For the freshwater dip, just take some of my RO top off water, and let him sit for 5 mins? Will that do the trick?

Some people say to use plain freshwater others say just a REALLY low specific gravity (1.011 ish). Again for time the advice seems to vary. I normally use some water change water to cut with the FW (1.005 SG) and just keep an eye on them. If they start to look even more stressed than they should, yank em . I think the longest I've heard recommended was 20 min? Don't think I've ever got there though.

So far as a sump goes, it would probably have to be external of your stand. I've seen some people build a seperate cabinet for theirs, do a search for remote sump and you should find some stuff. Skimmers do come as hang on units, just be careful picking them out... you get what you pay for. The only limitation I could see is clearance because of you hood. Might not be room for both a HOB and skimmer.

LOL, careful pretty soon you'll have several grand in fish crap sitting in your shed *SUPERSMIL.

Chris

 

[MatthewLaw]

I would suggest a HOB protein skimmer but you may run into length complications because you have a hexagon tank; many HOB protein skimmers are pretty wide. In a way you may be forced to create a sump.

since your tank does not have an overflow then you may need to get a HOB overflow which then goes down to the sump. here is one below.

Reef Aquarium Filtration: Eshopps Overflow Boxes

Before adding any more fish, have you been checking amonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, etc levels? If they are already kind of high , you may want to get on this sump issue ASAP or at least before adding more fish.

 

[noob23]

Yep check levels weekly. Never really had any ammonia or nitrite. I am starting to get very very small nitrate levels. No more fish for a while, i'm going to let it sit and see how the nitrate responds. I also bought some aiptasia control, that was pretty fun.

 

[Chris_A]

I also bought some aiptasia control, that was pretty fun.

LOL, yeah... hopefuly you get them entirely and they didn't release any larvae. If that happened, enjoy it while it lasts... it gets old REAL quick . I've been fighting them for about a year and a half now. Finally found a Canadian supplier for Berghia Nudibranchs so got my fingers crossed .

Chris

 

[MatthewLaw]

hmmm good luck!!

i usually check SG daily and other levels weekly.

sounds like you're doing well, so far!

 

[noob23]

Yes thats definetely something on my list, a good refractometer. I also need a good reef test kit to get all of the levels myself. Right now my LFS is doing the testing, its cool though because they actually show me exact results and the levels. Every friday I go in there for a weekly check.