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Complete newb 30 gallon reef

42K views 232 replies 12 participants last post by  n1zjd 
#1 ·
Well today I made the plunge into saltwater. After a couple of hours at my local Saltware Aquarium shop and several hundred dollars later Ive got a 30 gallon aquarium setup in my living room. At this point I dont know what to expect since the owner of the saltwater place didnt recommend I try ANYTHING under a 75 gallon aquarium to begin with!

My original intention today was to try starting up a 10 gallon nano reef but after talking to the owner today, and not willing to give up entirely, I bought a 30 gallon. I know I have LOTS more to invest into this project in the future but I feel its a start and I can move up from here. Heres what I got today,

30 Gallon aquarium with standard lighted hood (I know its not enough lighting and will be improving this in the near future!)
Aquarium Stand
2 HOB filters (I know, Ill get a skimmer soon!)
1 Power head
1 Heater
Red Sea Marine Lab test kit
Hydrometer
30lbs aragonite
20lbs live sand
9lbs live rock

Questions? Comments? Only thing I ask is that you dont criticize me to hard. I know Im a newbie but Im a quick learner and intend to make this work. I plan to make a DIY canopy soon and upgrade the lighting as well as making a DIY sump/refugium. Cheers
 
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#215 ·
Hi all, just a quick update since I havent been around much lately. Things are still going smoothly. The corals either have gotten more comfortable or they are growing, not sure which. They are quite a bit larger than they were when I got them, at least a couple times bigger. I assume they are growing...lol Here are a couple pics,






Ill try to get a good FTS up in the next couple days. There sandbed has some algae growing on it and some detritus that needs to be cleaned later today so I didnt want to post a pic hehe -Cheers, Mike.
 
#217 ·
Thank you!

Alright, my LFS says DO NOT spot feed shrimp. Can anyone give me a good reason why I shouldnt feed my shrimp directly? He comes out at feeding time and waits for his mean out of the turkey baster just like the others. Talk about hand fed! I would love elaboration here. Thanks.
 
#219 ·
Thanks wake49, that was basically my take on it as well. He comes right out and makes a point to be there to eat like everyone else, its not like I go looking for the shrimp to feed it. Well, Im beginning to think that these bottles of BIonic are going to go bad long before I ever need to use them! Ive gone more than two weeks now (almost 3) without doing a water change and Calcium and Alkalinity are a little low but still within safe range for the inhabitants.

Now I realise I dont have any great bioload in the tank right now so maybe it will change in the months to come when the tank is full of corals, but right now, I need to do a water change before needing to supplement anything. So now my question is, what are the reasons for doing a water change? Is the biggest factor to replace trace elements? Nothing tests out of range to warrant a water change, but obviously we dont have a test kit for everything.... My Nitrates have even dropped since decreasing the feeding amount so there wasnt so much waste. So the only reason I can see for me to do a water change is to replenish things I cant test for.

All in all, Ill say Im very happy with the way things are going. Ive havent made any additions since the corals and everything/everyone appears to be happy and healthy with extremely little maintenance. The only thing I have to do regularely is top off with RODI due to what I lose through evap/skimming. I bet I can go a month without emptying my skimmer cup.....

The only thing that concerns me is the algae Im seeing. Now dont get me wrong, its not horrible but there is some. I try and stay on top of it and scraped the glass the other day with a razor blade for the first time. Their is some red hair type algae on the rock my flower leather is attached to as well as getting a few small spots of some black kind of algae on the sandbed. I would really like to do a small sump but Im just not seeing any reason to justify the addition couple hundred dollar investment at this point. If I was having problems then it would be different, but things are just so easy at this point.

Im about to make another addition to the tank, possibly this friday. A BTA (Bubble Tipped Anemone) for the clowns. Ive done my research on anemones and feel this species is my best chance at success. Ill let everyone know if/when I get it. Cheer, -Mike.
 
#220 ·
I do not think that your tank is mature enough for a RBTA. These should be a late addition to the tank, 6 months, a year after the tank matured.

I do water changes because that is what I was taught to do. I do nothing big. Ten gallons once every week to week and a half. I change it right out of the sump, so I don't disrupt the display at all. I believe that it helps replace trace elements and keep my water chemistry stable. I would change about 2 gallons a week out of that 30 gallon.
 
#221 ·
I kinda figured someone would tell me just that. Basically the reason why I posted it. My LFS claims it will be fine so I figured I would get a second opinion. She has been successfully keeping reef tanks for 20+ years and her tanks are indeed impressive, but I tend to not trust alot of what she tells me because it goes against most everything that Ive read on the forums and in the one marine book Ive been reading off and on.

I told the wife this as well, about waiting 6 months before introducing a RBTA, but since the LFS owner told her otherwise I feel its going to be inevitable that there is one in there before then but we will see. I know she doesnt want to see an animal die but one can only take so much misinformation before they decide to just do what they want, lol. Ill still try and convince her the tank isnt ready, but this is something I deal with on a week to week basis. I dont want it to come down to a death of a livestock but Ill be honest, Im about done trying to explain things. Her thoughts are always 'everything else is fine, and the LFS said it would be ok'....

Ill keep everyone posted as well as do a 2 gallon water change tonight. Oh, forgot I didnt post the Calc and Alk test results earlier so here they are, keep in mind, Im 3 days shy of 3 weeks since doing a water change.

Calcium - 420 ppm
Alkalinity - 10 dKH

Also, they seem to be pretty much dropping evenly right? So if they are still low after the water change it would be safe to supplement both?
 
#223 ·
I hear ya OF2F. We are waiting on one for now...

Okay now Ive got some questions. Ive got a couple different types of algae growing and got worried so I ran a full line of tests and here at the results

Temp - 79F
Salinity - 1.025
PH - 8.3

Nitrates - 5 ppm
Phosphate - 0 ppm
Calcium - 420 ppm
Alkalinity - 10 dKH

So my water change didnt do anything for calcium and Alkalinity but everything else seems to be just fine.

Maybe the algae blooms are just normal? Not enough CUC?

Ive got my skimmer dialed in now so that I get a full cup every two days of skimmate but its wet and requires me to top off twice daily now. The skimmate is nice and dirty not fairly clear like when I adjust it all the way down. I would like to adjust it more so that it doesnt remove as much water but Im not sure which way is the most efficient (most DOC's/least water, or more water but still lots of DOCs)?

The recommended dose of each bottle of BIonic for my size tank is 5 ml, would it be ok to supplement 4 ml of each now?

Here are some pictures of the algae





Thanks in advance. -Mike
 
#224 ·
Hi mike, I got a lot of algae when i was buffering for alkalinity at sand level, after i stopped buffering and left it to settle for a week it all went away think its to do with unbalance levels in the tank when you buffer. colin
 
#225 ·
I have yet to buffer anything. But its about time to need to do so.
 
#226 ·
The second and third pictures are unfortunately cyno-bacteria. The red slime is a byproduct of the actual bacteria that live on the sand and rocks. I was/am battling some in my tanks. The best way to get rid of it is increasing the flow on the affected areas and decreasing the amount of extra food in the tank. For my 12G I bought another power head and that solved my problems and now it is gone. It sucks because soon it will cover the tank if you don’t take any action.
 
#227 ·
Thanks for the info Highland lake13! I will point a powerhead at it in the morning. There really isnt any uneated food left after feeding. Ive been paying close attention to it and only feed every other day. Ill look into another powerhead as well but will just move one tomorrow for the time being. Cheers, -Mike.

PS - anyone with info on using the BIonic please chime in and let me know if its ok to add, info a few posts up.
 
#228 ·
Well I didnt want to wait. I like to take action quickly when I know what Im dealing with. So I researched cyanobacteria and learned some things. Heres my plan of action. Reduce lighting temporarily to 8hrs a day and Ive got a powerhead aimed at it. I know now that my nitrates may have been higher before the algae showed up. Its spreading rather quickly so we will see if these changes help to control it. I will also be doing weekly 5 gal water changes from now on.
 
#230 ·
Ugh the more I read about it the more it worries me! I would elimate my lighting all togeather for a couple weeks but Im sure that would elimate my corals as well as the bacteria. Im going to aim for another 5 gallon water change today to help the situation as well as remove as much of it from the tank as I can. Now I see the reason for water changes! Ill keep everyone posted.
 
#231 ·
Well Im sad to announce that I have lost one of my ricordias. I saw yesterday that it had some white fuzzy stuff on it so I used the turkey baster to suck the stuff off of it. Well today a good half of it was covered with the stuff. Im pretty bummed as it was the largest one when open fully and my favorite. I removed it from the tank so it wouldnt continue to pollute the water. Ill be doing a 20% water change later on today and Ill be aiming for another one in a couple days time.

I manually removed as much cyanobacteria as I could yesterday. From now on Ill be doing a weekly 20% water change until the conditions improve then I will change 10% weekly. Hopefully there wont be anymore losses.

Ill keep everyone updated. Cheers, -Mike.
 
#232 ·
Just completed a 7.5 gallon water change and vacuumed as much cyanobacteria as I could from the sandbed. Ive got the skimmer set to its lowest setting to remove as much DOC's as possible. Hopefully things begin to improve soon. No other coral losses thus far. Cheers, -Mike
 
#233 ·
Sorry its been so long since I have been around. I plan on moving the tank in a few days to a different room. Im not looking forward to moving the whole thing but it will be a good time to accomplish a lot. The best part is the room is going to be a dedicated office/fish room. I will have the SW tank in here as well as my FW tank.

Im still battling a cyanobacteria issue but I know the reason for it and hope to solve it soon after moving the tank into the new room. Then I can step up the maintanence drastically so my tank can finally thrive :-D

Other than the cyano everything is going just fine. All corals/fish/inverts are still doing fine. The corals are getting larger and the fish are good eaters and have not had any signs of disease. Im kinda embarrased to post a picture due to the cyano but I think I will try to post one up tomorrow so I can show folks the before and after pics of a tank that was receiving poor maintenance versus one that is properly taken care of.

Cheers
 
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