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bur01014 
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 Topic: 55 Gallon Started
Posted: March 20 2010 at 10:44pm |
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Ya, the lion is what I really want.....I might have to try him. So do they only eat live when bought? Is training him to eat frozen food all about the 2 week fast i hear about? Also, I failed to mention, I have no lid on my tank....as you can see light fixture is suspended above water and it is open....is this a problem for these fish?
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jwoo
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 10:26pm |
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I say go for the lion! I've seen dwarf lions in reefs plenty of times. Trick is to train him properly and you won't have to many issues. Teach him that the snails are not food by putting in empty shells this tends to frustrate them and teach them that nothing is in there. Also train him to eat frozen and that you are where the food comes from and unless he is starving he won't go looking to hard for food. The only things that you won't be able to put in with him are fish small enough that he can eat them, and shrimp. Although some people have reported training small juvie dwarfs to not eat cleaners by A. Getting the lion when a juvie, and B. getting a cleaner to big for him to eat. Once its established that the shrimp is a friend supposedly he won't it eat.
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None at the moment
Soon: 72 Gallon Bowfront
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bur01014
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 7:34pm |
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wow....looks like clown might be the only for sure fish then...
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fishoutawater
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 7:10pm |
A small blue tang(hippo) would be ok for a while, it will become much too large though.
Flame angel is great but is hit and miss as far as it nipping corals.
Dwarf lion, very cool, but might eat up everything you put in for a cuc.
Clowns are fun to watch and easy to keep.
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Some day, when I grow up,...
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bur01014
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 6:44pm |
Okay- one week down.....tank is looking really ugly. Have lots of diatoms and can see small green hair algae growing on rocks and glass. Ammonia has peaked and is falling, nitrite is peaking. Anyways, nothing in the tank yet, but what to do about the algae? Should I be cleaning it off the glass or not? I worry if I don't it may get harder to clean as time goes by? I am also worried because will be leaving out of town for a week on monday....who knows what my tank will look like when I get back? Should I be worried? Should I lower the amount of time my lights are on? What is suggested about hours of light? Also, should I just let it get really ugly and assume it will go away on its own with a little help of a CUC? Sorry, so many questions, but it is almost embarrassing how ugly it looks. My wife thinks I am clueless about what I doing, which I am.  Anyways, hopefully after I get back in town after a week it will be ready for some crabs and snails....I would also like some advice on the fish I am interested in. Keep in mind I am a novice so if my tank isn't large enough, fish aren't reef safe, fish are difficult to keep, or if they aren't compatible, please let me know. This list is solely on what I like to look at so far! Fish List- Blue Tang (maybe too big for 55?) Red Flame (dwarf angel I believe) Dwarf Lionfish (reef safe? probably need gloves to deal with him) Clownfish (seems like a good starter fish to see if I can keep water decent) That is it....can I stock them together in a 55? Or would it be overstocked? Any advice is appreciated on my thousand random questions!  Ugly brown tank....
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bfessler
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Posted: March 19 2010 at 9:58am |
No problem.
You can make the gyre go either horizontal or vertical the only thing that matters is that the water all be going the same direction. In my Nano which is a cube I have the water going in a vertical gyre or across the top down the front and back across the gravel. In my 55 I use a horizontal gyre which is more like a whirlpool.
Looking at your rock stack I can't tell if there is any room behind the rock. This isn't absolutely necessary but if you can keep at least portions of the rock off the back wall it will allow the water to circulate behind the rock better. As far as pointing the power-heads I would position the one on the right so that it is just above the top of your rock pointed slightly upward (maybe so that if you drew a line through the output to the left corner the line would touch the surface). On the right side I would place the power head about 1/2 way down on the back wall close to the right corner and pointed toward the front glass (maybe just Little to the left as well. This will allow the water to flow straight across the back wall then across the right side and across the front back to the left power head.
Again you may have to play with it to get the best circulation you can. In my frag tank I am not so concerned with how it looks so I put one power-head on the left rear corner pointing across the back and one on the right front corner pointing across the front.
Hope this helps.
Edited by bfessler - March 19 2010 at 10:00am
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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bur01014
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Posted: March 17 2010 at 6:21pm |
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bfessler,
You are going to think I am really stupid, but looking at my pictures and how my rocks are placed on the back wall, how should i place my powerheads to get gyro going? The article suggested towards the surface.....having both up there seems like no movement would get down below, especially lower in the tank on backside of rocks and caves....maybe you u check up my pictures and give a more detailed description of where and how to point the darn things....
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Ahanix
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Posted: March 17 2010 at 5:18pm |
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Awesome, I didn't know that. I've been pushing the water against itself in my biocube, maybe i'll try throwing the power below where the return is to get the water flowing better. Thanks for the info Burt.
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bfessler
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Posted: March 17 2010 at 2:14pm |
 bur01014 wrote:
So I want the flow going in a circular motion? I thought I read somewhere to have the powerheads angled towards the upper middle front glass panel, causing a bouncing of the water off the glass producing the best flow......guess I will re-adjust and try to get them to make a whirlpool effect... |
Here is a good article on flow and the reason for using the Gyre
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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bfessler
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Posted: March 13 2010 at 9:37am |
There are differing opinions regarding flow but the latest recommendations is to get the flow all going the same direction. That way the currents are working together and you maximize your flow with minimum equipment. The rock in the tank creates the turbulence as the water impacts the rock. The ideal method is to get the gyre going for several hours and then to reverse the gyration. To do this you need a 2 sets of power heads or some other method of diverting the water flow so that it reverses direction. This isn't always necessary especially in smaller tanks. In my 28G Nano I get the gyre going top to bottom instead of around the sides. My returns are below the surface pointing upward to agitate the surface water. Flow goes across the top of the tank down the front and back across the bottom. It doesn't really matter which direction the gyration goes (horizontal or vertical) just get all the water going in the same direction.
I am also using this method in my 55 Gallon Frag system. In that tank I create a gyre that goes around the tank like a whirlpool instead of top to bottom and the frags have responded nicely to the increased flow.
I should mention that turbulence is also important, strictly laminar flow or flow all going in the same direction is not preferred. Turbulence is created in the gyre as the currents impact the rock and other stationary parts of the reef. That is why having multiple caves, and openings in the rock is important. The water needs to be diverted as it travels around the tank thus creating turbulence even though the power heads are all pushing water in the same direction.
Edited by bfessler - March 13 2010 at 12:53pm
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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bur01014
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Posted: March 13 2010 at 12:35am |
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First water test (6 hours after adding frozen shrimp)
Confusing results- ammonia- trace or .25
Nitrite- 0
Nitrates- 20
What is up with that? Why the nitrates already? maybe from the 8 gallons of live water I added?
Guess I will test tomorrow morning and see if ammonia goes any higher....
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bur01014
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 10:46pm |
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So I want the flow going in a circular motion? I thought I read somewhere to have the powerheads angled towards the upper middle front glass panel, causing a bouncing of the water off the glass producing the best flow......guess I will re-adjust and try to get them to make a whirlpool effect...
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bfessler
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 9:52pm |
Looks like you have a good start. Consider getting your power heads to work together. What I mean is pointing them so that they push the water in the same direction. This will increase the flow throughout the tank and make you corals happy. I would place them about mid way down and point them so that you start to get a whirlpool effect with the water circling the tank. Also point them slightly upward so that they ripple the surface for good gas exchange. Getting the Gyre motion going allows you to create more flow with less equipment.
As for rock placement try to keep room in the back for the water to continue to flow circling the tank. You don't have to keep all the rock off the back wall but make sure there is room for the water to circulate behind the rock. This will help eliminate dead zones and aid the gyre motion of the water. Create as many caves and openings as you can. As the current strikes the rocks and moves through the openings and caves it will create diverse flow patterns. When you add fish it will also create interesting areas for them to move through and use for getting away from the occasional aggressor.
While the tank is relatively empty is the best time to play around with various aquascaping ideas and maximizing the flow through the tank. Once you add fish and corals it becomes harder to make changes and more stressful on the livestock.
Keep the pics coming as you dial in the tank.
Edited by bfessler - March 12 2010 at 9:52pm
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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bugzme
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 6:58pm |
guess you're not coming by huh?
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Jeff
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I KNOW ROCKS THAT ARE YOUNGER THEN ME!! I AM A Realist! I write what I think!!
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Deluxe247
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 3:48pm |
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I think your rocks look pretty descent to me. One thing to remember, and many will suggest this, is to set up the rocks in such a way that you leave as much of your sand bed exposed as possible. One way is to set up a few smaller rocks on the bottom to act as column supports for the bigger ones to sit on, and your reef becomes semi-suspended. Besides that, try to have lots of caves and crevasses to make it interesting (plus critters and fish like it). Also, a personal opinion: I like to stack my rock high so at least some of it gets close to, or even touches the surface. I just think it looks cool.
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90G Mixed Reef
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ksmart
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 3:34pm |
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Thanks for posting the pic, I love hearing about updates. You will find a lot of people on this board that will give you or sell at a good price some frags. About the cycle yes you need to get something in there to get the ammonia spiked or else the bacteria wont grow. You can either put fish food in or a piece of shrimp either way i dont think it matters that much. Once you do that and start testing your parameters you will see the spike in ammonia and then nitrite and then nitrate. Dont add any corals till your ammonia and nitrites are zero and nitrates are low, you will want to start with some mushrooms or some cheaper zoanthids. This might take a few weeks for your tank tank to get stable so I wouldnt add anythint till then. Good luck!
Edited by ksmart - March 12 2010 at 3:44pm
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CapnMorgan
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 2:18pm |
bur01014 wrote:
good to hear....wasn't sure if they grow REALLY slow or what....lots to learn...
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How fast corals grow depends totally on the individual coral and the setup/parameters of the tank they are in.
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Steve My Old 180G Mixed ReefCurrently: 120G Wavefront Mixed 29G Seahorse & Softies Running ReefAngel Plus x2 435-8
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bugzme
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 7:45am |
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I have green star polyps. Free
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Jeff
125 tank
50 gallon sump
T-5 lighting
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I KNOW ROCKS THAT ARE YOUNGER THEN ME!! I AM A Realist! I write what I think!!
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bur01014
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 3:24am |
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good to hear....wasn't sure if they grow REALLY slow or what....lots to learn...
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fishoutawater
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Posted: March 12 2010 at 3:22am |
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$5 dollar frags can soon grow into $50+ colonies very quickly. Also, it is much better to learn with a few colored dots, than to have an accident/mistake and lose a really nice piece. Much of the satisfaction is in watching it grow anyway.
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Some day, when I grow up,...
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