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Red Sea Max 130.
- Thread starter fsarmien
- Start date
Looks good, livestock list? Any idea yet?
I can't seem to be able to edit my post. Well here's some information about my tank
Background:
I started this tank back in January and left it alone at home with just water and live rock. I did this, so I wouldn't want to wait for it to cycle. I would stop by at home like two times total between February and May and fix the tank a little. In mid-May, when I came back, there was all this algae and junk in my tank. I spent a good amount of time doing water changes and cleaning the tank again so it would be ready for the frag swap. Now, that I graduated college (WOOOO!) I have more time to dedicate to my precious hobby.
Tank:
Red Sea Max 130 (34g)
Equipment:
Tunze 9002 skimmer with intank cup
Intank media basket
Upgraded intank pumps
Mp10 es
Koralia 550 gph
Lights:
Steve's LED's for RSM 130 (waiting for in the mail and to be installed)
Fish
Black and white clown
Bangaii Cardinal
Tailspot blenny
2 Anthias
Green Mandarin
Yasha Goby
Pearly Jawfish
Fairy Wrasse (Died for unknown reasons)
2 dragonface pipefish added 6-20-2013. One died 6-25-13 saw it being eaten by my cleanup crew. Learned my lesson not to keep these guys.
Carpenters wrasse added 6-20-2013
Inverts
1 Fighting conch
4 halloween hermits
2 Red hermits
Cleaner shrimp- died unknown reasons
Fire shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
2 Pistol Shrimp
2 Maximas (sm + lg)
Crocea
RBTA
Ceriths
Nerites
Nassarius Vibex
Coral (to be placed)
Red monti
Green with purple tip monti
Purple Monti
Orange Digi
Rainbow Stylo
Superman monti
Jedi Mind Trick
Superman's
Purple Nana
Tri Color Valida
GSP
Gonipora
Zoas
Ricordea (trying to get a garden growing)
Macroalgae (still need to be placed)
Dragon's breath
Halimeda
Nemastoma
Background:
I started this tank back in January and left it alone at home with just water and live rock. I did this, so I wouldn't want to wait for it to cycle. I would stop by at home like two times total between February and May and fix the tank a little. In mid-May, when I came back, there was all this algae and junk in my tank. I spent a good amount of time doing water changes and cleaning the tank again so it would be ready for the frag swap. Now, that I graduated college (WOOOO!) I have more time to dedicate to my precious hobby.
Tank:
Red Sea Max 130 (34g)
Equipment:
Tunze 9002 skimmer with intank cup
Intank media basket
Upgraded intank pumps
Mp10 es
Koralia 550 gph
Lights:
Steve's LED's for RSM 130 (waiting for in the mail and to be installed)
Fish
Black and white clown
Bangaii Cardinal
Tailspot blenny
2 Anthias
Green Mandarin
Yasha Goby
Pearly Jawfish
Fairy Wrasse (Died for unknown reasons)
2 dragonface pipefish added 6-20-2013. One died 6-25-13 saw it being eaten by my cleanup crew. Learned my lesson not to keep these guys.
Carpenters wrasse added 6-20-2013
Inverts
1 Fighting conch
4 halloween hermits
2 Red hermits
Cleaner shrimp- died unknown reasons
Fire shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
2 Pistol Shrimp
2 Maximas (sm + lg)
Crocea
RBTA
Ceriths
Nerites
Nassarius Vibex
Coral (to be placed)
Red monti
Green with purple tip monti
Purple Monti
Orange Digi
Rainbow Stylo
Superman monti
Jedi Mind Trick
Superman's
Purple Nana
Tri Color Valida
GSP
Gonipora
Zoas
Ricordea (trying to get a garden growing)
Macroalgae (still need to be placed)
Dragon's breath
Halimeda
Nemastoma
Uh, that's a lot of fish for only a 34g tank... didn't you ever head the 1 fish per 10 gallon rule for saltwater? Overpopulating leads to stress, which leads to parasite outbreaks and fungal outbreaks. That's a recipe for a crash man. In a 34g tank, at most I'd do 4 fish. But, hey, crazier things have happened, so I wish ya the best on it 
. In the mean time! Pictures of the stuff please!!
. In the mean time! Pictures of the stuff please!! Uh, that's a lot of fish for only a 34g tank... didn't you ever head the 1 fish per 10 gallon rule for saltwater? Overpopulating leads to stress, which leads to parasite outbreaks and fungal outbreaks. That's a recipe for a crash man. In a 34g tank, at most I'd do 4 fish. But, hey, crazier things have happened, so I wish ya the best on it
No actually I haven't heard of that. But yeah I did push it a little bit lol. Well, I'll keep testing, water changes, and hopefully learn. Thanks for the wishes, and I'll post more pictures.
Yeah I didn't wanna be that guy fyke but you've got alot going on. With 3 clams in that size tank your gonna need to dose alot of calc
Sent from my galaxy s4
Sent from my galaxy s4
No worries Kyle. Since, I have a lot what things should I test for and such besides Ca? I have another tank that I can put the one or two of the clams in. Thanks for the input!!
Wow Kyle, you’re right about three clams in a 34. You will have to dose Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium….and test for all three. I would recommend the Red Sea Pro Alk, Calc and Mg test kit. As far as dosing, B-ionic or BRS or DIY. HERE’s the DIY instructions and a LINK WITHIN NJRC SIMPLIFYING THESE INSTRUCTIONs.
Also, here is the recommendations as a starting point for dosing levels (From BRS):
Also, here is the recommendations as a starting point for dosing levels (From BRS):
RECOMMENDED STARTING POINTS FOR DAILY DOSING | | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predominately LPS and soft corals | A few hard SPS corals or clams | Numerous full sized SPS colonies and clams | | | | | |
| .2-.3mL/gallon | .4-.6mL/gallon | 1+mL/gallon | | | | | |
Like paul said those three are what you wanna test. Especially as you build up your hard coral collection. I have 2 clams in my 40b and.I kind of regret it. I cant imagine 3 lol. Stock up on 2 part!
Sent from my galaxy s4
So looking at your livestock fish, there are a couple of things right away that I would be concerned about.
1. Most anthias need larger tanks. You can keep a single sunburst in a 40g-ish tank, but most of them require more swimming room. You may have trouble with your pair.
2. Mandarines eat pods. As do your pipe fish, and your wrasses. Three different fish eating pods, and your pod population in a 34g will always be low. There is just no way around that without including a substantial refugium in your setup. You can attempt to train your mandarine to eat prepared food, and your wrasse should eat prepared food, but it is tough to get pipefish to live on prepared food alone.
3. Halloween Hermits are not always well behaved. They can be predatory, watch out for that Yasha goby.
The good news: A yasha goby, a black and white clown, a bengaii cardinal, a tail spot blenny, and a pearly jawfish are great fish for a 34 gallon, and you should be OK with the wrasse in a 34 if you are careful.
You mentioned that you have only been home since May. Have you added all of these animals since May? If you have, I would keep a sharp eye on phosphates, nitrates and nitrites if I were you.
1. Most anthias need larger tanks. You can keep a single sunburst in a 40g-ish tank, but most of them require more swimming room. You may have trouble with your pair.
2. Mandarines eat pods. As do your pipe fish, and your wrasses. Three different fish eating pods, and your pod population in a 34g will always be low. There is just no way around that without including a substantial refugium in your setup. You can attempt to train your mandarine to eat prepared food, and your wrasse should eat prepared food, but it is tough to get pipefish to live on prepared food alone.
3. Halloween Hermits are not always well behaved. They can be predatory, watch out for that Yasha goby.
The good news: A yasha goby, a black and white clown, a bengaii cardinal, a tail spot blenny, and a pearly jawfish are great fish for a 34 gallon, and you should be OK with the wrasse in a 34 if you are careful.
You mentioned that you have only been home since May. Have you added all of these animals since May? If you have, I would keep a sharp eye on phosphates, nitrates and nitrites if I were you.
Alright Yeah I can see that.
Yeah the anthias was bought at the frag swap trusting the vendors word for it and being pressured. But so far they are eating well and looking good.
The mandarin is being trained but I know I need a lot of pods for him/her. The wrasse has been eating all of the pellets and mysis I've been feeding. The pipefish, I admit was a little stupid of me buying, because I wasn't sure how difficult it was to keep them. I learned not to try it again. I'll just try to make the best of it.
Really?? I didn't know halloween hermits were that predatory. I'll keep my eye on them, but so far they have been good unless they killed my cleaner shrimp.
Yeah I have added most of them since May. Here's my levels that I just tested today that contain my livestock, I haven't done a water change yet.
NO3- Less than 5
Ammonia- 0
PO4- 0.12
KH 9.6
Mg: Above 1500
Ca: Above 500
All of them using salifert except PO4 using hanna. I don't see why my Ca/Mg/Kh are really that high. Is that bad or abnormal? I'm pretty sure I tested this correctly.
Thanks for all the input and wonderful information guys. I'm learning a lot lol. But I'll keep you guys updated with everything. Let me know if I'm doing anything else wrong because I'm still learning more and more everyday.
A couple more questions to get “The Rest of the Story.”
What salt are you using? How frequently do you do water changes? What volume of water do you change? What is you target specific gravity (salt concentration)? Are you using swing arm or refractometer to measure salt concentration? And if it’s a refractometer, how are you calibrating?
I’ve asked all these questions because if you’re not dosing, and you have three clams, and your calcium is at 500……there’s some voodoo going on. Those clams should be sucking up calcium like a Hoover vacuum at a dust convention.
What salt are you using? How frequently do you do water changes? What volume of water do you change? What is you target specific gravity (salt concentration)? Are you using swing arm or refractometer to measure salt concentration? And if it’s a refractometer, how are you calibrating?
I’ve asked all these questions because if you’re not dosing, and you have three clams, and your calcium is at 500……there’s some voodoo going on. Those clams should be sucking up calcium like a Hoover vacuum at a dust convention.
Also, going with what Nikki said, you should add a sump/refugium. That'll increase your total water volume and increase your bioload. That will help prevent a crash from over-stocking (not 100% guarantee though!). Keeping my fingers crossed for ya! And hot damn, three clams! I bet they look awesome though
Edit: Also, with a sump/refug you'll have a steady supply of pods despite the mandarin, pipefish, and wrasse. Won't be much, but hopefully enough to keep them from starving. Keep an eye out for the pipefish, and if you see signs of it acting odd, either buy pods to dose with, or look into bringing it back to your LFS for credit. Just my two cents
Edit: Also, with a sump/refug you'll have a steady supply of pods despite the mandarin, pipefish, and wrasse. Won't be much, but hopefully enough to keep them from starving. Keep an eye out for the pipefish, and if you see signs of it acting odd, either buy pods to dose with, or look into bringing it back to your LFS for credit. Just my two cents
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He said it was "above 500". Didn't give a specific number. Same with the Mg.
I'm using reef crystals. I do 5 gallon water changes weekly. My target sg is 1.025 using a swing arm. Yeah it really is mind boggling, I'm 100% sure I tested it right.
Yeah my mom likes clams, and I figured I would be able to take care of them. I want to have a sump but I'm not sure how to put one on my tank. I am planning on buying extra pods for my tank while I culture the ones I have right now. And my aquarium store wouldn't give back credit nor do anything better.Also, going with what Nikki said, you should add a sump/refugium. That'll increase your total water volume and increase your bioload. That will help prevent a crash from over-stocking (not 100% guarantee though!). Keeping my fingers crossed for ya! And hot damn, three clams! I bet they look awesome though
Edit: Also, with a sump/refug you'll have a steady supply of pods despite the mandarin, pipefish, and wrasse. Won't be much, but hopefully enough to keep them from starving. Keep an eye out for the pipefish, and if you see signs of it acting odd, either buy pods to dose with, or look into bringing it back to your LFS for credit. Just my two cents
Yeah I said above Ca-500 and mag- 1500 because that's the highest my salifert test kits read. If I could get a higher reading that I would give a more specific number.
Thanks for the input guys, I'm trying to make the best out of the situation
You might want to invest in a refractometer. Swing arm hydrometers can be inaccurate if air bubbles are on the arm. If you SG is not where it should be, you will get very strange test results- I know this from experience.
What kind of anthias did you get? We all get tricked from time to time- I was once told a snowflake eel was reef safe- AND I BELIEVED IT. We have all been there.
For the mandarin, you can try Melev's mandarin diner, you can supplement with freshly hatched artemia, and you can get a pod culture started. The pipefish may also take freshly hatched artemia, and will benefit from a pod culture. I use Tigger Pods, and culture mine on the window sill.
What kind of anthias did you get? We all get tricked from time to time- I was once told a snowflake eel was reef safe- AND I BELIEVED IT. We have all been there.
For the mandarin, you can try Melev's mandarin diner, you can supplement with freshly hatched artemia, and you can get a pod culture started. The pipefish may also take freshly hatched artemia, and will benefit from a pod culture. I use Tigger Pods, and culture mine on the window sill.
I have no clue, I still need them to be identified. They told me what it was but I forgot. I do have a refractometer, I have to find it and I'm not sure if it needs to be recaliberated.
I'll try to do the Melev's mandarin diner. And see how else I can train it to frozen.
I'll try to post them tomorrow.
I think you need to calibrate.them before every use but im not sure, I dont use one
Sent from my galaxy s4