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my first 55g SW Tank

Hawkeye

Hawkeye

i would not have suggested an anemone just yet - how old is the tank? The age of the tank tends to help stabilize the chemistry of the water - that's why people tend to suggest waiting on an anemone.

The other concern is I think you have PC lighting right? It might work but most folks would urge T5 or MH or even VHO for anemones.

If you put something meaty when the lights are out at night the brittle star will probably come out to eat it. Eventually you could probably convince it to come out when it realizes you are going to give it something to eat.
 
D

ds4x4

i'd have to look back and see how old the tank is, its over month or so, no ammonia or nitrite, ph 8.1, little nitrates, calcium is a little over 400 all stable params. and regular water changes.(thats all the test kits i have at the moment).

i'm no elephant, i'm more like an ostrich sometimes. bump into something, forget, then do it again. memory's not my strong point sometimes.

Thanks for the reccomend on the book DaveK (The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta) picked it up tonight $19.99, the other was $70.00 so maybe later.
 
Baxreefs

Baxreefs

You won't see too much of the brittle. Maybe an arm here or there, but it'll do a great job of cleaing the sand bed and rocks of excess food.

Hope it's not too early for the anem. Do you have a clown?
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

one thing to be careful of - while BTA's do not generally walk around - they should not be in touch with your heater. If the heater came on one night and it just so happened it was sitting on it - it could badly burn it.

Oh and they also don't mind getting something to eat every once in a while.
 
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ds4x4

i have two true percula's, got rid of the yellow tail damsels to reduce the bioload. i have a black damsel that i learned what it was and it is not reef safe the yellow, black and silver with teal on its fins. (nips at corals) I'll move the heater up a little so theres no way it can touch it.. i'm checking out getting a HOB refuge and a HOB overflow and do a sump/skimmer.

I now have some frozen food, myisis shrimp, reef plankton, mussels, some sort of beef from the piranha, and a mixed pack. i plan on picking up some cyclopeeze. How do you guys target feed the anem. since the clowns aren't hosting it yet? i chop the frozen stuff to smaller pieces and it disintegrates in no time.

On another note the Chocolate chip is going back to the LFS today :)
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

I would keep the beef on the grill and out of the SW tank ;).
You can give it food about the size of it's mouth I believe is rule of thumb. I like to have my Koralia at the surface to get good water movement. Your tank eventually could handle a couple of them.

HOB refugium is a great idea, I don't remember what you have now a couple filters right? You can modify them if they are big enough to hold your macro algae. CPR makes some HOB refugiums. Look around though they are pretty pricey I think. There are lots of examples of mods for HOB filters.
 
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ds4x4

my goal is to get rid of the HOB filters and get a simple sump and then the HOB refuge. i think that will suffice any pod population that i need for this tank. i have the Emperor 400 by MarineLand

the koralia is on the left side pushing across the front glass and making the water flow in a big circle towards the bigger HOB filter. it's nicely keeping everything in suspension.


oh and i'll toss the beef :)
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

I think the filter could be adapted for a fuge. It is pretty good sized. Or you can find a HOB fuge to replace it. Just a possiblity if you want to DIY it.
 
Baxreefs

Baxreefs

Brandon

I'll show you my old HOB fuge and overflow and some sump ideas when you come by.

... I have a catalog of equipment here ::)

We gotta get you a skimmer!
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

in terms of feeding the anemone - i would try and get to the seafood market and pick up some type of small fish - silversides are the choice of most. Just chop them into bite-size pieces (you want the head, guts, tail everything). Then every so often feed a piece of it to the anemone. I used to take the food and use a pair of tongs to place on the tentacles.
 
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ds4x4

Can't wait Bax.. tomorrows the BIG DAY! :) i'm guessing that this is fresh and unthawed to the bta? do they not accept cold/frozen things

and i got some really big pieces of base rock today along with a 2 foot X 1 foot shelf piece. I was checking out the Tom's Rapids Pro series?¿ Foster/smith has it on sale for $199 auto fill and all. :dunno: any thoughts?

pics! $35 BTA/Live rock. and took the CC Star and Black Damsel in for credit :( helped out actually reducing the bio load.

DSCN1535.jpg

DSCN1541.jpg






Black Damsel ( figure that one out) NOT REEF SAFE
Black_damsel.gif
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

amazing you were able to catch the damsels.

hey what color is that BTA? it looks a little faded/pale to me - but maybe that's the camera?
 
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ds4x4

white as far as i know.. the LFS had him for a month i think and he's the same color now as he was there.. now that i have a few big base rocks i'm gunna redo all of them and i'll put him a little closer to the top.

trick with the damsels.. just chase them till they get tired or take apart all your rock
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

it's possible the anemone has "bleached". Be sure to feed it regularly for now until it regains it's color (hopefully).
 
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ds4x4

phil519 said:
it's possible the anemone has "bleached". Be sure to feed it regularly for now until it regains it's color (hopefully).
Click to expand...

ok will do i'll stop tomorrow and pick up some small fish for it.. and i talked to bax, should i still move it higher towards the light?
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

if it's bleached i am not sure it matters - BUT I am not an expert on recovering anemones.

If you notice it stretching a lot (like reaching up) then maybe you want to move it up.

Where did you go to get the anemone? It's a little bit bad business practice for an LFS to sell you an anemone that has bleached.
 
JRWOHLER

JRWOHLER

Looks like it is white with pink tips possible?
Good job in getting the bad boys out.
What is that Toms Rapid I don't know it/
 
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ds4x4

yes i did notice that there where pink tips last night looking at it. i'll pick up the silversides for it tonight and i have to re-scape for the big pieces so i'll put him in the middle level of the tank.

it's kinda like a canister setup with skimmer and auto fill.. links, i think foster/smith is an the old model

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/23396/product.web
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...iew~idProduct~OE1316~idCategory~FIFRCFOH.html
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3579+16747&pcatid=16747
 
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