I did a complete numb nut newb thing and bought corals. I don't know what they are.

[NanoNana]

The

wow now that the LED program switched to evening and moon, the toadstool turned into a mushroom again with no tendricles ( a word i made up) . i use one of the Red Sea app LED programs at 15,000 Kelvin for white and blue,but I edited the program so that it actually gets less strong over the course of the eight hours and there's also little clouds in the program. I don't know if I need it blasted at 15K all day. maybe i do.

Have you said yet what light you have yet? Maybe make a separate post in lighting (if you haven’t already) someone probably knows par ratings at certain depths and may be able to help you with the schedule. 15000 kelvin isn’t really the info necessary to advise on lighting.

 

[Ballyhoo]

The

Have you said yet what light you have yet? Maybe make a separate post in lighting (if you haven’t already) someone probably knows par ratings at certain depths and may be able to help you with the schedule. 15000 kelvin isn’t really the info necessary to advise on lighting.

well it's the lighting that comes with a G2 Max system.

 

[Spare time]

I am grateful that you folks were able to ID my coral though this thread got turned into something different very quickly. in the last six weeks since I've been started reefing I usually find 1000 different answers to one question so opinions on having too many fish just not accepted. I have four small fish how in anyway could that be too large for a 41 tank? excuse me guys for wanting a little bit more than bare rock so I put some decor in my tank. Oh my God reef sacrilege. The reef gods are going to strike me down.

You can get live macroalgae that will help clean the water rather than the plants which will most likely just collect algae over time. Just a thought

 

[Spare time]

.

 

[Spare time]

well, I made a total mistake in the beginning of my thread and ongoing. what LFS sold me yesterday as a pre-solution for the corals is called Melafix. So I never used the Ammolock. I just happen to have a bottle of ALock and I miss referenced the label when I posted in the OP. But I followed the instructions of Melafix. LFS told me the effect is what could prevent hitchhikers. They just never told me the brand name they handed me the bottle.

Melafix is also not a dip. I have never heard of melafix with corals so that is strange. Definitely not something you would find the average person using in the hobby for a dip.

 

[Ballyhoo]

Melafix is also not a dip. I have never heard of melafix with corals so that is strange. Definitely not something you would find the average person using in the hobby for a dip.

well, then, why does the company encourage consumer to use as a dip?

 

[aminals]

but so far all that i read here is that silk in fake plants is bad and fire retardant and metal posting. I don't think my decor have any of those things. Are you sure you guys are just not against the concept of a natural reef tank and all that it means, with fake plants in it? I mean, I can understand in the world of reef tanks It's a natural environment mimicking a part of the sea in a very special part of the world -- and fake decor? It was only because I just started out and I wanted something pretty to look at.
I spent almost $5 Large for a Reef system and then I was like well at least if i could put something to look at in there for now besides LR. Then I got the clowns and they just love it.

Add,
what I'm gonna do first thing tomorrow is call LFS and find out exactly what that decor is made of to make 100% sure that it is not going to be a bad thing for waiting until my coral grow out and then I can trash them

I don't think anyone is mad about the fake plants. I'm definitely not driving over to remove them. Alot of us have used them and I definitely remember how dirty mine got catching algae. I wouldn't worry about aesthetics til 2025. That new tank is gonna get ugly. It just happens being new.

It could lead to problems or you could have a mystery problem and it's just one more unknown factor.

Did your lfs tell you NOT to buy anything? Tons of things are a waste of money or just overkill to start with. They should be smacking your hand and tell you to be patient your first few visits. Well assuming they're hobbyists and not just salesmen.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I don't think anyone is mad about the fake plants. I'm definitely not driving over to remove them. Alot of us have used them and I definitely remember how dirty mine got catching algae. I wouldn't worry about aesthetics til 2025. That new tank is gonna get ugly. It just happens being new.

It could lead to problems or you could have a mystery problem and it's just one more unknown factor.

Did your lfs tell you NOT to buy anything? Tons of things are a waste of money or just overkill to start with. They should be smacking your hand and tell you to be patient your first few visits. Well assuming they're hobbyists and not just salesmen.

well, so the last time I was at LFS and I bought those corals I wanted a lot more and a lot bigger fish, bigger corals, I got reef bug. to be honest with you I wanted to buy about half the species at the LfS I wanted to buy a juvenile blue tang and very large well establish coral. But the LFS guy wasn't having it in he only sold me the small corals in the two small fish that I got the little Gobi and, the Firefish. And yeah, he did tell me that Malala fix it was him and the girl that also worked there both were saying it works for hitchhikers. if my enthusiasm for this hobby continues, there's no doubt I will be buying a much larger tank.

edit, also, so it was the night before last where I went to lfs and bought the four coral species and the two fish. I did about a 15% water change, I was careful though to keep all the water they gave me in the bags thinking I was getting good cultivated water. I don't know if that was the case or not. i added that to my system after I did the water change. All day yesterday my protein skimmer was working overtime and bubbling like crazy which I'm not sure why I would do that but the protein skimmer was really acting up yesterday and in fact causing lot of moisture and droplets inside the cabinetry of the sump. I contacted red sea today and they explained some things to me, but I'm not sure why skimmer is acting so crazy. Red Sea Just explained to me how to reduce the flow to it but I'm just not sure why the skimmer was boiling over so much. But all species seem fine. I watched that video that I think probably a lot of people have watched about overflowing skimmers but none of that seem to apply to me. I drained water from the skimmer valve, but the water was like clean water not mucky or anything. In the video that I see when he drains water from the skimmer it's all dirty looking water I wonder if the makagix i added caused the skimmer to act up. Because I did put some in the water change per the directions.

 

[skey44]

I have used melafix as a successful coral dip. Quite successful at removing worms, nudis, and small crustaceans. Also very easy on the corals and smells nice. I used it interchangeably with Revive similar effectiveness, smell, and performance.

 

[Spare time]

well, then, why does the company encourage consumer to use as a dip?

Interesting. Maybe this is new for the melafix marine version? Never heard of it advertised for traditional melafix. Maybe it has been around longer and I've just never seen it.

 

[Spare time]

but so far all that i read here is that silk in fake plants is bad and fire retardant and metal posting. I don't think my decor have any of those things. Are you sure you guys are just not against the concept of a natural reef tank and all that it means, with fake plants in it? I mean, I can understand in the world of reef tanks It's a natural environment mimicking a part of the sea in a very special part of the world -- and fake decor? It was only because I just started out and I wanted something pretty to look at.
I spent almost $5 Large for a Reef system and then I was like well at least if i could put something to look at in there for now besides LR. Then I got the clowns and they just love it.

Add,
what I'm gonna do first thing tomorrow is call LFS and find out exactly what that decor is made of to make 100% sure that it is not going to be a bad thing for waiting until my coral grow out and then I can trash them

I will say that a natural reef does not have plants. Marine plants are very rare. I don't care that you use the plants though.

 

[Spare time]

What lights do you have, what are your water parameters? Do you have test kits for calcium, mag and phosphorus.

Regarding your LFS, you should shop around for a new one. If I’m reading your initial post correctly, your lfs set your tank up with a reef mat on a brand new tank, and you were getting error results. They mixed your saltwater but didn’t sell you a refractometer to check salinity so you were uncertain if your ATO had diluted your saltwater too much, and determined that it was salty by tasting it.
You said they set your tank up with live rock but then told you to use bacteria to cycle (which you did) and sold you an ammonia removal agent as a coral dip and some other things that I may be forgetting. As nice as they may be, the advice you’ve been given is not setting you up for success. Even if you have them doing your monthly maintenance, you have to be able to test your parameters in the event of an emergency and very few questions can be answered by forum members without knowing your water parameters.

Keep your fake plants if you want them but researching inhabitants like fish and corals before you buy them is highly recommended.

The coral dip was a mistake in their post. They meant melafix for the coral dip. Which is something I have never heard of and I think is new advertising for marine melafix unless that has been around longer than I knew.

 

[Spare time]

well it's the lighting that comes with a G2 Max system.

That light is fine btw don't worry about it.

 

[NanoNana]

The coral dip was a mistake in their post. They meant melafix for the coral dip. Which is something I have never heard of and I think is new advertising for marine melafix unless that has been around longer than I knew.

Yeah. He clarified that after I made my post.

 

[Ballyhoo]

fake plants are definitely coming out. I still have one remaining but that will not be there much longer. I am concerned that, well I turned up the pump to nearly 100% fora few minutes as I wanted to get the soot on the bottom of the sump circulated out, and after that I noticed all these elements like fake detritus elements swirling in the tank. Im concerned they're broken off from the fake plants. I use md my net the best I could to get most of them out but it's a long job. Hopefully they will filter out.

 

[Ballyhoo]

detrius -fake like fake news.

 

[Kathy Floyd]

I was careful though to keep all the water they gave me in the bags thinking I was getting good cultivated water. I don't know if that was the case or not. i added that to my system after I did the water change.

Did the LFS tell you to add the water to your tank? Usually, that is a huge no-no. You never know what additives they run in their tank. If they use copper, it can hurt your DT. Try not to ever add the water from the bag the fish (or coral) come in from the lfs.
If they add stuff to their water that you are not aware of, this could also contribute to your skimmer going nuts.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

The coral dip was a mistake in their post. They meant melafix for the coral dip. Which is something I have never heard of and I think is new advertising for marine melafix unless that has been around longer than I knew.

People have been dipping corals in Melafix for a long time -- 15 years, at least.

 

[Ballyhoo]

re post 97,well I really think that's great information to keep on mind. I assumed, and assume means "make an a-s-s out of you and me" that I could rely on my LFS to have well cultivated tank water. skimmer issues after trial and error and troubleshooting was related to the water level of the sump. I mean, there may be more involved in it than that. But once I raised up my skimmer a couple inches by placing a plastic Tupperware underneath it, the skimmer went back to normal with no error messages in the app or anything helter skelter like. seems to be working like a charm.

edit re 98, well initially all the hub ub was about that I mistakenly thought it was Amlock i dipped corals in. But even when I clarified that, several posters or members seem to take issue with dipping coral and Melafix. IDK. it really does tell me that a great deal of reefing is opinion. I mean certainly there's a science to it, then there is opinion. It seems like reefing is a combination of both. I was told it's crazy for waiting before six weeks to add any fish in my tank. but I waited 10 days and added two clowns and the clowns have been happy as clams. Imagine that . I guess I better buy some clam.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

edit re 98, well initially all the hub ub was about that I mistakenly thought it was Amlock i dipped corals in. But even when I clarified that, several posters or members seem to take issue with dipping coral and Melafix. IDK. it really does tell me that a great deal of reefing is opinion. I mean certainly there's a science to it, then there is opinion. It seems like reefing is a combination of both. I was told it's crazy for waiting before six weeks to add any fish in my tank. but I waited 10 days and added two clowns and the clowns have been happy as clams. Imagine that . I guess I better buy some clam.

To clarify: all I was commenting on was the timeline of Melafix dips for coral, and the fact that whether or not some person has heard about such dips doesn't imply it hadn't been done for a long time.

It doesn't follow that anything is or is not a matter of opinion (nor does it establish that Melafix dips do or do not have evidence supporting their use). In truth, discounting established practices on the basis of one success, especially when that success is extremely short term, isn't something that either reliably leads to long term success or marks a person as knowledgeable.