10 gal tank update

[TheMetalReefs]

Hi, not much of an update since i havent posted about my tank much but heres a breif summary. Started the 10 gal tank september 17th. added pink fusion coraline algae after 1 week. Week 2, I added copepods and macro algae. On November 1st i added 1 royal gramma, a peppermint shrimp and a trochus snail. Here is before picture and most recent picture. Questions, comments, tips and suggestions welcomed, especially on royal gramma care.

 

[sixty_reefer]

Nice start

 

[OldRed1]

Very cool tank! What do you think you will add next?

 

[jabberwock]

Good start, Royals are pretty hardy. Keep good water quality and keep it eating. Mine LOVES mysis shrimp. Is there a cover to the tank? Might need to watch evaporation.

 

[TheMetalReefs]

Very cool tank! What do you think you will add next

not sure. probably not much. i do want some blue hypnea algae and maybe some more zoas. i think im limited on fish due to my tank size.

 

[TheMetalReefs]

Good start, Royals are pretty hardy. Keep good water quality and keep it eating. Mine LOVES mysis shrimp. Is there a cover to the tank? Might need to watch evaporation.

i have freeze dried mysis and flake food. seems to be eating both. i have cling wrap as a lid at the moment but going to male a lid this weekend out of plexiglass.

 

[OldRed1]

Fish wise, that may be true. There are some very cool sponges out there, though; nifty inverts, corals, etc.

 

[TheMetalReefs]

Fish wise, that may be true. There are some very cool sponges out there, though; nifty inverts, corals, etc.

i would like a hermit but dont know about agression towards the gramma or towards my trochus snail. Thoughts?

 

[OldRed1]

Hermits get aggressive towards snails if the crab decides the snail has a more attractive shell. If you stick a few larger shells in the tank for the crab, that may protect your snail. I wouldn’t worry about the RG.

 

[TheMetalReefs]

Hermits get aggressive towards snails if the crab decides the snail has a more attractive shell. If you stick a few larger shells in the tank for the crab, that may protect your snail. I wouldn’t worry about the RG.

awesome, ill look into it. what about an emerald crab? i guess it wouldnt be after a shell so i wouldnt have to worry about the snail. still safe with the RG?

 

[OldRed1]

Emeralds really only eat bubble algae and can be hit or miss whether they eat other algae. I had two die in my tank early on in my tank because there was not enough algae to sustain them.

 

[TheMetalReefs]

*1 month update*
been a month since last post on this tank. Not much other than i re-arranged the red pompoms around the rocks so theyre not just blown into a corner and added 2 astrea snails. Looks like i got some diatoms i got to deal with corals dont look like theyve done much but im assuming its parameters issues. At the moment what i cam test for is
Temp:79
Salinity: 1.025
PH: 7.4
ammomia:0
nitrites:0
nitrates:0
alk: 10.5
phosphorus: .25

 

[TheMetalReefs]

*about 2 month update*
Been another while since ive posted in this tank. basically been fighting cyanno and low ph since my last post. since then ive added a protein skimmer and co2 scrubber. has helped a bit but not as much as i was hoping. cyanno had me pulling my hair out. i would clean it and i could see it come within what seemed like minutes. daily water changes and blowing the crap off my corals. my gsp died, i think due to the cyanno. eventually bought another gsp frag, so far so good and its starting to creep on the rock. my zoas dont seem to be doing much. bought a feather duster and some hermits to add some more livestock. Looks like i finally won the battle against cyano, still got a bit of green algae though but feels like i can finally just enjoy the tank now that the cyanno ia gone

 

[Reef.]

Nitrate at zero won’t be helping the cyno.
Your tank looks a little too clean, again probably not helping the cyno.

 

[vlangel]

Macroalgae need nutrients so I would try to get the nitrates up a bit.
Have you considered adding any shrimp? I have a lovely coral banded shrimp that is not aggressive but quite interesting.

Also the small blue legged hermits and red legged reef crabs are smaller and should leave the snails alone. Nassarius snails will turn up the sand bed and help it stay clean. They eat leftover food too.

 

[TheMetalReefs]

Macroalgae need nutrients so I would try to get the nitrates up a bit.
Have you considered adding any shrimp? I have a lovely coral banded shrimp that is not aggressive but quite interesting.

Also the small blue legged hermits and red legged reef crabs are smaller and should leave the snails alone. Nassarius snails will turn up the sand bed and help it stay clean. They eat leftover food too.

The 0 nitrate and 0 phos was back in december. my last reading (about a week ago) were nitrate 3.5 and phos 0.02.

i have a peppermint shrimp in the tank along with a trochus snail, a couple astrea snails and a couple blue legged hermits.

i got rid of a bunch of my macro algae cus it was just getting full of gha and cyanno. i left some red pom pom to grow back. i think a piece of sea lettuce survived somewhere in the tank amd is now growing back amd so is another unidentified macro algae.

 

[42Freeman]

Nice build!

 

[vlangel]

The 0 nitrate and 0 phos was back in december. my last reading (about a week ago) were nitrate 3.5 and phos 0.02.

i have a peppermint shrimp in the tank along with a trochus snail, a couple astrea snails and a couple blue legged hermits.

i got rid of a bunch of my macro algae cus it was just getting full of gha and cyanno. i left some red pom pom to grow back. i think a piece of sea lettuce survived somewhere in the tank amd is now growing back amd so is another unidentified macro algae.

My tank is a high nutrient ( nitrates 25-35 ppm and phosphates .25-.5 ppm) softie/macroalgae dominant system. I don't really have much nuisance algae except green bubble algae. I have to syphon those out of the display every couple of months.
I have an Atlantic cucumber to aid the nassarius snails in keeping the sandbed clean but my tank is a 56 gallon and 6 yrs old so well established for Karl the cucumber.
Hopefully as your tank matures you won't fight cyano and other nuisance algae as much.