Betty's first reef tank - 100l

[betty_d]

Hi Everyone,

I'm Betty, I live in Spain and this is my first reef tank, but I doubt it will be my last. I'm already head over heels for my two little clownfish!

The tank is 100l and has a Tunze Nano filter, and a Fluval wavemaker. I'm planning on adding a HoB refugium at some point and I might need to add a skimmer as well when I have more fish. I don't have a light at this point to avoid algae problem.

I set up the tank with live sand and dry rock but I've been using Stability to get the cycle going and after about 2 weeks the water parameters looked good, so I got two little clownfish. They settled in nicely (only causing me heart attacks with their sleeping habits of floating in the tank sideways). They've been acting a little erratic after I cleaned the tank yesterday, but they seem to calm down by this morning. They are eating well and swim up to the top of the tank when I open the lid, expecting food.

All water parameters are looking good, but I also have a Seachem alert and have been adding Amguard every second day just to avoid any problems.

I welcome any feedback (don't be too harsh!) ,it's been a ride and I can't wait to add some corals and maybe some more fish to the tank!

 

[Reverend Turtle]

Welcome!

 

[Emptyness]

Hey Betty. Welcome and have fun with your tank. Following your thread and waiting for more fotos

 

[Metalhead670]

Nice tank!

 

[BackToTheReef]

 

[betty_d]

So little update on the tank, it is going great, currently still with the two clownfish. I'm waiting for Black Friday to buy a light and potentially a HOB skimmer, but I'm undecided on which ones should I pick. My tank is small, so I was sort of leaning towards maybe the Tunze 8850 or the Fluval Marine lights, but I've seen the MicMol air which also looks like a good value.

 

[betty_d]

So instead of a skimmer, I decided to install a HOB refugium. I used a breeder box and a small air pump and bought a plant light off Amazon. Hopefully, this will solve my nitrate (currently at 5) issue. I'm trying to find some chaeto somewhere to add, but this is how it looks.

I shared this video in the group and everyone is assuming I haven't cycled my tank, but I swear I did and my two little clowns look happy and eating tons. Is my tank too clean?!

 

[betty_d]

.

 

[Reverend Turtle]

It does look very clean, but just wait, ugly algae will come. And you do want some nitrates and phosphate for corals to really thrive. 5-10ppm nitrates and up to .5ppm phosphate.

 

[betty_d]

It does look very clean, but just wait, ugly algae will come. And you do want some nitrates and phosphate for corals to really thrive. 5-10ppm nitrates and up to .5ppm phosphate.

Oh thanks for that! So I'm actually at a good range now, but I guess if I will add more corals they will contribute to it as well? The phosphate kit is coming in my next order.

Btw, I got a light for the refugium and switched it on last night - not as clean as I thought! I have a film swimming on top and had some algae on the glass as well, so ugly algae is coming

 

[betty_d]

So I added the light and a couple of corals last week. Now I definitely can't say my tank is too pristine - algae came straight after I installed the light and despite dipping, I managed to get some hitchhikers into the tank. I was told they are brittle stars, but they have very long tentacles reaching out from under the GSP, which I probably upset while I was trying to remove the culprits.

The zoa finally started to open up and I also added a couple of snails, but by the looks of things, I'll need more than that!

I decided to add a Fluval Marine 3.0 light but I still struggle with the settings a little.

Here are some shots from the tank as of today and the weekend (pre algae).

 

[BaysEndReef]

Looks good! Following!

 

[betty_d]

As a Christmas present, I purchased a blue Chromis and an anthia (which was a little bit of an impulse buy, but the fish was so pretty, I couldn't leave it there.)

Currently struggling with two things: algae and the anthias having eye issues.

It all started with one eye being swollen and cloudy but she kept on eating fine and swimming about, however today I noticed that she didn't come out for feeding, hiding and sitting on the rocks/sand and didn't eat the mysis shrimp. I'm just hoping for the best and ordered Epsom salt, but that isn't getting here till Sunday. Hope it's not too late then and that she starts eating.

Re algae, I'm doing water changes and cutting the lights earlier than usual, hoping to get it under control. It isn't too bad, and I know it was partially caused by overfeeding because the anthias needs to eat multiple times a day, and she only seem to be interested in food floating around, while the clowns and the chromis are happy to eat from the surface.

I also have 4 snails, but they aren't getting bonuses for being so lazy. Gotta clean boys!

 

[betty_d]

So a little sad update while I'm back to square one.

My anthias recovered from her eye injuries but after swimming around and eating well for 3-4 days she started to sit on the rocks one day and found her dead in the tank the next morning.

Seemed everyone else was doing fine for the next approx 2weeks and then from one moment to another I noticed white patches on my clowns (more on one then the other) and one was doing weird swimming patterns. Ordered the medication straight away but by the next morning, I found both clowns dead on the sand...

Needless to say, I'm devastated, and just hoping that the blue chromis survives. I will be treating the tank and not adding any fish for a few months till I'm sure the infestation/infection is gone from the tank. I'm still not sure if it was ich or velvet or something else, but happened incredibly quick so I will be happy to focus on corals and getting my algae under control before I feel confident enough to get two sweet little clowns again.

RIP Pogo, RIP Pennywise, RIP Eileen

 

[betty_d]

While I'm waiting for my 3 months to make sure the tank has no infections I started to get in some more corals.

I got a nice ricordea mushroom (3 heads for 40eur) and a beautiful firework clove polyp (about 8 heads for 40eur which seems a very good price around here). I also got in some zoas and got a frag rack and they are looking good too and have a Discosoma mushroom too (ordered az blue, but has greenish colour too!). My GSP has been growing over its rock as well (I got that in December), so overall I think they are doing well.

I did move around some rocks yesterday so you'll see some white rock, but also my two new turbo snails have been making progress with the green hair algae problem I had. I have also been removing some of it manually and they seem to come off easily even with a turkey baster so I think I got a handle on the previous overfeeding habit I had while I had the anthias in there.

I also added a proper ATO which I got from aliexpress for 40 eur.

Anyway, here are some pics of the progress!(Yes, the next thing I need to get is a filter to take better photos!)

 

[betty_d]

So it isn't a real update, but I was looking for a QT tank online to get new fish and avoid the disasters next time around, and I came across a 170litre tank with sump for 150euro... so I'm turning my current tank into a QT and getting the 170 litres up and running in the weekend, which will be a major job since my RODI production is very slow. But no rush on it, getting it up and running with some of my rock and will slowly move over all my corals when it's done cycling, leaving my chromis in the 100litres and start buying and treating fish in that.

 

[betty_d]

After a whole weekend of work, but still not completely done, I have the tank up and running.

I also scored a skimmer and a wavemaker at the seller, which saved me endless research, so in addition to my Fluval now I have a Jebao wavemaker too.

After setting it up I couldn't deal with a noise so I bought a Tunze Silence pump (now I'm thinking I should have bought the bigger one, but just because the previous one had pressure like a jacuzzi). I'm also thinking that I could put a little narrower hose on it, so the pressure would be a little more, and adding one more wavemaker will solve the flow which I lost with the bigger pump. I'm working from home so can't stand that noise all day long, even considering soundproofing the cabinet.

I will also redo the overflow because it is super noisy with the PVC pipe going straight down. I ordered a smaller pipe which I will silicone into the existing pipe and bring it down to the sump.

I moved over my rock, corals and snails, but I will need a step ladder because I can't reach the bottom, so the aquascape isn't done yet.

The next steps are: partitioning the sump, getting more filter media (sponges and marine pure blocks), adding another wavemaker, fixing the aquascape, installing the skimmer (somehow getting enough outlets to the tank), getting fish.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Hey betty! Welcome to r2r and congrats. Welcome to the saltwater world! It can be a roller coaster of emotion sometimes.

Sounds like you did a hard cycle with your fish their. Hopefully with that done and the skimmer you should be seeing more success.

Ask away. People can be eager to help...like me. Lol
D

 

[betty_d]

Hey betty! Welcome to r2r and congrats. Welcome to the saltwater world! It can be a roller coaster of emotion sometimes.

Sounds like you did a hard cycle with your fish their. Hopefully with that done and the skimmer you should be seeing more success.

Ask away. People can be eager to help...like me. Lol
D

Hey, thanks! Just to clarify, no, I didn't cycle with the fish! The ammonia was 0 when I added in the fish and I continued dosing bacteria for the first week and they never showed any sign of stress.

Honestly, I had no issues till I added the anthias which now thinking back didn't just cause the infection which took the clowns, but probably also caused the algae bloom by feeding it 3 times a day. Last weekend I actually went into the store where I got the anthias from and some of their fish had fluke and some were looking really bad, so I best avoid them in the future.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Im just saying. Me personally i dont do the bottle bacteria stuff. Was your 1st livestock so im guessing your water was just "new".
Sucks about your lfs. Hopefully youve.got some others to hit up for livestock if you find something.
Anthias are like tangs and are a free water swimmer kinda hovering in the water coloum eating small small stuff all day. So lots of flow is good for em too. + the feeding which sounds like you were doing.
Kool new tank! And now u got a hospital/qt tank! Wohoo!
New stuff goes their 1st! Lol
D