First saltwater tank, 40 breeder

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KleineVampir

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My other question is, if I plan on getting anemone in the future, what livestock can I get now? I don't want a ton of bioload, just some little critters to make the tank better/more interesting. I'm thinking the emerald crab will be one of the next ones coming up, and maybe a firefish later.
 
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KleineVampir

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It also looks like some crabs can attack snails...so if I have to chose between crabs and snails, I'd rather have a crab. I have enough snails already, trust me! (In the freshwater tank.)
 
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KleineVampir

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In the store they have an emerald crab. Could I get one? The clownfish do not eat anything that's on the substrate. They only eat out of the water column. Once their food hits the substrate....it's just gonna be sitting there. I feel 1 scavenger may be a good idea.
 
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KleineVampir

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Well I didn't like the way the granules were working with the clowns...too big for their mouths even after I crushed them up by hand. So I got bloodworms for them. Only thing is, one block of bloodworms that you pop out of the package seems like quite a bit and I don't know how to preserve them if I don't want to feed them all at once. That said, I also got an emerald crab! It's a little early for them but I'm probably gonna be trying different feeding techniques, meaning there will be a lot of food for it to scavenge.
 

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Well I didn't like the way the granules were working with the clowns...too big for their mouths even after I crushed them up by hand. So I got bloodworms for them. Only thing is, one block of bloodworms that you pop out of the package seems like quite a bit and I don't know how to preserve them if I don't want to feed them all at once. That said, I also got an emerald crab! It's a little early for them but I'm probably gonna be trying different feeding techniques, meaning there will be a lot of food for it to scavenge.
This is what we have fed our littlest clown fish!
20190504_162517.jpeg
 
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KleineVampir

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Yeah that looks good for them. Would you happen to know what to do if you get some bloodworms in a glass with some water...but then you don't want to feed them all?
 
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KleineVampir

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That food you showed looks good for fry maybe, but my clowns are not that small. I went with Hikari's Marine-S . I guess the S stands for Small because they are pretty small little pellets. Finally got the right food for them. And I put in a little pinch but even that is apparently too much. Eventually they just stop eating...after maybe 3 pellets. I'm pretty amazed at how little they eat. I guess I got used to feeding big mystery snails and 60 or so shrimp! Hard to adjust from that. Btw, swimming must be way more efficient than I thought if they don't even need to eat that much despite swimming constantly.
 
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KleineVampir

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Ok I just got my chaeto and put it in the fuge, and here's a picture of it! Now you guys know what's going on in there and also it's like a 'before' picture of the chaeto. Hopefully that little thing grows nice and big! Btw I think I'm gonna try 24/7 lighting on it, at least for now.

20190506_151509.jpg
 
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KleineVampir

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Btw I keep forgetting to mention, my pH is a bit low, like around 7.5 or maybe a bit lower. How does one raise the pH in a good way that's stable?
 
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KleineVampir

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Well I saw that crab finally! He likes that pukani rock on the right. I tried to take a picture of him but that ended up spooking him so he went back under that rock again. Oops. I guess next time I just have to watch from a distance! Oh well at least he's alive.
 
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KleineVampir

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Today I got 2 montiepora capricornis frags. I mean, the tank was looking pretty boring; and I wanted to try my hand at coral. Should I dose calcium? From what I've gathered they do like a bit of calcium.
 
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KleineVampir

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Well I guess I'm gonna be throwing some calcium and soda ash in there for the corals. I figure if I put just a little bit of each in along with some RO water I can basically dose everything and top off the tank at the same time.
 
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KleineVampir

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I also got magnesium. I'm a bit worried that I won't be able to keep the levels right. With only a couple little corals I thought I could just dose very small amounts of everything and that would be close enough. Just a little something to replenish the elements that the coral is taking. That might work but I'm not sure. Also there seems to be some kind of algae growing on my biorings. The ones that are close to the light. I mean it is 24/7 light and they are very close to the light. Not sure if that's a problem or not.
 
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KleineVampir

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Today I noticed some algae growth on the back wall of the aquarium. Apparently the nutrient buildup combined with the light is finally enough for algae to start growing. I think it may be time for a couple snails. I know with freshwater, I was basically wasting my time until I got nerites. They were the only ones that really got the job done, although they do tend to also lay a lot of eggs. I'm wondering if I should just go with nerites again since that's what I know and trust. I don't want something that eats off of algae, I want something that completely eats all visible signs of the algae. A crab like my emerald crab won't do it since it's on the glass, so looks like it's gonna have to be some kind of snail or limpet. I just didn't want to get anymore snails because I am already on snail overload with my freshwater tank!
 
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KleineVampir

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Earlier today I bought some Cerith snails. 20 of the dwarf species and 5 of the bigger ones. Supposedly, they eat EVERYTHING...which is pretty cool! Every kind of algae, and they sift the sand. And they can right themselves too. So I'm giving them a try to see how good they are and maybe they can keep my algae under control. I want all the nutrients to go to the macro and not the film algae.
 
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KleineVampir

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That's the main thing with no water change tanks. Nutrient levels. It builds up in the tank and you end up with algae. Of course my proposed solution is to deploy algae eaters in the display to keep the tank looking good, and I'm trying the macroalgae in the refugium. Also some minerals need to be replaced. That's the part I'm less sure of. Battling algae I know all too well! It's a battle I ultimately lost in the freshwater tank, because I wasn't able to find a freshwater creature that would eat the enormous amounts of hair algae in the tank. That said I am able to keep the tank without changing the water. Hopefully I can pull off no water changes with saltwater. I guess that's what this has become to be about.
 
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KleineVampir

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Psyched for those snails, they should be coming tomorrow. If that dang emerald crab is dead somewhere, they should eat him! Yet another benefit to ceriths. Also it looks like there is some algae growing on the sandbed. Not sure if its diatoms or just more film algae.
 
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