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Nooreef

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My girlfriend and I are from Missouri and we started a 10 gallon salt water tank. She has some experience with this side of the world, as she had built a 65 gallon tank before, while I'm new to it. Online research, aka google, is the primary source of information we rely on. I figured it'd be a good idea to sign up with R2R forums, so we can post pictures and get feedbacks.

We cycled our tank with 13lbs of live rock, 20lbs of sand, two power heads, and a protein skimmer for a week and a half before we got a pistol shrimp/goby pair, a black Nemo fish, a snail, a peppermint shrimp, and an acropora frag. We did run strip tests to check the nitrate level, pH, etc are in correct range before dropping them in after acclimation. Despite some negative advices against introducing our guys to a tank that hasn't been cycled long enough, they continue to seem healthy and active after 5 days.

I would like to find out the exact species of the SPS coral we got. I swear it was green or blue when I first saw it at the reef shop, but when we brought it home it was brown, and it continues to be. After some considerations and discussion (arguments I can't win) we decided to place it in between two rocks that will firmly hold the base of coral. What is this white base made of? How/when can we transfer and attach the coral itself to the rock? Will this type of coral eat stuff and benefit from spot-feeding?

Please share any suggestions, as they are greatly appreciated!
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Tahoe61

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Welcome. :-)

Great start and scape.

The unknown is an Acropora one of the hardest corals to keep, not sure of type. The pieces is attached to a frag plug via a superglue gel. You can carefully snap off the Acropora and attach it to the rock work. You'll have to start testing the calcium, magnesium and alkalinity if you want to keep acropora and other small polyp corals (sps).

Acropora appear different colors under different lighting types. Sps require the most intense lighting available, T5HO, LED (of appropriate watts) and Metal Halide..

For aesthetic purposes and quality I would look into replacing the multiple power heads with one vortech Mp10 or a RW (just google those terms) while more expensive they provide better more consistent flow.

Again great start, go slow and research livestock and equipment.
 
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Nooreef

Nooreef

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Thank you!

We are now working on getting rid of bad bubbles from the tank. It seems that the skimmer is shooting micro bubbles- tiny dots into the tank. Are these really bad? What can we do to stop it?

I found the vortech and have been wanting one since last night. I will have to wait a few weeks before I can afford it. :p
 

Tahoe61

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New skimmers tend to create micro-bubbles. Sometimes you can adjust the water level within the column by adjusting the air intake valve.

What skimmer brand are you running?
 

Tahoe61

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Well Sea Clones are famous for microbubbles. Driving over them with an ATV alleviates the issue. :p:rolleyes: Seriously thought take a piece of cotton and shove it in the air take valve, that sometimes helps.
 
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Nooreef

Nooreef

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Thanks!

I realize that I can fit only a few more things in the tank. Maybe another small, Nemo-size fish, a clam or starfish, another snail to clean the wall, and a few different types of coral frags. Yes, I will take it slow by adding one by one every other week or so. This is something I've always been interested in and i hope it will become a lifelong hobby.

I'm contemplating on whether to take out a piece of live rock to make some room. Is this advisable? I'm not sure where they came from, so their density is unknown. Can I safely take out 3 lbs of rock to keep just the remaining 10 lbs? Or is it true that more rock is only better, so I should keep every rock if not put more in?
 

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