JBJ 28 Gallon (First SW Tank)
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waterskiguy
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Sounds like you've done your research. You're well on your way.
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cmcimino
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So i've had the lights running for about 1.5 to 2 weeks. I've had a decent diatom breakout but I've been taking a turkey baster to the rock every night, and changing out the filter floss every 3 days.
I also built a box out of eggcrate to keep chaeto. I'm just doing this temporarily to drop the phosphates while I don't have any fish or corals in the tank. Phosphates have dropped from 0.35 ppm to 0.30 ppm. This may just variance from the testing, but I will continue to test them once a week. I may end up getting an inTank media basket for the back and getting the fuge light and grow some chaeto in there. I also got some copepods/amphipods to put in the tank. I figured a good population would be good for eating diatoms, and other scraps in the future.
Anyone have any suggestions/comments on how I am doing? I've been trying to take my time so I make as few mistakes as possible.
I also built a box out of eggcrate to keep chaeto. I'm just doing this temporarily to drop the phosphates while I don't have any fish or corals in the tank. Phosphates have dropped from 0.35 ppm to 0.30 ppm. This may just variance from the testing, but I will continue to test them once a week. I may end up getting an inTank media basket for the back and getting the fuge light and grow some chaeto in there. I also got some copepods/amphipods to put in the tank. I figured a good population would be good for eating diatoms, and other scraps in the future.
Anyone have any suggestions/comments on how I am doing? I've been trying to take my time so I make as few mistakes as possible.
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cmcimino
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Set up my quarantine tank 2 days ago, using the HOB filter that has been on the display tank. Went to the store and picked out my first fish, a black ice clownfish. He seemed to be very active, and looked healthy at the store. Just finished up acclimating him, and putting him in the quarantine tank. He seems to be doing well! I'll be treating him for everything once he eats for a couple of days. Pictures below!
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cmcimino
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The clown has been eating great, and seems to be very healthy! I'll start my Prazi-Pro treatment Tuesday. Checked my phosphates on my display tank, and it was at .17 ppm, a huge drop from the .36 I measured a couple of weeks ago! I purchased a fuge light, so I just need to get a new media basket and I'll move the chaeto there.
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cmcimino
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Today I created a hinged mount for my AI Prime, and upgraded to an inTank media basket. I was able to move the chaeto to the media basket, and use a JBJ nano glo light. No longer have the ugly eggcrate box in the tank.
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cmcimino
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It's been about two weeks since I picked up my fish, and he has been treated with Prazipro twice. I have observed him for 15-20 min per day, and feel that he was not showing signs of any infections, and looked healthy. I moved him over to the display tank with ease, and he seems to be doing great! I have contacted my LFS and ordered another black ice clown, hoping that they will pair. My pod population has boomed, I have thousands on my glass, and they seem to be doing some work on diatoms. My phosphate is down to .07 ppm, and my pH is settling around 8.1. I'm working on getting my Alkalinity and calcium up to the correct levels before I purchase any corals. Alkalinity is currently at 7.4 dkH. I need to buy a calcium test kit so I can test that. Any recommendations?
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cmcimino
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It's been a while since I have updated anything! I've picked up some corals since my last post. First ones I picked up were a torch, and acan lord. When I first got these they looked great (see below) but I had an incident with my roommate spraying febreze and they shriveled up and have been slowly recovering.
After I got everything back to normal I picked up a tiny chalice frag from someone locally which had been doing great. I've now glued this directly to the rock, and its close to spreading over it.
I also picked up this Ricordea from my LFS, although it does not seem happy at the moment so I have moved it into a more shaded spot.
Yesterday I met with someone on craigslist and got a nice haul of hammers, and a duncan. 14 heads total for $30 bucks. These pieces came off a massive colony, probably the size of a basket ball which had started to fall apart. Most of the pieces I got had lots of dead skeleton on them so I trimmed it off and glued them to some spare rock I had. These pieces are looking great, and have improved so much.
Hoping to pick up a second black ice clown this weekend. It's located about 2 hours from me, but it looks like it may snow this weekend so I may not make it there. Will keep posting in the future!
After I got everything back to normal I picked up a tiny chalice frag from someone locally which had been doing great. I've now glued this directly to the rock, and its close to spreading over it.
I also picked up this Ricordea from my LFS, although it does not seem happy at the moment so I have moved it into a more shaded spot.
Yesterday I met with someone on craigslist and got a nice haul of hammers, and a duncan. 14 heads total for $30 bucks. These pieces came off a massive colony, probably the size of a basket ball which had started to fall apart. Most of the pieces I got had lots of dead skeleton on them so I trimmed it off and glued them to some spare rock I had. These pieces are looking great, and have improved so much.
Hoping to pick up a second black ice clown this weekend. It's located about 2 hours from me, but it looks like it may snow this weekend so I may not make it there. Will keep posting in the future!
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