Rookie Tank Show off

[Joe del Rey]

(This is quite a long story)

So... my tank finally cleared up after a mass bacterial bloom yesterday. I'm glad it took only a day for the water to clear by itself (how did this happen BTW?)

■Size: 16 gallon (with 5 gallon sump behind the main tank, soon will change to 60 cm trickle filter)
■Age: 2 months running
■Lightning: 60cm LED light, all white
■Powerhead: One 800l/h for main tank going to the sump, and one 800l/h as a return pump.
■Substrate: 1.5 inch deep fine white sand I got from the beach 3 years ago. I initially used it for my freshwater tank for years and now, it's used for my saltwater.
■Livestocks: 1 Yellowtail Blue Damsel, 6 Snails, and 2 Hermit Crabs
■Deco: Live Rocks
In this set up, I got all of the rocks at the beach (submerged within 7 feet) few days ago. The rocks at the right are my favourite ones because they provide a lot of loopholes where my fish can enter. I place the flat one near the surface to create depth and I like it visually. My damsel loves to pass through the holes. On the other hand, the rocks at the left are covered with green algae. I got these in an area where there are a lot of these... and tons of fishes are grazing on it, so I get samples and took them home. To me, these green algae are a beauty. They provide additional food and diversity in the tank and makes it look 'natural'. They might also carry copepods and other small organisms. But of course, I will never let them spread so I'll be doing a little maintenance if ever they get out of hand, but I will never get rid of these.

NOTE: The first picture is my initial set up and the second one is my final set up.

What fish would you recommend me to eat these algae to not spread out?

 

[Arricefe]

Cool you're off and running! You're off to a great start with real live rock! I know you didn't ask but consider some kind of wrap for the back of the tank you probably don't want to paint it now but you can buy a background from you LFS or get some vinyl wrap for it. BTW Yellowtail Blue Damsels were the first saltwater fish I bought for my first saltwater tank. I bought 4, 2 went carpet surfing before I knew I should have some kind of screen and one was hassled to death by a domino damsel that I bought at the same time. I STILL have one after 7 years, he is on his 7th tank, this one is a 10 gallon nano that he is the king of, he deserves it! Welcome to R2R there is a lot of great info on here, Good luck!

 

[Joe del Rey]

Cool you're off and running! You're off to a great start with real live rock! I know you didn't ask but consider some kind of wrap for the back of the tank you probably don't want to paint it now but you can buy a background from you LFS or get some vinyl wrap for it. BTW Yellowtail Blue Damsels were the first saltwater fish I bought for my first saltwater tank. I bought 4, 2 went carpet surfing before I knew I should have some kind of screen and one was hassled to death by a domino damsel that I bought at the same time. I STILL have one after 7 years, he is on his 7th tank, this one is a 10 gallon nano that he is the king of, he deserves it! Welcome to R2R there is a lot of great info on here, Good luck!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
OMG I bet it brings you back the memories with the Yellowtail Blue Damsel when you were a beginner [emoji173] And thank you for saying I'm off a good start. Knowing that my tank is in good condition extremely puts me at ease and I feel that I'm on the right track.