Hello Folks,
This is my first time posting. First I want to thank everybody for the advice I’ve already found in this forum. I’ve had my tank up for about a year. Things are running fairly well water test are consistently good and fish stay alive. (Mostly... scooter Blenny too soon without robust enough copepods) Corals do okay but don’t thrive. I know that there are folks here that could help me identify the one or two easy fixes that could change the dynamic.
So here are the details.....
55 gallon tank...20 gallon refugium
LED lighting (nothing fancy)
Canister filter..outflow 50/50 to refugium and direct back to tank. (A little unorthodox I know)
Two power heads for circulation. One I have an air attachment to. (I worry about dissolved oxygen maybe more than I should)
50lb live rock 2” medium size aggregate sand bed. Use 100% RO/DI water.
Livestock:
3” Koran angelfish, blackline blenny, lawnmower Blenny, 3” clown fish, 2 yellowtail blue damselfish, 2 blue/green chromosome. Typical “clean-up crew”
Pulsing xenia which is barely hanging on, Kenya tree that splits rather than grows. Gets about 4” then starts to release braches. Some green button polyps that survive and spread, but have lost the vibrant color. 2 mushrooms. The red one has run off somewhere again the green one is new to the tank. A couple Zoa frags I picked up recently that I had to move to the sump because that dang anglefish decided that was the first coral he would start nipping. Various macro algaes in the refugium. They appear to just hang on nothing really goes wild to the point of needing harvesting. Sadly a few apistasia. I thought they were a worm of some kind at first and let them spread a bit. Oops.
Shrimp will not survive in the tank. Period. I have tested for copper and zero ppm.
My focus right now is more on the fish and invertebrates rather than the coral. I would love to have some shrimp and would like to be successful with corals as well. I plan to get a much larger set up in the future, but I want to know I have all the beginner blunders conquered and a little more confidence before I make the huge investment.
There you have it.... a list of what I have, what I want, and a few blunders I’ve made over the past year. I’d appreciate any advice you can provide.
This is my first time posting. First I want to thank everybody for the advice I’ve already found in this forum. I’ve had my tank up for about a year. Things are running fairly well water test are consistently good and fish stay alive. (Mostly... scooter Blenny too soon without robust enough copepods) Corals do okay but don’t thrive. I know that there are folks here that could help me identify the one or two easy fixes that could change the dynamic.
So here are the details.....
55 gallon tank...20 gallon refugium
LED lighting (nothing fancy)
Canister filter..outflow 50/50 to refugium and direct back to tank. (A little unorthodox I know)
Two power heads for circulation. One I have an air attachment to. (I worry about dissolved oxygen maybe more than I should)
50lb live rock 2” medium size aggregate sand bed. Use 100% RO/DI water.
Livestock:
3” Koran angelfish, blackline blenny, lawnmower Blenny, 3” clown fish, 2 yellowtail blue damselfish, 2 blue/green chromosome. Typical “clean-up crew”
Pulsing xenia which is barely hanging on, Kenya tree that splits rather than grows. Gets about 4” then starts to release braches. Some green button polyps that survive and spread, but have lost the vibrant color. 2 mushrooms. The red one has run off somewhere again the green one is new to the tank. A couple Zoa frags I picked up recently that I had to move to the sump because that dang anglefish decided that was the first coral he would start nipping. Various macro algaes in the refugium. They appear to just hang on nothing really goes wild to the point of needing harvesting. Sadly a few apistasia. I thought they were a worm of some kind at first and let them spread a bit. Oops.
Shrimp will not survive in the tank. Period. I have tested for copper and zero ppm.
My focus right now is more on the fish and invertebrates rather than the coral. I would love to have some shrimp and would like to be successful with corals as well. I plan to get a much larger set up in the future, but I want to know I have all the beginner blunders conquered and a little more confidence before I make the huge investment.
There you have it.... a list of what I have, what I want, and a few blunders I’ve made over the past year. I’d appreciate any advice you can provide.
