why does this work?!

[megamommatron]

ok- here's the deal... i bought an established 55 gallon tank almost a year ago-
i've got 2+ watts per gallon of white and actinic (sp?) light)it's a 30" coralife double 50/50 65 watt with fans, so 130 watts.
a wet/dry filter system,
2 powerheads for current,
about 40 pounds of jakarta live rock-
no protein skimmer...
an 8 inch porcupine puffer,
some big turbo snails
a hermit crab(big)
a bubble tipped anemone
some zooanthid polyps
a few mushroom anemones
a nice frogspawn coral and a big coco tube worm
various hitchiker buddies.

my question is, how come my tank functions so well? my water tests out just fine. when i read about the kind of equipment other keepers have and the trouble they got through, it seems as though i should have all kinds of problems. i top off the water about once a week, and feed fresh shellfish every other day or so.. everything seems to be thriving. what gives? is my tank blessed? does everyone else OVER do it? or do i have a ticking time bomb here? enlighten me please, i want to learn.

 

[clydescove]

Well for one, you have hardy, easy to keep corals and a low fish load relative to tank size...40 pounds of rock can process that much waste easily. Do you not do water changes?

 

[megamommatron]

not very often. once a month or so. i guess what i'm trying to ask is, is my setup barely making it here, or am i safe to try new things? i can't have other fish- cottontail is too mean- so i'd love to know what anemones, inverts and corals could thrive in my system.

 

[Omni2226]

I have about the same setup but a emperor hang on filter and no wet/dry so I have been looking at the soft corals like colt and mushroom.

I am going to add a hang on skimmer, the aqua c remora, not becuase im worried that my live rock and sand wont do the job, but because from what I have read here and on wetwebmedia corals engage in chemical warfare.

Even when they are kept apart and not touching they still release small amounts of toxins into the water (for variuos reasons) and these build up over time.

The only "good ? decent" way to remove them is with a skimmer running and regular water changes (which you are already doing) and the use of activated charcoal once in a while.

Of course im new to keeping nonfish/marines so take what I say with a large grain of salt, and keep reading.

Your doing the best thing you can do, read and ask questions, and check out wetwebmedia.com they have a ton of useful info too.

 

[Omni2226]

Heh the timebomb thing. I know what you mean.

This is a new tank being cycled.
All water parameters are ok.
The "bugs" worms and other critters (no fish yet) are all doing ok (ie: not dying).
There are no bad smells, just the ocean air smell, if ya know what I mean.
The water has never been cloudy except on day one when I added the sand.
There have been no fuzz/fungus/blobs of "something" that died.
I have yet to see any crabs or aptasia/bad critters come out of the rock.

Im scared....somebody hold me.....

 

[Meloco14]

I agree with clydescove, the reason your tank is doing so well is because you only have one fish. Not very much stress on the tank environment. The stories you hear of people having problems with algae, high nitrates/ammonia, fish dying, that kind of thing is usually due to over anxious people who add too much too fast. In a 55 gallon tank one puffer is a great way to go, as far as making it a stable, lower maintenance system. And I am sure your puffer appreciates the room to swim without any competition. As for adding anything to your tank, soft corals would be the way to go. They require (in general) the least amount of light, and are the hardiest. I am a little surprised to hear your anemone and frogspawn are doing so well, most people would say they need more light then that. Do they stretch out all big and pretty? If they do, that means they are not getting enough light and are stretching to get as much as possible. I am not extremely familiar with puffers but I am pretty sure he will eat most inverts you try to add to the tank. You may be able to get away with a starfish or brittle star, but I think he might try to eat any shrimp or crabs. As you probably know, porcupine puffers can get very big, almost 2 feet long in the wild. Eventually you will have to get a bigger tank for him, and when you do, that would be the time to add another fish if you want one. A trigger of similar size would probably fare well. If you do that, though, I would definitely recommend adding a skimmer. Anyway, you dont have anything to worry about as far as a time bomb, but for peace of mind you might want to add a skimmer. That's the only big thing I would do if I were you. Congrats on the successful tank, and post some pics of that nice puffer!

 

[Anonymous]

not very often. once a month or so. i guess what i'm trying to ask is, is my setup barely making it here, or am i safe to try new things? i can't have other fish- cottontail is too mean- so i'd love to know what anemones, inverts and corals could thrive in my system.

As of now, your bio load is low, and you have easy care corals...low light ones to boot.

Do not add a second anemone. With the filtration you have, if one dies or both, you will have a mess on your hands. You also do not have adequate lighting, IMO, for any kind of anemone. I am suprised yours is alive. I suspect it will have a hard time as it goes on.

You could add some mushrooms, they are low light. Thats about it for the light you have.

I would not suggest adding much of anything. I would say, yes, you are on the edge right now, and it would not take much to push it over.

 

[megamommatron]

thanks for the info. special thanks to those of you who were firm. i'm all about not killing any animals! i bought a protein skimmer online yesterday, and i'm going to get more live rock today (i have to drive an hour with 2 little kids!) and i've decided to upgrade my lights instead of trying to find low-llight creatures. so i guess i'm turning over a new leaf, so to speak. sometimes you need a little kick in the ass. the bonus is that i can use my old fixture to set up my 30 gallon tank, and i'll have 2 kick ass systems! yippee! thanks again, i appreciate all of your knowledge.

 

[megamommatron]

i went to my lfs to get more live rock, and was chatting about upgrading my lights... turns out they're switching to all metal halides, so they're gonna sell me the light from their coral tank for $100! how sweet is that?! so i'll have 5+ watts per gallon. I'm so thrilled, i'll save a ton of $ and i won't have the lighting stress anymore, and all my little friends are going to be so happy! yippee! thanks again for the advise, and i'm sure i'll need more as i move into the good light reef world!

 

[Anonymous]

i went to my lfs to get more live rock, and was chatting about upgrading my lights... turns out they're switching to all metal halides, so they're gonna sell me the light from their coral tank for $100! how sweet is that?! so i'll have 5+ watts per gallon. I'm so thrilled, i'll save a ton of $ and i won't have the lighting stress anymore, and all my little friends are going to be so happy! yippee! thanks again for the advise, and i'm sure i'll need more as i move into the good light reef world!

Wait...what lights are they giving you? What will be the total wattage now?

 

[megamommatron]

they are selling me the lighting system from their coral tank- i don't remember the specs, but we calculated it and it will be like 4 1/2 watts per gallon- enough to grow all the corals and whatnot that they have there...

 

[Anonymous]

they are selling me the lighting system from their coral tank- i don't remember the specs, but we calculated it and it will be like 4 1/2 watts per gallon- enough to grow all the corals and whatnot that they have there...

You cannot use this formula to grow coral. It is a general idea only...a baseline to figure out if you are in a ballpark, and even at 4 wats per gallon, you are still under the reccomended WPG.

Also, the type of fixture/bulb is important. 250 w of T5's are NOT the same as 250 watts of MH. The par is different. The depth the light can penetrate is different, the spread of the light etc.

I am not saying that what you are gettng isnt fine, but can you post your tank specs (size of tank, more inportant than gallons-the measurements) and the exact fixture?

We just want to help you, make sure you dont have to go through a lighting problem again, and have to replace in another 2 months.

 

[Meloco14]

I agree, when you get the lights let us know what kind they are, then we can let you know what types of corals will thrive under them. You mentioned these lights came off your LFS's coral tank, so hopefully they are pretty decent. However, we know they are not halides since the LFS is upgrading to halides, so my guess is these will be either PC's, t-5's or vho's. These lights are all fine for most soft corals and many LPS. Also, in your last post it sounds like you are assuming these lights will be fine for your tank because they were "enough to grow all the corals and whatnot they have there". This is a good generalization, but don't forget there are many other factors at play. The tank they have at the store is probably not the same tank you have at home. So different depth plays a factor. Also, stores have high turnover rate of most corals. So they are there to survive and be displayed, not necessarily to thrive and grow long term. So these lights may not have been ideal for keeping those corals long term, like at home. I am not trying to discourage you...I am sure these new lights will be perfect for your current setup, and much better than what you are using now. I just wanted to point out some things so you dont make these assumptions in the future when you want to keep more demanding species. If you can fit the new lights on your tank along with your old lights it would be best. But even with your new lights alone the mushrooms and zoo's will be fine. The anemone and frogspawn may need to be higher up in the tank, but this is not a big deal. HTH

 

[megamommatron]

thanks, guys. i'm not really as ... uneducated as my post sounds.. just trying to save typing, i guess... i realize how the light penetraton works for the most part, and i understand that the type of lights and water depth play a factor. they are using the lights over 80 gallons, -my tank is not taller than theirs. i totally reallize that these lights aren't getting me into advanced species' and whatnot- i'm just happy that i'll be able to maintain what i have, and maybe branch out a bit. i realize i may havesounded a little foolhardy, but i'll assure you, i'm cautious. i WILL post all of the specs when get them home, because i love concrete recomendations. btw- my anemone and frogpsawn are at the top middle of my tank right now- i iamgine i'll have to move them down a touch with the new lights... maybe not?

 

[Anonymous]

thanks, guys. i'm not really as ... uneducated as my post sounds.. just trying to save typing, i guess... i realize how the light penetraton works for the most part, and i understand that the type of lights and water depth play a factor. they are using the lights over 80 gallons, -my tank is not taller than theirs. i totally reallize that these lights aren't getting me into advanced species' and whatnot- i'm just happy that i'll be able to maintain what i have, and maybe branch out a bit. i realize i may havesounded a little foolhardy, but i'll assure you, i'm cautious. i WILL post all of the specs when get them home, because i love concrete recomendations. btw- my anemone and frogpsawn are at the top middle of my tank right now- i iamgine i'll have to move them down a touch with the new lights... maybe not?

lol...not trying to make you feel uneducated or anything. But there MAY be a reason THEY are moving to MH as well.

Maybe they notice the coral arent moving as fast as they thought it might/once has, so they need to change fixtures to keep them longer. Maybe they got a great deal on MH and cant pass it up etc...

Point is, find out EXACTLY what you are getting and let us know depth of tank...

Moving the frogspawn/anemone.

First off, you cannot move an anemone. Do not try. Injuring it's "foot" will kill it. Anemones will move on their own. I have "coaxed" one to move before. It took a little while of bumping it so it would close up and finally let go, but it was dangerous, and looking back foolish.

THe frogspawn...well it depends what you are moving up to. Adding more wattage of the same type of light may not bother it, whereas is you were adding a mh i would say move it down or mount the light up higher to start, or even cutting the amount of time light is on, or a combo of the two.

 

[Omni2226]

Could be the owner of the store keeps corals at home and is upgrading the lights for the benefit of the animals as much as to boost sales.

The lfs I go to is like that. Sure they are out to turn a profit but they love the animals too and it shows in the livestock.

Wakked into a "pet" shop...you know the ones with birds,dogs,cats and fish..noticed a clownfish dead..when I told the clerk.." I dont know anything about fish, the fish guy will be here tomorrow he can dig it out"...sigh...

 

[Meloco14]

I didn't mean to make you feel like you didn't know what you were doing, I hope this wasn't the case. I just wanted to make sure you were well informed. As far as moving your frogspawn, it can handle the new light output, so you don't have to move it if you don't want to. The anemone will be hard to move unless he is attached to a loose rock that you can move. In any case, you will need to acclimate all of your corals and anemone to the new lighting. To do this, you can elevate your new lights higher up than normal, and every few days lower them and inch closer to the normal height above the tank. You can also use a shorter photoperiod and gradually increase it to normal over a week or two. Or if it is easy, you can move the corals to the bottom of the tank and slowly move them up in the rocks. Hope this helps.