My 55 Gallon reef tank

[SuRFeR BoY]

hey guys... i just set this tank up.. i would say that it is a little older then a month or two. i have a few corals in there. i have a colt coral, a toadstool mushroom coral, some purple mushrooms, and some anemones for now. my clean up crew right now consist of blue legged hermits, some red scarlets, giant mexican turbo snail, astreas turbo snails, tonga naussarius snails, fighting conch, persian conch, camel back shrimp, and a coral banded shrimp. i also have 3 baby brittle stars in the tank. i have about 35 pounds of live rock, which i am slowly adding too. most of the live rock is fiji with a few pieces of tonga here and there. most of the fish are damsels which i cant stand very much( they piss me off like you wouldnt believe), i only like a few of them out of the bunch, and i have a purple pseudo. i had 2 citrus clown gobbies but they were slow at eatting and the damsels beat them up and killed them. i plan on getting another fish or two but i will only buy algea eatters from now on for the reef tank. more stuff will be added but i am constructing this tank slowly. for the filteration and all the power stuff including the skimmer ect ect i will make a list another day because i ordered a few new things. i will keep this thread updated. enjoy the pictures.

IF ANYONE HAS ANY IDEAS TO IMPROVE MY TANK OR LOOKS OR WHAT I CAN ADD PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

for the lighting i am pushing 220 watts and use one 48 inch 10k daylight vho t12 110 watt fluorescent bulb from pacific coast imports and i use one 48 inch actinic blue vho t12 110 watt fluorescent bulb, pacific coast imports. both are powered together by a ARO ballast.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Tank looks nice. But if you're planning on having a reef I'd get rid of those camelback shrimp now before they start munching on corals.

 

[deelucky]

nice tank bro looks very good.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Very nice, I agree with Kris (nano) the cammelback are not reef friendly. I will go a little farther on the subject, CAMELBACK AND PEPERMINT SHRIMP ARE EVIL EVIL CREATURES!!!!

 

[fritz]

Very nice

I just got rid of my 55 which for quite some time was lit by 220 Watts of VHO. I like your aquascaping, which is hard to do in a 55. Post some more pics of the tank and fish. As to improvements you could dose "two-part" (B-Ionic or Randy's Two Part.) Those will help you maintain correct alkalinity and calcium which will lead to a coraline algae covered tank.

Nice job, looks great!

 

[fritz]

Side note, your "few anemonies" look like Majano anemonies which are pests. They're very pretty but can reproduce like cancer.

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/bta/not/majano.html

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

the camelbacks eat coral? i was told there reef safe by a few people. they really only stay on the sand.. i am yet to see them on the rocks at all. im also prob doing all soft corals. what corals do they eat. i actually really like them lol so this kinda stinks.

Are fire shrimp reef safe? and what about purple lobsters?

I use purple up in my tank for about 2 weeks now. is this just as good?

also the anemones dont really bother me yet lol if they start to spread to much ill scrap them off so as of now no biggy.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

They primarily eat Zoanthids, Polyps, and anemone's. I had a nice rock full of Yellow polyps, 3 days with them and I had about 3 left. After they ate all the yellow polyps, they went for the mushrooms and the other zoanthids. THEY ARE EVIL I TELL YOU!

 

[nanoreefer22]

Purple up by many is regarded to as "crap"(at a loss for a better word).

You may only see them on the sand but that doesn't mean while your sleeping they stay put. They if I remember correctly eat zoas, polyps, and things of that sort. I'd also say no to the purple lobster, remember reading those aren't reefsafe.

Those little anemones won't bother you know but wait until they start to spread, you're really gonna wish you had taken care of them now.

Ripping them off the rocks won't work either, if you leave a tiny piece it'll grow back. Just rid yourself of them now and spare yourself the trouble later.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Kris I will disagree with you on the purple up. Although I don't see a big improvement in coraline algae in my tank since I have been using it, I find that it is a good alternative to dosing Iodine and Calcium from 2 seperate containers. I use it as an additive not a coraline builder and have nothing but praise for it in that usage. Coraline builder not so much.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Kris I will disagree with you on the purple up. Although I don't see a big improvement in coraline algae in my tank since I have been using it, I find that it is a good alternative to dosing Iodine and Calcium from 2 seperate containers. I use it as an additive not a coraline builder and have nothing but praise for it in that usage. Coraline builder not so much.

Well if it's advertised as a "coralline building" product and thats the one thing it lacks in, I'd believe it's not much of a go-to product.

Using it as a Calcium additive is cool, just think most don't like it because it fails to do what it promises . Guess you can find cheaper, more effective ways to dose calcium and get the coralline growth you want with other methods.
:birthday:

 

[fritz]

I've gotta agree with Nano on this, Purple Up is twice as expensive as B-Ionic 2 part and purple up WILL throw your levels off. I used to use Purple UP before I started with the 2 part. What I like about 2 part aside from being cheaper and more stable is that you can adjust (if necessary) how much of each part you add. I add about 15ml of each, each day. Total process takes me maybe 2 seconds longer then it did to dose purple up (I don't have to rigorously shake).

That aside for a softy tank it's not as important. How do you like Ricordia? The below tank is a zoanthid/ricordia tank. Both would do well in your tank.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/totm/index.php

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

ricordia look like mushrooms right? they have bumps on them though.. im new to the reef game... i always had preditory fish. reef is so much better. damm im so dissapointed about the shrimp.

can i keep fire shrimp in my tank? cleaner shrimp as well?

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

when i get some extra cash i will pick the buffer a and b up... that tank is really nice but its a little to packed out for me.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

surfer- get rid of those shrimps. fire or skunk cleaners are ok.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Fire shrimp and cleaner shrimp are ok to keep together. Peps and camels will rip the hell out of your reef.

 

[nanoreefer22]

I had peppermints in most of my tanks and except for the tank where I found them sliced and diced by a mantis shrimp, they were model citizens. They helped out my aiptasia problem after I killed off the big one and never did anything after that. They started eating prepared foods and then I got rid of my tank like a jackas$.

 

[ming]

I tried peppermint shrimps a few times. They seem to be a hit or miss. If you get lucky, you'll get ones with are a modern citizen and eat aiptasia and fish food. Othertimes you will get unlucky and it will rip your LPS apart. I've had both experience and I dont want to experiment with them anymore. They're too hard to catch if they act up

 

[fritz]

I'm a big fan of the skunk cleaner shrimp. They're the only ones that will clean 24-7 (so I've read.) Mine spent his whole day either trying to clean the fish or robbing my LPS of any food they caught. Fun to watch them swim upside down at the surface grabbing for food. Very neat shrimp. They can smell food the second it hits the water. Eventually as soon as you put your hand in they'll make a dash for you and try to clean your hand of any dead skin.

 

[SuRFeR BoY]

i am deff picking a few cleaners and some fire shrimp up.. the guys on here have good prices for them compaired to fish shops around my way and the city.