My 29G FOWLR Pics and Phases

[AC2020x]

Hey, this is my only and first saltwater tank which I'm pretty sure has been doing pretty well so far. I have pics that I took between 1-2 months ago that are from when I was starting up the tank. So i'll start posting things in order of the phases of my tank.


Here is the first live Rock I got from my LFS, that rock and another rock had some aipstasia on it. I got rid of it all about a week ago and got a peppermint shrimp to keep it under control. But over this period of time, they at least tripled in amount and size so I knew I had to get rid of them.


Here is a pic of 20 more pounds I got from ebay from a seller who was taking down there tank. The rock arrived in soaked papper towels and plasic bags which caused the postage box to be wet by the time I got it. In this pic the rocks are not set-up very well like they are now and that would cause for alot of dead spots, but now it's much more open so I will post a pic when I can get one!


Also the only current filtration being used is the marineland penguin 200 which has worked perfectly well so far,-- that is after I fixed it becuase some sand got stuck in the propeller and I thought it was brocken for about a day! :mad2: But I fixed it so all turned out well! :dance:


I will post more later today showing my next steps in the tank and my first fish.- thanks for any opinions, comments or anything you think needs to be done or you would do diferently. Thanks!!!

[ChrisK]

A great start.

[saltydunc]

fine start :)

[Catpicklesdog]

You're off to a good start:0 What are your plans for it? Fish only or reef?

[Cerianthus]

Aiptasia multiplies pretty fast, Dont they? One thing about the heater, If the bottom suction cup & clip is on the heating elements (hot), would recommend to move it up away from heating elements.

[AC2020x]

Hey, here are my next steps in my tank which include me getting my first fish a yellowtail damsel. This was mainly used as a testing fish to make sure it would be safe for others and until my water levels became a little better cause there was still a bit of ammonia/nitrites and my nitrates were probably a little high. After the levels went find and the damsel was living fine, I introduced two occilaris clowns into tank. He was way too territorial though so I had to return him to the store so he wouldn't go after the clowns. Also, I had to put him in a bottle with holes overnight before I had to return him so he wouldn't go after the clowns that night.


Next I also put a couple turbo snails, 3 red legged hermit crabs and, and a astreus and nssarius snails in the tank to start working on algee and they all seem to be doing very well!

[AC2020x]

Cool I'll see if the plastic clip and suction clip gets hot and move it if necessary thanks for the info!

[AC2020x]

Here are some more pics of my clowns, they both seem to be doing pretty well currently, they spend alot of there time in one side of the tank but they swim around a bit around the tank throughout the day. They are still relatively new at this point though about a month and they are starting to swim around alot more!


And my tank is going to include some reef, nothing that needs to high lighting needs, but moderate and maybe moderate high would work with the lights I'm getting later this week.-- And I already have 1 corals which should be fine until the lights get there and it's doing well!

[AC2020x]

clown pics

[saltydunc]

good move getting rid of the damsel their a real pain.

[khmerspec]

You should also keep the heater and termometer (lol spelt wrong?) on opposite ends of the tank.

I doubt its a big deal on a small tank, but a good habit to get into when setting up the tank.

That way you can see if the temp of the water is throughout the tank, and not isolated in one spot.

[AC2020x]

i have a thermometer thing on the side and then a floating one which is normally on the other side of the tank stuck behind the protein skimmer or filter or something. So that works well.

[Jalo Reefa']

are you still using the penguin only??? how is that going? I'm about to set up a 36g FOWL and been suffering from a serious headache while researching skimmers

[coach_z]

looks great!
what does fowl mean?

[Jalo Reefa']

sorry - type-o, FOWLR is what I meant to type: Fish Only With Live Rock

[coach_z]

thanks! i wouldnt have know what fowlr was either!

[AC2020x]

I got the the Bak-Pak II also for a protein skimmer. -- the filter is doing great but I think a protein skimmer is very helpful and good to have. Def check what people have to say about one that your thinking about getting and read reviews and stuff.

[Jalo Reefa']

I actually had another thread going on that topic- I'm personally leaning towards the Bak-Pak II, what are your thoughts so far???

[AC2020x]

It's good, and really easy to use those a little bigish but still not too bad. I've heard getting the pre-skimmer helps alot, but on the cheap pre-owned one I bought it had a different power head so it doens't fit. but since it's only 29 gallons for my tank I think it's alright without it.

[severum mama]

It's coming along nicely! :) Remember, take your stocking really slow. This is a whole different ballgame than FW, and SW fish/corals will not tolerate poor water quality as well as FW fish do. ;) Your tank will take months to stabilize, so try not to let a few days' worth of good readings fool you- I know it's difficult!

[Jalo Reefa']

I went with the BP2 - ordered it from fosters and smith with the pre-skimmer and bubble trap. any updates? I'm following your thread closely because I will be setting up a tank of similar size

[AC2020x]

I'd go with what (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/member.php?u=62435)severum mama said, go really really slowly, I think I took my time and did alright with it, but I should have even gone slower I think. I was reasonable with it but the slower the better! and definitly read and post a bunch for any questions!!! (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/member.php?u=62435)

[evelyn80]

nice tank! love the clowns!

[AC2020x]

At this point I have 5 hermits and like 6 snails, 1 peppermint shrimp and a emerald crab-- which is really sweet it watch!-- I found the peppermint shrimp on my powerhead the other day, it was really funny and the emerald comes out now and then and normally I can see him hiding under rocks and stuff. to my knowledge none of my invertebrates have died yet so I hope it keeps that way!!!

[AC2020x]

A couple weeks ago I picked up a Scooter Blenny from my local fish store. I know they are generally hard to feed and take care of but the owner of the local fish store said that mainly the mothers are just picky eaters and this one just eats the flake food that I have and thats all they feed him. He looks really healthy as well as everything else there and had been there for at least 2 months so I got him and he's awesome!-- He is still doing really good and he's super fun to watch as he scoots around the tank!

[ChrisK]

Nice blenny

[Mgamer20o0]

cool tank

[AC2020x]

I took a travel down to that pet place which has that fish place in it in Lancaster, PA and got some eagle eye polyps. They are doing really well, although they were only under standard florescent lighting for about 5 days. A few days ago I got some nice lights which are pretty decent and the polyps are definitly loving it. -- heres the lights-- http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~category~30_inch_Current_USA_Nova_Extr eme_2x24_watt_T5_HO_10K_460nm_30in_Units~vendor~Cu rrent_USA~SearchStr~nove+extreme,t5+ho,460nm~actio n~view~idProduct~CU01137~idCategory~FILTFIT53U.htm l Here's some pics of my polyps under the regular light- and i'll get some pics of my tank with the new lights and the new tank set-up later!

[AC2020x]

Hey, no major updates on the tank as far as livestock goes.-- Sadly I did find that my two clowns had a bad case of ICK a few days ago but I got some ICK Attack and since monday it seems to have gone away and I cannot find it on the fish anywhere. For a while they were acting sick and somewhat close to death-- (not swimming much) but they were always active eaters the whole way though so thats good and now they seem to just about have made a full recovery:thm:-- and I'm very glad the ICK Attack worked!-- Here are some more updated pics of my tank, clowns, and coral!

PS. I'm sorry I love taking and posting tons of pics-- it's just so hard to decide which pics to put up since I don't want to put up too too many. -- And yes Thats what she said! lol:perv:

[AC2020x]

In the next month or so I am thinking about getting either a Bicolor Pseudochromis or a Royal Gramma Basslet. I think I like the Bicolor Pseudochromis more but from what I've heard they can be pretty agressive so I don't want to stress out my clowns at all. what do you guys think, I think I like Royal Gramma Basslet enough to get it if there will be a decent difference in temperament. Thanks a ton!

[tidioute06]

awesome tank. i'm hoping to start up a nice 29-40gal fowlr afterI get my cichlid tank underway.

[AC2020x]

So currently I have no top on my tank, and none of my current 3 fish have shown any sign of jumping or anything and they all seem very happy. In the future I was looking into getting some or a fish that may jump, like the purple firefish.-- any ideas on what to do for my hood, the last one I had doesn't really fit anymore with my lights on it. I have heard glass will block out alot of the light but acrilic will block out alot less. Would it be a good idea to get acrilic and cut it so it would fit my tank? If so where could I get some, do they sell it at normal stores like lowes and stuff? Any other ideas? Thanks a ton!!!

[evelyn80]

i would have thought the glass would let more light in.... try a thin peice that fits mabye?

[AC2020x]

unfortunately about 2-3 weeks ago I can down with ICK in my tank and both of the clowns died. -- So I decided to try my luck with a couple firefish-- they seem very happy right now and I will take some pics soon-- Also I did get a glass top for my tank-- got it cut at lowes-- it works pretty well!

[AC2020x]

So right now I have 1 firefish, 1 scooter blenny and 1 bi-color angelfish in my tank. All seem perfectly heatlthy at this point and so I just hope it stays that way. I got a glass covering for the firefish so I hope it doesn't really affect the coral though it shouldn't because it doesn't require very intense lighting as it is.

I'm thinking in the future it would be really really awesome to get a gold striped maroon clown but I'll think about it and I won't be doing anything new for a while since I just got the bi color angel.

Heres some pics of the new fish and the tank as a whole!

[saltydunc]

nice looking angel

[AC2020x]

Thanks!-- I went to petco today and they had dottyback psudocromis's for $8. I couldn't resist so I bought one although they were all very small so I hope he lives-- and I also hope he's not agressive towards my firefish-- he seems to of taken a liking and hiding to the opposite side of the tank so thats good and he's to small to do anything now but hopefully he doesn't get more agressive when he gets bigger. All else is doing great in my tank!!!-- though I have alot of hair diaton looking algea-- any ideas???? I think I need more hermits!!!

[chevyguy86]

I hope my tank looks as good as yours soon, it's really gorgeous...keep up the good work!!

[Ace25]

I would make fixing your cyano (red slime algae in the pictures) problem a #1 priority. You have something wrong with your setup, ie, waterchanges with bad water, not enough water changes, overfeeding, too little flow, any or all of those could cause cyano outbreaks. One of those things we all go through and learn how to fix and come out better for it in the end. I would definately recommend adding another powerhead to the other side of the tank. Also take the tip off of the koralia you currently have to give a more broad flow. Just suggestions. ;)

[BoCoMo]

:popcorn:

[AC2020x]

ok, thanks alot I had no idea about that, I will get rid of the protector on the one powerhead and I'm thinking of getting a nano-- will that be good??? I do about a 4 gallon water change weekly. Is that enough? and I think the water is good, it's from a RO filter from outside of weis. I think i'm gonna look into buying my own. I think some of the problem might be overfeeding, I'm still trying to get used to the amount I should feed the fish daily. And I need more hermits too, though IDK if that would help! Any other suggestions are greatly appriciated!!!!!!!!

[Dan06]

Hermits won't help with the Cyano, and contrary to what a lot of people say, I've read and been told that Cyano is almost unavoidable at times, in newly established tanks it's not uncommon to go through the different phases of algae blooms. Cyano is technically a bacteria but it looks like algae!

People will suggest your light bulbs are old, your water is bad, not enough flow..etc. I have 4 bulbs that are 5 weeks old, a #2 & #3 Coralia with a Fluval Canister in a 36g CORNER tank, I have a ton of flow and I still had an outbreak of Cyano. My LFS told me continue with my regular water changes, make sure I'm not overfeeding and it will sort itself out with each water change. I reduced the hours my lights are on too, it really seems to have helped....

You treated Ich with medication, I would not do this in your display tank. It appears that chemicals are a last resort, but if you have a small 'hospital' tank and patience, you should never have to treat your display tank and risk the lives of your inverts, coral & overall stability of your tank.

[ToeJam]

Hermits won't help with the Cyano, and contrary to what a lot of people say, I've read and been told that Cyano is almost unavoidable at times, in newly established tanks it's not uncommon to go through the different phases of algae blooms. Cyano is technically a bacteria but it looks like algae!

People will suggest your light bulbs are old, your water is bad, not enough flow..etc. I have 4 bulbs that are 5 weeks old, a #2 & #3 Coralia with a Fluval Canister in a 36g CORNER tank, I have a ton of flow and I still had an outbreak of Cyano. My LFS told me continue with my regular water changes, make sure I'm not overfeeding and it will sort itself out with each water change. I reduced the hours my lights are on too, it really seems to have helped....

You treated Ich with medication, I would not do this in your display tank. It appears that chemicals are a last resort, but if you have a small 'hospital' tank and patience, you should never have to treat your display tank and risk the lives of your inverts, coral & overall stability of your tank.


Cyano info here http://www.reefs.org/library/article/c_bingman2.html

and Dan is correct.. some things eat it but its not our typical clean up crews...and its in everyones tank... when it becomes visible and slime like is when you have too much nutrients in the tank which allows it to grow like mad.

Flow...only prevents detritus from settling and prevents dead spots where cyano can take hold and grow... its one preventative measure but its no cure as Dan stated. Ive had some grow on a powerhead...

Every tank is different on the root problem ..the only thing similar is Nutrients in abundance. Where is the question... the water? the substrate? Both?

For me I had one hell of a nightmare almost 2 years ago...and it was my substrate was so saturated with nutrients...i would siphon out the cyano...next day I had a 3"-6" lengh and width blanket on my sand of red slime...

Cyano clean up is a pain because it has to be hit two ways...

1st is total clean up..siphon all you can.. blowing off rocks...siphoning top layers of substrate .. huge water change.

2nd is prevention and that means identifying the nutrients source..your water, your maintenance not good enough, over freeding, ..what ever it is you have to nail it down by observation on your end.

The slow way but sure way is just lots of water changes and often siphoning what appears till it finally cuts back. That can be costly for some tanks that are large.

ugh I can tell yah I do everything I can now to prevent it from ever happening... I strictly avoid Canisters, Hob filters...another reefer and I both had similar stories of nitrates being high..and removing canisters and they finally dropped and stayed down with regular maintenances.

I also run phosban in a reactor to ensure phosphate is never present... no joke its like tossing jet fuel on a fire ...when it comes to cyano and algae growth.

[ToeJam]

I would make fixing your cyano (red slime algae in the pictures) problem a #1 priority. You have something wrong with your setup, ie, waterchanges with bad water, not enough water changes, overfeeding, too little flow, any or all of those could cause cyano outbreaks. One of those things we all go through and learn how to fix and come out better for it in the end. I would definately recommend adding another powerhead to the other side of the tank. Also take the tip off of the koralia you currently have to give a more broad flow. Just suggestions. ;)

Totally with Ace on this one... having another Korilia on the opposite side and aim them at each other.

its good that ace caught that cause its not a lot ..i didnt notice ...must have looked at the pic closer huh Ace?

Feeding... You should consider a schedule that is mixed.. If you use flake and frozen foods... Just use flakes and every several days give them a treat and use the frozen food. (but rinse it off first).

Food should be gone in 5 min or less after feeding if not you over fed... keep that in mind.

I am gona have to ask 2little fishies to send me a check:
Buy a phosban reactor... its the cheapest and sure way to keep phosphates out... and phosphates is the number 1 contributor for faster growth for algae and cyano.

its not a fix but will remove one major element to the problem. and prevent future problems.

[Ace25]

Always a fan of Chemi-Clean myself. It will wipe out the majority of the cyano in about 2 days. You still need to find the root cause and fix it or the cyano will come right back, but after you syphon out as much as you can as ToeJam suggested, do a chemi-clean treatment and your tank will look perfect again.

Also agree, I have a TLF reactor, been running strong for over 5 years now and only replaced the tiny Rio pump once. One of the best investments anyone can make for a tank is a reactor running GFO media. IMO they are as critical as a protein skimmer.

[AC2020x]

thanks guys I will for sure keep this in mind and get right to work at trying to fix this problem. -- what are the downsides of having this in the tank?--(other than look) is it bad for the fish? what else does it do??? -- And thanks a ton for all the help!

[Ace25]

It depletes the oxygen from the tank for one. It would have to be a lot worse than the pics before oxygen levels start to become a problem though.

As for a second koralia, what do you currently have now? 2 #2s would be a minimum for a 29G I think. Personally I am running a 3 and a 2 on my 29G. Here is a pic of mine. It is my "neglected tank" though, ie, don't really pay attention to it, but I do maintain it. Has a mated pair of ocellaris clowns, a starry blenny, and a bluebar pseudochromis in there.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3469847964_c020984cec.jpg

[KingConch]

ace how is that blue bar for aggression? too much for fire gobies? sorry i just havn't been able to find much on them

[Ace25]

All pseudos are mean little buggers. He used to be in my display but would hide in the rocks and dart out and nip fins of fish that swam by, so he was the reason I re-setup my 29G tank, just to be able to put the psuedo in somewhere else. He still hides in the rocks, but doesn't seem to go after the clowns or blenny. Then someone tore down their tank and was giving away the mated pair of clowns so I put those in there, and finally I ran across a Starry Blenny that I have wanted for many years, but I want him in my display. I couldn't evict my 6 year old Lawnmower blenny and put him in the 29G because it is so big and healthy, I didn't want to do anything to harm that, so when he goes my Starry Blenny will move over to my display.

[AC2020x]

nice tank, I wish mine looked anything like that!-- but yeah, I will def get another powerhead soon!!!-- probably a number 2 as thats what I have in there now!

[BoCoMo]

Nice looking tank ace!

[Ace25]

LOL.. really? Funny thing is that is my very first tank I bought in 1994 at Wal-Mart. It has gone from FW, Brackish, FO, FOWLR, Reef, and now back to FOWLR and still holds water.

As you can see it is pretty simple, Koralia 2/3, 25lb live rock, sand, 150w heater, Rena Smartfilter HOB filter + surface skimmer attachment (live rock rubble in bottom of filter), and a CurrentUSA Sundial light on it. 4 fish and some palys I took out of my reef is all thats in there. I do kind of want to just make it into a 2 clown/anemone tank with nothing else in there eventually, but I am in no rush.

[AC2020x]

Since My last update I have 2 other things in my tank. I got a small Dottyback Psudocromis which was at sale at my LFS for only $8 so I picked it up and also got a coral banded shrimp. They are both doing well right now and everything is going great in the tank. I'm hoping the psudocromis won't get agressive at all since it hasn't so far but I know they are known to be agressive esspecially when they get larger.

[kryptic4l]

Not really fully sure on the details of your sand ,, but im wondering alot about it. took me a bit to find any details but im thinking thats not argonite of any sort, and may be contributing to your diatoms. you are also losing some properties of argonite sand which are good for reef aquaria.

[AC2020x]

Unfortunately there are a few issues with the sand going on as can be seen. I'm hoping cutting back on light and a few more frequent water changes with time can solve this issue-- I'm not sure too much more of what to do. -- I do need a 2nd powerhead though-- I'm just happy that all my fish seem really happy and they are all eating.

[Horchata]

has great potential. reef?

[AC2020x]

I don't know exactly what that means but I do plan on adding some corals, not very high lighting intensity required ones though. I already have some polyps and plan on adding some more down the road!

[ChunkyMonkey]

Ace, how do you like that Bi-Color Angel? I was thinking of one of them for my 55.

[Ace25]

I think you meant to ask that towards AC2020x, he has the bi-color. I don't have any experience with them other than feeding them at a LFS a few times myself so I really can't offer much insite into them.

[AC2020x]

Unfortunately, mine passed away a few days ago. I really have no idea why. While it was alive I absolutly loved it. I fed it algae, formula 1 and 2 -- prime reef, some brine and mysis shrimp and it also loved the flake food that I have. -- He ate pretty much all of these except the formula 2 he never liked. He was always really active and everything was going fine for at least 4 weeks and he was eating and doing excellent, until out of no where he stopped swimming as much. I got home from school and he was just sitting under the rocks. I fed the tank and he ate a very small ammount. I figured I'd see how he was in the morning the next day and he was dead. -- I really have no clue what it was and one day he was perfectly healthy and the next day he died! It's sad and I have no idea what it was, - but while he was alive he seemed perfectly healthy and happy and was easy to take care of.

[AC2020x]

Today I looked down in my tank while I was performing some monthy maintnece on it and cleaning some stuff up and I saw my Coral Banded shrimp had a bristle worm in it's claws and was eaIting it. He was holding it with one claw while it was trying to escape and he was tearing it apart with his other claw and really devouring the thing. It really was a cool thing to see!- and He's doing really well!!!

[GregAW]

Where's the camera when you need it? :)

[AC2020x]

So i'm gonna be getting a new fish soon and right now all I have is one firefish, and one dottyback psudocromis and a coral banded shrimp-- any ideas? I'm thinking some type of clown fish as my tank is very stable now. Any other thoughts???

[AC2020x]

So today I got 2 misbar occelaris clowns-- they seem really really happy right now and swimming around and even ate some flake food after there first couple hours in the tank. -- They seem really happy and love swimming up and down and left and right though the tank.-- I'll post some pics later on-- right now the glass on the tank looks really dirty and tommorow i'm gonna use a credit card and scrape off all the algae spots. --

[AC2020x]

Also I got rid of my psudocromis cause he was beginning to get agressive towards the firefish-- and I can already tell the firefish is alot happier and is out alot more now. This requried me to take out almost all my rocks though so that was a bummer-- it took forever to get them set back up so I like it. I am happy with it now though-- in fact I think I like it more than before so I'm very pleased-- and everyone seems really happy in the tank. and i'm returning to psudocromis to my LFS tomorrow as he's in a bucket right now lol. I'll get some good pics tomorrow!

[AC2020x]

Ok hers some pics of the Misbar clowns, there kinda hard to get good pics of because of how much and how fast they move! but I got a couple decent ones!

[abob60]

keep up the great work and never give up it is agood and challenging hobby.