Howdy all,
I've been a freshwater/plant tank keeper for eons and gave a nano reef a shot (I figure crashing a nano is cheaper than crashing a 55, lol). So far so good, but the mushrooms I have in it are not spreading. Should I try a Portobella species? *OK just kidding*. The shrooms are all different kinds, I tend to buy the mavericks that drop off the rocks in the pet shop ($5 for one polyp is nicer than a $60 rock with a handful of them). Most are an inch in diameter, a couple pushing 2-2.5 inches. They've all been in there for a few months. Is this just impatience? Will they eventually start spreading?
I'm also having a hard time getting the coralline algae to grow. Everything that came in on the rock is still there, but I've only notice a VERY minute amount of additional growth onto the glass side and some "dead" rocks.
Here are the specs.
15 gallon Nano
10-20 pounds of rock
NH4, NO2, NO3 at dead 0.
One small goby, one small damsel, one small ocellaris, star polyp frag (quarter size) and a happy xenia frag (3").
pH stable at 8.2 (thank you kalk!)
night/morning 1/4 to 1/2 cup drip of kalkwasser (gotta love that cheap picking lime)
calcium 350+
alkalinity 10-14 dKH
80 w compact flourescent (40w 50/50 40w 6500K)
Filtered by a reduced-flow HOT Magnum w/ Purigen and carbon.
Homemade overflow (used by the HOT Mag).
I've been a freshwater/plant tank keeper for eons and gave a nano reef a shot (I figure crashing a nano is cheaper than crashing a 55, lol). So far so good, but the mushrooms I have in it are not spreading. Should I try a Portobella species? *OK just kidding*. The shrooms are all different kinds, I tend to buy the mavericks that drop off the rocks in the pet shop ($5 for one polyp is nicer than a $60 rock with a handful of them). Most are an inch in diameter, a couple pushing 2-2.5 inches. They've all been in there for a few months. Is this just impatience? Will they eventually start spreading?
I'm also having a hard time getting the coralline algae to grow. Everything that came in on the rock is still there, but I've only notice a VERY minute amount of additional growth onto the glass side and some "dead" rocks.
Here are the specs.
15 gallon Nano
10-20 pounds of rock
NH4, NO2, NO3 at dead 0.
One small goby, one small damsel, one small ocellaris, star polyp frag (quarter size) and a happy xenia frag (3").
pH stable at 8.2 (thank you kalk!)
night/morning 1/4 to 1/2 cup drip of kalkwasser (gotta love that cheap picking lime)
calcium 350+
alkalinity 10-14 dKH
80 w compact flourescent (40w 50/50 40w 6500K)
Filtered by a reduced-flow HOT Magnum w/ Purigen and carbon.
Homemade overflow (used by the HOT Mag).