Several newbie questions....

[ThatsDeep!]

So, yeah we are actually to the point of having corals and a fish in tank. Have stuck to polyps, leathers and...I forget the third. I had gotten some phytoplankton and was going to use once a week then I studied on the net and thought that we needed a source of zooplankton for a leather mushroom and got some "Reef Roids" as well. Now, we have a non-puffing puffer fish just so that he does his bio-biz in the tank, but thank purchase resulted in our getting mysis shrimp to feed him. I have seen this [whack] video on youtube where you melt those shrimp and turkey baste the cloudy stuff onto specific corals.
Short story long, I do not want to overdo anything so was hoping someone could tell me how often they might feed and what with a stable but still beginner 55 gal tank.

Really would appreciate any feedback you have. Back to sitting in front of tank with magnifying glass - that is where we live pretty much.

Deep

 

[SkyDiv3r17]

Mushrooms?

So there is tons and tons of newbie threads out there to research, but we always like to help. Now some questions for you.

So do you use test kits? If so, what do you test?

How old is the tank?

Post pictures of the tank!

Use RO water to top off the evaporated water.

Get a refractometer to test your salinity.

Tell us what else you have with the tank (lights, skimmer, sump, etc)? What do you plan to get?

 

[fishguy69]

Be careful on the feeding of any types. Food will pollute a tank in a short time. Let us know.
V

 

[SynDen]

Ya need to know a bit more about your tank, the setup , params ect.. but I would say with just polyps and leathers you shouldnt need to feed them at all. They just need good light. The puffer however will need more then just mysis shrimp. Most fish need a mixed diet to keep them healthy over the long term. Mysis shrimp are a good start but wont provide nearly everything the fish needs to stay healthy. Recommend getting some pellets, and maybe some mix of other meaty foods for him. Dont over feed him but feed him just enough to keep him healthy and happy.

 

[ThatsDeep!]

Created 2 months ago. Refugium w/ Chaeto, good bio system per knowledgable friend, Current 12,000 K and 8,000 K LED that goes down to moonlight on auto cycle. Mini -protein skimmer in refuge, 300 GPH pump, 2 add'l water flows, saltwater from 1 store source and add R/O. Overflow on back and tested for power outages. I have been trying to upload photos but had no success yet. I have joined MASC so it would not be a visitor issue.

They are just jpg files from an iphone...

Oh, I do not have specific numbers yet as I take water in to have it tested. We were 0 Ammonia and nitrite, 40 ppm nitrate, PH level good, alklinity 9 and I was told to buffer, salinity a tad high but added RO.

Sorry that I don't have better [real] data yet.

Jody

 

[ThatsDeep!]

Thanks Vince - that is why I thought I'd better ask. Puffer seems to get after 1/2 cube of shrimp so am hoping that is still okay for him. I will try to figure out how to get jpg's on here. Have had no luck uploading.

 

[ThatsDeep!]

I put the info I have further down on the thread. Yep, I am getting that it is kind of a "black box" when a newb asks for help and gives you no info to go on. I am working on getting jpg's loaded.

 

[zombie]

Created 2 months ago. Refugium w/ Chaeto, good bio system per knowledgable friend, Current 12,000 K and 8,000 K LED that goes down to moonlight on auto cycle. Mini -protein skimmer in refuge, 300 GPH pump, 2 add'l water flows, saltwater from 1 store source and add R/O. Overflow on back and tested for power outages. I have been trying to upload photos but had no success yet. I have joined MASC so it would not be a visitor issue.

They are just jpg files from an iphone...

Oh, I do not have specific numbers yet as I take water in to have it tested. We were 0 Ammonia and nitrite, 40 ppm nitrate, PH level good, alklinity 9 and I was told to buffer, salinity a tad high but added RO.

Sorry that I don't have better [real] data yet.

Jody

With the numbers you are posting, I would definately stop adding any food for the corals. No phyto, no zooplankton, and cut down how much you are feeding your fish until you get your nitrates less than 5 ppm. You can do a few extra water changes to help speed this up.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life, and you can PROVE it mathematically.

 

[zombie]

Just to give you some perspective on feeding, I feed my tank the equivalent of 2 cubes of food and a small sheet of nori daily and feed my corals once a week with about a teaspoon of zooplankton. and I have 2 tangs, 2 clownfish, 1 chalk basslet, 1 flasher wrasse, 1 mandarin goby, a wheeler goby, 4 shrimp, 30+ snails, and 40 different kinds of coral.

You might be an engineer if...You have no life, and you can PROVE it mathematically.

 

[ThatsDeep!]

Appreciate the perspective - definitely looks like the comment that there is no need to feed anything but a few shrimp to the fish makes a lot of sense. Went and had water tested again. Nitrate is going down nicely and my alkalinity is up to 11.

I appreciate everyone's input - I do not want to create problems where there aren't any. Will try to post pics again tomorrow so I have a history on here.

 

[ThatsDeep!]

Yeah, the mushrooms! Have a cheap test kit so I am going to look at some of the test kit posts already on here to see what MASC peeps have found to be the better ones. As to what we plan to get, I would venture to say we will have another larger tank before the year is out. Too freakin' much fun to be limited! I will get some pics posted soon. Thanks Sky.

 

[ThatsDeep!]

Pics finally

So here are a few pics and hopefully we will look back at these in several months and feel like we have done something right sometimes. Hard to say.... all comments welcome [pretty much!]

 

[CRW Reef]

Tank looks like a great start to me! I personally would be careful using reef roids, reef chili, fuel and the likes, because they can fuel algae blooms in a hurry. Using these is one of those less is more scenarios, where you would slowly increase dosage with coral demand. I think for the corals you have in there now, you will be just fine with the fish poo, correct lighting spectrum and stable parameters. In the words of Dillon, Hope that Helps

 

[ThatsDeep!]

Tank looks like a great start to me! I personally would be careful using reef roids, reef chili, fuel and the likes, because they can fuel algae blooms in a hurry. Using these is one of those less is more scenarios, where you would slowly increase dosage with coral demand. I think for the corals you have in there now, you will be just fine with the fish poo, correct lighting spectrum and stable parameters. In the words of Dillon, Hope that Helps

Thanks for the input. Sounds like everyone votes that less is more in the feeding scenario. Makes sense!