Pictures of tank at 3 weeks

[ForTiLLiaN]

Here is my 55 gal. tank at 3 weeks. So far i have : Yellow Headed Sleeper Goby, Dragon Goby, Lawnmower Blenny, BlueSpotted Jawfish (favorite Fish in the World), FireFish, Arrow Crab, Coral Banded Shrimp (getting rid of because he ate my smaller yellow headed sleeper goby, and my yellow shrimp goby), Fire Shrimp, 2 cleaner shimp, 10 sand sifting snails, 10 turbo snails, 15 blue legged hermits and 1 red legged hermit. For corals and things i have : Califlower, Xenia, Toadstool Leather, Starburst and some small green mushrooms. I also have 3 feather dusters and one flame scallop. I have 40lbs. live sand, 40lbs figi/tonga rock. 4x55watt PC, 2-10k, 2-Actinic, 18watt Double Helix UV Sterolizer, and a tidepool with 20lb live rock. As off yesturday PH - 8.1, Ammonia - 0, Nitrite - 0,
Nitrate - < 5, Calcium - 450. 5 Gallon watter changes a week, along with dosing : Reef Calcium, Reef Complete, Reef Plus, while feeding frozen brine with ecosystems garlic elixer and DT's, and anemonies eating small peices of krill. Ive worked at Midway Pet store in Kent, Washington for about 3 years now. I have a love for bearded dragons as well as breeding them, and after seeing a co workers 75 gallon reef tank i fell in love. So for the past 2 years i have been learning what i can from differant a co-worker as well as books and the occasional customer teaching me a few things. Im still learning alot from books and co-workers and i found these forums about 3 weeks ago and have been reading alot but not posting anything. So now that i have jabbered on and on i will give your eyes some rest.

http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/anemone.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/arrowcrab.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/blue_spotted.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/coliflowerxenia.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/goby.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/lawnmower2.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/lawnmower.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/purple_tip_anemone.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/starburst.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~fortillian/toadstool.JPG

Thanks for viewing and im open to any help/ constructive criticism

Justin

[WetWilly]

ok i think your haveing troubles posting pics... none here either

[corrado170]

Good looking tank pictures look fine here. Keep and eye on the water quality. The corals look great but at only three weeks there is the potential for a 2nd and even 3rd ammonia spike. Looks great though!

Justin

[1996 cobra]

i agree and imo you really have started that tank W A Y to soon. what im going to say i hope you take with an open mind cause it may come across very harsh. either way here it goes

first off your bio load is enourmous for a tank that size.

2nd the uv ster is going to kill all the plankton and such in the tank and will soon start starving your corals. even tho your dosing its going to kill what you dose too.

3rd all those gobies are going to start fighting with each other and end up killing each other. they are very territorial and with all those they will start fighting eventually.

4th the lighting you have wont support those anemones very long so return if you can other wise theyll die soon because the zoos inside will die from lack of strong lighting. if you cant return or get rid place on the very top rocks and by a power head to keep the current strong and light as bright as possible

the arrow crab when it gets larger is going to start preying on all thos gobies and jawfish so get rid of him asap also.

2 many cleaner shrimp they will also start fighting soon once territories are established. general rule of thumb for cleaner shrimp and most other shrimp is 1 per 50 gallons.

get ready for alot of dead crabs and hermits and snails. blue legged hermits are among the most aggressive hermits or verts you can get and will soon start slaughtering the other hermits and snails for shells and for pure fun. if your read on this forum alot im sure you have come across alot of the whore stories people posted about them.

its not an imediate problem but the toadstool and cali coral get huge if provided the right enviroment and propperly fed. so watch them as they grow and see if you can arrange a deal with a pet store to buy back when they get larger.

those things you are dosing make sure they are the correct lvls. i have come across many people who dose and dont tet after they adjust or even test at all. i noticed you do test so most likely your dosing correctly. just make sure you dont overdose.

other then that i hope you take this as critism and just a concerned reefer. very few people really speak there mind so i tend to on here and in real life. like i said i only say this in the best inttentions.

thanks justin

[ChaoticReefer4u]

justin your on top of it man! very good explanation!

[Sandworm]

You took the words right out of my mouth (or type) Cobra. Please head Justin's advice, as all of it is straight forward and the truth. We love the enthusiasm but you've got things in their that will not work together or not work in your tank.

[1996 cobra]

as an off topic chuclkle as im not sure if the poster has even read this or jus decided to blow it off. any one else notice theirs 3 justins posting on this one topic. odd cause i very rarely meet another justin and i was talking to a friend about it the same day i posted my orig post. odd eh


justin

[Lahatiel]

I know I am a little late chiming in, but good advice Cobra.

Nice tank, but I hope the slight amount of impatience doesn't cause it too crash. :?

[Ludwigia]

Justin, you're right on all counts but left one thing out... Toadstools.... If they get too big, don't just give them to the fish store, frag em about 5 times, then pick the 2 best growers and trade the parent and the other 3 daughters to the LFS for stuff!

[1996 cobra]

your correct but when i coment towards a begginers tank i keep my explantions and solutions short and simple. but you are right i shouldve offered move vantage points. but hey thats why u guys ar ehere so you can catch up on stuff i miss or what others miss :)

justin

[Ludwigia]

No problem... not a bad idea, either. It's obvious someone gave this guy too much info too quick! Or maybe not enough. I feel I got into my tank too quickly, but he went right at it! I still only have half the live rock I'd like, but I have 5 different corals in a 29. The tank is around 6 weeks, and I'm adding live rock 5 lbs at a time so the bacteria can catch up with the die-off. I'm being careful, but not too careful. I think you can over do it with regards to caution, but you can overdo it with regards to overdoing it. My .02