Nathan Explosion's Blog

[Nathan Explosion]

Well I am just getting into the reef set up. I have a 29 gallon tank with an Emperor 280 filter, a Current 130W light (t5 I think) with lunar led's, about 20-25 lbs of live rock, and about 2 inches of live sand for substrate, 200W heater (i do live in MN) and i just added a Seaclone 100 protien skimmer.

For fish i just have one flame angle and a blue damsel who kills anything else in the tank smaller then him. so once the fish live out their natrual lives i am moving on to corals.

I first wondered if my skimmer was supose to add tons of bubbles into my tank, i know how they work and what they do but i didnt think that the bubbles would be deposited into my tank. there is nothing wrong with that except they get caught up in my live rock and stay there

next i am looking to turn it into a reef tank and was looking for some good starter corals, something very colorful, and need some ideas, the pet stores around here have no idea what they are talking about and i just need some general advice on what types of coral need what to feed on (if anything at all besides trace elements).

anything helps, i do weekly water changes of 5 gallons almost every week so my water is almost always in good condition, i try and not overfeed, i just need help with the corals and how they grow and placement so i dont want just rush into this with out thinking (again)! money and time are not really a concern, i just wanna do this rite.

NOV 7

got a new filter B) i couldnt spend the $ like i wanted on a sump but it was a fuval 305. my old one was 4 years old and it was on its last leg. i also bought new bulbs, the color difference was amazing. i am an electrician and i always heard about the spectrum changing but the difference was amazing i got some xenia, starburst polyps, zoas, mushrooms and leather corals (got pics up) they are all doing well except the xenia whitch died in like 2 weeks but there is a Baby one growing (like 1/4" tall and has like 4 arms) so that might take off. thats about it, oh ya...... i am down to my last fish (**** blue devil) and after he is gone not sure what (if any) to get.

[alasg001]

zoas and mushrooms are fairly easy and should do fine with your lights. Also different leather corals should be fine. Green Star Polps look nice swaying in the currents, but they grow fast. Also different Zenia are pretty but also can grow like weeds. I would say to not get any light loving animals like SPS, Clams, Anemonies, because I dont think you really dont have enough light. I am guessing that LPS should do ok if kept towards the middle or top, as I kept some under that amount of light for a good while. LPS are nice in that they can have nice colors, and some show different textures and movement within the tank. I also say get a couple powerheads to help with flow, as corals will do better with more flow than a HOB filter usully provides. I also advise some type of A&B additive to help.