Sam's 29G reef

[samn691]

Hello everyone!
I found this website yesterday, signed up and decided I would start a thread on my reef. Hopefully some of you fellow reefers will be able to tell me if I'm doing anything wrong and maybe give me a few tips.

I've had SW tanks for a little over a year (switched back and forth from a 10G and a 29G), so I'm still new to the hobby.

My current tank setup is:

The tank:
-29G reef
-Two AquaClear filters (#20 and #50)
-35W lighting (PowerGlo)
-About 31.5 LBS of LR (1.5LBS is new, the rest is old)
-Deep sand bed (5 to 8cm deep depending on the area)


Corals & stuff (more stuff then coral...):
-2 types of caulerpa(grape & some other type).
-Various polyps (they haven't opened fully yet, so I don't know what colours they are)
-A bunch of solid red mushrooms (some more orange or purple then red though), one red mushroom with blue markings on it (new), and a very light coloured green one.

Inhabitants:
-11 hermit crabs:
-10 blue legs
-1 scarlet red leg hermit
-4 or 5 snails
-1Percula clown
-1Yellow clown goby
-1Peppermint shrimp


the tank has been running for 3 days. All fish are new, I had a Yellow Watchman Goby in my 10G but it wasn't yellow anymore, more of a very grayish yellow and sometimes all gray. I was told that I couldn't have him and the yellow clown goby so I took him back to the store because I really wanted a yellow clown goby.

To minimize the new cycle, I took the sand from the 10G and didn't wash it (of course I added a lot of sand to it), I took all of the water that was in the tank and I took the filter from the tank and didn't change the filter inserts(that was the AC #20, so I also added the AC#50). I am also adding Cycle in the recommended amounts for new tanks. Hopefully it wont start a huge cycle. Does anyone think it might be possible that it wont start one at all? Any ideas on how to minimize it's impact?

This morning I found my old polyp trying to open. I thought it was dead, it hadn't opened in the last few months and usually had some algae on it. I don't know why it decided to open now, maybe because it now has a clean-up crew to clean the algae off of it. I think it was reddish-brown in colour, not sure though. Once it opens, I'll post a pic and feed it for sure!

Here are som pics:
Tank shot(sorry the water is still a little cloudy):


Percula clown(plz tell me if it's an ocellaris):



Scarlet red legged hermit crab:


Yellow clown goby:



Yellow watchman(I brought him back to the LFS):


And one last pic just to scare everyone:


I'll take a FEW more pics once the water clears and my new polyps open.
If anyone has questions on my tank, feel free to ask!

[Cassette87]

Alright! another 29g reef Welcome aboard Your tank will cycle again; and with so many inhabitants already, you're going to need to watch your water parameters very closely and be prepared to do frequent water changes for at least a couple weeks. Long as you keep an eye on things, you should be alright. What are your plans for the tank?

P.S. since you've already got a decent bio-load in that 29, you may want to begin looking around for a nice skimmer I've got the Aqua C Remora HOB filter on my 29 and love it!

[DrHank]

[BigAl07]

Welcome Sam! You've come to a GREAT place!

Tank looks SWEET! My curiosity has gotten the best of me though.. is that a Mason Jar in the corner?

Allen

[ScubaDrew]

Hey Welcome aboard! why did you return the watchman?

[lcstorc]

Welcome to RS!

[samn691]

A lot of things have changed since I last posted;
I got a pink tip condylactis anemone, 11 new hermit crabs (total count-16; blue leg 11, red leg 5), a green chromis, a black molly, new rocks(dry rock) and I have some interesting news!

The news:
I don't know if it's good or bad, but I really hope it's good... My percula clown is liking my anemone so much that he is making it his new home! I heard that this could happen, and that the anemone might eat my clown, but my clown keeps going in and out without harm! I think its fun to watch and it could be a nice place to hide for my clown if it ever got harassed by my yellow clown goby. I'm not kidding... the little guy keeps going after my green chomis during feeding.

I was thinking of buying a second percula clown, hoping that they might pair up. I know this could be risky and that I would have to buy two that were about the same size, but I was wondering if it was still possible/what the odds were. Has anyone tried and succeeded?


Here is a pic of the anemone.. I bought it 6 days ago. 2 nights ago, it decided to go and explore under the rock I placed him on. It hasn't moved since, if he is still there tomorow, I will eithe go and get him out or I might place a powerhead to blow water directly onto it which might make it move (or so I've heard).


here is a video of the clown going into the anemone, and coming back out! (my first time posting a video, so it might not work)