Musicman's 40 breeder (1st sw tank!!!)

[Musicmanmoses]

Hello all!!! I acclimated the cuc this week! There are snails galore in there! I also got the 2 par 38 bulbs and have hung them. Here's how it looks thus far:

 

[Musicmanmoses]

I don't really have a decent lfs around here, other than big box stores and one place that sometimes has decent stock... The snails seem to be acclimating well, but I'm looking into getting my 1st fish. I'm not really sure what I'll find around here. My plan is a pair of clowns and a dwarf angel... possibly a mandarin, but we'll see how much I can handle!

I'm also gonna try to pick up my 1st coral this week as well. Either some sort of softy or some color of zoa... really depends on what I can find around here for now. The par 38's are about 25" off the substrate (about 9" off the surface of the water). They seem to be lighting up the tank pretty well. Is it usually ok to get some corals and adjust the height as needed to keep the corals nice and healthy? Thanks for looking!!!

 

[VPOOL13]

hows the skimmer working or do you not have it running??

 

[Musicmanmoses]

I looooove the skimmer!!! It only took a week to break in and it seems to be working well.

 

[VPOOL13]

did you get from a store or online? looking for one for my sump,

 

[Musicmanmoses]

I got it from bulk reef supply online. I've ordered from them a few times now, for the skimmer and powerheads and they've been great!

 

[little_fish]

looks good, a pair of clowns would be a great first choice of fish

 

[Smitty]

Looking good...

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Got my 1st coral. It's a green leather, I forgot the full name though... I think it's a leather tree coral? Thanks for looking!!!

 

[little_fish]

Some type of leather for sure! Looks good!

 

[Smitty]

Nice looking piece...congrats.

 

[Bifferwine]

It might be a green nepthea. Hard to tell when the polyps aren't extended. Post another pic when it opens up!

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Got a few new corals today! It's official... Im addicted... I got a pink cabbage leather, 1 head of frogspawn ( I know I said this was only gonna be a softy tank, but I decided that I have the light to keep some lps), 3 colors of ricordea, and two peppermint shrimp! I'm hopefully gonna pick up the tests for calcium and phosphate on wed (which I suppose is already today) and will be looking for ways to dose calcium, strontium, iodide, etc... I'll get a pick of the frogspawn when it's fully open... Thanks for looking!!!

 

[little_fish]

looks good!

And there is no need to dose that stuff, none of your corals are going to use that up in significant quantities, just do regular water changes.

 

[Smitty]

+1 lil fish...regular water changes will take care of the trace elements. Congrats on the new pieces.

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Here's a pic of the frogspawn (sadly, this picture makes it look waaaaay paler than it actually is...) and I finally have my 1st fish in the form of a pair of clowns!!! Thanks for looking! :D

 

[lilmatty5dimes]

Very nice addition. Can't lose with a pair of clowns and your tank is coming along very well. Keep it up.

 

[Musicmanmoses]

Thanks =)

 

[little_fish]

cute!

 

[Musicmanmoses]

I just noticed that my pink flower/cabbage leather coral isn't doing so hot. I checked all my params and everything is fine... It's towards the bottom of my tank, but in moderate light and flow... what's happening is it seems that the part of the coral attaching it to the rock is disintegrating... like the filaments holding the coral to the rock... the actual fleshy part of the coral looks fine... any ideas? thanks in advance...