10 Gal nano reef! re-arranged

this is my tank. that is my first coral. it is just starting to stand tall and REALLY pulse. its lookin great. im really now starting to see all of its branches. its growing every day like a weed. give me your opinion on the tank. cant wait for more corals!

 

Looks good I like the central look.

 

those fish just love the way i stacked the rock. they swim in and out through the cracks constantly!! like they get amusement out of it!! haha

 

thanks

 

Nice tank....

 

Nice tank and good set up. Now......before you add anything else, I want you to find out your parameters. What I want you to post is NH4, NO2, NO3, pH, Temp, ALK, Ca, Mg, PO4 and Iodine. The LFS will be able to help you out with this.

When you were doing a fish only tank, you only had to mess with the first five. Now you have to worry about the next four. Iodine is just out of curiousity. I DO NOT want you dosing your tank with iodine. It does not need it and, if done wrong, will do permanent damage.

When messing with corals you will need to strive to keep certain elements at their required levels. If you cannot test for it, do not suppliment. That is a steadfast rule.

My Ideal Levels
NH4: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0
pH: 8.2 to 8.4
Temp: 77 to 82
dKH: 10-12
Ca: 460
Mg: 1400
PO4: 0

Phosphate is a by product of waste, and while it's effect on vertibrates is minimal, it's presence will stress corals and inhibit their growth. Ca and Mg are important in coral growth as well. You do not have coraline algae in your tank because your numbers are off.

So suspend any more livestock purchases for now. Get the parameters I asked for put up on the forum (and PM them to me). Then we can get you going on balancing the elements in your aquarium. I also want you to read an article. It may be a bit above your head, but I want you to go through it anyway. Any questions, ask me. I want you to understand the relationship between Ca, Mg, pH and ALK (dKH). It is important in keeping corals healthy and thriving.

A Simplified Guide to the Relationship Between Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Now I also understand why you were hesitant of spending money. I assumed that you were an employed adult. I had no idea you were 14 until I completed your original thread.

So with what money you have, you need to figure out what your priorities are before doing any more stocking. I don't want you buying any more corals and having them die because you should have purchased something else first.

Later kiddo.......John.

 

pharmrjohn. thanks a lot for all your help. please dont ditch this thread and forget it. stick with me please. im going to get a good test kit asap.
water levels:
pH: 8.1-8.4
temp: 77 - 1.021
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 60 (put reccomended chemical in there to bring no2 & no3 to a 0/minimal. product called AmQuel plus)
alk: 260

I will get the rest of the readings asap. is that ok for now?

thanks,
ryan

 

and by the way when you say i dont have coraline, i think i do. i just keep my tank spotless. literally. like every day when i get home there is red stuff all over the glass and on there back there is even MORE you just cant see it in the pics cause i have a black backround on there. is that coraline? or would the growth be uncontrollable? should i not clean this? i clean the inside of my tank daily by the way.

thanks,
ryan

 

tank looks great. my question to you is , did you go through brown algae in the beggining?

 

oh yes i did. its called the cycle. has it been more than a month since you set up the tank?