Gabby's 30 Gallon Reef

Hi Everyone!

Just thought I should sum up the build and progression of my tank in one thread.

I have been doing freshwater tanks for over ten years now, and was just waiting for the right timing to get into saltwater. In early September, my boyfriend bought me a 29 gallon tank, which I am now setting up as my first reef tank!

Tank has been cycling for about 3 weeks now, and it's really starting to purple up!

Heres the equipment so far:
29 gallon glass tank
AquaticLife 4x t5 lighting
AquaticLife mini skimmer
Maxi jet 400 w/ rotating wavemaker attachment
Tunze 6015 Nano Stream
Theo 100W heater


And the good stuff:
27 lbs Live rock
10 lbs base rock
45 lbs live sand
Hitchhiker mini featherdusters
http://www.3reef.com/forums/id/spiney-clear-thing-tentacles-96883.html
Reef Cleaners CUC
1 blue leg hermit
tons of snails
Also, some unwanted critters (zoa eating nudi, and a couple bristle worms, which I think I eliminated)

I had a huge diatom bloom, which has now mostly gone away, only to reveal that I have Bryopsis So, I will be doing mag treatment this week... I was planning on getting my first fish this week, but I figure I might as well do the treatment with an empty tank just to be safe.

Anyways, here is a list of fish that I would like to have - I have no idea of corals yet other than a pulsing xenia I like softies and leathers

Note: I do not plan to put all these fish in my tank, they are simply the ones I am trying to choose from. Any advice about these fish would be very much appreciated!! Especially the Red Stripe Angel - I really LOVE this fish, but can't find anything specifically about the red stripe.

Ocellaris orange or black pair
Red Striped Angelfish
Longnose Hawkfish -jumps?
Royal Gramma Basslet
Orchid dottyback
Zebra Barred Dartfish?
Orange Stripe Prawn Goby
Pistol Shrimp
Cleaner Shrimp
Coral Banded Shrimp
Peppermint shrimp
Starfish?

Here are some pics of my tank so far - Let me know what you think!
Thanks, and happy reefing
Gabby

 

Shark ? where did that image come from, very good

nice aquascaping work
are you sure its bryopsis? how irritating for you if that the case
good idea to deal with it before getting live stock

are you running your lights? if there is no livestock, you could consider leaving the tank in the dark for a few weeks whilst dealing with the issue, as that way there is no light to encourage further the algae your trying to elliminate

Steve

 

Like my shark??

sorry for the extra long post up there ^
Here are pics from today- sorry about the sideways ones.

Enjoy

 

I recently visited the Georiga Aquarium So that's where the shark came from haha!

And yeah, I'm pretty sure It's bryopsis, there is a thread about it here if you want to double check for me -> http://www.3reef.com/forums/algae/bryopsis-97134.html

And I have had the lights off for a couple days now to discourage growth, but its spreading really fast, so tomorrow I will be proceeding with the mag treatment :-/

Thanks!

 

looking good so far.. Keep it up

 

Thank you!

 

bump.
I'm really looking for some advice about stocking - particularly the red striped angel. Live aquaria says they may nip at sessile inverts and clams, but not corals?? Anyone have experience with them??
Thanks!

 

Hi Gabby

do you mean Eiblis angel fish?

if so they like most of the other dwarf angels are reef safe with caution
many wont bother corals, but some will peck , and in some cases they may be selective with what they peck at ( some may focus on Zoanthids, others may peck at SPS polyps - its always a slight gamble with dwarf angelfish)

Steve

 

looking good i love your aquascape

 

Thanks for the kind words everyone! And yes, I am talking about the eible angel here -> Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Red Stripe Angelfish When reading the description for it, he seems to be more reef safe than other dwarf angels, yet I don't see anyone mention it in threads about 'reef safe' angels. Just wondering if there is a particular reason why this isn't a popular choice. Usually people recommend coral beauty or flame angels.