MY 12G NANO DX IS DRIVING ME CRAZY ! LOOK AT THIS
- Thread starter EDGRAY
- Start date
Hi
welcome to nano tank I dont think that your tank looks bad as it ages and develops coralline algae , and you add some corals to your tank it will help to soften it , how long has it been up ? You may find that you need to move it around alot to get it to where you like it or it appeals to you , dont give up I had to redo my 2.5 gallon because I was not happy with the way it looked now I am happy with it for the most part ,
maybe remove or break some of the live rock down and put it in a bin with power heads and a filter to keep it and see if you need more?
As for the unknown mushroom it looks like a hairy shroom
welcome to nano tank I dont think that your tank looks bad as it ages and develops coralline algae , and you add some corals to your tank it will help to soften it , how long has it been up ? You may find that you need to move it around alot to get it to where you like it or it appeals to you , dont give up I had to redo my 2.5 gallon because I was not happy with the way it looked now I am happy with it for the most part ,
maybe remove or break some of the live rock down and put it in a bin with power heads and a filter to keep it and see if you need more?
As for the unknown mushroom it looks like a hairy shroom
mikeguerrero
Active Member
Hi Edgray,
One of the problems with some LFS is they don't know how to sell live rock to nanocube owners. Chances are they don't even own a nanocube at home and are too busy just selling massive dry good and corals to even acknowledge that large pieces of live rock are difficult for us.
How do I know this? Well, when I got back into reefing after a layoff of 10 years the first tank I went for was the 12 gallon nanocube.
I visited my LFS and he started selling me all the parts I needed to get started, hydrometer, livesand etc. Then he calls his wife and tells her get Mike 15 lbs of live rock from the back.
She comes back with these big pieces and I think okay they know what they are doing. I get home and my tank looks just like yours; I couldn't get many more things in there.
So what I learned is the 1 pound per gallon rule is not a good bench mark for nano tanks; certain online or lfs will sell small nano size live rock.
They make for a most beautiful mini reef in my opinion, I know because I set up two.
My advise to you is carefully try to break those large pieces with a hammer and chisel; you will get some rubble in the process keep it for filtration in the back of the cube if you like; that way you don't lose any of your live rock :lol:
You are off to a nice start as you do have a lot of live rock to play with.... Can't wait to see your tank in the months to come....
Mike
One of the problems with some LFS is they don't know how to sell live rock to nanocube owners. Chances are they don't even own a nanocube at home and are too busy just selling massive dry good and corals to even acknowledge that large pieces of live rock are difficult for us.
How do I know this? Well, when I got back into reefing after a layoff of 10 years the first tank I went for was the 12 gallon nanocube.
I visited my LFS and he started selling me all the parts I needed to get started, hydrometer, livesand etc. Then he calls his wife and tells her get Mike 15 lbs of live rock from the back.
She comes back with these big pieces and I think okay they know what they are doing. I get home and my tank looks just like yours; I couldn't get many more things in there.
So what I learned is the 1 pound per gallon rule is not a good bench mark for nano tanks; certain online or lfs will sell small nano size live rock.
They make for a most beautiful mini reef in my opinion, I know because I set up two.
My advise to you is carefully try to break those large pieces with a hammer and chisel; you will get some rubble in the process keep it for filtration in the back of the cube if you like; that way you don't lose any of your live rock :lol:
You are off to a nice start as you do have a lot of live rock to play with.... Can't wait to see your tank in the months to come....
Mike
Redecorating/aquascaping is one of the things you will do quite a few times before you are ever happy with it. Whether its because you added a new coral or just decide it could look better you will redo it quite a few times. I still see a piece of LR in a LFS occasionally and I think that would be a perfect nano rock, I have bought them before and had to take other rocks out to make room for the new rock. Think of you tank as a work of art in the making and don't sweat it that it doesn't look quite the way you want it, think of it as a challenge to make it look better. Breaking some of the LR up like Mike mentioned will add alot of options to your design, cherry picking small pieces is another option. Good luck and I look forward to more pics. BTW welcome to nanotank, Skip
BTW, don't worry about your clown going into the flowerpot coral, I noticed your picture title. The only problem I see would be if the clown bothers the coral until it stays closed up all of the time and can't feed. The clown won't be hurt by the coral at all, I have seen clowns host in many different corals without any problems.
I think the 1-3lbs per gallon rule absolutely applies to nanos, however I think it's much easier to aquascape them if you use several small pieces, instead of a few big ones. A hammer will fix this pretty easily.
On my tanks I generally try to give myself room on the edges and the front to run the cleaning magnet on the glass without scraping the rocks/corals. It makes it easier to keep the glass clean that way.
B
On my tanks I generally try to give myself room on the edges and the front to run the cleaning magnet on the glass without scraping the rocks/corals. It makes it easier to keep the glass clean that way.
B
mikeguerrero
Active Member
I stand corrected about the one pound per gallon rule; I meant to say, "DO NOT ALLOW YOUR LFS TO GIVE YOU 15 LBS OF LIVE ROCK THAT ARE COMPOSED OF THREE BIG PIECES".
That is what happened to me; I however ran two cubes one with 15 lbs of live rock and the other one with only 8 lbs of live rock.
Both ran equally well and had equal amount of fish in each cube. Live rock acts as a buffer against the ammonia and nitrite spikes that plague little tanks. So the more live rock you have the better insurance policy against these attacks.
I also as added extra security with 3.5 lbs of live rubble in each cube...
Mike
That is what happened to me; I however ran two cubes one with 15 lbs of live rock and the other one with only 8 lbs of live rock.
Both ran equally well and had equal amount of fish in each cube. Live rock acts as a buffer against the ammonia and nitrite spikes that plague little tanks. So the more live rock you have the better insurance policy against these attacks.
I also as added extra security with 3.5 lbs of live rubble in each cube...
Mike
A
Anonymous
Guest
aquascaping.............what a treat
I have a tank that is going to have its 13th birthday in a couple months and just last weekend I rearanged the rocks for the 112 time.
be patient, and with rock less is more. every coral you buy (most anyway) will come on a piece of rock that needs to be incorporated into the scape. I find that the best way to aquascape is to start with about 1/2 of what you think you want. Choose very wisely, cause with a nano this could be one large beautiful shaped piece (for example my 35 has one very large rock as the mainframe http://www.nanotank.com/forum/download.php?id=168) with lots of holes and crevases or a couple smaller ones built into a bridge or arch (my 20 has 4 rocks with a cave tunnel in the middle http://www.nanotank.com/forum/download.php?id=394). Then as you add corals the scape will fill in and then as those corals grow the tank will fill in. And as others have said, make sure you can get your hand in to scrape the glass you want to keep clean. And as far as the pounds per gallon rule it is as unreliable as the watts per gal one. Tonga branch is far less dense then figi, and caribean rock tends to be very dense - shape is everything!!!
I have a tank that is going to have its 13th birthday in a couple months and just last weekend I rearanged the rocks for the 112 time.
be patient, and with rock less is more. every coral you buy (most anyway) will come on a piece of rock that needs to be incorporated into the scape. I find that the best way to aquascape is to start with about 1/2 of what you think you want. Choose very wisely, cause with a nano this could be one large beautiful shaped piece (for example my 35 has one very large rock as the mainframe http://www.nanotank.com/forum/download.php?id=168) with lots of holes and crevases or a couple smaller ones built into a bridge or arch (my 20 has 4 rocks with a cave tunnel in the middle http://www.nanotank.com/forum/download.php?id=394). Then as you add corals the scape will fill in and then as those corals grow the tank will fill in. And as others have said, make sure you can get your hand in to scrape the glass you want to keep clean. And as far as the pounds per gallon rule it is as unreliable as the watts per gal one. Tonga branch is far less dense then figi, and caribean rock tends to be very dense - shape is everything!!!
EDGRAY
New Member
HI.
THX TO ALL FOR THE REPLY’S :maitre AND WELL I DID WHAT YOU TOLD ME I GOT A HAMMER AND A CHISEL AND I STARTED MY WORK AND I KEPT BRAKE THEM APART UNTIL DONE… LIKE EVERY ONE SAYS IS EASIER TO WORK WITH SMALL PIECES THAN THE HALL JUNK OF BIG PIECES BUT ANYWAYS LIKE YOU SAY SOM LFS SELL THE THINGS JUST LIKE THAT BUT I GOT A GOOD HELPER AND THEY TOLD ME THE 1 POUND RULE AND I GOT 10LB BUT AFTER THAT I GOT MORE SO WAS MY FOLT BUT WHY I DID THAT CAUSE I WANTED A LOT OF LIVE ROCK FOR MY SPOTTED MANDARIN CAUSE I KNEW THAT THEY NEEDED A LOT OFF IT TO FEED BUT SHE IS DOING FINE EATS BRINE SHRIMP AND ONES IN A WHILE SOME MISSYS BUT ANYWAYS THX FOR THE INFO. ABOUT MY PLAYFULL CLOWNS SKIPM CAUSE I LIKE WHEN MY CLOWNS PLAY WITH MY FLOWER POT AND IN THE BEGINNING THE POT WAS SCARED BUT NOW IS GETTING USED TO IT AND IS NOT SHINKING TO MUCH ONLY AND SLEEPY TIME LOL BUT IS GOOD TO KNOW THAT THEY ARE NOT HARMING IT. AND I KNOW WHAT IS TO MOVE THE ROCKS LIKE 112 TIMES LIKE JOHNANDWAN SAID CAUSE I ALMOST DID ALL DOES TIMES … OHHH I FORGOT HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR TANK JOHNANDWAN AND ALSO I FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF MIKE AND SADIELYNN BY PUTTING SOME OF THE LIVE ROCK IN THE SPACE OF THE BIO BALL AND SOME ON THE SIDE OF THE POWER HEAR OR PUMP. I ALSO WANTED TO ASK WHAT IS THE LIVE RUBBLE…… AND WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD I PUT A EXTRA WATER PUMP FOR THE CIRCULATION OR JUST ANOTHER KIND OF NUZZLE AND I GOT SOME LIQUIDS FOR MY CORAL BUT WICH ONE IS THE BEST FOR ALL MY CORAL SO THEY CAN STAY HEALTHY……AND DO YOU THINK MY MIX CORAL IS OK THERE OR I SHOULD PUT IT A LITTLE BIT DOWN AND TOO CLOSE TO LIGHT IS BAD FOR THEM?????
OK NOW SOME NEW PICS OF MY TANK I JUST DID IT YESTERDAY THE ONLY THING I DIDN’T LEFT THAT MUCH SPACE TO CLEAN MY GLASS WITH THE MAGNET LIKE INCYSOR SAID I FORGOT ABOUT THAT BUT ILL TRY TO FIX IT OR CLEAN IT WITH A SMALL SPONGE…
UUU I FORGOT WHAT DO YOU THINK OF PUTTING A CLAM ON MY TANK OR THEY NEED BETTER LIGHTNING THAN THE ONE THAT DX PROVIDES….AND ALSO DO YOU THINK I CAN PUT MORE FISHIES LOL…
SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS ….. BUT IM NEW IN THIS ….om
THX TO ALL FOR THE REPLY’S :maitre AND WELL I DID WHAT YOU TOLD ME I GOT A HAMMER AND A CHISEL AND I STARTED MY WORK AND I KEPT BRAKE THEM APART UNTIL DONE… LIKE EVERY ONE SAYS IS EASIER TO WORK WITH SMALL PIECES THAN THE HALL JUNK OF BIG PIECES BUT ANYWAYS LIKE YOU SAY SOM LFS SELL THE THINGS JUST LIKE THAT BUT I GOT A GOOD HELPER AND THEY TOLD ME THE 1 POUND RULE AND I GOT 10LB BUT AFTER THAT I GOT MORE SO WAS MY FOLT BUT WHY I DID THAT CAUSE I WANTED A LOT OF LIVE ROCK FOR MY SPOTTED MANDARIN CAUSE I KNEW THAT THEY NEEDED A LOT OFF IT TO FEED BUT SHE IS DOING FINE EATS BRINE SHRIMP AND ONES IN A WHILE SOME MISSYS BUT ANYWAYS THX FOR THE INFO. ABOUT MY PLAYFULL CLOWNS SKIPM CAUSE I LIKE WHEN MY CLOWNS PLAY WITH MY FLOWER POT AND IN THE BEGINNING THE POT WAS SCARED BUT NOW IS GETTING USED TO IT AND IS NOT SHINKING TO MUCH ONLY AND SLEEPY TIME LOL BUT IS GOOD TO KNOW THAT THEY ARE NOT HARMING IT. AND I KNOW WHAT IS TO MOVE THE ROCKS LIKE 112 TIMES LIKE JOHNANDWAN SAID CAUSE I ALMOST DID ALL DOES TIMES … OHHH I FORGOT HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUR TANK JOHNANDWAN AND ALSO I FOLLOW THE ADVICE OF MIKE AND SADIELYNN BY PUTTING SOME OF THE LIVE ROCK IN THE SPACE OF THE BIO BALL AND SOME ON THE SIDE OF THE POWER HEAR OR PUMP. I ALSO WANTED TO ASK WHAT IS THE LIVE RUBBLE…… AND WHAT DO YOU THINK SHOULD I PUT A EXTRA WATER PUMP FOR THE CIRCULATION OR JUST ANOTHER KIND OF NUZZLE AND I GOT SOME LIQUIDS FOR MY CORAL BUT WICH ONE IS THE BEST FOR ALL MY CORAL SO THEY CAN STAY HEALTHY……AND DO YOU THINK MY MIX CORAL IS OK THERE OR I SHOULD PUT IT A LITTLE BIT DOWN AND TOO CLOSE TO LIGHT IS BAD FOR THEM?????
OK NOW SOME NEW PICS OF MY TANK I JUST DID IT YESTERDAY THE ONLY THING I DIDN’T LEFT THAT MUCH SPACE TO CLEAN MY GLASS WITH THE MAGNET LIKE INCYSOR SAID I FORGOT ABOUT THAT BUT ILL TRY TO FIX IT OR CLEAN IT WITH A SMALL SPONGE…
UUU I FORGOT WHAT DO YOU THINK OF PUTTING A CLAM ON MY TANK OR THEY NEED BETTER LIGHTNING THAN THE ONE THAT DX PROVIDES….AND ALSO DO YOU THINK I CAN PUT MORE FISHIES LOL…
SORRY FOR ALL THE QUESTIONS ….. BUT IM NEW IN THIS ….
omAttachments
First off take the caps lock off it looks like you are screaming and it makes it harder to read . I would try to break down the rock a little more in size but you are well on your way . The large top rock seems out of balance in my eye but that is my opinion if you like it keep it . By breaking it down and keeping some in a tupperware bin for awhile will allow you to see if you need more or not ...and if you have frags to attach to liverock then you have some extra .Live rubble is just some small pieces of live rock that will do very little for the rock structure and is used more for frag attachments and for a sump or a fuge or even as a compliment to the filter (placed in the filter). As for the power head if you think that you need more flow see about adding an addtional power head to the opisite side at a diffrent level . How long has your tank been up and running ? I would not add anything else for the time being to give the biological bacteria time to adjust to your new corals ... As for the fish my opinion is that you are maxed out for fish , this is my opinion and others may not agree with it . As for foods zooplancton , cyclop -eeze , are the 2 that I can think of . Hope this helps
. I would try to break down the rock a little more in size but you are well on your way . The large top rock seems out of balance in my eye but that is my opinion if you like it keep it . By breaking it down and keeping some in a tupperware bin for awhile will allow you to see if you need more or not ...and if you have frags to attach to liverock then you have some extra .Live rubble is just some small pieces of live rock that will do very little for the rock structure and is used more for frag attachments and for a sump or a fuge or even as a compliment to the filter (placed in the filter). As for the power head if you think that you need more flow see about adding an addtional power head to the opisite side at a diffrent level . How long has your tank been up and running ? I would not add anything else for the time being to give the biological bacteria time to adjust to your new corals ... As for the fish my opinion is that you are maxed out for fish , this is my opinion and others may not agree with it . As for foods zooplancton , cyclop -eeze , are the 2 that I can think of . Hope this helps Well nobody has said anything about two of your purchases, so I'll have to be the one to say it unfortunately.
Your "Froggy" mandarin you have there....it will die ultimately of starvation. It requires a tank of about 75 gallons. They feed only on copepods, and that is something he'll eat up in your tank and then it'll run dry, and basically starvation happens.
I also do know this because of the fact, my girlfriend bought one for her 12 gallon jbj, and I worked my ass off to get it to eat prepared food. I was successful in it, but I couldn't win. I couldn't keep up with it's constant necessity for food, and with their primary food source, gone, it's belly sunk in, and then it began twitching...then died and became snail and crab food.
Lastly, that flowerpot, it dies too. It's just one of those type of corals that dont live long. For kicks, my girlfriend bought one for her tank. (it was a yellow one) and it died within a month. The green species you have, perhaps may live like 6 months, or so, depending on age.
So I know this from experience and sharing it to you. Also Incysor and Johnanddawn have mentioned lots of information on the mandarin and on flowerpots.
As far as everything else, all else looks fine and your tank is taking great shape. Best of luck and welcome aboard.
Your "Froggy" mandarin you have there....it will die ultimately of starvation. It requires a tank of about 75 gallons. They feed only on copepods, and that is something he'll eat up in your tank and then it'll run dry, and basically starvation happens.
I also do know this because of the fact, my girlfriend bought one for her 12 gallon jbj, and I worked my ass off to get it to eat prepared food. I was successful in it, but I couldn't win. I couldn't keep up with it's constant necessity for food, and with their primary food source, gone, it's belly sunk in, and then it began twitching...then died and became snail and crab food.
Lastly, that flowerpot, it dies too. It's just one of those type of corals that dont live long. For kicks, my girlfriend bought one for her tank. (it was a yellow one) and it died within a month. The green species you have, perhaps may live like 6 months, or so, depending on age.
So I know this from experience and sharing it to you. Also Incysor and Johnanddawn have mentioned lots of information on the mandarin and on flowerpots.
As far as everything else, all else looks fine and your tank is taking great shape. Best of luck and welcome aboard.
EDGRAY
New Member
thx for sharing that info i know is :cry: but im a brat and i wanted to try one mandarine cause they r so lovely and i knew that they will starve to death cause of not enough copepods but i needed one to satified my need but like you im gonna try everything im even gonna get some ocean pods i think they are $100 for 4 or 5 bottles of copepods so im gonna try to reproduce them to keep him alive or im gonna get the $100 4 or 5 bottles of copepods every month or so ..... and about the flower pot i didnt know that they die really fast so is good to know so i dont worry in a future and will not get it again thx for all the info..... thx for sharing advice and experience from ..... i really appreciate that..... ;-) :mrgreen:
no problem, just trying to help. I was able to keep the mandy alive for 6 months, before it died. (as it ate prepared foods, mysis, cyclopeeze,) Good luck with your method, it's hard to say what will happen.
As for the flower pot, it's a shame, as I see clowns easily adapt into them. if you dedicate enough space, you can put a long tentacle plate coral. (allow big space for them, as they expand and can easily sting other corals and kill it.) It would most likely host that.
As for the flower pot, it's a shame, as I see clowns easily adapt into them. if you dedicate enough space, you can put a long tentacle plate coral. (allow big space for them, as they expand and can easily sting other corals and kill it.) It would most likely host that.
hooterhead
New Member
i think the flowerpot might be a hit and miss kinda thing. my LFS has kept 2 alive in 2 of it's show tanks for well over a year and both are still going strong (knock on wood). could be that they are under MH's in a 110 gal system. beats me.
Phischy
New Member
I've got a flowerpot. It came out of a friends tank who had it setup for a year and it's been in my tank now for 10 months, no problems. In fact, it continues to grow and is only under 220w PC lights. I also have a clown that is hosting in it. I know they are a 'forbidden' coral but mine is doing just peachy. Of course I won't buy one again, but this one just came to me. It even survived a hyper salinity situation for probably the last 6 months, my old meter was in accurate and I only discovered this after I lost it and had to buy a new one.
Go figure.
Go figure.
All I ment was that the top rock in my opinion is too big but that is my opinion ,if you could chip away some of the bulk to size it down some but that is my view Please dont read this as saying your tank is bad , infact it doesnt look bad at all . it just will get better with time
EDGRAY
New Member
NO problem sadielynn i know that i a really big chunk of rock but i love it cause has alot of coral but yeah im trying to do my best on lowering that bulk but any ways can some one give me info about Nano reef part A and B i just want to know if that works for the coral and how frequently should i put it on or should i get something else... well i hope i get better on placing right the rocks... i forgot i have to put some pictures of my clowns now they have their own room .... one is hosting my flower pot and the other one my lavander hairy mushroom.....
LATER TODAY IM GONNA TEST MY WATER AND IM GONNA GIVE MY PARAMETERS LATER OK....
eddy
LATER TODAY IM GONNA TEST MY WATER AND IM GONNA GIVE MY PARAMETERS LATER OK....
eddy
EDGRAY
New Member
and also i was gonna say the i hope im get lucky just like PHICHY AND REEFMAN23 with my flower pot and so far so good i even put it when i was having some problems and survived with some amonia attack and with high salinity cause my hydrometer doesnt work fine tells me that my sality is ok and when i take my water on saturdays to my lfs they tell me that is at 1.025 when my coraline deep six tells me that im at 1.020 so thats akward and i do wash my hydro with fresh water after i use it but the good thing is that every sunday i take my water to test in everything including gravity..... anyways this sounds like phichy problem lol... :mrgreen: