questions on a newer tank

M

mellowyellow714

New Member
Couple quick questions:

I have "leaves" growing from my live rock. Are these a problem? They add a-lot of coloration to the tank but I am not completely sure if it is healthy that they are growing in there.

Secondly, I do not plan on adding any more fish but currently i have a baby percula, catalina goby and a pearly jawfish (i already know about the catalina goby so no need to remind me :( ). Will this bio-load be okay in my tank (see below for specs) or am i asking for trouble?

Third, I am currently running the stock sponge in the left compartment, activated carbon and a phosphate trap (brown granules in filter bag) in my second compartment and the stock filter in the third compartment. Is there anything else I can do to increase the efficiency of my filtration?

Thanks in advance.

Mellowyellow

12 gallon nano cube dx
1 false percula
1 catalina goby
1 pearly jawfish
1 peppermint shrimp
1 emerald crab
2 scarlet hermits
6 snails
11.5 pounds live rock
2 inches live sand
1 pulsing xenia
 
I

incysor

New Member
Bioload-wise you should be fine. I'd keep a close eye out for the catalina's corpse so you can pull it out when if/when it dies. I love these fish, but I've only managed to keep them for about 4 months without a chiller, and I was able to keep my tank at 74 degrees. With my upgraded lights keeping the tanks about 75-77, I'm not gonna try them again. At some point down the line if I do a large tank with a chiller that can keep it about 72 or lower I'll give them a try again. Good luck with the goby. I hope yours lasts longer than mine did. Take some pics of the tank :smile:

I think a lot of the folks with the cubes remove the sponge. Lots of people seem to think they become nitrate factories. I think that if you clean it out good every week when you do a water change it shouldn't be a problem.

B
 
I

Iceburg98

New Member
What do the "leaves" look like? I had some large macro algae that looked like green-brown seaweed, and my emerald crab made a nice salad out of that and cleaned almost all of it up.

I agree that you should be ok with the bioloaad - just make sure not to overfeed.

I had a catalina in a nano a few years back that i kept at about 75 degrees. I didn't even know it was a cold-water fish until a lot later on. It actually did really well for me, lasting a few months until i had to give it away due to a massive outbreak of cyano that crashed my tank. That catalina was the only fish that made it out of there alive :shock:
 
I

incysor

New Member
Try looking up "marine macro algae", on google. Find some pages with pis.
It's most likely some form of caulerpa, but there are lots of different types out there. I'd remove it from my tank, but I prefer my macro to be in a fuge. Some folks like the slower growing types in their display, but I'd watch out for the faster growing ones, they can become a pest if you don't have something to keep it under control, and since nano's are too small for tangs....

B
 
Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia

New Member
Sounds like it might be halimeda growing off the rock. It's fine for it to be in there, but there's always the potential for it to go sexual and release spores into the tank. While this really isn't harmful, it is rather nasty looking. I had a small halimeda growing in my 2.5 last year and it did this. I woke to find a tank with water that was the color of pea soup. Water changes and running some carbon and floss took care of it.

Here's a great algae reference site - http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/gues ... aepage.htm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top