Nano reef 16

[charlieoneseven]

I bought an Innovative 16 gallon Marine tank and set it up on Jan 15 2012. It has 15 lbs of live rock, one bag of live sand and needed 10 gallons of instant ocean to fill it.
The heater was turned up the first day to 79 and turned down a few days and stable after that to 77.4. It has a coral bandit shrimp that has molted once, a small sailfin tang that is very happy. one rock came with a blue spotted mushroom and another was added with lavender coral with green grassy polps and brown polps in the mix. hundreds of feather duster worms on the upper rocks and a couple of waving hand corals and a few mushrooms and sponges and a candy cane coral so far.

 

[marcah]

you really need to get the sailfin out of that tank.. Even though it is small it will still be stressed in a tank that small.. the last pic has an asterina star in it, I would look to get him out also. The feather dusters you are talking about will come and go as the nutrient load in the tank increases and decreases...

 

[charlieoneseven]

A couple more pictures.

First day after the silt settled.

 

[Smitty]

+1 Marcah...

 

[AmberSunrise]

Well I see a few issues here. One is that you didnt give the tank time to cycle before adding shrimp and fish.

I would also say that tang needs a very large tank even if it is small now. I know you said it is "very happy" but I dont think it will be for long they get very big and need a lot of room for swimming.

The rock work looks good but I think you should do the responsible thing and take that poor fish back to the store.

 

[charlieoneseven]

Thanks everyone for the advice, A larger tank 100+ is in my future the tang can be the first to go in it after it cycles too. He is on algae control for now.
This tank cycled in 10 days that's when I added the shrimp and fish.

 

[ErinCahir]

How soon is the future? Unless we are talking weeks and not months your fish should be rehomed.

Welcome to the site.

 

[little_fish]

+1 Everyone

Also having a fish in there to eat the algae is a very poor solution to the algae issue. They will only make the algae issue worse because the waste they produce goes right back into fueling algae growth. You should get a proper CUC that consist of snails to eat the algae. You should also be addressing why you are getting algae growth in the first place. Are you using tap water? How much are you feeding? How old are your light bulbs? How often are you doing water changes?

 

[kbuser92]

Great looking tankand the star polyps are beautiful, but +1 about the tang. It needs out very soon.

 

[charlieoneseven]

The tang is a juvenile just over an inch long and the only fish. Was everyone thinking it was an adult? I should've posted a pic first.

The algae is not out of control but the lights have been running 10 hours. Since its a new.tank and I'm new to using LED's its going to take some adjustment on the timers.

 

[little_fish]

A juvie would be ok in a 90 gal, not a 16 gal. An adult wouldnt even be able to turn around in that size tank. Please, please, please find that fish a new home before he dies in there.

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Sailfin Tang

 

[Bifferwine]

I agree with everyone else... I wouldn't even think of putting a juvenile sailfin in a tank that small. It will stress very easily and get sick.

 

[charlieoneseven]

Added an arrow crab today the guy says they eat flat and bristle worms.
What does CUC stand for?

 

[little_fish]

clean up crew

 

[charlieoneseven]

+1 Everyone

Also having a fish in there to eat the algae is a very poor solution to the algae issue. They will only make the algae issue worse because the waste they produce goes right back into fueling algae growth. You should get a proper CUC that consist of snails to eat the algae. You should also be addressing why you are getting algae growth in the first place. Are you using tap water? How much are you feeding? How old are your light bulbs? How often are you doing water changes?

+1 everyone the tank is really perking up and I keep the glass clean on 3 sides with the smallest magnet cleaner. Also got a 3w UV unit for the tank just need some elbows to make it fit without kinking the hose.
Since the tank is new so are the lights and that should answer your next question on how often do I water change,after the first 3 weeks not yet my nitrate is still zero but I have 5 gallons standing by for that. The store brews the water I imagine it is from the tap since collected from the ocean is no longer available.
I bought a conch snail to eat algae also it is leaving pellet size waist bigger than a fish so I'm not sure if that is more or less waist than a fish and there are a few more snails that were on the rocks and the stars. Feeding I got some liquid food (Phyto and Oyster feast) for the corals and frozen mysis shrimp for the rest but I can't tell on the liquid so its just a few drops once a day.

Finding a lot of deals on tanks on craigs list and I have a space cleaned out big enough for 100 gallons.

 

[little_fish]

Your nitrates are zero because the algae is using it up before the test can read the true level. I would also stop using the phyto and oyster feast until you stop having algae issues. Most of that isnt eaten by the corals and just goes to rot in the tank. I would start doing weekly water changes of 2 or 3 gallons.

 

[charlieoneseven]

Does it look like I have algae issues?

 

[little_fish]

Sounds like it considering you decided to put a tang for the purpose of eating algae is your tank

 

[charlieoneseven]

The CUC seems to be getting along well, now to get the timers at the right amount of hours. It is hard to find the best for the algae based coral without causing a bloom everywhere else.
:bowdown: