# venture into the darkside



## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

or brightside.....darkside sounds cooler coming over from fresh

some may have seen my post re moving an established SW tank. time to start it a journal to keep my progress.

EQUIP:

-20-30gal short need to measure and ill update
-one small aqualclear hob
-one small powerhead (need more flow)
-small heater
-30ish lbs LR
-rougly 2 in of sand/aragonite
-dual 24 t5ho glo light , need to verify bulbs

LIVESTOCK/CORAL:

-1 clownfish
-1 small tang
-1 cleaner shrimp (peppermint?)
-several corals, working on id's

Got it from a friends parents who were moving, possibly the best score ever, big thanks to them! Although the move didnt go overly well, it was done quite quickly and rather smoothly. Currently only have a photo from last night about 5 hours after the move and setup, still a bit cludly, lots of algae kicked up here and there. Came home just now to see the corals just thriving, some of the mushrooms (?) have doubled or tripled in size, guess they just kind of opened up? Water is clear and the fish look happy, swimming out and about now. I semi rescaped some of the LR, made a small bridge/tunnel in the center, the tang seems to enjoy swimming through it. Found two other corals today as well i had no idea were in there. Presuming that since they have bounced right back, things are on the right track. Going to top off a bit and check my salinity and pH this evening. also need to id what i think may be unwanted LR hitchhikers. pics to come. So excited to be into the SW world, sorry wallet.

crummy pic from last night










what do you all think? yes its does need some work, but its kinda nice to take on an established tank and not have to wait to get it to the point it is. lots of coraline on the LR


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## Durogity (Jun 10, 2013)

Even though it sounds like the move was difficult, and this was more involved than most freshwater people would like to undertake as their first move into salt, it is a smoking deal, that tanks gonna look pretty good once it all settles. Nice work.


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Welcome to the Club! Now there's no turning back! Lol

What kind of Tang is it BTW? And where about are you? If you live close to my place, swing by for a frag of leather coral.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

no sump no scimer no auto dosers no auto top off ? yea ! thats the way to go !!!!!! btw if your close to bby and have some mush rooms i dont have il trade gladly trade you some zoas or some thing if ya want 


j tang it looks like a scopas tang on the right side of the tank


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

scott tang said:


> no sump no scimer no auto dosers no auto top off ? yea ! thats the way to go !!!!!! btw if your close to bby and have some mush rooms i dont have il trade gladly trade you some zoas or some thing if ya want
> 
> j tang it looks like a scopas tang on the right side of the tank


Hey good eye. I totally missed it cos I didn't scroll to the very right side. Lol


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Welcome to the "Dark Side" trout!

Now another planted tank guy has been converted. There's lots of cookies reserved for yah!


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

Durogity said:


> Even though it sounds like the move was difficult, and this was more involved than most freshwater people would like to undertake as their first move into salt, it is a smoking deal, that tanks gonna look pretty good once it all settles. Nice work.


Many thanks!



JTang said:


> Welcome to the Club! Now there's no turning back! Lol
> 
> What kind of Tang is it BTW? And where about are you? If you live close to my place, swing by for a frag of leather coral.


i believe scott tang nailed the id. im on saltspring so unfortunately my frag swapping will be greatly hindered 



scott tang said:


> no sump no scimer no auto dosers no auto top off ? yea ! thats the way to go !!!!!! btw if your close to bby and have some mush rooms i dont have il trade gladly trade you some zoas or some thing if ya want
> 
> j tang it looks like a scopas tang on the right side of the tank


thanks! very simple setup. mostly LR keeping it going.....and i dig that. wish i was close, being near many people in this hobby to swap/trade things is something i really miss out on.

thanks for the id btw! i had no clue



crimper said:


> Welcome to the "Dark Side" trout!
> 
> Now another planted tank guy has been converted. There's lots of cookies reserved for yah!


Haha thanks! Still running a planted setup or two, but converted to SW is for sure spot on 

what is all this talk about cookies i keep reading about?


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

anyone have any tips on taking quality pics with a reef? cant seem mto catch the colors......too much blue

pics to come tonight once i can figure out a shot worth posting


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

If you have SLR, adjust the White Balance settings otherwise edit the pic on photoshop.


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

a few ok pics. think this may have come with a catch....correct me if im wrong but is this aiptasia visible in a few pics?



















this one seems to usualy be green but kind of glows a redish color late in the light cycle when it fully opens up? top one i think got damaged during the move




























after further reasearch on the scopas tang.....this tank may be a tad small :lol:


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## mcc21 (Oct 24, 2011)

trout said:


> after further reasearch on the scopas tang.....this tank may be a tad small :lol:


looking good so far! I skipped freshwater plant..and went straight to saltwater lol

Yes the tang is a tad bit too squished in that tank. Trade it back and switch it out for a nice fire goby or royal gamma or another clown fish =)


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

so what bulbs do you have ruing ?are they boath blue ?


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

Yes, unfortunately those seem to be aiptasias (pic 2).... n tons of them! It's pretty tough to raid them at this stage. It's probably easier to swap out your live rock with some aiptasia free ones. If you don't mind just leave them in there but they will quickly take over your tank. They will sting your corals n smaller fish.


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

mcc21 said:


> looking good so far! I skipped freshwater plant..and went straight to saltwater lol
> 
> Yes the tang is a tad bit too squished in that tank. Trade it back and switch it out for a nice fire goby or royal gamma or another clown fish =)


ya it cam with the tank, so not my doing. he looks content right now, but down the road will need to either go back to LFS or into a bigger tank.....i prefer option two 



scott tang said:


> so what bulbs do you have ruing ?are they boath blue ?


still haven't looked, but they both appear very blue, thinking one is actinic, i have another bulb that isnt actinic on hand, and a 6700k or two too bad they're no good 



JTang said:


> Yes, unfortunately those seem to be aiptasias (pic 2).... n tons of them! It's pretty tough to raid them at this stage. It's probably easier to swap out your live rock with some aiptasia free ones. If you don't mind just leave them in there but they will quickly take over your tank. They will sting your corals n smaller fish.


awwww crud...thought so. yes they're everywhere, only two nice chunks of LR without them. pretty tricky to just swap all the LR, unless i get some real good stuff.....as its whats running the tank

what a bummer, will they eventually kill the corals? will they sting me?!? lol. it would take days with a syringe and h2o2 to even dent the ugly goons


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## spit.fire (Jan 3, 2011)

trout said:


> a few ok pics. think this may have come with a catch....correct me if im wrong but is this aiptasia visible in a few pics?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


yes and yes


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

any thoughts on using a nudibranch to eliminate or control the aipstasia? any downsides to using one other than likely having to find it a home if it does its job?

also, any thoughts on ditching the HOB (or removing media) and adding another powerhead or two? i have two smaller powerheads, but they do say not for SW in the directions.....might not be worth doing i guess....

edit: or peppermint shrimp?


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

the aptisa eating slugs/nutibranches will do the job but when they run out of food and you dont find them they die and nuke the tank with all the toxins inside them peppermint shrimp are 50 50 as far as eating the aptisa goes

the trick is little sand bed and circulation around the rocks so the debree and fish poo doesnt pile up in the corner i would think you can use the power heads you have only fear would be rust so chech the propeller after a day or two after you put the power heads in 

im sory for my ignorance but where is Ganges ??? is it the Ganges river in india ?


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

scott tang said:


> the aptisa eating slugs/nutibranches will do the job but when they run out of food and you dont find them they die and nuke the tank with all the toxins inside them peppermint shrimp are 50 50 as far as eating the aptisa goes
> 
> the trick is little sand bed and circulation around the rocks so the debree and fish poo doesnt pile up in the corner i would think you can use the power heads you have only fear would be rust so chech the propeller after a day or two after you put the power heads in
> 
> im sory for my ignorance but where is Ganges ??? is it the Ganges river in india ?


no not quite that far  ganges is the main/only little "town" on Saltspring island. ive heard they might be a few reefers over here after all

there are so many aipstasia i would almost wonder if there would be enough to sustain a nudibranch, although a couple peppermint shrimp would be easier. i would think if they werent overfed they would be semi forced to eat it...

gonna do my first WC today. any recommendations on switching over to "reef crystals" salt or should i stick with the instant ocean that was being used by previous owner? bah so many questions!!!


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

no the aptisa wont be ablel to sustain it forever it will run out of them they dont grow fast enuf 

every one has there salt they use


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

going to invest in a grounding probe, just got a little zap on the back of my hand, think it was from the light bracket.....of course i was bare foot on tile floor. dont need that third cup of coffee now :lol:


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## JTang (Apr 21, 2010)

trout said:


> no not quite that far  ganges is the main/only little "town" on Saltspring island. ive heard they might be a few reefers over here after all
> 
> there are so many aipstasia i would almost womnder if there would be enough to sustain a nudibranch, although a couple peppermint shrimp would be easier. i would think if they werent overfed they would be semi forced to eat it...
> 
> gonna do my first WC today. any recommendations on switching over to "reef crystals" salt or should i stick with the instant ocean that was being used by previous owner? bah so many questions!!!


The 5 peppermints that I'd introduced raided the aips within a week. But there were less than 10 of them in my tank. Never tried nudibranch so I can't comment on that. I have been using IO since Day 1. I also heard that Reef Crystal has higher calcium content which is more suitable for reef. Due to higher cost I still haven't tried it yet. Changing over to different salt mix can be risky for a fully stocked tank like mine so I left it as is. For a smaller tank like yours is way more affordable. Go ahead n give it a shot if you wish. It's all personal preference after all.


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

JTang said:


> The 5 peppermints that I'd introduced raided the aips within a week. But there were less than 10 of them in my tank. Never tried nudibranch so I can't comment on that. I have been using IO since Day 1. I also heard that Reef Crystal has higher calcium content which is more suitable for reef. Due to higher cost I still haven't tried it yet. Changing over to different salt mix can be risky for a fully stocked tank like mine so I left it as is. For a smaller tank like yours is way more affordable. Go ahead n give it a shot if you wish. It's all personal preference after all.


thanks for the great feedback! might try the new salt but am also thinking it may be best to keep it as similar as possible for a bit until things stabilize....very green to all this still 

any input on using NSW? I posted a question on source water in the marine section and am curious on some veteran input 

also gonna look into getting a peppermint or three, appreciate the info on that

and thanks to everyones elses help so far!


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

any suggestions on any upgrades I could make to this tank? ideally id go a bit larger tank and build it from there, but am looking to get all the basics down with this first tank. right now wanting to ditch the hob, its useless other than a bit of carbon. maybe only good after a WC or moving stuff around.

currently browsing the tunze nano skimmer, and came across the tunze reefpack that incorporates the same skimmer. worth the money for a simple tank like this? had almost purchased the nano skimmer awhile back for a different build that has halted. or as mentioned should there be something else i could be looking at? oh and i should mention i have enough space in the back for either. also need to invest in some better testing equipment as well. 

or maybe just get a better powerhead and keep it real simple. need to order a new heater too, like the fluval m i use in the FW's....but is there a better option for SW? oh and i should mention i have enough space in the back for either

some update pics to follow.....


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## trout (Mar 21, 2012)

current state. aiptasia is getting out of hand.


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