Beginner

T

ted.vanh

Joined
10 Jan 2008
Posts
124
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Location
Pretoria
Hi guys,

I'm a beginner having bought my tank in August last year. I got the equipment from the local shop in Pretoria North and have tried to get going with a reasonable amount of success, but would like to everything correctly.

My tank is 148 wide by 18 high by 43 wide with 2 powerheads 2 aquah20 600litre external canister filters, a hangon protien skimmer. The lighting is 1 x 1.2m 36 watt diazoblue and 1 x 1.2m wghite light.

I do a 60 litre water change every two weeks and I clean the filter canisters once every 4 weeks.

At present I have about 50kg of live rock and the following:-

1 x Brown Scopus Tang
1 x Yellow Tang
1 x Bicolor Dwarf Angel
1 x Faerie Dwarf Wrasse
1 x Bicolour Chromis
1 x Yellow tail Damsel
1 x Blue Velvet Damsel
1 x Pyjamma Cardinal

6 x Green Mushroom Coral
Sun Coral (has not come out since purchase in early January)
Small amount of Pulsing Xenia (not doing too well)
Star Polyps

I need lots of help in the following areas
Is my equipment adequate - what should I do?
Is there someone in my area, Pretoria North, who is willing to come and see my setup and advise me? I would also like to visit that person to see his setup.Who are the reputable dealers in the Pretoria area from whom I could purchase all the neccessities.

Many thanks,

Ted van Heerden
 
friends of a member

Hi ted
i am in mountain view jus on the other side of the mountain from you. i buy all my stuf from a guy in rietfontein. i will be willing to take you there.
 
wildbunny said:
Hi ted
i am in mountain view jus on the other side of the mountain from you. i buy all my stuf from a guy in rietfontein. i will be willing to take you there.
Click to expand...

Thanks I would apprecaite all the help I can get. Please contact me to arrange where and when to meet. XXXXXXXXXX
 
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Welcome to MASA ted.vanh. Pics are always usefull, over and above the fact that we like them.
 
Welcome to MASA, I hope we can help in all the areas you need, please feel free to post some pictures of your setup as well so we can have a look !

Muz
 
every polyp of sun corals need target feeding, I don't think lighting matters at all.

I could be wrong but 1.2m and 36watt lights sounds like T8 to me. so I dont think there is nearly enough lighting.
 
masahello Ted

Welcome to the Forum.

Have you got a sump?

Canister Filters - Marine Aquariums of South Africa - wiki
Canisters have the problem that they reduce waste as far as Nitrate but no further.

If you have a Sump a Deep Sand Bed Will help you achieve this.

2x powerheads seem too little in that tank, might be why your Xenia is battling. Lighting might also be a problem, 40W 1.2M would be T8. T5 1.2m on the other hand would be 54w, althought T5's are thinner than regular fluorescent tubes but have a much better output.

Some picture would be great for us to help you further

Hope you enjoy your stay:thumbup:

p.s. rather PM your personal details than leave it on the internet, any sort of stalkers and madmen have access to it, or worse telemarketers


The SunCoral will require regular target feeding.
 
Fishy Steve said:
every polyp of sun corals need target feeding, I don't think lighting matters at all.

I could be wrong but 1.2m and 36watt lights sounds like T8 to me. so I dont think there is nearly enough lighting.
Click to expand...

www.asira.org - Sun Coral (azooxanthellate)

Correct the are azooxanthellates which mean they do not grow there own algae for food inside there bodies
 
Thanks Kanga,

Will upgrade my lights. Also some advice please - I switch on the blue light at 05h30 the white light at 06h00 and swith off white at 18h00 and blue at 21h00. Is this right aor how should the lights be switched on?

I feed my Sun with frozen brine shrimp that I thaw in water from the tank every second evening (+/- 17h00)

I don't have a Sump and my sand bed (crushed coral) is about 10cm deep. Please advise.
 
Lighting cycle is a bit long, I switch 4 x Actinic(blue) 11 Am 4 x 10 000K (white) at 12 AM, then white off at 9PM and blue off 10.30PM, gives me more viewing time that way.

Do you Target feed? i.e use a syringe or so to get it to the polyps

I use this for my brain
6547a42f67c2a9e.jpg


How coarse is the "crushed coral"?
 
ted.vanh said:
crushed coral is about 2mm (70%) and very coarse (30%)
Click to expand...

I am not a fan of the coarse stuff its traps uneaten food and detritus which in turn breaks down into ammonia nitrite and the nitrate but no further in you tank.
 
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