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I've got a Nano 28g. Been running about 1 1/2 months now. Bought some live rocks (have it in there for about 2 wks now) from someone which already had some mushrooms and feather like things on rocks. I bought some damsels, snails, and hermit crab last week. Changed out portion of water few days ago. I just bought some zoa frags yesterday. My question is: Is it too soon to put in cheap corals? I just want some colorful corals in tank. This will primarily be a fish aquarium. Plan on putting some yellow tangs in months from now. Do I need a skimmer? The water I am using is bought at City Pets. Can I put some more corals in this weekend? Can I buy some Peppermint shrimp to put in as well?
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I'm no expert at SW tanks, but I'm pretty sure a 28g is too small for one yellow tang, let alone more than one.Originally posted by dthang8 View Post"Millennium hand and shrimp!" -
Well like I said, I gotta start small first and plan on getting a bigger tank later on. City Pets got the same tank with rocks and corals with 2 small tangs. Thats really all I want in there.Comment
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Personally i would use a skimmer.
IMHO, I also think that the tank is too small for two tangs.
You might be planning to get a larger tank soon, but be advised that it is going to be QUITE soon as the tangs grow moderately fast. Why not start with a larger tank now that fits your tangs or go with fish that are more suitable for your tank size.
Also IMHO, i don't agree with all of the practices of certain LFSs. If they house two tangs in a 28 gal, i certainly don't agree with that. On the flip side, in my experience, fish don't stay in tanks like that for very long at LFSs. "display" tanks at LFSs usually get done & redone several times within a couple of months, fish are rotated out or sold. Chances are they are going to get moved or sold before they get full sized so it really doesn't matter that they are currently housed in a small tank. You however are going to have to live with the tangs until they die. That's my 2 cents.... doesn't have to matter.
I do suggest, especially since you are new to th SW, to read up a lot on the type of coral & fish that you intend to get. It helped me a lot to decide what kind of system i want when i first started out.Comment
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If you do frequent WC then IMO you dont need a skimmer. I do not use one on my 28G nano but I do 20% WC every week.Comment
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One other thing go slow on adding corals and things. Always better to make sure they can handle the new environment and wont cause spikes in the water conditions that will lead to deaths.Comment
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Also, IMO the larger the tank, the easier it is to keep water chemistry in balance. I agree with nacra, the tangs might be fine for a little while, but tangs do get fairly large especially for a 28 gallon. The tangs are also more susceptible to ich, which can be a pain to treat. I would definitely put the tang in the quarantine tank first before adding it to a tank with other fish, corals, and inverts.
As for most damsels, IMO I would not put other fish in with them. They are little devils and like to pick on other fish. I have a blue devil damsel and he is currently in our quarantine tank because of that reason.
I would definitely get a skimmer, it helps quite a bit in my opinion.
Some macroalgae also helps to maintain good water quality.
A saltwater test kit is also needed if you do not already have one.
As for corals, read up on the different kinds and find out what they need. ie: lighting, etc.
Again, like nacra said, reading up on everything and searching forums also helped me quite a bit.Comment
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I would test the water first to make sure that the tank is fully cycled. Make sure that there is zero ammonia & nitrItes with low levels of nitrAtes.Originally posted by dthang8 View Post
With a tank that small without a skimmer or macroalgae refugium, things build up pretty fast especially nitrAtes & phosphates. (which goes with DustinB's comment about larger volume of water being more chemically stable).
If you have no ammonia & nitrItes, with low nitrAtes, then i'd say go ahead and get some suitable coral for your setup. But go slow. Slowly collect / add livestock so as not to overload your system.
Personally, unless i absolutely know that my system can handle the bioload, i would add a piece, wait a week (or at least a couple of days) then add another piece. This gives your bacteria a little more time to catch up with the increased bioload and also allows you to see if your new piece of coral is adjusting well to it's new home. For small systems, all it takes is for one colony of corals to die and it can potentially foul your water. So my advise... test your water... if ok then go SLOW... little at a time.Comment
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Here are a couple of sites that list good corals for beginners:
Be sure that you can give them their required lighting and water quality before you buy them, and like nacra said, add them a little bit at a time. :) Are you going to the coral swap this weekend?Last edited by fishboyt; 06-03-2010, 02:47 PM.Fish are people too, they just have gills.Comment
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+1 on Nacra's commentsComment
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Thanks for all the info! I am going out of town till sun night. I just love looking at the tank with NOTHING but couple frags and damsels. LOL. Imagine when I add more stuff in there. I plan on taking the damsels out anyways (since I can trade them in for whatever I want at City Pets). That was my deal with them when I got it so they can stir up my tank. I love torch and frogspawn corals. So so neat. That will DEFINITELY be in there when I get back. And is it ok if I buy a Biocube 29 protein skimmer for my tank? Or should I just do water changes often?Comment
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Thats totally up to you. The skimmer will allow for less WC but you will have to dose nutrients more often. Or you can do frequent WC and less nutrient dosing. I personally dont want to spend the money on a skimmer for such a small tank. My 90G that I am working on has a PM Bullet 1 skimmer because I dont want to change water on a 90 that often.Comment
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1. Get the skimmer, it's like having a good buffer against things that goes wrong while your not around.
2. Do frequent water changes.
3. smaller the bio load the better, get small fish, small shrimp etc.
4. Dont be skurred of light, light breed corals.Comment
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