Help save my Kenyas

[DrMusik]

if they don't make it let me know. I can give you a frag of mine once your tank stabilizes.

 

[tosiek]

Your worst culprit in a tank that small is going to be heat followed by PH swings during the day.

Its EXTREMELY hard to keep tanks that small as a new reefer. Too much can go wrong way too quickly. And if your not home all day its hard to keep it stable. Try to put the lights on when you get home instead of them being on when your not there, its going to help you control the tank. And clean out that algae, its unwanted and only causes more problems with corals.

 

[noobzy]

Your worst culprit in a tank that small is going to be heat followed by PH swings during the day.

Hmm... never really thought about pH swings being a potential problem. I'll try to do a few measurements over the course of a day and see how my tank reads at various increments. Thanks for the advice!

 

[anthony27]

When you get the tank in order I will replace the keny that you lost. Just pm me when you are ready

 

[tosiek]

By the way, everyone is right about kenya trees being temperamental but are like cockroaches. You can't kill them.

Also, i don't know how well you transported everything when you added the rock and sand, but im guessing the kenya is doing bad since you added them. Im sure stuff died off on the rock and in the gravel, and if anything mixed up some bad stuff in removing the gravel. So, your tank probably seen a mini cycle as it rebalanced itself. And im sure it was teensy but still there. Something else you should think about as its a small tank.

 

[johnsonlee42]

Its EXTREMELY hard to keep tanks that small as a new reefer. Too much can go wrong way too quickly. And if your not home all day its hard to keep it stable. Try to put the lights on when you get home instead of them being on when your not there, its going to help you control the tank. And clean out that algae, its unwanted and only causes more problems with corals.

While I don't disagree with tosiek, I understand where you're coming from - you're new to the hobby, live in a small space in the city, and you're not quite ready to put down a wad of cash for a 50 gallon tank. You're probably not even sure how ready you are to commit to this hobby in the long run - it's not a cheap or easy one.

While keeping a nano tank can be a bit tricky, it's certainly not impossible if you're vigilant. My first tank was an Eclipse 6, and I had it for 10 months before I broke it down (I had to move) - the only time that I really lost livestock was in my previously mentioned heating disaster. It's true that parameters can swing pretty drastically in a tank this small - I think that I had days where there was a temperature differential of four degrees between noon and midnight. Unfortunately, this can't really be helped unless you (a) have a larger tank, and (b) have some system to keep temperature stable, such as a controller that governs heating (heater) and cooling (a fan or a chiller).

Ultimately, this tank is only going to support the hardiest of corals in the long run - mushrooms, zoas, star polyps, etc. I would say that kenya trees are in this category, so don't give up. Do what everyone has suggested so far - change your photoperiod so that you can monitor temperature more closely, test your phosphates, expand your cleanup crew, get rid of all your excess algae by hand, and continue to do regular water changes. Hopefully you'll eventually get your tank to a place where everything is happy!

 

[noobzy]

Johnson, you get me

New light (10k, 15W) is installed and the tank is on its new schedule (4-12). I'll be scrubbing the rocks and giving away the damsels on Thursday, and will try to get some snails etc soon thereafter. Couldn't find a phosphate testing kit at two LFSs... will keep looking though. Thanks again for all the help and for the coral offers!

 

[johnsonlee42]

I don't think it's the end of the world if you don't get a phosphate test kit ASAP - the most immediate impact that higher phosphate levels would usually have is harmful algae growth, so that is a possible explanation as to why your tank has so much of it (unless it came on the rocks already). Nitrates would have a more immediate impact on livestock, but since you're testing for that and it seems like the levels are okay then it's doubtful that is the source of distress.

 

[noobzy]

Thanks so much to everyone for the help; the Kenyas have apparently been saved!

Updated photo (rocks are just piled for now, but I will do some aquascaping soon):


Rock cleaning went ok, but I wasn't extremely thorough (getting that stuff off completely is really tough!), and the light replacement has done wonders. Giving away the damsels seems like a good change too; the clown is acting on his newfound freedom to explore the tank without being bullied.

I think I am at the point where I can start considering my tank stable, and will slowly start to add more SPS to it (donations welcome!) as I learn more. First up will be a cleaning crew expansion next week, as soon as I figure out where to get blue legged hermits in NYC.

Thanks again!

 

[greenycrew]

I wouldn't call your tank stable.... Patience is really important in this hobby. I would give it a few weeks before I would consider adding anything. Are you really gonna add SPS? Your lighting is way way to low for them. As far a blue legs manhattan aquariums has em. I always liked the reds better myself. I think they do a better job and are a bit less aggressive.

 

[johnsonlee42]

SPS isn't going to work in your tank man - only softies and possibly some of the hardier LPS (e.g. frogspawn) are going to work with your lighting.

As for the cleanup crew, either red or blue leg hermits have worked well for me, though red legs start out larger than the blue. Both Manhattan Aquariums and New World Aquarium are going to have both, and the Petco in Union Square will also usually has these hermits for sale.

In regard to fish, I'm glad you got rid of your damsels - that was too many for a tank this size. My favorite nano fish are the red firefish (they keep to themselves) and the yellow-tailed damsel (one of the least agressive damsels and is extremely colorful). You should be able to add these guys without worry about compatability after you get your cleanup crew.

Tank does look a lot better without all the algae!

 

[noobzy]

Oops... wrong terminology. I am still learning about corals (been more preoccupied with the simpler things until now, like water ), and I meant softies like zoa, xenia, yellow polyps, etc.

Stopped by the Petco in Union Square... wasn't too impressed with the state of their saltwater section. They also didn't have hermits. I'll go to manhattan aquariums this week; heard good things.

I am considering a firefish or another clown in a month or so, if all goes well.

 

[petraio]

get some two part which would help you bring up alkalinity a calcium to start need a bit more actinic in your tank that what it looks from pics and iodine supplement go for kent tech-l which is time released!! make sure you replenish evaporated water with ro water if you do not have ro filter buy distilled water