Still not sold on Saltwater =)

[jhart]

Hey for only the cost of a small colony it would be worth a shot to try either of the star polyps or xenias, worst case scenario is that they don't make it but if they do you can always frag them out! Not trying to sound like a broken record but I used to have an awesome colony of xenia's that did awesome for months and finally just fizzed out to nothing . But you win some, you lose some. Also- I'm in Centerville near the Dayton Mall, I've got a 150 GPD RO/DI and I would be more than willing to make up some water for you just let me know a few days in advance and how much you want. I have a 40 gallon container so dont you can pretty much have as much as you want. Trust me- you will not regret it using RO/DI!

[Joel]

I'm surprised that it was suggested that a red Stripe was a good  fish for your aquarium. In theory, your tank is not fully biologically established, it is only established to the load that the rock generated. Adding 8 chomis is a fairly big  increase in waste for that small of an aquarium. They (chromis) are pretty hardy fish an most likely will survive the mini cycle your aquarium may experience with the addition of them. Pseudoanthias although very capable of being kept in captivity are not a beginner / starter fish and definitely will not care for the potential water quality issues that may occur. If your aquarium experiences minor amounts of ammonia & nitrite, the red stripe will not deal with it very well. I would suggest monitoring this daily and have either water made up to perform a water change as needed or have a stable quarantine system on stand by (best option) I'm also surprised that if the person who sold you this fish knew it was a 75 gallon and new it was your intent to keep corals - still thought it was a good idea. This specie easily gets over 6". Your tank can  house a 6" fish but that does take up a lot of real estate. My other reason for surprise is that this is a deep water fish, it doesn't like bright light -  Most corals need bright light for survival. In this small of an aquarium, I don't see a feasible compromise that will keep both light loving / needing corals happy and a low light preferring fish happy. May want to reconsider your choice in inhabitants so they have more similar preferences and requirements.

Joel

[themissinglynk]

The LFS that was listed as closed down was North Dixie Reef....We were in there once just after we set up the tank, but haven't been able to catch them open since. Are they open again?

North Dixie Reef isn't quite closed down...  I actually talked to Dodd a few times last week, and he purchased my tanks from me, to get to other people starting up tanks.  Even the day I brought stuff up to him, he had to leave to go home.  I think there is a sign on the front door that instructs people to go next door if they aren't open (to the barber shop).  They were able to call him, and he came back to get the tanks from me.

For the health problems he's had, I'd say he's still doing an excellent job.  Just be sure to call him first, and be sure he can be around when you are coming.

But -- good shop, and great guy!

[Vinnbelle1]

I have been in the hobby for some time, back when much of today's products didn't exist.  Much of the knowledge didn't either.  Things can get really technical or you can keep things simple.  I think most of us would agree to buy good equipment that will suit your now and future needs.  If you have the good/right equipment right from the get-go, things will be much easier.  If you are going to keep fish, or a good amount of coral, I would recommend to add a protein skimmer to the system.  The RO unit and an auto-top off saves on the boring maintenance. 

Once past that, it will just take time, the algae cycles stated earlier.

As far as what to add you start off with the most hardiest of organisms, usually clean up crews like snails and crabs.  Then add some hardy fish like damsels.  Then some softies, if you like those, then LPS, then at the end some SPS.

[rayviv]

I'm in Huber and am more than willing to share some rodi water with you. I have 3 five gallon containers you can use. Just let me know ahead of time so I can make some. Anything I can do to help you with I will. I'll give you some waving hands if you want. Just P.M. me and let me know.

And welcome to the club!    Rayviv

[rupertswife]

A little good news, a little bad.....

Bad news first.....we did loose the red stripe to fin rot or something else like it. He started coming out in the morning with sand all over him. We figured out that's what it was because it would be gone in a couple hours after the lights were on and he became active, he was apparently 'sleeping' in the sand bed. Over the next two days he still ate like crazy, but his fins started to get frazzled. Everyone else in the tank was fine. (Chromis, snails, crabs, hermits) Then one day he just never came out from behind the rock, and later that evening he was dead. All the water parameters were still well within range according to our tests, and since nothing else in the tank got ill, we have no explanation. He never stopped eating until the last day, so we had hoped he would recover. We miss him! =( We've never treated any of our tanks with any success so we opted not to medicate at all. Everytime we've ended up spending too much money and loosing the fish anyway. *shrug* We had no way to set up a quarintine salt tank and we figured the shock of moving him from one to the other might just kill him anyway. We've been there, done that, too.....

The good news is we have added the rest of our cleaning crew, and I think they are my favorite part of the tank! We have Nassarias (?) snails, more blue leg hermits, some turbo snails, another kind of snail, and 5 emerald crabs. Feeding time is hilarious! The entire tank looks like it's vibrating when the hermits and the emeralds get wind of the food, and the snails are actually not slow! LOL

We also discovered we have two feather dusters in the tank. Both are very small, but growing. One is a bluish green, and attached to a piece of coral. It's been there a while. The other is in the sand just below one of the rocks. It looks white or cream colored and has dark red or brown spots on the feathers.....I wonder what else is in the tank we haven't discovered yet!?

[Reefd Up]

...but his fins started to get frazzled. Then one day he just never came out from behind the rock, and later that evening he was dead.

...I wonder what else is in the tank we haven't discovered yet!?

My thoughts exactly...I'm wondering if you have a fish-eater behind those rocks....

Any green brittle starfish by chance?  There are many creatures that prey on sleeping fish.  You might want to take a flashlight to your tank late at night and watch what goes on.

[rupertswife]

Hadn't thought of it that way. We've not seen and starfish, and the only 'moving' creatures we've seen are the ones we added. I worried at first that maybe the hermits were picking at him, and the emerald's were not in the tank at the time........Hmmmmm.....

[Reefd Up]

Emeralds have been known to get aggressive toward fish as they get large...but they have to get really pretty large.  The hermits usually won't pick at fish unless the fish is already dying.  If you have any (and I'm going to screw up this spelling) narsiariuss snails...might want to check that they aren't whelks (although I'm not sure if even whelks would gang up on sleeping fish...)

[rayviv]

Whelks???

[rupertswife]

Well, we are still in the dark as to what happened to the anthias, but since everyone else in the tank seems to be quite happy, we'll chalk it up to being incompatible with some condition in the tank. =(

We did add two nice large feather dusters and they look wonderful. All the information I've been able to find about them says they don't need any special food, and that they are very easy to keep in a stable tank. Is this valid? We bought them because we already had two very small ones that 'came with the tank.' One was attached to a piece of rock, and the other we discovered in the sand bed. Both are TINY but have been in the tank for months.

The one in the sand bed looks just like the larger ones for sale in the stores, but the smaller one has me stumped. I can't find anything online to tell me what it might be. It is a bluish-green and is inside a crevice in the rock. It is not a 'Christmas Tree Worm' because the fans are not paired and they don't look like a 'tree.' It looks just like the others, but is blue green and attached to the rock.

I don't have anyway to get a photo of it because it is soooo small, but any help in identifying it would be greatly appreciated!

Have a great night, y'all!

[Reefd Up]

Most small feather dusters live perfectly well in aquariums of all sizes (they are filter feeders); however, worms like the coco worm (and some larger feather duster types) live only 6 months to a year in captivity in all but the largest aquariums.  I wouldn't recommend a tank less than 300g for a coco-worm...and even then, I don't know if it'd live (I've just heard about a few people with 300g+ tanks keeping them alive successfully for 1+ years.) 

There are many many many species of feather dusters...not very likely to get a good ID other than, "it's a featherduster." 

[rayviv]

Those tiny dusters (tube worms) are all over my 90g and many different colors. I have 6 feather dusters that I've had for about 10 months that are still healthy and two of those are Hawaiian dusters. And at least one of those lets my blue-line cleaner wrasse get all the way into it without even closing.  I use plenty of DT's so they have plenty to eat. Also cyclopeeze makes filter feeders open up. I use that before I target feed the meat eaters, Aussie Eleagantz, Open Brain, Plate, And 2 Bubble tips.