Chuy’s Budget Noob Tank

[drexel]

What snails specifically would you recommend? I’m not good with the Cuc names

I can adjust the flow on my fuge and I have the light on a wifi plug. It’s a fijicube HOB.
I liked running it because a fuge is supposed to help with PH at night from what I understand.
Not going to lie, I don’t test my PH. My return pump is pointed towards the surface for the gas exchange but at night we close up the windows.
Again; I don’t test for PH so i don’t even know if it’s an issue for me or not lol

I will cut back on it a bit with light duration and flow.


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A couple turbos, about 5 astraeas, 4-5 trochus (red banded). For these snails to do their job, you’ll have to pull most of the GHA out by hand so there’s only a short tuft left. Nothing will go after the long stringy stuff.
I get wanting to keep pH up at night, but you really don’t have a huge bioload right now, so the benefits are minimal at best.


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[DanK.Reefer]

I had just switched to coral pro from reef crystals and I noticed I got better poly extension from just about everything but I was dealing with other things too in the same moment so maybe reef crystals would actually work for me if I do things right lol but yeah I can do that.
Something that worries me about this is that I have a tunze ATo and every time I unplug and plug it back in for a water change it pumps water right away and i feel like if I do that every day, eventually it’s going to be messing with my salinity right? Idk if that made sense lol


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Specific gravity shouldn't be too much of an issue. Just keep an eye on salinity and if it drops a little make your salt mix a little stronger or just add more salt water back in when doing the water change and let the excess water evaporate off to bring the salinity back in check. I personally don't even use ATO in my 20g. since I am changing a gallon a day and it only looses 1/4-1/2 gallon a day tops through evaporation the specific gravity change is negligable. The only time I run ATO on the tank is when I go out of town for a couple of days.

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[Jimbo327]

Personally, I feel it's a bit easier to maintain a 8-9 dKh (most salts) than 12 dKh (RS Coral Pro). Anyways, the stability is more important than the salt brand. But as long as you keep it stable, most popular brands are fine. No need to overthink it, and keep it simple. Consistent water changes, and you are good to go. The old school method still works great.

 

[drexel]

This may sound like dated advice to most, but I would buy "The Reef Aquarium" volumes I & III by Delbeek and Sprung. I think there's a whole generation of reefers who could benefit from information that's contained in these books. If you get lucky, you can find used copies in great shape for a decent price.

 

[matt_work2727]

As most other people said to deal with the hair algae, manual removal and some turbo snails. One thing to consider when getting snails is making sure they don't die and sit in the tank, further contributing to the algae growth. Also for snails, I find that somethings I have to relocate them to the rock every so often. Sometimes they stick to eating the film algae on the glass, but they will eat the hair algae off the rock if you put them there.

 

[barretojesse93]

Update!

Just moved a couple weeks ago and after the neglect from the hassle of moving, I was able to do the maintenance and catch up (I think)

Still need to manually pick off some algae but I took y’all advice and got some more snails. Did wonders!
Just stopped the light on the refugium and just purchased a Hanna checker for nitrates and phosphates so I will get a better reading and see what’s going on.
Might end up removing the refugium as someone suggested above.

Broke my forest fire digi “mini colony” into bits during the move will most likely give them away lol


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[Tangerine Speedo]

Update!

Broke my forest fire digi “mini colony” into bits during the move will most likely give them away lol


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Glue all of the bits together on one frag plug and it will grow into a mini colony faster than the original.

 

[barretojesse93]

Glue all of the bits together on one frag plug and it will grow into a mini colony faster than the original.

Should I just glue them right around the original piece then?


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[dontavo27]

Looking good bro!

 

[barretojesse93]

Looking good bro!

Thank you! Just got a new job so hopefully in a few months (or sooner) I will get a bigger tank finally

 

[Tangerine Speedo]

Should I just glue them right around the original piece then?


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No, just a separate frag plug.

 

[BST310]

Looks good man, I like that arch rock on the right that’s sick. Looks natural too or did you glue it like that? The bare bottom really draws your eyes to the corals.

 

[barretojesse93]

No, just a separate frag plug.

Ok thanks I will try that out then. Need to buy some plugs now lol I just finally started feeling more confident in my gluing abilities, but I’m using a big glob lol need more practice and a small fragrance rack. Ever had a magnet get rusty in the tank?


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[Tangerine Speedo]

Ok thanks I will try that out then. Need to buy some plugs now lol I just finally started feeling more confident in my gluing abilities, but I’m using a big glob lol need more practice and a small fragrance rack. Ever had a magnet get rusty in the tank?


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You’re using the Crazy glue gel correct? Anyplace that sells corals usually has a small bag of plugs.
Soak the plug in SW, this is to get any air out of the plug. I use a plastic bowl with egg crate cut to fit so it is about a inch above the bottom. If you do not have egg crate then a small plastic strainer from the dollar store will do and just drill out the holes to fit the plug bases. Fill your bowl with SW until it is just above the frag plug. Take your SW soaked plug put a dab of Crazy glue on it. For this you will want to put several dabs, one for each frag you are attaching. Then put it in the rack submerged in SW. You can then start adding coral frags. You will have some time to do this in a timely manner. The SW will act as a catalyst for hardening the glue. After a few minutes it should be strong enough to put in your tank. If it was a fresh cut you can soak it in an iodine bath first to help healing. They make a spray to make the drying process go really quick, which I sometimes use. But that can add reactionary heat that may damage more delicate corals. So this is what I do anyway, There are different techniques that are also good.
I did have a magnet go bad, but it was warrantied. Iron magnets are not so bad for your tank. It is the strong ones that can cause problems.

 

[barretojesse93]

So I added a fire fish last night. Swimming around fine. Ate some mysis.

This morning he is mia and I notice these little guys missing and behind a rock. Probably eating the fire fish.

This is like the 3rd fish this happens to.

Are these guys known to murder small fish?

They about to get the boot


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[BST310]

It’s possible they’re eating the fish if it’s dead but they don’t actively attack healthy live fish.

My experience with fire fish they always hide for a few days and reappear. If you don’t see him after a week I’d say he’s probably gone.

 

[barretojesse93]

It’s possible they’re eating the fish if it’s dead but they don’t actively attack healthy live fish.

My experience with fire fish they always hide for a few days and reappear. If you don’t see him after a week I’d say he’s probably gone.

I should’ve waited to post this because you’re right. Lights came on and I noticed him poke his head out from under a rock. He went back inside of it lol but he’s alive!

Thanks. I was about to get rid of those hermits later in the day lol


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