40 gallon Reef Journal

[Lotus]

I'd add the firefish or goby first. Clowns should definitely be last.

[jumpfreak26]

Ok thanks, hopefully i can get them sometime this week, the goby and firefish probably.

[jumpfreak26]

Well the tank is running smoothly, but i have a huge diatom outbreak. i think its due to high light, new tank, and lack of snails. the mexican turbos are having ahard time keeping up. I have got plans for the canopy and we should be constructing it fairly soon. Quick question, is ther any place you know of that gives you the in's and out's of keeping LPS and SPS? Like what they really are and if they shouldnt be next to a certain coral and stuff like that. if you could help that would be great!

[Lotus]

The diatoms could definitely be connected to lighting problems. While the diatoms will go away on their own, a few more types of snails might help (certith and nassarius are good).

This is a nice site for basic info on various corals: www.asira.org - Coral CareÂ*

I'd highly recommend getting the book Aquarium Corals by Eric Bourneman. It's about $30, but it's got great info on all types of corals, coral biology, coral diseases, needs of most corals available in the trade, etc.

[jumpfreak26]

Yeah, i only have nassarius and turbos for now. snails ar flipping pricey! I heard soemthing recentl;y about some guy thats trying to get everyone to breed their own snails o rbuy tank raised snails instead of wild caught. i wonder if they would be cheaper......anyways, thanks for the directions lotus, ill have to look into that book. I know Eric knows just about everything about corals, so that should be helpful.

[Cichlid-Man]

Noice, sounding good. Bah i hate diatoms, its a phase you just gotta drag yourself through with any tank.

You could just experiment with the coral like me haha, nah don't do that. I like the site Lotus linked, a good general overview of different species, of course it can vary a little for each type/colorform of the species.

Nice new avatar there Jump.

[Lotus]

By the way, most corals will fight with any other coral they touch. Unless they're the same species, you'll probably see some damage where they're touching. Damage can be anything from a little "burning" to whole polyps dying.

If you get leathers, make sure they're downflow of any LPS, and don't place them within a few inches of LPS. Their toxins can irritate LPS.

On the other hand, most LPS will sting to death anything they can touch. Watch out for sweeper tentacles at night on your LPS to make sure they can't reach neighboring corals. The only exceptions I know of this are corals of the same species can touch, and hammer and frogspawn can touch (and torch with hammer, to some extent). I don't know about SPS at all.

[jumpfreak26]

Thanks c-man and lotus!

So i ordered more snails, and my 1st coral! i got a green ric and a burnt orange/blue ric. saweet.

[Cichlid-Man]

Nice i love rics. What light were they under? Be sure to kinda aclimate them to the MH.

[jumpfreak26]

not sure yet, im waiting on an email back. Im so excited, they ship out today and will be here tomorow. Finally, some life in the tank. I have been watching my snails, just....well do waht snails do for like 2 weeks :P