Nano

[angel]

Joe,
That's so cool! I won't be doing salt any time soon, but if I did seahorses would have to be in it! They're so different!
Jon's getting Nemo! Bet you have a happy boy when you bring that one home!

[blennyandthejetts]

I am new this site, just found it. Thought I would throw in my two cents. To the OP, Anemones are best kept in mature tanks, generally 6 months old or older with PRISTINE and STABLE water conditions. Mandarin Gobys(drangonettes) are for MATURE TANKS, with a large population of pods and/or mysids. Anyone recommending these to beginners are steering them wrong. JMHO.

[angel]

Welcome blennyandthejetts! Glad you joined us.

[sirknight]

That is true to a point, except he didn't talk about Dragonets. I would not recommend them to anyone with that small of a tank even if it was setup for years, why because the food supply would dwindle very fast and the fish would starve to death. There are goby's that can do nicely in small tanks that are maintained correctly, for example, neon, Hi Fin Red Banded and watchman goby's to name a few and don't require pods. It doesn't matter how long a tank is setup, what does matter is how stable the tank isand the overall water quality. I had tanks setup for a few weeks that were more stable then tanks setup for years. The reason I kept talking about bubble tips are because they are one of the easiest to maintain again with a stable tank. Now for that matter no fish, coral or Anemone should be placed in a tank that doesn't have excellent water quality.

Just to clarify

Joe

[jon carman]

will anemones eat soft coral? I am trading my snake to emerald bay in bellevue. I think I am going with some mushrooms and Zoanthus if you think they will work. My son knows not to stick his hand in, I told him what you said(some corals are poisonous). I added a peppermint shrimp and diamond goby today, all water readings checked out. I think I will be adding some 2 skunk shrimps later. As for seahorses/pipefish, will coral sting them to death?

[sirknight]

Jon, pipefish is a big no no, they don't make it in aquariums.
get tank raised seahorses and you should be OK. As long as you don't have a lot of water movement. Mixing fish and seahorses could be a problem. Seahorses are very slow moving fish that can not handle aggression or compete for food. I would say either a seahorse tank or other fish and no seahorses.

Tell Shawn I said hello.

Diamond gobys may not be a good fish for your size tank they can get to be 6" and will shift through the sand. They also may throw the sand on the corals and kill them.

Zoanthus are very toxic after you put them in your tank wash your hands.

Anemones don't eat corals but they can sting them which in turn would kill them.

[jon carman]

Thanks, I do have to much water movement for the seahorses.

I got a skunk shrimp today and some more zoanthus. My budget is taking a hit, so I will probably slow down and let the stuff spread a little.

How long does it take to grow/spread

[sirknight]

First they need to acclimate to your tank, this takes a few weeks. They need nutrients to grow, heavy skimming is not a good idea. Some feeding may be needed. A good coral food is freeze dried Cyclop-Eeze. Feed once or twice a week but go easy. Based on that you are looking at a few months. Post pictures so I can see what you got. Also don't get talked into mixing soft corals and hard or SPS corals, it is difficult to keep a balance to have both do well in a single tank.

I don't know if you read the rest of my post seahorses and regular fish like a diamond goby or many other fish really don't mix.

How is Shawn doing?

Joe

[jon carman]

Which guy is Shawn, I talked to all of them and they seemed nice. If Shawn is the guy that was helping me he seemed to know his stuff and liked talking about fish. I didn't feel rushed, but that could have been because it was me and 4 employees.

I am going all soft because they seem to be the easiest. I have gone on a bit of a splurge, I will post pics tomorrow. I got 3 types of zoa- eagle eye, green, and something else. Then I got some green mushrooms. I have a 2" diamond gobie, some type of dragonet(Psychedelic Mandarinfish or spotted), not the one that starves itself, the clown, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 skunk shrimp, 1 starfish(looks red with tan cookie clusters.

I am looking to add more mushrooms and maybe zoas. What else has good colors that would mix with these?

This is a learning experience and I know I might have a couple things in here that won't do well. I am going to do the best I can with this and not complain later. I was warned. I just gave in to my son with the puppy eyes when he saw the star fish and the Mandarin fish.

As of now everything looks good.

[sirknight]

dragonet(Psychedelic Mandarinfish or spotted) I hope this guy was eating before you got it, if not it may not live in your tank, they eat pods and co-pods. If he is eating mysis shrimp you maybe OK

starfish(looks red with tan cookie clusters. If it is a chocolate star it eats soft corals. It can also be a Fromia, but I will need to see pictures before I can tell.

Shawn is the owner.

Finger leathers find green, If you can find a good yellow Fiji leather, Green Palau Nephthea. Green star polyp's.

Don't do Xenia they grow like weeds and will take over the tank.

You have more then enough fish.

The golden rule of saltwater is to take it slow, your tank is very young and you currently have it over stocked. All I can say is keep a close eye on it.

Sorry for sounding so negative, but I have made every mistake that can be made and had to learn by experience, which cost me a lot of money, time and livestock.

Joe

[jon carman]

This was all I was going to do except for adding more coral. All my fish are under 2", and the starfish isn't a chocolate chip. I will postpics tomorrow.

The dragonet(Psychedelic Mandarinfish or spotted) was supposed to be eating mysis, but I might buy some live co-pods to supplement if you think it would be a good idea.

I got carried away. I would rather you shoot me straight.

Thanks for the advice

[jon carman]

Damage I have done so far:

[sirknight]

jon,

looking good. The star is reef safe, it is call a mable sea star, fromia, sp. In about a month or two, take a look at www.liveaquaria.com (Foster and Smith). They have a good selection of softies that you should like. Also there are some local guys that sell frags of zoas. People on reef central sell frags of softies.

Also in the first picture do you have some kind of lobo (maybe devils hand)?

Joe

[jon carman]

If so it is a dead left over. All I have purchased are the 3 types of zoas, and the green mushroom.

[oldsaltydog]

Jon,sorry Ihaven,t keep in better touch,the tank looks like it is in good hands.We thought the same,marble sea star Ireally hope you do ok with the mandarin,looks like a spotted we warned you about them though ,you might wanna try Reef Nutrion they have several types of live food go towww.Reef-Nutrion.com for info,if you can hold up some until the next swap I,ve got plenty to frag(leathers,mushrooms chalice,s etc.) just a thought maybe atrade for fish?