# newbie reef - 18g CADlights.



## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

So, i never started an actual journal, but here are some pictures of my first reef. It was set up in late December of 2014.

Surprisingly, I haven't killed anything yet minus a juvie clownfish that managed to go carpet surfing - even with the lid on. Overall, I have been taking things very slow and being careful with what I put in here in terms of stocking.

I dont have a QT and i havent dipped a single coral, but so far so good. Knock on wood.

Current stock so far:

Pair of Ocellaris Clownfish
Tiger Pistol Shrimp
Blue Spotted Goby

Currently thinking of adding a sixline wrasse this week. Maybe?

FTS









Ive tried and sold many different corals in the past couple months, but when it comes to zoo's I have a weakness.

I'd love to get a scoly and some more nice corals for the sand bed, but the pistol/goby pair have made that pretty much impossible. If anybody has a clever solution, please let me know!





































One of my favorite zoas, it's fully opened now and this is a horible picture, but i got over excited and had to snap this shot.










And in the right corner.... MORE ZOAS.




































Found my acan munching on a hermit crab. No idea how that happened.


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## Bullet (Apr 19, 2014)

Great pics and a nice build !
That size tank is great to start with


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

nice start! 
keep in mind wrasses are jumpers (generally)


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Bullet said:


> Great pics and a nice build !
> That size tank is great to start with


I disagree. I should have saved up for a 150 or larger, not being able to keep the fish I really want has been upsetting lol

Well, I can always use this as a qt when I get sick of my planted tank 


noy said:


> nice start!
> keep in mind wrasses are jumpers (generally)


Thanks! Yea, I've been told. I've also heard they are hard to catch. So if push comes to shove and he turns out to be an asshole, I just have to take the lid off and let Karma and Darwinism run its course :/


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## noy (Nov 19, 2012)

wrasses are fairly curious fish - a fish trap with some food will usually get them.


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## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Anything but a six line wrasse. Get a small fairy wrasse! Way cooler and will never be a wrasse hole. Flasher wrasse, mystery wrasse, there are lots of small wrasse.

But it's your tank, so if you want a six line, well, so be it.


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Crayon said:


> Anything but a six line wrasse. Get a small fairy wrasse! Way cooler and will never be a wrasse hole. Flasher wrasse, mystery wrasse, there are lots of small wrasse.
> 
> But it's your tank, so if you want a six line, well, so be it.


The experiences I've heard have been mixed, but lately it's been mostly good! I have been flip flopping on getting it though


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

So I got the wrasse and so far so good. I think adding it triggered some aggression between the clownfish pair which finally subsided this morning.










Also got more zoas. I swear, if I don't get some better lighting soon, this tank will be all zoas.


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Got an awesome shot of my acan feasting on some lps pellets today


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

Been a while since I've added to this. Trying to be more active on the forum lately.

The original juvenile ocellaris we're not having eachother so I traded them for a pair of flurries.

I took back the wrasse to, just in case he decided to turn on the new clowns. Let's just say, catching these fish was way harder than I thought - and I already had a good idea how bad it was going to be.

Overall, everything seems to be doing "ok" but some zoas don't seem to be doing much. I think my water has been too clean so I gotta cut down on my wc routine.




























The last coral I added - acan echinata. Peppermint shrimps have been pissing off everything in the tank, so I gotta get them out and feed the corals a bit more.










(just thought this was a cool macro shot of the echinata skeleton)

Also debating picking up a small rbta for the tank to satisfy my addition while I'm working on my 90g build. Any thoughts on that?


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

oh wow, after looking back at some of my older pics, something seems to be seriously off.

before








after








before








after








these 2 zoas in particular ARE growing, but not looking as awesome as the first few weeks i got them. Could my hermits be irritating them? Not enough light? Am i right to think that i should have some nitrate in my water? (it's 0ppm no3 btw)


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

False alarm on the zoos. 1 colony looks a bit shitty, but I never really liked it.. so I tried to see how high I could put it in the tank. Apparently, it didn't like like that.

Here is a FTS and today's test parameters. I'm going to skip this week's water change and test next week.



















I was never really able to keep the cal and mag levels where I would like them, but they seem to be within the range of NSW.

I would like to get a handle on dosing before I set up my 90, so any suggestions on what I should dose on this tank if any at all?


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## arturo (Jun 29, 2014)

So, for a bit there my tank was looking bad. Had some weird algae problems and my zoos were struggling for a bit.

Turns out my peppermint shrimp went rogue on me and took a liking to my purple hornets skirts...

Now that the tank has been sean of algae after adding more clean up crew, I decided to find some fun in the hobby again.

Got myself a little rbta last week, and that has been interesting to say the least. After a week of wandering around the tank, it went back to the first place I put it! Lol










Also got a chance to check out Kraken's Cove out in Welland this morning and got a bunch of fun stuff


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