Having Issues..
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Get a test kit! Aclimate your coral, they are going from a stable environment to one that is brand new and not established yet. Place the maroon in first, what is the scooter eating? I sugest seeding your 55 with copepods as well.
Holy moley - that's a large bioload for a nano....
Regal tang definitely needs a larger tank.
Scooter DRAGONET... not a blenny. Probably my biggest pet peeve in this industry... it's quite common for dragonets to be sold as "gobies" or "blennies" (Mandarin goby, scooter blenny)... neither is a goby nor a blenny. They are dragonets. Dragonets, for the most part, feed entirely on live copepods and amphipods, and unless the tank has about 100 lbs of LR and little to no competition for food, they starve to death.
The rare individual will eat prepared foods - but they seem to need live pods - they won't live long on prepared foods alone, even if they eat them. I think the waxy esters they get in the pods are crucial to them.
The six-line can and will compete for food with the dragonet.
The camel shrimp is NOT reef safe... keep an eye on your corals.
The only way to know if the tank is "safe" to put stuff in is to test the water. IMO I'd rehome the dragonet.
Jenn
Maroons can be pretty aggressive, especially since (from the picture of the nano) this one appears to have an anemone. I always introduce the most peaceful fish first and let them establish territories before adding the more aggressive specimens.
Just my opinion.
Thanks
Everything offered up is done so respectfully...The chemical composition may be fine - but the particle size is what tends to become problematic, in my experience. Coarser substrate provides less surface area than finer substrate (but I'm not a fan of the super-fine, like icing sugar stuff either)...
The bagged live sand is actually heavier than regular aragonite. The bacterial population living on the sand actually make the grains heavier and they sink and settle faster. While I don't sell it on the "instant cycling" bit advertised on the bag, it is much easier to use, and it does help the cycle along a bit - but the biggest advantage is no rinsing, and little clouding that's usually gone in an hour. It's all I carry and have done so for 7 years. I can get the dry stuff if somebody asks.
I never seed from our systems... that's the easiest way to transmit flatworms (and we've had 'em - and we battle them) and other pests. At least the bagged "live" sand doesn't have any baddies in it. I've had people ask for our sand - I won't give/sell it. We've mostly gone bare bottom in our coral tanks - invert tanks and a few FO tanks still have some sand for critters that need it.
For personal tanks we still recommend sand - 3/4" to 1" maximum depth, placed in the tank AFTER the rock has been arranged.
Jenn
I agree with Linda. This newly set-up tank will probably not be ready for livestock for a few weeks. You have a tremendous bioload for a 12 gallon nano. A 55 gallon is much larger, yes, but is still not large enough for all those fish, especially the regal tang.
Like Jenn said, the scooter will probably need lots of live food that typically is only found in an established sand bed.
I would re-think your whole stocking plan and rehome some of your animals. Good luck.
Ironically the coarse substrate will probably be better for the dragonet - more hiding places for pods to do their thing. IME they will proliferate in piles of LR rubble "pod piles" I've heard them called.
I do concur that the larger tank needs time to properly cycle and find its ionic balance - after a diatom bloom and water params test appropriate.
Jenn
I do concur that the larger tank needs time to properly cycle and find its ionic balance - after a diatom bloom and water params test appropriate.
Jenn
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Tank raised regal:yes: 55 is fine for the next year or so but I still want him back one day.
Chris come get some pods, I have a culture that you can grow plenty with.
Anyone who knows me knows that I would not support a regal in a nano!!! Chris promised to have him in a new tank quickly and he is. Good job Chris.
Next is the 240 right?
. Chris come get some pods, I have a culture that you can grow plenty with.
Anyone who knows me knows that I would not support a regal in a nano!!! Chris promised to have him in a new tank quickly and he is. Good job Chris.
Next is the 240 right?
They don't necessarily grow that quickly, but they do need swimming room. I've had my blue tank for nearly 7 years and his last keeper had him for 4 in a 75. I had 2 but one died about 3 years ago inexplicably. The remaining one isn't that large but definitely seemed more relaxed when I moved it to a 6'+ tank. It's now about 11 years old. I have one client that had one for 25 years, so they are a long-lived fish in the right care.
It's the dragonet in a nano that concerns me more than the regal at this point in time. They stay small but their appetite isn't, and they usually exhaust their food source very quickly in a small and/or immature tank.
Jenn
It's the dragonet in a nano that concerns me more than the regal at this point in time. They stay small but their appetite isn't, and they usually exhaust their food source very quickly in a small and/or immature tank.
Jenn
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The mandarin did not come from me but I will try to guide towards establishing a good pod population. Luckily he is eating prepared foods as well. Kris will not let it go. He is set on keeping him going.
The sand is by the way very fine, not coarse at all. My concern is about the cycle. We also used 100% of the water out of an established system and live rock as well.
The sand is by the way very fine, not coarse at all. My concern is about the cycle. We also used 100% of the water out of an established system and live rock as well.
I'll take your word on that - when I think of "crushed coral" I think of pea-sized particles as is what is commonly available under that trade name. This substrate that you're discussing here is not what is typically regarded as crushed coral then.
Water from established system? May I ask why? Typically there is no benefit in that as the beneficial bacteria and fauna are found on live rock and substrate. If the water parameters were good, that's fine. Using a different example but along the same lines, when we move a tank, we don't save the water - particularly if it's a situation where the tank was "neglected" for a while - no sense moving one problem from one place to another.
Otherwise it's logistically a pain to try to move water usually - and there's no real benefit to it. Properly prepared and aged new water is usually a better choice, along with acclimating things sensibly - and making sure the new water params (pH and SG) are similar. Again JMHO and getting a bit off the original topic - but since it was brought up I answered to it
Jenn
Water from established system? May I ask why? Typically there is no benefit in that as the beneficial bacteria and fauna are found on live rock and substrate. If the water parameters were good, that's fine. Using a different example but along the same lines, when we move a tank, we don't save the water - particularly if it's a situation where the tank was "neglected" for a while - no sense moving one problem from one place to another.
Otherwise it's logistically a pain to try to move water usually - and there's no real benefit to it. Properly prepared and aged new water is usually a better choice, along with acclimating things sensibly - and making sure the new water params (pH and SG) are similar. Again JMHO and getting a bit off the original topic - but since it was brought up I answered to it
Jenn
