Corals & yellow tang ...

K

Kat

[A friend might be giving me a few pieces of live rock, corals (I don't know what kind), a couple of snails, crab, & a yellow tang. I have an empty 20 gallon tank that I could possibly set up for temporary. But with having NO experience with corals & no access to a seasoned tank, should I try to keep the corals & tang or ask someone to keep the corals & give me frags when I'm ready for them? I know I won't have good lighting for the 20 gallon, just 2 20 watt NO bulbs that are old (10K & actinic). I do have a HOT filter, power head, & a small skimmer. The water the tang is in hasn't had any water changes for about 6-7 weeks :shocked: Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. Thanks.]
 
[Kat

Is this live rock that has been in your friends tank for awhile? If yes you can put it immediately in your tank and not worry about cycling. However if it has been out of water for a bit, you must start the cycle again.

If its a small yellow tang you can probably get away with him in the 20 gallon to start. He will grow and will soon need a larger tank than that though. Tang are grazers. They travel long distances during the day in the wild, foraging as they go.

If your friend gives you soft corals you should be fine. But those NO lights wont be good for any SPS corals and may not be good enough even for some LPS. If you dont know what the corals are, ask your friend and then we might be able to help some more.]
 
[The rock is currently in his tank. He doesn't remember the name of the corals other then the one is polyps (sp?)--look like mushrooms with tentacles & green, several different colonies of it. The other is "singular" (sp?)--finger coral? Tiny feather dusters. The Tang is "medium" sized. Currently in tank with 25-40 watt power compact. Rock is also covered with the dreaded hair algae :eek:h:

Thanks]
 
[Kat

I am playing interpreter here but is it Green star polyps ( GSP) and sinularia?

A word about light. Note where your firend has the corals in the tank. To compensate for the lower wattage of your lights to his, you may be able to simply raise them higher to the surface in your tank. Light degrades as it penetrates deeper and deeper in water.

I would guess based on the info you have given that you are likely going to be able to keep the corals in your tank.]
 
[I don't think you want to start your tank with Hair algae. I would try and cultivate some good live rock or get some from members that is clean with good coralline growth. Members are happy to help new members. Get a good sand bed with lots of live critters started. I think it would be a good idea to wait before adding any fish. I think we all remember how many fish died when we first started the hobby. Just my thoughts. Green chromis are nice to start and they won't bother others later.]
 
[Well you can kill the hair algae but letting the rock sit out of water for a week and then scrubbing off the remnants. But the trade off is now you will need to let the rock cure and go through a cycle.

Saltwater tanks are a great cure for impatience.]
 
[You can put the algae covered LR in a covered trashcan of saltwater with a heater and powerheads, and leave it that way for at least 3 weeks. I would do water changes perhaps, and if you had a skimmer you could stand up in there, that would be good. Don't feed the rock any food, and let that stuff die in darkness.

Then when you are ready, pull it out, rip off any remants, put it in a tank with a bunch of new-from-the-LFS0-hungry-snails to clean off the last of it. You might continue to not use lights for a couple of weeks, if you so choose.]
 
[Thanks for all of your suggestions. I've got the rock/snails/tang in the dinky 20 gallon with 2 small HOT filters & 1 Maxi600 powerhead. I've got to get one of these extra protein skimmers I've got working. I tried pulling off as much of the hair algae as possible.

I'm really nervous about keeping the tang alive! The tang IMO is small, & I should be looking for a good home for him. I'm just not ready for fish yet, but he wanted the stuff gone.]



Edited By Kat on 1105963591
 
[Kat:

Feed your tang Nori. That is the stuff you find wrapped around sushi. It is dried seaweed and he will love it. Find an asian supermarket they will have it cheap. Use a clothespin to pin half a sheet of Nori to the tank edge. Also Mysis shrimp is much better for him that some of the other stuff sold as fish food.

Make sure you change the water in his tank regularly. Try a schedule of 2 gallons change every two weeks. 20 gallons can get horribly bad quickly so dont let it drag on.]
 
[I got the dried seaweed DNA suggested & the tang at a little bit of it. Changed out 4 gallons of the water today (remember original owner hadn't done any changes for 2 months). I'll look for that ammonia alert.

How long can I let the tank run without a protein skimmer? The crappy VisiJet that I've had for about 10 years from last time I tried SW is putting a bunch of tiny bubbles in the water.]
 
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