8g Nano Reef

[~Kumonryu~]

Hello,

 

to discuss information about this interesting hobby and to practice my English I joined this forum.

After years of keeping and breeding freshwater fish I got my first Reef tank, an 8 gallon (30 litres) Nano Reef, wich was running for about half a year at the former owner.

 

 

It contains a skimmer, two pumps, lighting and some livestock, like Sarcophyton, Xenia, some other Soft Corals, Asterina starfishes, brittle stars, snails, Caulerpa and Red Algae.

 

Aside from that there are some animals wich I was not able to classify. So I may need some help from the experts of this board.

 

At first there are some animals, on wich I'm not shure if they are just Mushrooms or harmful like Anemonia cf. manjano.

Here is one of these animals beside an Asterina Starfish:

 

 

And some other between the Zoanthids:

 

Also I have no idea what this small yellow thing may be:

 

There are some of this small snails, wich I could not identify...

 

...just like this really small animal:

 

Last but not least, I'm not shure if this is a Fire Worm or just a ordinary and harmless Bobbit Worm:

 

For now I will wait a few weeks. If the water parametres are allright some more animals will move into the tank.

I like to introduce

- some other (eventually more colourful) Soft Corals

- a second (and slower growing) species of Mushrooms

- Gorgonia

- two or three Clibanarius tricolor

- a small group of Sexy Shrimps (Thor amboinensis)

- and a pair of Green Clown Gobies (Gobiodon histrio)

Does anyone have objections to this plan?

 

Well, at last I have to apologize for my bad English. I'm from Germany.

 

Greetings

Kumonryu

Edited October 22, 2008 by ~Kumonryu~

[capsfan]

Looks like a nice start to the nano. I'm not sure about the anemone things, but I think the thing on the zoanthid is a pod. I also think the worm is a bristle worm (probably should be removed). Looking foward to updates.

 

 

Oh and......

 

Welcome to WAMAS.

[L8 2 RISE]

that asterina star looks like one of the ones that eats corals so should be gotten rid of, the thing next to it is probably a mushroom, the yellow thing looks like some sort of algae, you might want to get rid of it just to play it safe, and the worm is a bristle worm, touch it and you'll seriously regret it for around a week, but they are usually fine, they eat uneaten food, and should do nothing but help except for the really big ones. the thing on the zoa is a pod, they're fine, and then I have no idea what the snail is...maybe a turbo..

[Sugar Magnolia]

Welcome to WAMAS! Your English is perfectly fine, so don't worry about that. As far as the things you have pictured goes, the only one I'm unsure of is the mushroom/anemone looking critters. Would it be possible to get some closer shots?

 

The bristleworm is fine, they are good scavengers and will help keep the tank clean. The "bug" looking critter is an herbivorous isopod, also beneficial. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/stanton4/misc145.jpg

 

The yellow object is a harmless filter feeeding sponge, and the tiny snail is a collonista snail. They will multiply in the tank and are nocturnal grazers. Nice to have!

Edited October 23, 2008 by Sugar Magnolia

[Brian Ward]

I agree with the rest. I don't see anything warranting concern. isopods, bristleworm, snail, sponge. I can't tell what the thing in the first pic is, but it doesn't look bad. Just let it stay and once it's bigger it'll be easier to ID - it's probably a mushroom or polyp bud of some sort.

 

As for stocking, looks like your list is in line with the size tank you have. The tricolor hermits will be a welcome addition to help keep the tank clean. 2 green gobies should be fine for that tank - you might even be able to add 1 more fish down the line. Keep an eye on your chemical levels and don't expect that skimmer to do much.

 

Nice start, and WELCOME!

[dbartco]

Looking good! We have a meeting Dec 6th, consider coming out and meet some folks that have the addiction! May even get some freebies to stock it a little.

[~Kumonryu~]

Thank you for the welcoming and the helpful advice.

I will keep an eye on these Asterinas. If they become a problem I will remove them or introduce some Gnathophyllum elegans or G. americanum. The bristleworm ist now removed into the tank. Thanks for the warning, though I didn't felt the need to pet this little friend.

 

Here's another picture of the mushroom-looking animal.

I will try to make a better one, if they've opened completely.

 

It's very interesting to see what comes out of the live rocks. Nice to hear, that the unknown animals are not harmful and that I could go ahead accordingly to my plan.

But I have a question about the Clown Gobies. A friend, who has much of experience in this hobby, told me that the Clown Gobies are really aggressive against other members of the same species. He recommended me a pair of Amblygobius rainfordi instead, wich are also nice looking and interesting fish. Nevertheless I really would prefer a pair of those Green Gobies.

Do you have the same opinion like my friend or has anyone of you already kept a pair of these Gobies in a Nano tank?

If there are any doubts about the compatibility of Gobies I would rather choose another species.

 

@ Doug: Thanks for the invitation, but I'm from Germany as I wrote. So, it may be nice to join the meeting, but I have to find a financial sponsor first.

 

Kumonryu

[zygote2k]

The thing with the zoas appears to be a majano. See if there are any more throughout the zoas.

Would you like some Dragons' Breath algae?