Is my tank ready for corals?

[Henry22]

I have a 15 gallon tank with 20lbs of Liverock that has been up and running since later july. The only inhabitants so far is a cleaner and peppermint shrimp and the reg cleaning crew. I just got my 96w powerquad in monday and have gone from a 2:30 light period monday to now about 7 hrs. There are no corals in the tank but I did go from a stock elcispe lighting of 15watts 96 so i let the system adjust. I will be adding my clowns nov 4 but i was wondering if i could go tommorow(thursday) and pick up a few frags of some Zoos and mushrooms? Im not using RO water but the lady at the LFS which I trust and has told me everything right that I have learned from here said that our water was fine. So, am i ready for some softy corals?

[Jolio99]

Yeah, go for it.

[lil_fishey]

definatly sound like it is ready for corals

[Henry22]

Sweet, Ill post some pics with what I come back with.

[nonamesright]

And? the pics?

[Henry22]

Havnt gone yet, but Im about to in an hour.

[Henry22]

OK i got some orange-ish green zoos which are really cool and some button polyps, or at least they dont look like any zoos i have seen but, my peppermint wont leave them alone and he keeps touching them wit h his tentacles causing them them to close. What should I do?

[steelhealr]

Shrimp will climb over the polyps and I wouldnt' worry about. What I would worry about is using tap water. I wouldn't continue that way if at all possible. You are much better off using 'pure' water of some sort. JMO.SH

[Henry22]

Well, I'll see. They zoos have been open all day unless the shrimp came over. Ill see. If i do get LPS then i will go to RO water from the LFS but that wont be for a while. If i see a decline in the coral Ill switch.

[waterfaller1]

Are you sure this is the right peppermint shrimp?There is one that will eat polyps...and also camel shrimp look similar to peppermints,and they definately eat corals.I agree you need to use RO/DI water...by the time you notice the problem,it may already be there~algae problems.

[nonamesright]

^^ yes, im switching water now. My algea bloomed 4 weeks ago and just started coming down today, after 2 weeks of good water. I believe that stopping the tap water fixed the problem.

[steelhealr]

I agree with waterfaller1 Henry...don't wait until you get the hair algae or the cyano bloom. You'll kick yourself in the you know where if it happens and you were using tap all the long. Just a friendly suggestion. Also, I don't know where you get your tap from, but water companies can change additives without you knowing and there can be seasonal changes. Do you know my tap water runs a nitrate level as high as 20ppm in summer time (fertilizers)? SH

[Henry22]

Im pretty sure its a peppermint, he has left it alone. Maybe it was new and he was just checking it out or he got scared at I turkey basted water at him if he was on them. If its been set up since july, would I have noticed a hair algae problem now? I will also be setting up a DIY AC 300 or 500 fuge with chaeto so that should help with nutrient export. I will end up using RO water but not for a little while.

[njfish77]

henry the tank sounds goods and you waited a really long time which most people cant do.you really should do the RO water because no matter how clean your water may be i still dont think iy equals to the RO.if anything if you dont want to buy the unti either find a LFS to get it from or just buy distilled water which is still better then tap.also remove the peppermints from the tank and get some kind of credit for them and get some more frags:cool: :cool: i used to have one in my 55 and he ate my yellow polyps(i know this because i watched it happen(well they were halfway gone by the time i could stop him)if you want a cool shrimp other then the cleaner id go with the Harlequin(just cant have starfish).all you need to do is buy like a choco. chip star and chop off a little piece of it for him and then put the other in the freezer for other feedings.

[jcopp24]

I agree with NJfish swith to another shrimp... I like my coral banded shrimp, and he seems to clean a lot... however he only comes out to play at night... that is why I think most people dont like them. Oddly enough them tank at my work and my two at my house I feed my coral banded Formula One Marine Pellets, I use a straw, dropping them in near the shrimp and he loves it. I used to feed other foods like the mentioned above choc. star fish, but I found that caused small amonia spikes. When feeding my bubble coral the marine pellets the shrimp came over and scoffed one up... since them Marine Pellets for me... less waste in the water plus it has garlic.
By the way you can easily send me the pep. shrimp, my Undulated Trigger would love that danty treat... :)

[Henry22]

Well coral banded kill other fish and i dont wnat to deal with feeding hte harlequins starfish all the time. I think I might go with some sexies. He lef thte zoos alone so but Ill will keep watch.

[Henry22]

I meant coral banded kill other shrimp, sry bout that. I also will be getting another cleaner.