C&M Aquatics specializes in the propigation of corals and marine invertibrates. It is our primary mission to educate the reefing community, and provide quality and affordable corals for your home aquariums. C&M Aquatics releases new videos every weekend on something related to the reef keeping hobby. Our content ranges from coral care, to unboxing aquarium products and reviews and everything in between. Keeping a reef aquarium can be a very daunting task, and there is so much to learn. We try to share our successes and failures so that the home aquarist can advance in their hobby, without wasting time or money. New videos are released every weekend, so check back often and subscribe for new content.
Great question! They do not have to be fed with the lights off. If you feed them right before your lights come on they usually have their tentacles out. When they are out it makes feeding easier because they grab it much more readily. Also turning your flow down or off helps.
Glad I saw this, even though you mentioned it’s not your tank, I have a pico tank where the flow is way too strong. After seeing this, I’ll be changing my output flow using what’s shown in this video! 👍🏼
Yea I try to be honest about things like that. I'm really glad it helped you out. I love pico tanks I had a 2.5 gallon fish bowl I did a coral reef in it was challenging and fun.
They will attach to bigger pieces of substrate, the issue is they will get blown away from the flow in the aquarium. Fine sand won't really be enough for them to attach too. I use an aquarium in the video that has pretty much 0 flow. Takes them between 1.5 and 2 weeks to attach. Did that answer your question?
I just got the same dosing pump so if you programed 85 ml it breaks up the 85 ml into how ever many cycles you choose or does it dose 85 ml 24 times a day. Sorry I'm confused.
No worries at all. Set your 85 ml on the pump then the next screen should give you the option to set how many times a day it will dose. I think it does 1, 8, 12, and 24 i cant remember off the top of my head. . If you set it to 12 doses for example it will break up the 85 ml over 12 doses. I typically do 12 or 24 so it doses less more often. It helps keep the aquarium more stable with smaller doses. This is especially important for alkalinity if you have acros. I did have one of my pumps malfunction about 10 months after I filmed that video so like everything keep a close eye one it. Make sure you are testing while using the pump to catch any malfunctions. Hope this helped.
I see you are topping up your ATO reservoir with a jug , the ATO already is nearly full , My Question is ,, is the water in the reservoir already an early mix you made and you are simply topping it up with more kalkwasser mixture you just made ?
Sorry I was not more clear in the video. Yes I made the mixture in a tub and used the jug just to transfer it to the ato you are correct. I have personally gotten away from kalkwasser and am using soda ash. The kalwasser in the ato worked well it just makes your ato dirty and is hard on the pump. There are pros to using kalkwasser but the big con for me I got tired of cleaning my ato tank all the time.
LPS will need alkalinity to form their calcium carbonate skeletons. You can also feed them and it helps a lot with LPS. The best answer I can give you is test your alkalinity. Test it 24 hours later and it will tell you how much alkalinity your tank is using and you will know what you need to dose. Depending on the size of your corals you may be fine with just your water changes. Testing really is the key when dosing.
It was cool to play with. It did kill aptasia. The biggest issue is if they are far away. The further away they are from the glass or the farther the laser has to travel through the water seems to cut down on the effectiveness. Still fun to try though.
By pouring the water into the bucket you made some of the calcium airborne. You can see it in the video. This stuff is very dangerous to breathe. Best to put the calcium in last and stir.
I'm not going to argue with you because Safety should always be a top priority. I definitively have my bad habits like everybody. Thanks for checking it out
Probably when they are smaller but I'd be a little worried about them when they got bigger. A deeper sanded would benefit them but I personally don't like real deep sand beds
Yes you can have it go directly into the main tank. Make sure that it drips in a high flow area to help with precipitation. If you end up dripping close to a power head or wave maker just keep an eye one it because over time you can get a build up of precipitation on your equipment. As long as you watch it and keep an eye on the your aquarium you should be fine as long as your dosing correctly. I prefer it to go into a sump but I know not everybody is able to do that. Great question, thanks for watching.
Best way is and very affective get stainless steel good quality scissors one clean cut makes a perfect cut every time. Razor blade works but risk of not getting a clean cut.
I agree with you sometimes it is hard to get a clean cut all the way through with a razor blade. Especially if it is a larger anenome. Thank you for watching.
Thank you for watching I am glad you enjoyed it. These guys really do not need a ton of flow. They do well in most conditions so it is a great coral and easy to care for. As long as all your parameters are correct in your aquarium he should open up within 48 hours. He is still a little shocked from the move I bet.
@@cmaquatics7428 thank you and also I didn’t glue him because the guy In the pet store said there gonna stick it’s foot on two the rock plus I put him in a tight spot and I got a lot of flow in my ten gallon plus my water was perfect so I can’t wait to see it grow
Honestly this is not one of my aquariums it was at Disney world when I visited last month so I have no idea what type of filtration they are using on it. They are doing an awsome job on all their aquariums at Disney though.
Bro, you fell for that aquatic laser overpriced. Restamp bs my friend eBay thous are for 50 bucks stronger than that 1 you got with the case.. not 3 watts
Hey hello. The laser I have is absolutely strong enough to kill an aptasia. You are correct in the fact that it is gimmicky and I agree there are much more effective methods for taking care of this issue. Thanks for checking it out anyway, have a good one.
No anenomies in that aquarium, it is a type of LPS coral called frog spawn. It is a type of euphyllia. It gets its name because at the end of its tentacles it looks like small frog eggs.
I test for alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, ph, salinity, nitrates and phosphates. I do water changes one weekend and then the next weekend I test. It works for me and my schedule. I dose alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium. I do use a dosing pump now did it by hand for years.
Personally I hate the 'no water change" movement. It's either people coping with the fact that they can't figure out how to make RO water so they want to believe that water changes are meaningless or it's people who think they've figured something out when in reality they'll have a crash eventually. Regular water changes are a huge reason for my tanks success. After the tank was really established I added a third week between water changes and I could immediately tell. My tank likes 10% water changes bi-weekly. I used reef crystals as well and it's always been great for me. Nice video!
The problem with no water changes is that over time, any number of molecules can build up in volume to become a poison, pariculary organic compounds, I.C.P tests do not cover these, its a very gradual process. You are correct it's a crash waiting to happen. It may take many years, but it's inevitable at some point.
I agree with you. I know there are people that do the no water change method but I can't figure out how. It always causes so much instability for me and I don't like killing things. It sounds like you have your system worked out for your set up and you know what it likes. The aquarium I used in the video really likes about 25 percent every two weeks and thats what I stick to for that one. Thanks for watching my video, I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Have a great day and a happy new year. 😀
Not extreme no, just enough to gently move the coral and keep it clean. Just enough so they open up and are happy and don't get beat up. There is such a thing as too much flow. You have to see how your coral reacts and adjust until it's happy. As far as recommendations go, do you have a certain type of coral your asking about or just in general. Really depends on your education level with each species, but I'm happy to help if I can.
@@cmaquatics7428 amazing. Yes, I’m noticing that. I have a hammer and Duncan that love my tank and also porites. Hmm. So my Goni is almost dead, and my galexia is fading. I know so many things are involved so I’m not asking but curious about how I can improve. My tank is young, maybe 8 months, I have only corals a blood shrimp and 3 weeks now 3 Chromis have been fit. Plus 5 snails and a TON of feather dusting tube worms that want to take over everything hah
Yes there are a ton of factors that go into keeping a reef aquarium healthy. It sounds like you have a good start on the hobby. Some good generic tips for ya would be never dose anything your not testing for. If your not testing I would recommend starting. That's how you know what is really going on in the aquarium. It's not as important to hit specific numbers with your parameters but try and pick a range (within good for that specific parameter) and go for stability. Stability is what makes a healthy reef. If you can keep parameter swings to a minimum you will have happy coral. This is especially true with alkalinity and sps corals. Hopefully this helps a little. Just keep educating yourself, that will save you from so much loss and frustration. When trying to diagnose a problem with your corals think chemistry, flow, lighting, pests, and disease. The issue will probably be within one of those categories.
At the very end of the video I showed a U tube I cleaned already. You usually have to run the rag through the tube several times to get everything. I cant do that in one minute for a short so I showed a clean one at the end. Also if you have one that is really dirty and is not coming clean ill soak the tube in hot water and distilled white vinegar over night. That really helps losen any Coraline algae or crud in there.
Yes if they are happy they will take off. Aquarium people are funny. We complain when coral dies, and we complain when it takes off and flourishes.....lol 😆
been thinking of doing this, i got a 12 gallon long and im setting up a 65 gallon and its taking FOREVER LOLOL I was just looking at the same trash can so i can just fill it and the put a pump in it to fill the 5 gallon buckets. I have the 75gpd aquatic life RO. I thought that would be ok but i may need to buy a bigger one now to make more water a day. Great video man!
Thank you I appreciate you watching and I am glad you like it. The way I have mine set up really saves on time and mixing is much easier. I have mine set up to where I turn a valve and it just recurculates the water to mix the salt. If I turn the valves then it pumps it to the garden hose to fill the buckets or aquarium directly. The first time you fill your trash can I'd recommend actually measuring the gallons. I marked the inside waterline in my trashcan so I know where to fill too and I know exactly how much salt to put in to reach my 1.025. One thing I would add to mine is an automatic float shut off valve for the rodi filter. I have over flowed mine before because I forgot about it. Im pretty sure my filter is a 65 or 75 gallon per day so I'd try yours first unless you really just want to buy a new filter, I get that too.
Well I hope thy continue to get better. Thanks for watching, I really appreciate you letting me know, I enjoy interacting with the community and trying to make videos that might help somebody. Have a great Christmas 😃
No I have not had issues with it. I don't know if the glass just doesn't conduct heat or if the water in the aquarium disperses it. With that said I run the laser 10 to 15 seconds at a time because I'm a paranoid person when it comes to my aquariums but I have not broken an aquarium or even etched the glass with the laser. My prefered method of aptasia control is still the sodium hydroxide though. (Aptasia x)
@cmaquatics7428 right now I'm using the red sea coral pro salt that has 12 DKH and its doing well. I was noticing what everyone else was about the brown residue from the instant ocean reef crystals . I may start using the lower grade salt that has 8 DKH because I'm having hair algae blooms. I think it's too rich. I do water changes alot, my lights on very minimal time. And it's mounted high so I've lowered what the tank gets par wise but still. I get crazy hair algae. It's driving me nuts lol
What are your parameters when you test. Is your phosphate and nitrates hi? Unless your keeping a lot of acros and stoney corals you don't need that hi dkh. I try and keep mine at a stabile 8.5 to 9
Great video! I had a bad case of green cyanobacteria in my nano 3 gallon. Water changes is what I did and it took a while to get it out but I think it's pretty much gone now.
Depends on the situation. If at all possible I try to cut corals outside of the aquarium whenever possible just to cut down on toxins being released. With that said I have never had any issues cutting xenia in the tank. I always run a little carbon on my systems too. That helps a little.
If you don’t mind me asking, do you just do a fully saturated mix ? How do you determine how much kalk is used per gallon of water? Do you find the demand and adjust the amount in there?
Hello, that is the tricky part. Yes you need to test your system l, wait 24 hours, test it again and calculate how much your aquarium uses. This number will change over time as you add more stoney corals and they get larger.
@@cmaquatics7428 Amazing ! Thanks for your information. One other question, is your salt mix close to the alk of your tanks ? I keep my alk preferably at around 9-9.4, I am not in a situation right now to mix my own salt, so the alk from my lfs is 8.5, bringing my alk down to around 8.8 or so after a water change. Are these swings significant, and is there anything I could do to combat this issue from your experience. Thanks a lot
Question for you. I have a large colony that is about 5 inch by 4 inch that looks like Favia but it has a hard feel not fleshy. Great color but not soft at all. Is that Favia? Or something else?
Hello. It sounds like favia. Favia is hard and is not soft. Obviously I can't identify it without a picture but from the information. You gave me it sounds like favia or favites.
@C&M Aquatics that's what I thought too but never see sweepers or they never get soft not even at night. But the colors are great and it grows fast so I am happy with it . Thanks for the reply and great video!
Thank you and your welcome. Are you sure they are not acanthastrea. They have softer flesh and send out sweeper tentacles. There are some smaller head acans that could look similar to favia.
@C&M Aquatics no I have acans as well. The ones i think are favia/favites I have do NOT have sweepers and are never soft. Almost like a stony on the outside and all over. Never an open mouth, just a center dot.
I'm glad you liked the video. Are you putting mixed salt water in your ato, if so you don't want to it will mess up your salinity. If you have questions about it let me know.
I found on Facebook Market place big rock with this coral for sale 75 dollars. I never grow coral . I'm bringing back old dead coral s. I have 150 gallons aquarium and 90 gallons Aquarium saltwater. I'm thinking about buying this Is it a good idea. For me i would not mind if it took over my Aquarium I want to learn how to grow them. I have sunlight shine through my Aquarium and light says it can grow coral s. Then it could be way to make extra money? I would love to hear your thoughts
Hello and thanks for checking in. I was slightly co fused by your question but I think I understand. If you are buying a dead coral rock or a piece of coral that is not alive, you will never bring it back. Once coral is dead it is dead for good and can not be brought back. Stoney corals leave their calcium carbonate skeleton behind when they die but they will never be alive again. If you have any other questions please let me know.
