Diary of my Saltwater setup

[spanair]

Is that old fashioned as in aging and needing glasses...?

 

[leanne]

Bit of an update - there's not much to say really all is bobbing around quite nicely... Oh I did have a bit of a scare about Cubix having Ich but he may have just been covered in sand?.?.?.?.? It has gone now with me doing NOTHING! Feel foolish.

 

[leanne]

Oh forgot to add this. My shrimp has shed its "skin" - gave me a fight!

 

[leanne]

Well the sand was ich (eek). Never heard of it receding and coming back. My hawkfish has it now too. All of my fish are now at LFS being treated - just in case they all have it but haven't developed the white granulation tissue. So my tank is now fishless. They have said they need to treat the fish for at least 10 days and then I can take them back in stages so not to overload the bacterial load (I'm guessing levels will have fallen off a bit without the fish waste).

Levels:

pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - >1 (but well less than 5)
SG - 30 1/2

In the mean time I have bought a boxing shrimp (Big Al), a sea urchin (blue and black) and a feather star fish (black), 2kg more live rock and a couple of yellow polyps (with about 1kg of live rock attached). So I now have about 30lb of live rock - I believe this is enough to get rid of my filter but I'm not going to.

In the live rock, freebies I got included 2 brittle stars, a tiny hermit crab (about 1/2 cm across!) and a slug! The slug is weird its black with fluorewscent green cricles. Not sure what it is but it's the prettiest slug I've ever seen!

I need names - baby hermit, slug, feather star and urchin. I know I'm sad!!!

 

[spanair]

Hey leanne, good to see that you found out the ich was fromn the sand and you've removed all the fellas out before anything happened!. Sorry to hear though.

Good to see your diary B)

 

[leanne]

I actually thought the ich was sand as it seemed to disappear -then reappeared. Have started a little quarantine/treatment tank now as a "just in case" when they get back from the LFS.

 

[spanair]

Looking good darling

Keep me/us updated

 

[leanne]

Darling eh???

Yours is looking good too SPanair!

Update:

My boxing shrimp now hand feeds. It is so cute!

 

[spanair]

hehe ). Just been nice to a nice person .

I saw a couple of boxing shrimps at my lfs, they look quite built for a fight!. I know that one of them was a fight according to the guy at the lfs, not sure how it happened but in minutes of seen each other they pull them selves apart! . One of them lost a claw. But they were take apart as soon as they saw it happen. They didn't put them together on porpuse though. But yeah really really cool shrimps they are

 

[bgraber]

THe black slug with the green is probably a nudibranch. They Love flatworms.. i hope he finds enough to eat.. They usually dont last long unless the tank has been established for quite some time.. And I hate to rain on someones parade but your tank isn't big enough or old enough to support the mandarin(psychadelic) fish you have.. THese usually don't eat frozen or prepared foods, only copepods which colonize in and around your liverock. He will most likely starve in a month or so. Now these Have been able to be taught to eat frozen foods and such but with great care and diligence. I'd say your tank is just about at capacity already as well.. You added alot in a short amount of time. You want to clean your filters pretty frequently as well because once the stuff starts decaying in it, here come the nitrates.. Watch your tap water as well. introduces phosphates(most areas) which feed algae amazingly well. you'll most likely have an algae bloom before long. Chemipure works wonders for this.. R/O water is almost a necessity as well.. What kind of temps is your tank running at? Fluctuations will almost always result in trouble for your fish.. Smaller tanks are hard to regulate in this regard.. Let us know! Good luck!

 

[leanne]

bgraber

1) I know my tank is at capacity but then what is capacity? My ammonia and nitrites have been at 0 right from the end of cycling and my nitrate is standardly less than 5 (usually 1). My phosphate is negligable as I don't use tap water and don't overfeed. So there is no biological strain on the tank. The fish are quite happy - none are shy and retiring and they all hand feed (including my mandarin). As for stocking my tank too quickly - if I had surely I would have had an ammonia and nitirte spike? I haven't...

2) My mandarin has been there for 8+ weeks and has eaten frozen brine shrimp from the start. My tank also has a lot of live rock that has plenty of copepods.

3) I clean my filters once a week and they are never that grubby really. There is never any brine shrimp in as I turn my filter off for 2-3 minutes at feeding time so the shrimp don't get sucked in.

4) As for phosphates from tap water; I wouldn't even consider using tap water and am surprised that you would even suggest that I might...

5) Temp is 25 and has never been above 27 (I have a digital thermometer) - I believe this is perfectly satisfactory.

I was fully aware that small tanks are harder to regulate but I was aware of this from the start and as a result have been careful.
Someone once told me that I wouldn't be able to manage a full time job, a degree and 4 horses... I did. For 5 years! I'm not a quitter...

Anyway now the answers to the critiscism have been given (I would have prefered advice than critiscism - ie instead of telling someone they're doing something wrong (and possibly leaving them in the dark), give them advice on how to make the tank thrive - that would be helpful) I will post a few updated pics...

Here is my tank now I have rejigged the live rock to make it look a bit more symmetrical:

Here is my new urchin:

My remaining snail keeping my back wall clean:

Shell graveyard - so I don't lose another snail to the hermit crabs...

Cool configuration of polyps:

Another of the tank:

My tropical tank:

Here is my new baby birdie (isn't he a babe?) - Tui:

 

[spanair]

Owww I really love your tank leanner , so small yet so beautiful!.

Keep up that great work of yours and that GREAT tank you have there!.

It really looks nice .

Oh btw what happened with the snail and hermit crab?, I have 6 hermits and 6 snails .

When I get my mandarin I hope he eats the frozen brine shrimps!. I really like them

 

[leanne]

Thanks J

One of my hermit crabs murdered one of my snails so he could nick his shell!! I now have some "spare" empty ones...

 

[flintstone]

Leanne,

Just wanted to "butt-in" and let you know that I am enjoying hearing about your beautiful tank and that I really enjoyed seeing your pictures. I hope you didn't let bgraber's post get you down. Your thread is very positive, fun to read and it seems like you are doing everything "the right way".

You seem to be a conscientious and caring pet owner who should not be criticised by "experts".

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience in such a personal and friendly way

P.S. Keep it coming!

 

[spanair]

Leanne,

Just wanted to "butt-in" and let you know that I am enjoying hearing about your beautiful tank and that I really enjoyed seeing your pictures. I hope you didn't let bgraber's post get you down. Your thread is very positive, fun to read and it seems like you are doing everything "the right way".

You seem to be a conscientious and caring pet owner who should not be criticised by "experts".

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience in such a personal and friendly way

P.S. Keep it coming!

wow wise words there

dont listen to the donkeys, listen to the monkyes ??