Heh, I'd love to but a little pressed for time here
. Quick info, if you're still having problems with hair algae and cyanobacteria (which I don't see in your pictures...) do not feed phytoplankton yet. That would just be adding fuel to the nutrient fire that keeps these nuisance algaes going.
Don't know if it's too close to the mushroom as that left-most head is not yet extended. If it does come in contact with the mushy, it will sting/kill that mushroom. IMO not a big loss as mushrooms grow/multiply fast anyways.
Of utmost importance when keeping torches (in my experience) is to maintain alkalinity over 7dKH. Below this they start to recede and may even bail out of their skeleton, both not good things.
Yea you cant see the cyano in that most of those pictures because those pictures were before the breakout, if you want, i can get some new pictures.
Either way, to be safe, i turned the torch so the bottom torchy thing isnt touching it.
I planned on getting the test kit with alkalinity today cause the one i have doesnt have it.
I'll try and answer whats been missed but if I forget any just repost the questions you want answers to again as there is now stuff everywhere and its hard to pick out what has been answered and whats not as far as you are concerned..
Skimming..
As you have a 55g tank I would recomend you get one. There are quite a few types on the market. What you buy will depend on your budjet and tank. If you dont have a sump then youll have to go with either a hang on external or an internal skimmer. A good shot of the top half of your tank/lid/light set up will help us advise you what you can fit in. Internal skimmers powered by an airpump are by the far the cheapest and quite east to run and maintain. But there are height limits as so much of it has to be above the water line and if you have a lid and glass support struts that will effect what type of skimmer you can get. This is also the same for the hang on externals. It all depends on your tank as to what you can stick in there.
Skimming is a good way of keeping down nitrates and organic matter in the tank so helps with balance. It removes the protein particles fromm the water by means of bubble faom which is passed into a collection cup. This in turn is emptied and cleaned regular.
CUC
This is entirly upto you. But to be honest at this stage I would consider the most important thing to be getting yout tank stable before adding anything else. Get all the live rock you want bought and added to the system to get any ammonia/nitrate spikes out of the way first. Once the tank is stable then you can thing about adding other stuff. Anything you add to an unstabe tank is at risk of death and your are throwing you money away! and as for the dad with the shopping addiction I suggest you give him a good telling off and explain he needs to wait and have a bit of patience..lol
Cheato.. Pods
Yes you can add that to your tank but it need to be put somewhere where there is good water flow, otherwise it will soon get full off rotting rubbish that can cause a problem in itself. Its also a good way of bringing down both nitrates and phosphates which will help with long term balance of the tank. The pods will find there own way in to the rock work and cheato so you dont have to do anything. You can sometimes buy them on such as e.bay in bottles Ive had them myself in the past. Best thing to do is to get your macros establised first so they have somehwre to go then buy some and also buy a turkey baster/large syringe and inject them straight into it. That way you give them the best chance.
Cyno & algae..
Best way to deal with this is to get you tank stable. so if you do all of the other stuff thats been mentioned this should help dramatically with any outbreaks. If you are still having problems when the tank is settled then you can stuff to add to your filter to reduce the phosphates and this again will be a huge help.
Worm in picture above..
Thats a harmless spagetti worm they are great at clean up and will harm nothing so just leave him be
Anything Ive missed please repost.
Ok ill get some pictures of the top of my tank, but basicly, it is completely covered and theres like 1 inch from the water to the cover. And i dont have a sump. So is there anything u suggest or do you need pictures or a better description?
im geting live rock asap but we can only go to the pet store every weekend. And i keep TRYING to tell my dad but he doesnt like that fact of live rock, he thinks it a waste of money, does nothing, and if we put rocks in there, they will turn into live rocks...
Alright well i have 2 power heads now so i think theres enough water flowing, but wont the chaeto fly around? Should i point the power head at the chaeto?
and once i get the chaeto and live rocks settled then ill buy some pods (right now, to feed my blenny im just stuffing a bit of froz brine shrimp into a empty shell and droping it, she always finds it and she will eat alot of frozen foods.
So my main problem right now is no live rocks... For now should i just scoop the layer of algae on my sand off?
Thanks for answering most of my questions, ill repost any u missed
EDIT: Repost of questions:
-When u say filter media, do u mean the woolly things that u put in filters to catch the stuff when the water goes through it?
-What type of skimmer do u suggest?
-Is there a certain name brand i should look for, or certain type that i should look for?
-There isnt that much space in my filter system for liverock rubble to fit in. What is filter floss, should i just go to my LFS and ask them to explain?
-How do i add carbon to my filter?
-My filter uses a spongey thingy to clean the water, so should i chaneg that to something else?
-and i have like 5 baby brittlestars in 1 of my rocks, is there anythig i should do?
-or should i just ignore them?
-feed them something?
-will they hurt anything?
I have been told that i might have truoble with my choco star, but so far it has does nothing bad and it became my favorite thing in my tank, but ill watch it,
-what bad things will it do?
-and what should i do with it?
-alright and are there anythings i should be watchign for with crabs and hermit crabs will they eat anyhtign i dont want them to eat?
-also how many of each do i need
-what type of hermit crab should i get?
1.What and how/why do u quarentine fish? (Does not quarentineing fish cause whitespots?)
6.Can i and should i get a fuge with out a sump?
9.What are diatoms? and how do i know if i have them?
12.Do mushrooms, and polyps, leathers, and other solf corals need any speical additive, or food that i should feed them? Feather dusters also? or just phytoplankton?
13.What is a good sandsifting invert/fish that is reef-safe? and easy to take care of.
-How do i know when my torch is dead or dieing?
and if you could look over my list of future fish i want and see if they are all ok to have (i want the most peaceful, and easy to take care of, reef tank, cause this is still my 1st take. although my dads goal is to have a lion fish tank
but i dont think that will happen unless we get another tank)
. Once QTed, hyposalinity of 1.009sg or a copper treatment of 0.20-0.30ppm copper will handle most parasitic infections. Bacterial ones obvoiusly need antibiotic treatment, but are less common in saltwater aquaria than parasites.
(
but this time a promise i won't get anything else till its stable, how do i know when its stable? my dad agreed this time, he always convinces me to get something.
