I've Only Gone And Done It!

[guppy_man]

I'm new to the salted side of fish keeping so bare with me

Ok, so ive been debating whether or not to setup a FOWLR tank for a couple of months now (after alot of reading), and yesterday, for some reason i woke up and decided to do so. It's a tank i already had (but not in use) it is a 66litre (15 gallon)with external filter and 18w stock lighting, as its only going to be a FOWLR i'm not going to upgrade the lighting at the moment.

The Kent salt and RO water went in yesterday, and is measuring 1.023. Heated to 78F.
I spent over £60 on live rock, and got very little (which is to be expected) i may pick up more next week, but at the moment its helping with things. I was going to get crushed coral while i was getting everything else yesterday, but they had no bags left so at the moment its barebottom. Ill pick up the substrate next week also along with a powerhead.

I have afew questions about hitchhikers if you wouldn't mind helping me with?
The live rock is really 'coming alive' now that its settling, it fascinates me!!!

so here's some pics and questions as to what the things in the pics are...

Asterina starfish? ive seen over five of these in there. I have also spotted some smaller looking starfish, their boidies are round and they have long legs?

This slug thing, not a great pic, but its a yellow colour with a grey shell thing on it's back? ive seen 3 of these, this is the biggest at around an inch.

These i'm not sure of, this is the largest one, but there are afew smaller ones popping up around the tank.

This popped up this morning too...

This has not opened up or anything, some sort of coral?

Like i said i'm new to all this and am glued to my tank at the moment, spotting new things everytime i look. Probably nothing to some of you, but i am like a little boy on christmas morning haha


Any help/info would be greatly appreciated


O yeh, a background will be added at some point too.

 

[lljdma06]

Let me work on this for you... I love a nice Saturday morning.

Yes you'll need more rock. Aim for about a pound per gallon, or 1/2 a kilo. The rock looks great though. You got some lovely dark coralline.

asterina starfish, can eat corals. I actually have a harlequin shrimp, so I'm glad I've got a population of them, but they have systematically munched on some zoa colonies in my old 8g. Poo... The other ones are small brittle stars, generally harmless and good scavengers.

Probably a stomatella snail. AWESOME grazer and a great snail to have around.

Aiptasia, zap them. Pest anemone. That being said, I'm so lazy about zapping mine.

This popped up this morning too...

Looks to me like a wee little hairy mushroom. Good! You got some quality live rock.

This has not opened up or anything, some sort of coral?

Judging by the look of the polyp, it's probably a palythoa of some type. When it opens I can id it for you.

Like i said i'm new to all this and am glued to my tank at the moment, spotting new things everytime i look. Probably nothing to some of you, but i am like a little boy on christmas morning haha

I going to go into my 5th tank soon and I never get tired of what I affectionately call the "pet rock" phase.


Go for a black backgound, it's really dramatic.

L

 

[clay]

The fourth picture is an aiptasia anemone. Its a pest. The fifth picture is a mushroom coral. They are one of my favorite corals. The sixth picture looks like a zoanthid polyp. Its another one of my favorite coral/colonial anemone. As for the slug thing, you got me. Those are asterina star fish. Hope I've helped.

 

[lljdma06]

The fourth picture is an aiptasia anemone. Its a pest. The fifth picture is a mushroom coral. They are one of my favorite corals. The sixth picture looks like a zoanthid polyp. Its another one of my favorite coral/colonial anemone. As for the slug thing, you got me. Those are asterina star fish. Hope I've helped.

I beat you.

 

[guppy_man]

Thanks for the quick reply!

The Asterina's and Aiptasia's should not be such a problem for me though, being a FOWLR tank? Or will they attack the mushroom, and anything else that pops up in there?

Those Stomatella's are quick too, not much like other aquarium snails that are slow!
I forgot to mention too, that when the lights went off last night, i spotted what i think are small bristle worms. They were half pink, half grey in colour? around an inch long. Is it just the large bristles that are a problem or are these guys just as bad?

I'm enjoying this adventure

 

[lljdma06]

Thanks for the quick reply!

The Asterina's and Aiptasia's should not be such a problem for me though, being a FOWLR tank? Or will they attack the mushroom, and anything else that pops up in there?

Those Stomatella's are quick too, not much like other aquarium snails that are slow!
I forgot to mention too, that when the lights went off last night, i spotted what i think are small bristle worms. They were half pink, half grey in colour? around an inch long. Is it just the large bristles that are a problem or are these guys just as bad?

I'm enjoying this adventure

Yep bristleworms, great scavenger again, but don't touch them. The bristles hurt when they scrape against the skin. Not that this has happened to me. It really hasn't, but some of my friends have not been so lucky.

Well, it just gets unsightly after a while to have so many pests. They do sting though. It's up to you. Like I said, I don't really zap my pests, but I tend to have majanos in my predominantly coral tanks. They are less aggressive than aiptasia.

 

[clay]

The fourth picture is an aiptasia anemone. Its a pest. The fifth picture is a mushroom coral. They are one of my favorite corals. The sixth picture looks like a zoanthid polyp. Its another one of my favorite coral/colonial anemone. As for the slug thing, you got me. Those are asterina star fish. Hope I've helped.

I beat you.

Yes you did but only by minutes.

 

[SaltNoob]

They sting other corals and cause them to close up. I have one to zap that is near some of my zoas. I had to remove two right in the MIDDLE of my zoas. That was no fun. They also multiply quickly, but I have not experienced this as I get mine out asap.

What kind of fish are you planning on keeping?

-Tyler

 

[guppy_man]

The one that was close up, has just opened, so any ideas?

Haven't really thought about fish yet, i'll get my CUC sorted then go from there. Any suggestions what you would do?

 

[guppy_man]

Had a think about fish/invert stocking.
I was thinking maybe a pair of ocellaris clownfish, i'd buy one smaller than the other to get a pair. Then maybe some sort of goby, Clown goby? or a pair of neon gobies?

Inverts:

Nerite snails
Peppermint shrimp
Some sort of hermit crab?
Feather duster?


Not sure on inverts, so some guidance would be appreciated

 

[SamLovesCorys]

Good luck! I will be watching this thread!

 

[guppy_man]

Cheers Sam.


I have a question about a powerhead.
Instead of buying one, do you think i could use this? Its the top section of one of my internals that i had lying around.

As you can see, it has an open bottom which i covered with some mesh and secured in. Together with my external filter which turns over 480 litres p/h do you think the flow is good enough? or do you think i should scrap it and buy a propper power head?

 

[simonas]

i think the one tahts opened is a Majano anenome if thats the way to spell it and they are pests like the aspistasia

have you bought live rock from a shop at silly prices like £12 a kilo ? if so why not look on the classified ads as theres loads being sold for a £5 a kilo etc

 

[guppy_man]

Yeh i'm going to have to get rid of the, theres afew smaller ones one some of the other rocks.
I bought the live rock for £10 a kilo. Ill probably look at getting some base rock, unless i find cheap live rock.

cheers.

 

[simonas]

Yeh i'm going to have to get rid of the, theres afew smaller ones one some of the other rocks.
I bought the live rock for £10 a kilo. Ill probably look at getting some base rock, unless i find cheap live rock.

cheers.

where abouts in Wales are you/ my mate has a load at fiver a kilo in Birkenhead