Miss Wiggle And Big Ian's First Marine Tank!

[SkiFletch]

While I'm thinking about it, thought I'd add a little piece of knowledge I just gleaned from my own LFS. I saw a bi-color blenny and another blenny there and I was bout to pull the trigger on purchasing one until the owner remembered I have a Tridacna Derasa clam. He says that SOME individual blennies might nip at clam mantles, kind of like some pygmy angels might nip on SPS or open brains if the mood strikes them. Since my clam is non-negotiable, I didnt take the little guy home. Just thought I would share

 

[hubbard_shark]

everytime i read this i wonder when the mandarin is gonna be bought. its got me wantin to know more about them. i have a refugium too, and was wonderin what special needs r needed for the mandarian that requires the refugium, besides copepods, etc. thx

o and tank looks great

 

[BigIan]

the mandarin will be bought in aproximately 2 years when we have a bigger house and bigger tank,

I`ve decided i want a pygmy angel as there would be more movement in the tank then.

Plus i`ve seen some quite large mandarins and don`t want one that big in a tank this size

 

[Miss Wiggle]

apparently he's not a bicolour blenny, my mistake. he was sold to me as a flame tail blenny, came home and researched and found bugger all then just googled blenny, found one that i thought looked the same which was the bicolour, went back to the lfs today, referred to him as bicolour and he said he's not that, cos he's young he's similar looking but he's definately not the same. rare in the trade apparently. he's gonna call me back with the latin name later

 

[Miss Wiggle]

algae algae algae

no idea where it's all sprung up from but it keep cropping up from nowhere, nitrates are acceptable, reduced the lighting to 6/7hrs per day. keep getting more of it everywhere!!

got red stuff on the sand again, the glass gets misted up and green spot within a day or so.

really frustrating me!

 

[tmreynolds]

algae algae algae

no idea where it's all sprung up from but it keep cropping up from nowhere, nitrates are acceptable, reduced the lighting to 6/7hrs per day. keep getting more of it everywhere!!

got red stuff on the sand again, the glass gets misted up and green spot within a day or so.

really frustrating me!

Have you tested your phosphates, and are you running a phospahte binder like rowaphos?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah we have some rowaphos in there.

not tested the phosphates for a couple of weeks, we've had no issues with them before though and nothings changed on the tank.

we upgraded the lighting but that was ages ago now and it's literally the last week or so algae seems to have taken hold

will do a phosphate test and see what it says

 

[tmreynolds]

got red stuff on the sand again

Is it cyanobacteria, or diatoms do you know?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

got red stuff on the sand again

Is it cyanobacteria, or diatoms do you know?

no idea sorry, can attempt to get a pic but our cameras not too good so i don't think it would end up identifiable

 

[SkiFletch]

Usually red is cyano. Is it slimy or furry looking?

 

[tmreynolds]

got red stuff on the sand again

Is it cyanobacteria, or diatoms do you know?

no idea sorry, can attempt to get a pic but our cameras not too good so i don't think it would end up identifiable

diatoms are usually brown and your CUC should eat them, however on a more established tank like yours and because I think they're redish, sounds like cyanobacteria.

cyanobacteria can gets its nutients from lots of sources apparentely, so phosphates might not be your issue.

Do a search on here, theres loads of info and pics of both.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it almost looks like thick redy brown dust over the substrate if that's any help!

 

[SkiFletch]

mmm, thick dust... Sounds like cyano. Checked your RO TDS recently? Phosphates? Any Rowaphos in there or other ferric oxide chemical media?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

mmm, thick dust... Sounds like cyano. Checked your RO TDS recently? Phosphates? Any Rowaphos in there or other ferric oxide chemical media?

not checked the TDS (batteries gone in the meter) but we flush the membranes before every top off and water change and it's under 6 months old so it should be giving us any bad readings.

I'll attempt to get some batteries asap and check it, will do a phosphate test too soon.

Think we have some rowaphos in there, how long are you meant to leave it in before replacing it? Is it like carbon where it spits back out what it's sucked up once it's done?

 

[tmreynolds]

mmm, thick dust... Sounds like cyano. Checked your RO TDS recently? Phosphates? Any Rowaphos in there or other ferric oxide chemical media?

not checked the TDS (batteries gone in the meter) but we flush the membranes before every top off and water change and it's under 6 months old so it should be giving us any bad readings.

I'll attempt to get some batteries asap and check it, will do a phosphate test too soon.

Think we have some rowaphos in there, how long are you meant to leave it in before replacing it? Is it like carbon where it spits back out what it's sucked up once it's done?

No, one of the benfits with rowaphos is that it doesn't leech phosphates back into the water.

I usually change mine every 6 weeks with the carbon.