My First Attempt At Marine (cheap Custom Tank 80ish Litres)

[creg]

thanks mark


ph 7.8
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
temp 76f
salinity 1.021

 

[creg]

aiptasia?

 

[betta fish]

Yes that's an aip I had very good results getting rid of these using peppermint shrimps.

 

[gregswimm]

thanks mark


ph 7.8
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10
temp 76f
salinity 1.021

Your salinity is low, I would bring it up to 1.024 and your temp up to 78.

It's just as well that brittle star died, not something you need to be stressing about in the beginning. They are sensitive and very difficult to keep in new tanks.

For aptasia removal, you can also inject them with kalkwasser or boiling water or cover them with kalk paste. Peppermint shrimp are annoying lol.

 

[creg]

i was going to get some peppermint shrimp, why are they annoying?

i tried to get the aip out with my hands lol didnt know they were so sneaky, it shot back into the rock instantly and i havent seen since.

thanks for the salinity advice, wasnt sure exactly how high to get it, will raise temp slightly too

 

[creg]

should i add the salt directly into the tank or mix into a jug of ro water then pour in?

 

[betta fish]

Hi, you MUST pre mix the salt in ro first and bring it to temperature, all water changes must be performed this way too, and you need to test the salinity before adding to the tank, lol yes peppermint shrimps can be annoying, they tend to steal food from corals but do a very good job with aips so it is your call, they are fun to watch and are fairly tame, mine used to pick at my hand when I put it in the tank, I had two for just over a year until they passed but no more problems with aips, incidentally my tank was aip free for many months until I bought some marine algae from a seller online and it was full of them and as a marine newbie I didn't know what they were and thought they were cute little anemones!

so beware when buying things from online sellers.

 

[gregswimm]

should i add the salt directly into the tank or mix into a jug of ro water then pour in?

ALWAYS premix the salt outside of the tank, it is even a good idea to let it sit for 24 hours before you use it. If undissolved salt were to fall on to an animal it could very well kill it out seriously burn it. And don't forget to match the salinity of your mix with your tank.

i was going to get some peppermint shrimp, why are they annoying?

i tried to get the aip out with my hands lol didnt know they were so sneaky, it shot back into the rock instantly and i havent seen since.

thanks for the salinity advice, wasnt sure exactly how high to get it, will raise temp slightly too

My peppermint shrimp were little thieves. They stole food from my NPS corals; they eventually started standing on/near the coral, I guess the shrimp figured out that the coral was better at catching food then they were. When all the aptasia went away, they started picking at my LPS. They also came at me when I had to fiddle with stuff in my tank, so I not only had to watch for my CBS pinching me but also the peppermints.


For the salinity, I keep my tank around 1.024-1.026 (I would keep it at 1.028 but I have a lot of salt creep). You can go as high as 1.031 but you will have difficulty acclimating stock that come from lower salinity tanks.

 

[creg]

whoops i thought as there was no livestock in the tank it would be ok to add some salt to raise salinity, i know about how to do water changes. hope i havent killed whatever was/is living in the tank.

 

[creg]

[background=rgb(245, 245, 255)]salinity 1.023 [/background]
[background=rgb(245, 245, 255)]ph 7.8[/background]
[background=rgb(245, 245, 255)]am 0[/background]
[background=rgb(245, 245, 255)]nitrite 0[/background]
[background=rgb(245, 245, 255)]nitrate 20[/background]

[background=rgb(245, 245, 255)]no cycle?[/background]

 

[gregswimm]

You need ammonia first. Feed the tank or add a hermit or 2. Check the nitrate level of your water before you add it to the tank.

 

[creg]

brown algae (diatoms?) growing on the rock and sand now

also something overnight created a big crater in the sand, any ideas what could have done it?

 

[gregswimm]

Looks like different colored corallines to me. Diatoms are slimy and often have bubbles stuck on them.

That is some gorgeous rock. So jelly.

Edit: Keep your Mg (1300-1400), Ca(420-470) and KH(9-12) up and the coralline will spread. Coralline also grow well under all lighting conditions, and (for me) seem to grow well under actinic light in the 420-440nm range. Iron oxide based phosphate media (phos ban) will inhibit bad algae to an extent allowing corallines to grow faster

 

[creg]

they had bubbles stuck on them yesterday and look slimy

thanks lol, was very expensive though £14 a kg, cant complain though its full of life and lovely looking.

havent tested mg, ca or anything like that yet, was going to wait till i started getting corals, would like the coraline algae to spread its very nice

been hearing very loud clicks coming from the tank at night too, from what ive googled looks like i might have a pistol shrimp

 

[creg]

asterina star i think

snail

^ not sure but have seen a few of those