New To Saltwater

[seffieuk]

to the salty side of life

Seffie x

 

[Yuma]

Missed getting stats up yesterday.

Day 6
Temp 80.2
PH 8.1
Ammonia 0<.25
NO2 0<.25
NO3 10
SG 1.024


Day 7
Temp 80.4
PH 8.1
Ammonia .25
NO2 .25
NO3 10
SG 1.025

Added ~30 lbs of live rock today that was transported 2 hours to me. Seen a few hitchhikers so far...and looks like I've got some Aptasia to burn.

Here's a pic of what it looks like now...gotta do some aquascaping and see how much more rock I need.



And here's my LOVELY hitchhiker



Yuma

 

[seffieuk]

I assume you are being sarcastic when you say 'lovely' hitch hiker?!! Aiptasia, get the soldering out

Seffie x

 

[Yuma]

VERY sarcastic Seffie.

Gave the biggest ones a drink of concentrated lime juice this afternoon(didn't have any lemon on hand)....see how they like that.

Will keep you up to date.


Also, along with the Aiptasia I got ALL kinds of other goodies in there. I see some tube worms, buncha snails, some brittle stars...and all kinds of microscopic "floaties". Dont you just love all of my technical terms? LOTS of purple corraline, a few red bubble algae, and even a bunch of micro feather dusters.

The tank is finally starting to feel alive. Expecting a large ammonia spike in tonight's water test, and then maybe we can finally complete the cycle over the next few days.

I'll try to add details and scientific names for the things that I think we have identified this evening.

Yuma

 

[Yuma]

OK, water stats for tonight....fingers crossed.

Temp 80.2
Ph 8.1
Ammonia 0.00
NO2 0.00
NO3 15<20
Sg 1.025

Maybe the cycle has completed. I'll give it another day or two of tests just to confirm since newest live rock was just added last night.

So, here's the preliminary stocking idea: (any thoughts greatly appreciated)

CUC - probably go with usual suspects, but with number of little aiptasia I have, think I need to make sure to include some peppermint shrimp (in the future)

Fish:
Clown - Probably Percula
Firefish
Goby - Yellow watchman
Chomis
Cardinal
Flasher Wrasse

Invert likes:
Tuxedo Urchin
Pistol Shrimp - (in the future)

Suggestions, ideas, comments. Won't do all at once obviously, and may not do all of them, just some that we are interested in.

Yuma

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Looking good. Could be the cycle has completed but I would leave it a couple more days to make sure before adding anything.

Stocking list looks ok. Can't comment on urchin as I know nothing at all about them.

For the chromis do you mean blue/green reef chromis? If so there are a couple of special things to note on keeping them that aren't often put in information about them. The first thing is they need a big group (min I would recommend is 6 but more would be better). The second is that they need to be kept fed very regularly (little and often feeding approach works best 4 times a day).

The reason for both of these is that despite being relatively peaceful fish they can be quite evil if they are in small numbers or are hungry. In either case they will gang up and kill the smallest of the group. I had a shoal of them but due to phosphate issues in my tank I had reduced the feeding. Not long after they started going missing (starting with the smallest ones of the group). It wasn't till it was too late that I worked out what was going on.

There are some very good hang on the back skimmers. Look for second hand deltec ones as the best option.

Good choice on powerheads as well.

 

[Harry1996]

i have one of those sea urchins in my tank very interesting addition to any tank.

 

[-Nemo-]

Along with what the other two said, I'm not sure whether you were planning 1 or 2 clowns, but would definitely do a pair.

Replied to your private message as well

 

[Yuma]

You're kinda partial to clowns aren't you Nemo?

I will definitely do a pair. I've been reading so much about them and their interaction together, almost seems cruel to do just one. Wish you were closer, maybe I could buy a couple off of you.

Yuma

 

[Yuma]

Water stats:
Temp 80.5
Ph 8.1
Ammonia 0<.25
NO2 0.00
NO3 20
SG 1.025


Got home tonight to large sections of corraline algae bleaching. Water tests fine, spoke with -Nemo-, must just be stress of moving for Saturday.

Here are the hitchhikers that we have managed to identify so far:
Aiptasia (ugh...killing it bit by bit)
Mini Feather Dusters
Spionid Worms
Some misc sponges
Red Bubble Algae
Asterina Star (just saw the little guy tonight)
Stomatella Varia (it's this snail, looks like a slug, but has a like flat shell, saw him first night...he's the largest of the critters we've seen)
Collonista Snails
Some other small snails....haven't figured them out yet.
See some Isopods or Copepods swimming around in the water as well.

And finally, this little jewel: (it's the golden multi armed thing at the top of the sand pile)



Not sure what it is, but it is very interesting. Since a few minutes after we placed this rock in the tank is has been building that little pile of sand one pebble at a time.
Interesting enough, there is one a little bit higher on the rock, and somehow it has managed to build a little sand pile by it's hole as well. Kinda funny to watch.

You can actually see what I'm calling a little mini feather duster in the picture as well.

Yuma

 

[Yuma]

I forgot our favorite.

We have several of these little guys too.

[font="arial][size="2"]white ball corallimorph (it's not a great picture, but you can at least make it out)[/size][/font]
[font="arial][size="2"]
[/size][/font]

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Cool, lots of life on that rock!!

The last photo is a type of corallimorph. I have been told in the past to watch out for them as the ends pack a hell of a sting and are very sticky so they can "apparently" capture/kill small fish.

However I have LOADS in both my tanks and never had any issues with them (even with a very small clown goby). I have pink, orange and white ones and they are actually really pretty.

The other thing you hadn't id'ed is a Spaghetti Worm. Harmless and act in a small part as CUC.

If you have 1 Asterina Star you will definitely end up with a lot more. Some people don't like them (because they do multiple very rapidly). Personally I think they look cool and are good minor cuc.

Edit: sorry must have mis-read. Just noticed you had already id'ed the corallimorph

 

[Yuma]

Looks like cycle may be finished.

Temp 80.0
PH 8.1
Ammoia 0.00
NO2 0.00
NO3 20
sg 1.025

Got a picture of the starfish in our tank:




As well as a NEW one we haven't seen before (Cerith Snail)
(I stand corrected...pretty sure this is a Whelk Snail)



Yuma

 

[Yuma]

[font="arial][size="2"]
[font="arial][size="2"]Last night's water stats:[/size][/font]Temp 80.1
PH 8.1
Ammonia 0.00
NO2 0.00
NO3 20
sg 1.025
[/size][/font]
[font="arial][size="2"]I did a bunch of aquascaping the night before and shifted some sand around so it's good to see that it remains stable.[/size][font="Verdana][color="#000000"] [/font][/font][/color][font="arial][size="2"]The whelk has been removed. It was given to a local reefer who fed it to his 7" mantis shrimp. [/size][/font]
[font="arial] [/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="arial][size="2"]Unleashed chemical warfare (Aiptasia X) on my Aiptasia as well. Went after the big ones, hopefully will see a dramatic decrease in the next few days.
[/size][/font]
[font="arial][size="2"]Plan is to do a 25% water change and add CUC this weekend. Does anyone know of any reference/resource that can give me an idea of how many and what types of cuc are needed? I've seen a couple, but most of them recommend what I think is an obnoxious amount of hermit crabs. I just need some general recommendations....I'd like to not do hermits if I can help it, but am not totally opposed to the idea.[/size][/font]
[font="arial] [/font][/color]
[color="#222222"][font="arial][size="2"]Thanks for following and any recommendations that you might have,[/size][/font]
[font="arial][size="2"]Yuma[/size][/font]

 

[Donya]

but most of them recommend what I think is an obnoxious amount of hermit crabs

Let me guess, 1 per gallon?

With hermit crabs you pretty much need to do the following to stock safely (ensuring no hermit/snail massacres), which is rarely the same as stocking in a cost-effective way:
- Decide which species you're going to get, factoring in compatibility issues with any snails.
- Determine the expected adult size of the species.
- Initially understock and add as-needed later to allow for growth of the hermits and increased food demand.

Otherwise it's easy to overpopulate a tank and end up with problems if the hermits are not full-size when purchased, which is the norm. A large tank might only support a handful of full-sized Calcinus elegans safely with other CUC animals, but you could almost fill the same tank with some small Clibanarius like C. digueti (not that I recommend doing so lol). Regardless of the species, the last thing you want is to overstock and then have food supply-induced attrition for hermits and/or snails. So, if you don't want any hermit crabs...don't put any in! Stock snails as needed and then see if they take care of everything as the tank evolves. You can always put hermits in later if it looks like there's a niche left open for them.

Stocking snails can proceed similarly to make sure you don't lose any to starvation in a new tank, although again it's not as cost effective. Adding a handful of snails at the start and then adding more every 1-2 weeks until algae is controlled will ensure that you don't overstock, but it will probably also ensure that you don't get any bulk-buying deals.