Rio 300 Marine

[indir-emir]

Did you purchase the rock as live rock from a store? or a person breakin down a tank?

Depending on what it was purchased as wil ldetermine how long you will cycle for

 

[xxBarneyxx]

There are two schools of thought on live rock curing (don't think there is anything on the saltwater side which everyone 100% agrees on ).

Some people leave the tank alone until the ammonia and nitrite have spiked and gone back to zero then do a big water change and start from there.

Other people will do regular water changes to keep the ammonia and nitrite down as low as possible, then to a large water change at the end.

The advantage to the second method is that any hitch hiking life you have on the rock is less likely to die of because of the ammonia (so you end up with more hitch hikers).

Personally though I tend to use the first method and still have a ton of different critters running around in my tank.

As already mentioned depending on your LR source, how it was transported and how it was handled you may not get much of a cycle at all.

 

[Rio300]

Yer im using your first method barney! To be honest going by my tests the ammonia spike hasnt been bad at all so there shouldnt be much die off! Im going to do a little scraping of the rock tomorrow as there are some soft particles on there that i want to remove and ive read its best to get rid of them early? Pet rock watching is fun!

 

[seffieuk]

For now, just pet rock watch - don't do any scraping, you might be scraping off sponges

Seffie x

 

[Rio300]

For now, just pet rock watch - don't do any scraping, you might be scraping off sponges

Seffie x

Thanks Sef! You just slapped my hand away as i was going to open the lid! Watch and watch only.....arhhhh

 

[seffieuk]

Thanks Sef! You just slapped my hand away as i was going to open the lid! Watch and watch only.....arhhhh

indeed, patience

Seffie x

 

[Rio300]

Can anyone help me in regards to these two growths on the rock?

 

[seffieuk]

One looks like a red macro algae and the other a sponge

Seffie x

 

[Rio300]

Hi Guys,

Ok finally got to do some work on the tank and this is where im at. Took some photos of the aquascape (working progress) let me know what you think. Ive had so much fun trying to catch a glimspe of the critters in the live rock.

Some photos of a shrimp ( please tell me what you think it is) and other growths on the rock. And yes before you mention it i am aware the glass is dirty!

Is this a feather duster in the middle? It retracted as soon as i took the pic

I think this is an amphipod (i hope it is....please not a mantis?)

Is this a flat worm?

 

[seffieuk]

Looks like you have lots of life = a shrimp of some sort, a sponge and maybe a stometella

Seffie x

 

[Rio300]

The rock watch is still going!
Well yesterday the tank stepped up a notch! Critters coming out all over the place. Got pics of some....one especially i really want to know what it is and cant find it on the net anywhere. Some help would be great


This brown hairy guy has white nippers....i read that hairy = bad? Should he be taken out?

This thing i dont have a clue about. It is like an egg. It pulsates and has a breathing hole on the end?

This guy has white eyes brown nippers. Good or bad?

Some sort of shrimp

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Wow a lot of life in that rock!!

The shrimp does look a lot like a mantis shrimp from the photos.

The crabs, probably hard to ID. There are so many different types of crabs you can get that unless it is one that is normally sold as an ornamental crab getting an exact id is difficult. Generally I would recommend getting them all out and putting them in the sump or a different system.

The pulsing thing with the tube (assuming that it doesn't move). I cant remember the name but its a harmless filter feeder, got a few of them in my tanks and they come in various colours. If it moves then I dont know what it is.

The thing that retracted was a feather duster (pretty looking one too).

And the last pic is one HUGE bristle worm (harmless but dont touch it, I got tagged by days ago and my hand is still sore and swollen. Teach me not to follow my own advice and wear gloves).

Looks like its coming on well!

 

[Rio300]

Wow a lot of life in that rock!!

The shrimp does look a lot like a mantis shrimp from the photos.

The crabs, probably hard to ID. There are so many different types of crabs you can get that unless it is one that is normally sold as an ornamental crab getting an exact id is difficult. Generally I would recommend getting them all out and putting them in the sump or a different system.

The pulsing thing with the tube (assuming that it doesn't move). I cant remember the name but its a harmless filter feeder, got a few of them in my tanks and they come in various colours. If it moves then I dont know what it is.

The thing that retracted was a feather duster (pretty looking one too).

And the last pic is one HUGE bristle worm (harmless but dont touch it, I got tagged by days ago and my hand is still sore and swollen. Teach me not to follow my own advice and wear gloves).

Looks like its coming on well!

Thanks for the help Barney!

There is so much life so looks like i got what i paid for being "premium" live rock.
Ill be taking the crabs out when i can catch the things! The feather dusters are all over the place! They look good. Worms are taking over!

Ill be sure to remember the advice about the bristeworms..... Your pain is my gain! Hope the hand is better

Daniel

 

[seffieuk]

Wow, you sure got some life in your rocks

I agree with Barney

The thing with the hole is probably either a sponge or a tunicat and that shrimp does look very similar to a mantis I would get it out along with any of the crabs so they can be better identified - easier to catch them at this point The last crab however might be a filter/algae feeder, check out the shape of his pincers?

Seffie x

 

[Rio300]

Need some advice guys!
Went away for the weekend and came back to a very smelly house. Looked at the tank and it has become very cloudy with a large hair algae bloom all over! The smell is really bad and there was a white film ontop of the water which i removed similiar to clag.
I have done a water change....whats my next move? Is this normal in the cycling process?