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Cultivated Reef

Normandy's 34G RSM


Normandy

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I've had a thread going in the AIO section, but I guess this section is more appropriate now. I started my RSM yesterday w/ 33 LBs. of cured Fiji and 9 Lbs. of cured Tonga. I'm yet to see many hitchkikers other than a ton of Feather Dusters and 2 Aiptasia (which I've begun the process of eradicating w/ Aiptasia-X). Thanks to all for helping me get this far, especially StevieT.

 

Here is what it currently looks like:

post-37765-1216647223_thumb.jpg

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Aquascape looks pretty nice! It is not a super big deal right now but you do have some surface film buildup. It takes a little practice to find the right levels to remove this but some tips would be run the water line just bellow the black molding and raise the intake grate about 1/4".

 

Also, look into hosting your pictures on photobucket. Then copy and paste the code into your posts on this or any thread, the pictures will run on the page without the need to host them here.

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Very nice, I just bought myself a 24g Nano Cube, with 5 kilo's worth of NON-Cured live rock !

 

GOODLUCK with your new biotope

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Current parameters:

 

81.5 Deg F. (fluctuates by about 1 degree throughout photoperiod 80.5-81.5)

PH - 8.2

Ammonia - .25

Nitrate/Nitite not yet tested for

SG 1.025

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Thank you!

 

I don't know if it's BS, but the guy at my LFS said that Tonga had just shut its borders and no more LR would be exported. Anyone else heard this?

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Ok, so things are pretty much holding steady, except for the fact that my temp is at about 82.0 at night and got up to 83.8 at its peak yesterday. I've had my 150w stealth heater set @ 77, but I don't think its calibrated well. I turned it down to 75 this morning (before lights came on)and within a couple of hours my temp dropped to 79.8. I'll be checking what it is at the peak again today.

 

Ammonia holding steady, @ .25, nitrites still low, but nitrates are up quite a bit.

 

Saw a ton of Amphipods on my LR w/ a flashlight last night.

 

Now I'm getting some sort of algae, green, grass like...but not fine like hair algae (at least the pics I've seen).

 

My mighty Mite RO/DI is taking the tap water from 170 TDS ppm to 0-1 TDS ppm. Great filter for the price. Getting about 3 GPH.

 

More to come.

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OK, params are still holding seady.

 

Diatoms starting showing up yesterday, gone @ night.

 

I've got an Aiptasia issue. A couple of mid-sized ones, but small ones popping up like crazy. I've been using Aiptasia-X, hopefully this will work.

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Day 5:

 

There is a bit more life each day. I saw several 1-1.5 inch Bristle Worms last night. Diatoms are increasing in amount each day and gone soon after the photoperiod ends.

 

Aiptasia is spreading. I'm killing the big ones, but smaller ones are sproutng up. Don't know if I'm missing them and then finally notice or if the little SOBs sprout up that fast. Can't wait until I can get a Pep Shrimp to gobble them up.

 

I seem to ave gotten the temp under control. Maxing out just under 82 each day.

 

Water Params on day 5:

 

Temp 81.1

SG 1.026

Amm. .25

Nitrite .1

Nitrate 10

dKh 7.0

Mg 1320

 

Holding steady. I've removed a small amount of water and added RODI to topoff in an attempt to get my SG down to 1.025.

 

Tank @ 5 days

IMG_0895.jpg

Feather Duster

IMG_0904.jpg

Zoanthid that came on live rock

IMG_0905.jpg

Just another pic:

IMG_0891.jpg

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Well, my Ammonia and Nitrite levels have become 0, so I'm adding CUC today. I had almost no cycle. I attribute this to the 43 Lbs. of fully cured LR that was only out of a tank for about 20 minutes, 20 Lbs of bagged LS and sand out of an established tank.

 

I've got a ton of Copepods in the tank and cuelpera (sp.) popping up in several areas...a great sign.

 

Not so great sign, Aiptasia and bubble algea spreading. I'll have to include an emerald crab and peppermint shrimp in the CUC.

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CUC added:

 

6 Nars. Snails

2 Mexican Turbo Snails

4 Scarlet Leg Herits

4 Red Leg Hermits

4 Margarita Snails

2 Emerald Crabs (bubble Algea)

3 Peppermint Shrimp (Aiptasia)

2 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

1 Fire Shrimp

 

Added yesterday afternoon after a 15% water change.

 

Checked Parameters this morning:

 

Temp 79.8

SG 1.025

Amm. - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate 5

PH 8.2

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wow, that is a rather large CUC to add all at once. Are you going to stay with all of those shrimp throughout the life of the tank or are you going to remove some after the aiptasia is gone?

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I'm planning to keep them all. Pretty interesting to watch.

 

If I find I need to remove some after the Aiptasia is gone I have a friend w/ several tanks to share with.

 

wow, that is a rather large CUC to add all at once. Are you going to stay with all of those shrimp throughout the life of the tank or are you going to remove some after the aiptasia is gone?
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Just remember that a shimp is like any other fish, it is bioload in your tank. They poop as much as a fish and are pigs, they eat a ton of food and my pep shrimp never seems to get full. You already have 5 shrimp in the tank, that would be almost the max amout of fish you can have.

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Just remember that a shimp is like any other fish, it is bioload in your tank. They poop as much as a fish and are pigs, they eat a ton of food and my pep shrimp never seems to get full. You already have 5 shrimp in the tank, that would be almost the max amout of fish you can have.

 

Thanks for the heads-up. I didn't realize that the bio-load was the same as fish.

 

If that's the case, I'll probably scale it down a bit over time.

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+1 on StevieT's advice! That is too many shrimp. You just made it so fish are not an option If you plan on adding lots of corals, the bio load may be too much. Also I have found that shrimp like to walk all over corals causing them to retract their polyps constantly. 1 or two may be tolerable but 5 is a bit extreme. Tank looks good though and the aquascape is really cool. Good luck with your RSM, we all love ours.

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Thanks for the heads-up. I didn't realize that the bio-load was the same as fish.

 

If that's the case, I'll probably scale it down a bit over time.

 

as smarsh said, I would have a max of 2, one would be best. They are very agressive towards food and will eat just about everything, including cleaning out your fingers when you are in the tank :D

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Thanks to all. When I'm testing water params, is there a sign that I've pushed the limit? Will I see a change in Amm., nitrite, or nitrate that is a tell-tale sign?

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you will see nitrates first, that would be a bad thing. If you see ammonia, that would be a very bad thing!

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you will see nitrates first, that would be a bad thing. If you see ammonia, that would be a very bad thing!

 

So in other words, fast nitrate buildup would mean that the load is too high.

 

Ammonia would mean that it's really high because they're not enough bacteria to keep up with the primary conversion to Nitrite?

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Exactly.....I got crazy and when I had my RSM first set up 3 hours in, I put a clownfish, Greenstar polyp and mushrooms, all of which are still alive 6 months later. I also dumped a large bottle of Cycle or Stability, I cant remeber which one, enough to treat 940 gallons. That was my way around the whole cycle. Just keep an eye on the perams over the next few days, If your tank starts to spike amm or N3, I suggest adding some sort of bacteria supplement. Good luck and keep us updated. Any pics of all the critters?

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Thank you for the info. I've started stocking the RSM since my Parameters have been perfect and the CUC is doing well...with the exception of the Margarita snails, that my LFS should have never sold me...water too warm and 2 of the 3 have died.

 

I've replaced them by 4 trochus snails that are doing a really good job of cleaning the algae. Busy little guys.

 

I've begun stocking!!!

 

I placed my first online order and what a disaster! Ordered 1x blue mushroom, 1x Green Monti frag, 1x Green Open Brain, and a small rock w 6x orange/green Zoas. The vendor threw in a Duncan for $0

 

It's damn hot in Texas right now and UPS screwed up. The package was sent overnight, but it was lost in Baltimore for an extra day. When it arrived I did everything I could, but the Brain was dead and the Mushroom had melted into nothing but a bag of maroon water. I was pissed. Still working w/ the vendor to get credit...I'll keep you posted on who it is and how things work out.

 

I also added a True Perc. He's doing well. Nitrates not rising...staying the same as they had. I haven't yet given away any of my shrimp, as I've read differing opinions on bio-load of these. I'm going to keep a close eye on the nitrates and react accordingly.

 

Yesterday, my wife decided to surprise me w/ a Green Open Brain, 2x Ricorida Florida, and a blue/green mushroom. Also, a pink/blue spotted shrimp Goby...which is really cool. I had mentioned it would be a while until I could add more fish, but she seemed to ignore that. I'm happy she is a part of this adventure and I'm leaving it at that. No more fish for quite a while now though. I'm hoping to post some more pics tonight.

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Here are the pics I took last night:

 

FTS:

IMG_1003.jpg

 

Ricordia:

 

IMG_0966.jpg

 

 

IMG_0979.jpg

 

Emerald Crab, Zoas, and Monti:

 

IMG_0996.jpg

 

IMG_0999.jpg

 

Mushroom:

 

IMG_0982.jpg

 

Open Brain:

 

IMG_0969.jpg

 

Pink and Blue Spotted Shrimp Goby:

 

IMG_1008.jpg

 

IMG_0993.jpg

 

American Pit Bull terrier (pink w/ blue spots as well):

 

IMG_0953.jpg

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So I wake up this morning to one of my Skunk Cleaner Shrimp eating my Open Brain Coral. I was groggy and furious.

 

He nibbled about 1/5 of the meat around one side of the skeleton. I'm not sure what to do to prevent this in the future, other than serving a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp coctail this weekend.

 

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