Vesian Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 Well, I figure making a post here about my setup and my progress will help me, both by giving me something fun to look at and by allowing people to yell at me to keep me on the right direction . I've been reading these forums for quite a while, but I find the multitude of information (and the disagreements between what works and what doesn't) incredibly confusing. Here's the current setup: Biocube 14g Chamber 1: Heater (currently keeps the water at ~80 degrees), thermometer probe, everything else stock Chamber 2: Bioballs removed, Chemipure+Chaeto added Chamber 3: Replaced the stock pump with the MJ900 Lighting+Fans: Stock, using a Coralife Digital Power Center for lighting (12pm-9pm = Day lights, 9pm-12pm = Night lights) 10lbs Live Sand 12lbs Live Rock Live Rock, Live Sand, and Salt Water from LFS added on 2/25/09 Cleanup crew added 1 week later on 3/4/09, consisting of (don't know if I have the right amount of CUC...): 1 Turbo Snail 4 Astraea Snails 2 Margarita Snails 1 Peppermint Shrimp (eradicated all the aiptasia!) 3x small coral frags added 1 week later on 3/11/09 for $13.99 each (identified as "beginner corals" by the LFS, don't trust them though. One is a Zoa) and the FTS: Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 How's the size of my cleanup crew? Pace? Angle of the pump return good? Will my Peppermint Shrimp ever return my love? Link to comment
clifford513 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Looks like a good start to me. The margarita snails will most likely die if they are a temperate variety. The corals look good. to NR. Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 When I woke up today and looked at my lovely aquarium, I noticed that the mushroom was looking incredibly sickly (the edges were snow white and looked like they were crumbling). If you look at the picture I originally posted of it you can even see small white pieces on the left stalk if you look closely. I took it out and cut off the stalk that looked infected, but I don't think it's going to last even with it removed. I'm watching it closely. The other two frags are 100% fine by the looks of it. I'm going to hold off on adding anything for a week or so to be sure everything is okay. Link to comment
mdavis203 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 I, personally, would wait 2-3 weeks before adding any more livestock to make sure your cycle's over. Also, chuck the bioballs before they start to become nitrate factories. Run chaeto and chemipure in the second chamber, StevieT's media rack is great to use in the second chamber. I have one for my second chamber and will run filter floss, chaeto, and chemipure using it. Move the thermometer probe to the third chamber, so it's not right next to the heater. Link to comment
subielover Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 You seem to be moving pretty quickly. Could you post your water parameters? Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 16, 2009 Author Share Posted March 16, 2009 I, personally, would wait 2-3 weeks before adding any more livestock to make sure your cycle's over. Also, chuck the bioballs before they start to become nitrate factories. Run chaeto and chemipure in the second chamber, StevieT's media rack is great to use in the second chamber. I have one for my second chamber and will run filter floss, chaeto, and chemipure using it. Move the thermometer probe to the third chamber, so it's not right next to the heater. Yeah, that's the concensus i've seen on these forums, mdavis, and I appreciate your input. Unfortunately, it appears that StevieT has picked up shop for a month while he moves, so I can't order it for a month :-( Moving the thermometer probe is an EXCELLENT idea, no idea why I didn't consider that. Will do that immediately. You seem to be moving pretty quickly. Could you post your water parameters? That's the thing about this hobby. Some people (on the forums and in my LFS included) say i'm fine at my pace, while others say i'm moving too quickly. That's the main reason why I made this post/log, and I appreciate your comment subielover. I'll run ammonia/nitrite/nitrate/pH tests when I get home tonight. Link to comment
subielover Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Yup, everybody always has an opinion on the best way to do things. I prefer the slow and steady route, as I don't have money to burn. What have your water parameters been? Were you getting measurable ammonia before adding corals or your clean-up crew? Link to comment
mdavis203 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Yeah, that's the concensus i've seen on these forums, mdavis, and I appreciate your input. Unfortunately, it appears that StevieT has picked up shop for a month while he moves, so I can't order it for a month :-( Until Stevie gets his shop back running, you can still run that configuration in the second chamber, it just won't be as "clean" or convenient. Just stack the stuff on top of each other. You can always take it out and put it in the media rack when Stevie gets back up and running. Really, during the cycle, you don't need anything in there, except maybe some filter floss (Walmart non-fire retardant pillow stuffing) to filter out particulates. I'm running my second chamber completely empty while my BC14 is cycling. The biggest thing is to get those bioballs out of there ASAP. The longer they're in there, the bigger shock it's going to be to your system when you do remove them. Concerning the rate of adding livestock... There are some which will add quickly, and some have had success in doing this. But, this appears to be the exception rather than the rule. The only time I would say that you might not have to wait a month on the cycle is if you're using fully cured rock and sand from someone else's tank. I'm talking been-in-an-active-tank-for-months cured... not sat-in-a-plastic-tub-with-a-pump-circulating-for-a-couple-of-weeks cured. You'll hear some people on the forums talking about adding fish and corals in a couple of days and having success. But, what you're not hearing is the people that did the same thing and crashed their tank. For every person that posts a quick-add success story, there are 99 that are too embarrassed to post about how they went too fast and cratered their tank. But, that's just my opinion. Others have different ones. You are doing the right thing by posting on here asking questions and soliciting advice. I love your rockscape, by the way. Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Here's my perameters: Temperature: 80.1F Specific Gravity: 1.024 Ammonia: <10 mg/1 (lowest reading) Nitrite: <0.2 mg/l (lowest reading) Nitrate: <10 mg/l (lowest reading) pH: 8.2 Link to comment
subielover Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Pretty much perfect. I would say bump the specific gravity up a notch or 2 and you are golden. Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 17, 2009 Author Share Posted March 17, 2009 Bioballs removed. Bag of Chemi-pure Elite added to the very bottom of chamber 2, a ton of chaeto added ontop of it. No light yet (LFS didn't have any), will go tomorrow to another store to pick one up. Also added a Hydor Flow to the pump return to randomize the water flow. Link to comment
subielover Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 I would also pick up another powerhead. Either a Koralia 1 or Koralia nano would work. In my BC14, I have a maxijet 900 for a return and 2 Koralia nanos for added movement. Link to comment
mdavis203 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 A Koralia 1 has really good flow, but I bought one for my BC14, and IMO it's really too big for the tank, aesthetically. As soon as I got it out of the box and saw how big it was, I ordered a Koralia nano. I'll probably order a second one when I start getting some flow-loving corals. But, you may not mind the size of the Koralia 1... It's a personal decision. I've been pondering about getting a Hydorflow but have heard that they reduce the flow significantly. Have you noticed this since you installed it? Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 18, 2009 Author Share Posted March 18, 2009 I've been pondering about getting a Hydorflow but have heard that they reduce the flow significantly. Have you noticed this since you installed it? Visually I think there is a reduced flow, yes. I say visually because I can't actually see all the places the current is coming out from. I just like it because it directs the flow in random directions, which greatly allays my fear of diatoms collecting in random places in the tank because there is no flow. As for a Koralia, i'll probably get a nano, not a 1. I've heard that the 1 basically bashes your fish all over the place, and i'm not looking to create a hurricane in my part of the ocean ;-) Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 so I came home from a 4-day vacation to find several things awry in my piece of the ocean. First, it looks like diatoms are taking over my aquarium. At least, I think they are diatoms. There are also odd small hairs from a few of them. I also found one of my two Astrae snails dead, with the peppermint shrimp nibbling on him. Everything else is alive and moving about. I find that odd, as the readings were completely fine when I left, and i've been ontop of weekly water changes and correct temperature. I also found these things (diatoms?) on the front glass, along with dozens of very, VERY small white things glopping about on the glass. No idea what's going on, sigh, and now I have one less member of the cleanup crew. Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 dead snail removed :-( If I were to take a guess as to direction, I would think that I need to go down to the LFS and pick up some more CUC, especially ones that will shift the sand and disrupt those diatoms? Link to comment
Vesian Posted March 24, 2009 Author Share Posted March 24, 2009 I'm starting to get the feeling that the snail was still alive when it was in the tank but was inside its shell due to being on its side and that *I* actually killed it by removing it from the tank. Lesson learned, sigh. +Koralia Nano added on the opposite side of the tank +3x more Astraea snails added -Removed Hydor Deflector temporarily while I try to determine whether flow problems are giving me the Algae problems Link to comment
Vesian Posted April 7, 2009 Author Share Posted April 7, 2009 Added 3x Nassarius snails to move the sand around Red Algae is gone, yay! Purchased the BC14 Stand for easier cable management/cleaner look, a 50W Stealth Heater for better heat consistency, and a refractometer (the instant Ocean hydrometer was a piece of @#$%, in my opinion) Also removed the stock filter cartridge and began using filter floss from Walmart near the overflow from chamber 1. Link to comment
Vesian Posted May 19, 2009 Author Share Posted May 19, 2009 Updated shots: FTS My Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. He used to bully Bastard (my Peppermint Shrimp) and fervently defended territory. About a week ago, Bastard dissapeared. He's not in the tank, he's not in the back chambers, he literally dissapeared. :-( Shot 1 of my two Clown Fish. They're a pair, stick together the entire day+night. Got them April 10th. Can't really get a shot i'm satisfied of with my camera, but hey, this is the best I can do ;p Really odd clownfish, I think they're hosting the corner of my tank? They don't actually host anything else (kinda a dissapointment), but hey, they're fun to watch :-) I call them Bit (the smaller one) and Byte (the larger one). Shot 2 of the clownfish! A Red-Legged Hermit crab Really odd thing, no idea what it is. Hitchhiker, began growing about a month after the tank started and has exploded in size. Hey, great for something I didn't pay for! :-) Bought this frogspawn initially hoping the clownfish would host it. No such luck! The GF wanted to get this one. It's never really happy, and part of it looks like it's dying (partially red branch). This coral has been pissed off for weeks, never comes out. I've moved it around in the tank several times and it doesn't change, almost convinced it's dead. Sigh. Everything else seems to be thriving. I feed the clownfish once every two days. The tank is usually ~78-80 degrees f with a specific gravity of 1.25. The tank is lit with the day lights from 12pm-10pm, and with the night lights+LED's from 10pm-11:59am. There are 3 Nassarius snails keeping the sand shifted. The turbo snail is still around, as is 1 margarita (1 died about a month ago). Several astrae's munch around the tank as well :-) I've since added StevieT's mediarack to chamber 2, with filter floss on the top, chaeto in the middle (with StevieT's fuge dual lights keeping them lit), and Chemi-Pure Elite on the bottom. In Chamber 3, I still have the MJ900, and have since added Purigen where the stock spunge used to be. Link to comment
StevieT Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I hope you enjoy the rack! Thanks again your tank is looking great Link to comment
Formula462 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 , and a refractometer (the instant Ocean hydrometer was a piece of @#$%, in my opinion) having problems reading the hydro much? lol refractometers so smug Link to comment
northstar1357 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 My cleaner shrimp disappeared too. i had it for 2 weeks and then it molted and i took out the shell and the shrimp shrunk and literally disappear. Anyone know else experienced this? Link to comment
Vesian Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 , and a refractometer (the instant Ocean hydrometer was a piece of @#$%, in my opinion) having problems reading the hydro much? lol refractometers so smug I ditched the swing arm hydrometer about 1.5 months ago and bought a refractometer from DFS. I enjoy having it, I don't have that question in my mind as to the reliability of the result after I test my water like I did with the swing arm. My cleaner shrimp disappeared too. i had it for 2 weeks and then it molted and i took out the shell and the shrimp shrunk and literally disappear. Anyone know else experienced this? I know, seriously. He was able to get into the back chambers once, I found him 3 days later hiding in chamber 3 and I got him back out. Since then i've added StevieT's fish guard (ironically, I ordered it BEFORE this incident happened, just wasn't able to get it in time). Then one day, I just noticed Mr. Peppermint shrimp was gone. No trace. I've literally tore the entire aquarium apart, no trace of him. Nothing of a size that could eat him without me knowing it. It baffles my mind. In other news, i'm pretty much ready to give up hope on the coral that's constantly closed, i'm looking at it right now and it hasn't changed. Sigh ;-( Link to comment
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