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SquishyFishy

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BTW Dr. Tim's came and is in the tank, so hopefully the params will begin to stabilize quickly.

 

Your tank is less than a few days old and you're already adding livestock? Even with the addition of Dr. Tim's my tank was still cycling at week 3-4. Be cautious, keep an eye on your parameters, your tank is ready to have some livestock when you have no detectable ammonia and nitrite but with your situation, I would have Seachem Prime handle. Also know that pH buffers not only raises your pH but alkalinity as well.

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Still no ammonia

PH is at 8.0

Nitrites- going down .50

Nitrates- going down slowly 8ppm

 

I'm thinking the bacteria are not getting enough to eat since I have never measured any ammonia...emailing Dr. Tim today to discuss

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Emailed Dr. Tim with all my params and got this response:

 

Hello

You're on track. The One & Only is working which is why you don't see ammonia and the nitrite is dropping.
Enjoy your tank.
So I am encouraged, they also said the clown should be fine. So I'm going with it!
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Yep....their response is exactly what I was thinking. Don't do anything about the diatoms. They will fix themselves. Just part of the cycle. Once your nitrite drops to zero, do a water change and add a clean up crew.

 

That video isn't working, but the picture looks great :).

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You're so helpful Gena, Thx. That's what I thought...been reading on the forums about them. I got a recommendation from the CUC guy ya'll talk about

 

10 dwarf Ceriths

3 Nassarius

4 Florida Ceriths

4 Nerites

 

...will wait for the magic number and go get them!

 

Should I order these from him or try to find them at lfs, they didn't seem to be able to identify the different species very well when I asked about the CUC down at lfs.

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Order them from Reefcleaners. They always add more then you order. Excellent service, will beat your LFS with the numbers you get for sure.

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Dang obstinate trite/trates....still SLOWLY going down. Still no ammonia

NO2-.20ppm

NO3-3 or 4ppm

PH 8.0

After I use up the API kit I'm getting something a bit more accurate or at least better graduated.

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I am constructing a net top for the tank. Although this will have a frame, after I decided to do this it occurred to me that it really doesn't need one. You could simply make a heading like curtains and put elastic in it and it would just be pulled down over the top of the tank and stretch taut, you'd have to make the elastic pretty taut. Or you could even attach velcro to the rim of the tank and the screening. But it wouldn't be as aesthetically pleasing so I'm going ahead with the original plan.

 

I am going to take process pics and will post them here

 

Materials:

Vinyl moulding, found at Home Depot but do not know exactly what its for. It is moulded in a U shape with one side longer than the other and I am using screen spline to push and hold the netting I am using into the fold of the U.

Using Screen angle pieces to give structure to the rectangle and glueing it all together with gel glue

The screening are paint sleeves used to strain lumps out of paint. It is white but when stretched taut will be almost transparent. It is also soft (softer than typical window screening) which will help protect jumpers.

 

I had to use sewing skills because the sleeves had to be deconstructed and pieced together. I sewed them with my sewing machine using French seams (double seams) So it can't unravel. Since it is nylon it should not rot. It will lay like the glass pane does now being held up by the tank clips provided by IM and I'm ordering some more of those to provide more support on the long sides of the tank. I absolutely hate the glass top, because I have dropped into the tank twice now just doing maintenance. It does help with evaporation but it's annoying to have to lift up a heavy glass top when needing to get into the tank to feed.

 

Pics coming...

 

Thx Steelen! Will do.

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OMG! This is so cute...I know I have become a nut about my clown Solo, but he is the berries!!!

 

He is now taking to hovering at the entrance of Patti's condocave with his chin resting on her doorstep and lets her stroke him with her antennae...I will try to get a pic but I just can't believe how cute he is. I don't think he has anything for her to pick off him, but goes through the motions....and I didn't think peppermint shrimp were fish cleaners.....too cute!

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Awesome DIY screen!

 

Clownfish are just too cute. More so when they are little :). My big mama isn't exactly what I'd call cute now. She pretty, but ginormous LOL. The male is still cute. His face is much sweeter looking.

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Todd and I like to humanize our pets, we always put voices to 'em...nerds! But he is so cute, it is like he is talking to ya....."She's got the pellets, she's got the pellets!" Too funny! :P

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Today params:

 

no ammonia

trace of nitrite maybe .10 hard to tell

no nitrate

 

time for CUC?????? Diatoms are getting pretty nasty

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Too late I ordered it....priority mail should get it here by Wednesday and by then the nitrite should be entirely gone.

 

I'll do a water change on Tuesday even though there is no nitrate just to be sure.

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Do the water change before you add the CUC. Clean your tank, scrub the tanks glass etc before you do a water change.

 

After that add the CUC :-)

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If you have algae on the glass remove it only on the sides people can view it from. The "food" is on the rocks and in the sand so dont worry about that :-)

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Well everything has flat lined:

 

0

0

0

and all the animals are getting fat and sassy! Cycle was 9 days total.

 

When will I be ready for a Xenia? Next month? I have scrubbed at the diatoms to get them into the water column and filtered and the rocks and sand looks tons better. PH is good and I got some Calcium dose stuff to prepare the water for corals. CUC is on its way shipped tomorrow. Things are looking up and even after I really screwed things up there at the beginning. I'm pleased.

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Things are moving right along :happydance:.

 

I would wait for your CUC to arrive and settle in, before putting anything else in. You'll no doubt have some DOAs that will challenge your biofilter a little. A week-ish after adding CUC, put in some coral!!!!! :)

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Gena what is the best way to insure the CUC is healthy before it goes in. I plan to drip acc them, but could they be quarantined in a container first? Only got snails, can I get some kind of crab to go in with them? I want to try to eliminate any dead bodies if possible.

 

I'm getting a little algae(green) on the back wall and am glad it shows up so well on the white! Got it off easily. Should I let go wild to give some food to the little buggers!

 

And again how high should the NO3 get before water change again. It's still negligible today.

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Aha well got my answer from Reefcleaners...you NEVER drip acc the snails! Would've killed them...he also says don't give up on them, they can be dormant(not moving) for up to 3 days....I know this is correct because the snail in my FW tank does that, scares me to death, he just lays like lettuce but if you feed the tank he jumps up and says Whoa! and starts moving.

 

Now that the tank is stable do you think its just OCD jitters to test all params EVERY Day! I was thinking of just testing NO3 every day.

 

Also what tests do you buy for the Magnesium, Iodine, etc. all those trace elements it takes to make a good reef environment?

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