Mstefa1 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Thanks, I'm trying to keep it stock as much as possible. Seeing the how the corals I get look in the store compared to in my tank might change my mind though. Hopefully there isn't much difference. Your not understanding... The light isn't just to make the corals look good. It's to support the zooxanthellae algae in the corals which is why reef tanks require spectrum and intensity. Noticed a few Isopods crawling around and floating in the current, as well as much more bristle worm activity. Do I need to feed these guys and the feather dusters? I'm raising brine shrimp for the green spotter puffer I have in my Spec 2 and since I had tossed a cube of frozen baby brine shrimp into my coral tank I figured it was ok to toss the dead brines in as well. Good idea/bad idea? Is it necessary to feed these critters? Any schedule I should keep to for feeding? Or just let the tank do its thing? Do not feed your tank. Pods don't require feeding and I'm concerned about your water quality. Such as small water volume can easily turn into an algae disaster overnight. Just to confirm, your using RODI or distilled water, NOT tap water correct? Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I had an ae8 up and running for about a year before upgrading it was an awesome little tank but even the 8 gallon was too limited as far as stocking corals and fish. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Your not understanding... The light isn't just to make the corals look good. It's to support the zooxanthellae algae in the corals which is why reef tanks require spectrum and intensity. Just to confirm, your using RODI or distilled water, NOT tap water correct? No I'm using drinking water I bought from the store. I'm a college student starting a 2 gallon tank, I'm not building the Boston Aquarium or a marine research institution. Link to comment
evanski Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I've read s bunch of posts from reefers who keep pico tanks that have PAR30 and PAR38 lights who say it was too much light even hanging high above the tank and still burned their soft corals. Strongly disagree. You do have to pay some attention to what you put where, and acclimate sensitive corals appropriately. Most folks using the PAR bulbs are getting REALLY good result. If you like a slick look, go have a peek at the Nanopox stuff. Amazing, controllable, dimmable. Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 No I'm using drinking water I bought from the store. I'm a college student starting a 2 gallon tank, I'm not building the Boston Aquarium or a marine research institution. Use distilled as your base from now on. You can get it from walmart for $1-1.50/gal. Helps keep undesired docs and heavy metals out of the tank. Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 sorry to fume, it is tech tuesday here at WPI so I'm kinda drunk Link to comment
Mstefa1 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 No I'm using drinking water I bought from the store. I'm a college student starting a 2 gallon tank, I'm not building the Boston Aquarium or a marine research institution. Then you haven't done enough research - And I do NOT appreciate your sarcasm as I was only trying to help. Reefers use RODI or distilled because it doesn't contain phosphates, as well as other elements that fuel algae growth. You can easily get RODI from local reefers, or from your local reef store very cheap. Or just as good, pick up distilled for about a buck a gallon. You will need extra to cover water changes and evaporation. No need to buy an RODI unit for such a small tank. Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Strongly disagree. You do have to pay some attention to what you put where, and acclimate sensitive corals appropriately. Most folks using the PAR bulbs are getting REALLY good result. If you like a slick look, go have a peek at the Nanopox stuff. Amazing, controllable, dimmable. nanopox? Is Dave sick? Do I need to send flowers? Link to comment
evanski Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 nanopox? Is Dave sick? Do I need to send flowers? Bwahahahah! I am possibly the worlds worst typist. Heard of small pox, cow pox, chicken pox (not really a pox virus at all), monkey pox, camel pox, even dragon pox (Harry Potter)...but never nanopox! Link to comment
famousdan314 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I agree with what others are saying, you can keep the entire tank stock but the light has to go if you want any decent results with keeping corals alive. I used my ae8 tank for fresh water prior to converting to a marine setup and the led bulbs started blinking and burning out. It lasted a whole 7 months before I had to replace the light all together. I don't mean to sound like I'm lecturing but a lot of people who are trying to help you know what they are talking about and have some experience. They have also done their homework. I suggest doing some research prior to purchasing any livestock. Most responsible reef aquarium owners tailor their tanks to support whatever kind of corals, fish, etc they plan to keep. They don't just throw things in and hope they survive, its unfair to the living creatures and is not sustainable to the hobby or the environment. With that said I wish you only the best and hope you enjoy your tank. Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 They don't just throw things in and hope they survive, its unfair to the living creatures and is not sustainable to the hobby or the environment. I have. I know I shouldn't and it's not a behovior I would ever advise anyone else to try. I should stress doing that tends to bite me in the @$$ costing me a lot both financially and enjoyment. I have however gotten better with more knowledge and learning a very important lesson. If I don't know what it is I don't need it. Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I did order my PAR38 bulb tonight. It was the cheap, 12W dimmable light, but I think it'll be way better than the stock light I have now. Plus its dimmable with a remote for white and blue LEDs individually. It does come with 30 degree lenses, but I can easily switch them over to 60 or 90s if necessary for pennies. And if it breaks, heck I live in a frat house at a reputable tech school (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), I have plenty of bothers who are Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) majors who play around with LEDs of the sort and greater, so I think I'm covered in terms of customer service and repair. The snail I saw when I first took my live rock out of the bag from petco appeared tonight!!! Looks like a collonista snail? Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Just take the lenses off completely says I they aren't really nesessary with at tank so shallow. par readings take a hit but not by all that much. That snail looks like a sundial snail but it could be a colonista. If it's a colonista it's all good but Sundials are zoa eaters and need to be quashed for the safety of any future zoos you may get. Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Also I noticed, with a magnifying glass, these tiny worm-like organisms protruding from a hole on the rock. My pictures are too zoomed in and blurry, but they appear to be 2-3 long, brown worms that protrude from the same hole on the rock, but do not migrate. As if 2-3 legs on a sea star were trying to grasp something from inside the rock. These limbs don't migrate around the rock as the bristle worms do, but just appear to be trying to grasp things. I wish my pictures could show them, but they are about 0.1mm thick and probably extend from the rock 10mm. They have no other distinguishing features other than that (i.e. bristle worms look fuzzy and have 'bristles' on them). As I have said, they are tiny and I only spotted them with a magnifying glass. Pest? Friend? Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 do they look kinda spiky it could be a brittle sea star. Not too uncommon for these to lurk in the rockwork I tend to get lots of them from petco bits much to the charign of my dad who never gets fun hitch hikers. I blame that on his use of only dry rock and golf ball size live rock. Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Just take the lenses off completely says I they aren't really nesessary with at tank so shallow. par readings take a hit but not by all that much. That snail looks like a sundial snail but it could be a colonista. If it's a colonista it's all good but Sundials are zoa eaters and need to be quashed for the safety of any future zoos you may get. So here is the snail, the best pic I could take Collonista? Sundial? do they look kinda spiky it could be a brittle sea star. Not too uncommon for these to lurk in the rockwork I tend to get lots of them from petco bits much to the charign of my dad who never gets fun hitch hikers. I blame that on his use of only dry rock and golf ball size live rock. I would say no, but they're so small its hard to tell. They are brown and very long for their width, 2-3X that of the sea star you have there. They look like 2 long appendages, and 2-maybe-3 short ones protruding from the rock. I think it might be a tiny sea star of some sort trapped in the rock, because what would it be otherwise? Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Hmm ... when it gets bigger we'll come back to the wierd thing when you get good shots of it. The snail looks like a colonista from here. check it against this guide. http://www.chucksaddiction.com/Hitchsnails.html Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I vote collonista for the snail, as does this topic Thanks for the help on that ID though Horerczy Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 my thoughts as well. they look good so theres a bonus. Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Awesome! My light is estimated to arrive next monday-wednesday, vote that I continue with getting a zoa tomorrow, or cuc for now and zoa when? Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_new.tpl&product_id=207&category_id=20&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=34 this kit should be perfect, dont bother getting a bigger one unless you have a thing for overloading you tank with snails. Owner has a habit of giving extra anyways. Even the tiny packages have free shipping. When you have the light then zoos. Zoos are fond of tanks that arent super clean so the wait can only benefit you where they are concerned. Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 Just ordered my CUC from reef cleaners. Hopefully it arrives by friday, their site did say priority shipping resumes monday... Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 probably wont. if not no biggie. it looks like you have the makings of a light duty clean up crew coming out the rocks. I've actually run tanks without a CUC before. they're invaluble to me because my feeding hand is heavy. Link to comment
mechishark7 Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 CUC will ship out monday, my light is shipping out today Link to comment
Horerczy Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Light might get there first then. Not a huge deal if your cuc is behind other things. Link to comment
pensiveone Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Use distilled as your base from now on. You can get it from walmart for $1-1.50/gal. Helps keep undesired docs and heavy metals out of the tank. I just bought distilled water from Walmart for .88 cents a gallon. Link to comment
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