Andreww Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Noticed my Ammonia levels are really low around 0.5 one and a half weeks into the cycle and immediately thought of putting an ammonia source inside.... I asked the manager and friend at the LFS what's up with the live rock and he said its cured and that its been sitting in their tanks for over 3 months with lights on and plenty of flow, thus having little or no die off in my tank. I'm like ok makes sense..for now I only turn my lights on for 4-5 hours tops just for viewing my tank in the evening after work...have a negligible amount of diatoms and I'm wondering what to do next... Household Ammonia or raw shrimp? I def don't wanna cycle with fish in. Link to comment
vlangel Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Noticed my Ammonia levels are really low around 0.5 one and a half weeks into the cycle and immediately thought of putting an ammonia source inside.... I asked the manager and friend at the LFS what's up with the live rock and he said its cured and that its been sitting in their tanks for over 3 months with lights on and plenty of flow, thus having little or no die off in my tank. I'm like ok makes sense..for now I only turn my lights on for 4-5 hours tops just for viewing my tank in the evening after work...have a negligible amount of diatoms and I'm wondering what to do next... Household Ammonia or raw shrimp? I def don't wanna cycle with fish in. I have heard if you add ammonia and the test shows 0 the next morning you are good to go. That is what an experienced seahorse keeper does and seahorses are more sensitive to ammonia than fish. Link to comment
Andreww Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 I'll add some ammonia and see where I'm at. Maybe 1-2 ppm will be gone by the next morning . If not up it to 4ppm and wait weeks. Link to comment
pewpewkittah Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 That scape is awesome. I would definitely use household ammonia, you can dose it accurately and its a lot less messier then using a shrimp. Link to comment
Andreww Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Thank you, will do. I decided I'm gonna get a pair of CQuest black onyx clowns and contacted Seaandreef out in Maine to see their availability and price. They were very helpful but couldn't give me a price since they don't sell to hobbyists but told me to choose the nearest pet store and have the manager contact them and order a pair for me.im expecting to pay over 100$ for a pair from what I've seen so far online. My question is, after the LFS receives them, is it wise to let them sit there for a week or so and then transfer them to my tank or take them home the day they arrive at the LFS? Just curious ...thanks Link to comment
Andreww Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 I posted in another sub forum but I thought I'd do it here also. Almost 2 weeks in and everything is 0 except nitrate which looks pretty orange to me. How is this possible this fast? Link to comment
Spencer7 Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I posted in another sub forum but I thought I'd do it here also. Almost 2 weeks in and everything is 0 except nitrate which looks pretty orange to me. How is this possible this fast? It's not that insane or unheard of. You're bored right now, you're staring at your empty tank and can't wait to put stuff in etc. I'm not even bothering to test my tank (at Day 12) right now, I know when it's done cycling and I'm giving it up to six weeks. Just be patient and resist saying 'My aquarium HAS to be doing this now and it's not?!?', all tanks are different, you know that. So just sit back with a beer and have fun doing something else, get your mind off the tank for a bit. Unnecessary drama and fidgeting around won't do any good. Link to comment
Andreww Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Astrea, Nassarius and Cerith snails are in. One of each...not making a big deal of clean up but I wanna stock lightly over a period of a few weeks...Next is a couple more snails and a cleaner shrimp, maybe a peppermint shrimp as well....after that,2 clown fish....and by Christmas hoping to have a few corals in there as well. Am I moving too fast?overstocking my 17g tank? Link to comment
ragtimewilly Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Sweet looking tank I like the scape and the light color. As far as overstocking I've found it best to give a week or two between adding new stock. I haven't found adding small inverts problematic, fish and overfeeding are usually what changes my tanks stability. Good luck. Link to comment
Spencer7 Posted October 26, 2015 Share Posted October 26, 2015 Astrea, Nassarius and Cerith snails are in. One of each...not making a big deal of clean up but I wanna stock lightly over a period of a few weeks...Next is a couple more snails and a cleaner shrimp, maybe a peppermint shrimp as well....after that,2 clown fish....and by Christmas hoping to have a few corals in there as well. Am I moving too fast?overstocking my 17g tank? Nope, sounds good. Link to comment
Andreww Posted October 26, 2015 Author Share Posted October 26, 2015 Sweet looking tank I like the scape and the light color. As far as overstocking I've found it best to give a week or two between adding new stock. I haven't found adding small inverts problematic, fish and overfeeding are usually what changes my tanks stability. Good luck. Thanks, I added a skunk cleaner shrimp today. Will he have food to eat from LR for awhile or do I have to feed him from day 1? Link to comment
Andreww Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 Little update : Tank is doing good, still getting some diatoms but they're slowly going away. Changed the light with a Kessil A160WE. Added a branching frogspawn and a small colony of green birdsnest. Corals are doing good, massive polyp ext ever since they acclimated and got the right spectrum of light. I have plans on a custom Trigger Systems Emerald 26 sump. Pretty much keep the length and height, but cut down to only 9" deep to fit in my cabinet. The design will look more like the Emerald 39 sump. Getting a MAME overflow when Neil at SWC is getting them back in stock( Most likely this Friday) About to add a big hammer colony (8-9 heads) next to the frogspawn and a big enough torch on the other end of the tank. Live stock is as follows: - 2 skunk cleaner shrimp - Watchman goby paired up with tiger pistol shrimp(gotta love all the digging). - blue tuxedo urchin - a mandarin ( most likely going back to the LFS). Adding a pair of nice clowns next week. Thats about it for now. Pictures to follow. Link to comment
Spiderguardnano Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Let's see some pics I bet it looks awesome with out that freshwater spectrum over it Link to comment
Andreww Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Added a pair of clown fish ...the female is 3 times larger than the male but they're getting along well... Also added a red and green favia, green and blue open brain coral and a green bubble tip anemone. Everything doing well so far.. The favia looks like it grew it's own skeleton and grew out in the shape of a golf ball, instead of encrusting and that's maybe because it was mounted on a plug instead of a rock? Ideas?... Well I sorta have like half the ball ...they split it in half and sold it separately maybe... The GBTA moved about 2 inches from the initial spot I put it in, and it planted it's foot in a hole as expected. But at night it completely hides in the crevice and I can barely see it. When the lights are on, it comes back up ...not sure if it's normal but I'll keep an eye on it. The male clownfish being 3 times smaller than the female found its home , and started hosting the anemone second day after I introduced the nem in the tank. Below is a link with a video of him playing in it . Video and pics taken with an iPhone and quality is as expected, very poor and very blue. In the process of acquiring a canon 5D Mark iii or 7D mark ii...will see which price the wife agrees to. Link to comment
Andreww Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Also made a rather unpleasant discovery... I was using water from the LFS for my WC and they always told me its 1.026. Today, the American pinpoint salinity monitor came in the mail and after calibrating it with their solution mix, I tested my water and my jaw dropped. It was at 1.020. So I'm gonna mix my own salt today (ESV) and do a water change. If I do the mix at 1.026, (3 Gallon water change in a 17g tank), will that raise the salinity in my water too quick? I don't wanna shock the anemone and corals... I guess I'll test after the water change and see how much it raised it...but I'm pretty annoyed , looks like the store is trying to save on salt compromising customer's livestock.... On another note, my clowns showed signs of ick, but now a few days later they look much better... Maybe the lower salinity helped. Link to comment
Mikeymikemike Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Lower salinity does help with treatment Link to comment
Andreww Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 Just changed the water...looks like if I mix 3 gallons at 1.026 in 17G of water, it raises the salinity by a little over 1 point. So I went from 1.020 to almost 1.022. I don't know if I should keep doing water changes weekly or 2 times a week til I get to the desired salinity on the main tank. Maybe I need like 3-4 water changes to get to 1.026. Link to comment
Andreww Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Added one small Cynarina. Time for more corals today . MAME overflow arrives today as well. Photo taken at the LFS before I picked it up. Link to comment
Andreww Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Well well, trading my green bubble tip for a huge rose bubble tip anemone. Good enough reason to upgrade in a few months...They just got it in today and it was open and inflated pretty good, closed mouth and clean foot. My gbta is on the move currently coming out of the hole with my Vortech pointed at it. They really don't like over 1000 GPH blasting them sideways muhaha Link to comment
Mikeymikemike Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 Awesome stuff! Please some photos of the mame overflow set up Link to comment
Andreww Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 Will do, currently acclimating the RBTA. Really excited...this thing must be 8+ inches across when open. Gotta look for a 60 gallon cube or the like in the near future.The MAME is still on the truck out for delivery...we'll see what happens and what time it'll get to my door. Link to comment
Mikeymikemike Posted December 2, 2015 Share Posted December 2, 2015 im interested to know if the Mame would fit on a tank with thicker glass... say 15mm Link to comment
Andreww Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 Well I just finished putting it together....It will fit without a problem. On my tank which is 6mm , it has quite a bit of play. It will wit on tanks with a rim I believe. It's pretty but dang I'm scared to handle it too rough. Found an easy way to take the tubing off ...slide a zip tie end in between glass and vinyl tubing and twist..comes off easily. Now to find a bucket that fits in my cabinet, at least until I get a proper sump so I can throw in it all the things that clutter the display. Link to comment
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