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Ocean front property in Arizona


jereader

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Ok guys. I've been lurking on here for a while, and have asked a couple of newbie questions, and first and foremost, I want to say thank you to everyone.

 

I am setting up my first SW tank, and it's slow goings as I live a minimum of 3 hours away from the nearest fish store... Anyhow, I have had water in the tank for a week or so...

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Last night, I added my first live rock. I must admit, that I was very excited at this point.

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I intent to have a Goby and a Pistol Shrimp in hopes that they'll pair up, so I put the rock in before adding the sand. I don't want any rock slides killing fishes or breaking my tank. When I added the sand, here's the result...

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Heh... kinda hard to keep the sand storm down in such a small tank...

 

Anyhow, as of this morning, here's how the tank looks.

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Still a little cloudy, but clearing up...

 

Ammonia is reading .5-1.0 ppm, so the cycle is beginning.

 

 

I'll keep posting pics as things progress.

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greta start! tank specs? lighting? filtration?

 

there are many many very reasonable priced online vendors to shop from. its hell of a lot better than driving! and actually the shipping costs are prob less than or equal to the price of gas! :lol:

 

good job!

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Thanks for the feedback!

 

The tank is a 12g Aquapod. Lighting is stock, as is filtration, however I'm only using the sponge in the first compartment right now. I plan to do some LR rubble and some chaeto in the back eventually...

 

Regarding shopping on the inter-web... Unfortunately, I live in an area where there's no such thing as overnight shipping, and I'd rather not mess with sending back dead animals through the mail. It's easier and less heart-wrenching to make the 6+ hour round trip and know that the fish stands a chance to make it home alive.

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that sucks that you live so far away from a LFS. I have that same tank as you and started it up 2 weeks ago. Here is a pic from a month or so I go I believe ...

 

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I have upgraded the stock hood to the 70W 16.5" Sunpod and absolutely love it. It has revitalized my Bubble Tip Anemone (BTA) and my hitchhiker monipora digatata (SPS). Very pleased with it. Stock hood aint too bad though. it just depends what you intend to keep in it.

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Smarcus - It does kinda suck being so isolated, but I have to be where the money is, ya know? Of course if the copper industry keeps going the way it has been, I might be moving in the forseeable future.

 

Anyhow, just curious... how long did your cycle last when you first started your ap12, and how often did you do water changes during the initial cycle, if at all?

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Just wanted to share a picture of "Bob" the snail. (Named by my wife Kara :) He's not the first hitchhiker I've spotted in the tank, but thus far, he is definitely the most interesting! I've also seen a couple of red worms, bristle worms I think, and another worm who was transparent and seemed to be sticking bits of sand to itself...

 

Sorry for the pic quality, I don't exactly have the best camera... maybe santa will bring me a nice new nikon w/macro mode for christmas! :)

 

Also, in other tank-related news, I received my new MJ1200 this afternoon, and installed it in the tank. It definitely moves a lot of water! Highly recommended upgrade for aquapod owners!

 

***EDIT***

Upon further inspection, there are a minimum of three snails in the tank. Not sure which one is bob at this point... ;)

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Great looking tank so far Jereader!! It definitely looks like you've done your homework. Just remember the golden rule, take it slow. I look forward to seeing how your tank progresses.

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Smarcus - It does kinda suck being so isolated, but I have to be where the money is, ya know? Of course if the copper industry keeps going the way it has been, I might be moving in the forseeable future.

 

Anyhow, just curious... how long did your cycle last when you first started your ap12, and how often did you do water changes during the initial cycle, if at all?

 

1 week and a day.

 

Never until the tank finished cycling.

 

How many gallons is the tank. I was thinking of upgrading my AP 12 to a MJ 900?

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1 week and a day.

 

Never until the tank finished cycling.

 

How many gallons is the tank. I was thinking of upgrading my AP 12 to a MJ 900?

 

That's what I thought. I've read both sides of the coin though... and the guy at the LFS keeps saying I should do water changes daily. I'm gonna leave it alone though.

 

Anyhow, I have the ap12 as well, and I put the MJ1200 in. I am kind of wishing I'd have gone with the 900. My tank temps are sitting generally around 80-81+ since the upgrade, whereas I saw 76-80 with the stock pump. On the upside it allowed me to use my ebo jager heater for my wife's guppy tank. ;)

 

I'm going to start looking into a small chiller soon.

 

Also:

 

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My algae population is definitely beginning to thrive... Maybe next payday I'll get some CUC. My snails that I had spotted in there are MIA as of late... Hope they're OK... My son decided to name one of them "Shelley." Get it?

 

:)

 

Anyhow, hope you have a happy turkey day, and thanks for the info.

 

*** EDIT ***

One of the snails made an appearance long enough this morning for my son to decide that it would be the one named Shelley.

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That's what I thought. I've read both sides of the coin though... and the guy at the LFS keeps saying I should do water changes daily. I'm gonna leave it alone though.

 

Anyhow, I have the ap12 as well, and I put the MJ1200 in. I am kind of wishing I'd have gone with the 900. My tank temps are sitting generally around 80-81+ since the upgrade, whereas I saw 76-80 with the stock pump. On the upside it allowed me to use my ebo jager heater for my wife's guppy tank. ;)

 

I'm going to start looking into a small chiller soon.

 

Also:

 

100_0766.jpg

100_0767.jpg

 

My algae population is definitely beginning to thrive... Maybe next payday I'll get some CUC. My snails that I had spotted in there are MIA as of late... Hope they're OK... My son decided to name one of them "Shelley." Get it?

 

:)

 

Anyhow, hope you have a happy turkey day, and thanks for the info.

 

*** EDIT ***

One of the snails made an appearance long enough this morning for my son to decide that it would be the one named Shelley.

 

you should be good to add your clean up crew. They are pretty darn hardy.

 

Hopefully you had a good thanksgiving as well. And good luck with the tank. Also that temperature is okay if its constant at that temp.

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I'm going to be in the city on sunday, and I know of a SW store there. I'm gonna go check out there CUC's and pricing, and I might bring some back with me.

 

The alternative is reefcleaners.org... Their prices are amazing, the only concern I have with going that route, is shipping. There has traditionally never been ANY way to get something to the town I live in overnight. Do you think the CUC are hardy enough to survive two days of shipping?

 

A thought I had was order twice as many as I might need, and hope at least half survive...

 

Input from any veterans?

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GrandpaFeathers

I had a hermit crab live two weeks in a 2.5 gallon bucket of old tank water. I never changed his water, topped off, or fed. He was in there with a small piece of rock. He was causing lots of problems, so i banished him and forgot.

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Upon discovering the black friday sale at reefcleaners.org, I decided to go ahead and take advantage of their rock-bottom prices. I ordered 4 dwarf ceriths which were on sale 2-for-1 so I'll have 8 of them, and I ordered 4 of the Juvenile Florida Ceriths, for a total of 12 critters.

 

I decided to wait on purchasing any crabs as the information of their website states that they don't really do so well shipped by priority mail. Instead I'll try to stop in the afore-mentioned fish store in the big city this sunday for those guys.

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Quick update.

 

I went by the SW store that I knew of in ABQ new mexico, since i was in the area, and they were right in the middle of moving, so, no hermits yet... :(

 

On reefcleaners.org, they have the blue leg hermits, but I don't see the red legs. Anyone know where I can order one or two of the red leg variety for a reasonable price? Maybe a fellow reefer would like to donate to a good cause? ;)

 

Also, I came home to find the tank sitting at 74f... Not good considering it was between 76 and 80 previously. So, I have another heater on order. Went with the Ebo Jager 9" 50W.

 

I've borrowed my dad's Nikon D70 with macro lense, so I should have some good pics to post up tonight as well. Lots of exciting new things were showing up before I left for the weekend, hopefully everything will be ok after the cold spell. We shall see...

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Alright guys... sorry i haven't posted any new pics like I said I would. Dad's D70 is not being friendly. As soon as I can get him to come give me some help I promise to get some pics posted.

 

As for the tank, there is still life in there after the cold spell. I have seen a snail or two snacking on the abundant algae that has set in, and I also saw the biggest bristle worm in there yet! He was probably a good half inch long!

 

Also, the MJ1200 makes for some interesting sand distribution. Even without either nozzle pointing directly at the sand bed, little hills get moved around all over the place. Very cool to see.

 

Anyhow, I promise not to update again until I have pics!

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Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I do have some new pics, and I hope to update soon. My hours have been messed up lately due to the downturn in the economy. My company has skilled tradesmen doing labor work 10+ hours a day, 7 days a week. It should be over soon, and then maybe things can get back to normal.

 

Anyhow, happy reefing!

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Alright. Sorry for the long delay in updates, see above post for explanation.

 

Without further delay, PICTURES!

 

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What are these things? Seems like i find them near areas where I see bristleworms. They appear overnight, and are gone in a day or two. This is the biggest one I've seen yet. Any ideas?

 

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See the tiny flower-looking thing on the underside of the center piece? Here's hoping it's not aiptasia... There are two, maybe three of them on that one piece of rock. I haven't seen them anywhere else, and they don't really seem to be getting any bigger. Sorry the pictures aren't better, but it's hard to avoid the blur with a macro lense when the tripod is on carpet.

 

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Some shots of bristleworms I've seen in various locations. There seem to be several of them in there. My understanding is that these guys are considered pests. If this is the case, what eats them?

 

Alright, that's all I have for now.

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I was in albuquerque again yesterday, and was able to get into SW Reef Supply on menaul. First, I must say that I was very pleased with this store. The people were all very friendly, and helpful, as well as knowledgable. The prices also were very reasonable. I intended to purchase a few red-leg hermit crabs, but left with much more.

 

I wound up purchasing 4 blue-leg hermits, an emerald crab, a peppermint shrimp, and a very nice frag. All of this cost only about $30. I believe the coral is a Palythoa, but I am not sure. I will have pics to post soon, hopefully someone will be able to help me identify it positively.

 

Also, I have a strange creature that has shown up on the glass. It looks like a little tangle of veins, and it changes shape and moves about the glass slowly. I have been snapping shots of it repeatedly, in hopes that one of them will be clear enough to identify it, as well. The trouble I am running into is that even with a tripod, the camera still shakes due to the carpet.

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Just a few pics.

 

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The veiny thing I mentioned before. What the heck is this thing?

 

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First coral. I believe it to be a palythoa. Someone care to confirm or correct?

 

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The emerald crab next to the coral. I like this guy. He's fun to watch, and he had cleared my tank of green hair algae in the first four hours of being in there!

 

Anyhow, that's it for now. Comments, questions, answers?

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I am very excited about this tank! I keep finding new and interesting things! This morning, I discovered what looks to be a tiny conch! I can't be certain of it, but it, it had a very long proboscis that was searching for food, and a body that was partially buried in the substrate. It was transparent, except for a dark line which I presume is involved in food processing. I was on my way out the door, headed to work, but I snapped a handful of pics. Hopefully one of them will be clear enough for ID.

 

Also, I think I have figured out the solution to the blurry photo problem. I'm looking into a remote for the camera so that I don't have to touch it to snap the photos. I'm quite certain that will enable me to take clear shots!

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Update with pics.

 

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I realized today that I hadn't put up an FTS in quite a while, so here it is.

 

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Some shots of the coral, which I will continue to call a Paly until someone corrects me. The colors are not exactly what you see with the naked eye, but they are pretty nonetheless. My next hurdle with the nikon D70 is going to be capturing colors properly. Of course it might also be the stock Aquapod lights, i suppose... Any ideas?

 

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The saga of the vein-thing continues. What is it? Nobody knows. Thus far the opinion in the ID forum is that it is... ALIENZ! *Dramatic Music*

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