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Alex's 20h


alexmurovec

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alexmurovec

and heres and equipment list:

 

-20 gallon high glass aqarium

-custom internal overflow box

-glass slider top

-65 watt 50/50 power compact light strip (may upgrade to 130 watt fixture later)

-aquaclear 300 fuge (300gph)

-rio 600 powerhead as overflow pump (200gph)

-jager 100 watt heater

-instant ocean salt

-istant ocean hydrometer

-aqarium pharmeceuticals test kit (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, phosphate)

-20 lbs live rock (unfortunately dont know which kind)

-1 lb live rock rubble (probably get about 1 more lb)

-a little ball of cheato

-20 lbs of seachem oolite aragonite sand (probably going to downgrade to 10 lbs)

 

Thats all for now, if anyone has any suggestions or anything, feel free to speak!

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alexmurovec

any idea on what those corals might be?

 

blowing off sand on rocks with powerhead good idea?

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any idea on what those corals might be?

 

blowing off sand on rocks with powerhead good idea?

 

You can use a turkey baster.

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I agreee with the turkey baster. Don't use the power head it will just create more dust storm. I can't relly see the corals you are asking about. Which picture and where in the pic?

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alexmurovec

ya, my close up shots are as close as i could get them with them being in focus. On the rock that slightly touches the back wall i can see a fee zoo's i think. They are in a little cluster of about 3 or 4 and are brown. Then in some of the other pics there are all those little orange things on the rock, maybe its not even a coral at all, haha. Then theres some little stringy plant like things on the one picture where the rock is near the bottom of the tank. Ya, kinda confusing.

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The orange stuff looks like coarlline algae, it's a good thing. The green stringy stuff looks like algae. Can't see the things that you think are zoanthids though.

 

That is 20 lbs. of rock in a 20 gallon tank? Looks kind of sparse IMHO. I would add some more rock if it were my tank. Your aquascape looks good though.

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alexmurovec

it's the deeper sand bed and i totally agree. When i first put the rock in the tank without the same it looked really nice and like it filled the tank well. Then once the 20 lbs of sand went in all of a sudden the substrate looked like the main thing in the tank. I'm pretty sure i'm gonna take a good 10 pounds of sand out of my tank today and see how it looks. I'll post some pictures too.

 

As for the corals, your probably right that its just algae and coraline. Maybe the picture cannot clarify it, but in real life it looks like i have a little colony of just your typical brown zoos. I'm surprised with how much coraline i did get on the rocks, especially on the main one on the top, hopefully it wont die.

 

One more thing, on the one rock there is a huge white honeycomb textured dead thing. I dont know if its a coral or what. Just a guess, but it almost looks like a sun coral in its first stages, but still dead. Maybe it will come back, who knows.

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Tangman1218

Lookin good Alex :happy:

 

I would say get a couple of interesting shaped pieces and create a cool cave look(s). Perhaps over time, to get more dispersed flow in yur tank, you can bump up to a pump pushing 400 gph and split the the loc line so the flow goes in 2 directions. When you start to build yur reef, youll more than likely wanna go thataway.

 

Yur substrate looks fine. Personally, I wouldnt take any out. JMO though

 

Tang

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alexmurovec

the substrate in the picture is twice as deep in real life. Its just the shadow that reflects off my dark desk, but everyones got an opinion. Maybe you dont know, but i do have a aquaclear 300 HOB in the tank as well. The intake tube is positioned inside the overflow so as much water as possible is taken from inside the overflow, causing the most water skimmed off the top of the tank possible. Even with the 300gph from the HOB and 200gph from the pump you would suggest i upgrade the pump and add another output? Any opinion is helpful.

 

EDIT: oh, and i have been looking around my tank for dead spots, everything on the rock seems to be getting pretty good flow for now, i'll have to see when i add another piece of rock or two.

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20 lbs. of sand is a good amout for your tank. I would not take any out. The other thing I did notice since you talked about the sand was that it looks like the rock is resting on top of the sand. If it is when you start to put in your clean up crew, any of them that burrow in the sand may cause a rock slide when they go underneath.

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alexmurovec

correction...i put the rocks in first, then sand after. My rocks were completely stable just sitting on the glass, then i put the sand in around them. the rocks are still sturdy too.

 

I guess i wont take any sand out, after looking around, i noticed i do have some less and in the back of the tank, so i'll try to level it out without moving the rocks. Is it necessary to take water tests every day or can i wait a week or so to test. Like, is it possible to miss a cycle by not testing every day?

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It looks like from reading the thread that you just started the tank within the last couple of days. The important test to do, and I did it daily, with a start up is the ammonia. When you see that start to increase then start to do the nitrites. Do these until you see them both go down to zero. then start up the nitrate testing. You should see a large number on the nitrate then and it is time for your first water change.

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alexmurovec

ok, so i did a full test tonight and heres what was found;

 

ammonia - 0 ppm

nitrite - 0 ppm

nitrate - 10 ppm

phosphate - 0 ppm

ph - 7.8

specific gravity - 1.023

 

the tank has only been setup since late saturday night, so that makes it only 48 hours old. I was told my rock was cured when i bought it so that would speed up a cycle right? It just doesn't seem right that my nitrate levels are already at 10 ppm. Today was the first day i tested, so is it possible that i missed the ammonia and nitrite spike already?

 

i had some time on my hands while i was waiting for the results to clarify so heres some full tank shots. sorry for the skim of dust all over the glass and rocks...i used a turkey baster to get all the sand off the rocks but there is still a film that keeps coming back, any ideas?

 

alexsaltwater025.jpg

 

alexsaltwater028.jpg

 

alexsaltwater027.jpg

 

alexsaltwater026.jpg

 

alexsaltwater029.jpg

 

alexsaltwater030.jpg

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modularduck

looking very nice. and fully cured rock will def. speed up the cycle. super nice.

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Tangman1218
you dont think my cycle could be at the nitrate stage already do you?

 

Get a Magfloat, that'll take care of the glass problem.

 

If yur rock was fully cured already, your nitrate source could be coming from the water yur adding. It isnt unusual for some water to have up to 20ppm nitrates. The fact that yur at 10 is no big deal. In a couple more days, test it all again and see where everything is at. Keep in mind , the tank is only 3 days old so its real hard to tell whats going to happen. Sounds like its moving along nicely though :happy:

 

As to the last posting I put up concerning the possibility of a 400gph pump, I was referring mostly to adding the locline to split the flow up. It really is going to be dependednt on if you have needy corals that want more flow that are in 2 seperate locations.

 

Tang

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alexmurovec
Get a Magfloat, that'll take care of the glass problem.

 

As to the last posting I put up concerning the possibility of a 400gph pump, I was referring mostly to adding the locline to split the flow up. It really is going to be dependednt on if you have needy corals that want more flow that are in 2 seperate locations.

 

Tang

 

and that is exactly what i am doing tomorrow, get a magfloat. Right now there are quit a few particles floating around in tank and they are all getting a work out flying around in all different directions in the tank. What i'm trying to get at, is that the water movement seems sufficient enough, once i add a coral or two i will be able to see how flow moves within them. I trust your opinion though and i may do it later on, but for now, i'm going to keep it simple.

 

As for water parameters, the water i am adding is RO water with instant ocean salt mix, are you saying that the nitrates could be coming from this source which is bad, or does most water have a slight bit of nitrates? I really didn't expect the tank to be at the nitrate stage already, i'm pretty sure the ammonia still needs to spike and then it'll lead to nitrites and so on. I'll give it a few more days and see whats going on.

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alexmurovec

well, today i picked up a magfloat magnetic scraper for my tank as well as another 3 lb piece of rock. I played around with the aquascape for sometime until i finally got a nice natural look. The tank got stired up and is still clearing up, so i'll post some pictures of the new aquascape tomorrow.

 

while i was moving around my rock i noticed this little creature swim from rock to rock, hiding in the rocks. At first it looked like a fish, but when i got a closer look at it it was almost like a little eel. He is about 1 inch long and almost as thick as a pencil. He has a shrimp like looking face with tenticles, if you know what i mean. Then along the bottom of his tubular body, there are little fins almost, one on each side, like rays so he can hover along the sand. I really have no idea what this thing could be, but if its bad, i'm almost sure i'm never gonna be able to catch it. Anyone got any ideas?

 

I also just tested my water for ammonia, and its still at 0 ppm. I'll take another test tomorrow, but if i'm not getting any signs of ammonia, would you suggest i add a dead shrimp? I got lots of time but if i don't start to see any ammonia within a week of setup should i be worried?

 

I'll get those pictures of the new aquascape up tomorrow.

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alexmurovec
while i was moving around my rock i noticed this little creature swim from rock to rock, hiding in the rocks. At first it looked like a fish, but when i got a closer look at it it was almost like a little eel. He is about 1 inch long and almost as thick as a pencil. He has a shrimp like looking face with tenticles, if you know what i mean. Then along the bottom of his tubular body, there are little fins almost, one on each side, like rays so he can hover along the sand. I really have no idea what this thing could be, but if its bad, i'm almost sure i'm never gonna be able to catch it. Anyone got any ideas?

 

I also just tested my water for ammonia, and its still at 0 ppm. I'll take another test tomorrow, but if i'm not getting any signs of ammonia, would you suggest i add a dead shrimp? I got lots of time but if i don't start to see any ammonia within a week of setup should i be worried?

 

I'll get those pictures of the new aquascape up tomorrow.

 

Anyone?

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Hard to tell what the creature is but it sounds like a polycheate worm. Maybe a penut or bristle. Good stuff, detritus eaters. It will not hurt to put a shrimp or some fish food in there to kick start the cycle, but IMO it would be better to wait and see if there is dome die off from the rock that gets it going naturally.

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alexmurovec

alright, well thanks for the ID. I got time so i'm going to let the tank cycle on its own without adding a shrimp. My tank should be settled by now so ill add some new pictures of the new aquascape when i get home.

 

By the way, i have heard that false percs wont host anything but carpet anenomies. I really want to get a torch coral or a frogspawn for my clown when i am at that point. I like the maroon clowns but they are pretty big. Question is, what clowns would host other corals besides and anenome, and are frogspawns and torch corals easy to take care of?

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I also just tested my water for ammonia, and its still at 0 ppm. I'll take another test tomorrow, but if i'm not getting any signs of ammonia, would you suggest i add a dead shrimp? I got lots of time but if i don't start to see any ammonia within a week of setup should i be worried?

 

I'll get those pictures of the new aquascape up tomorrow.

 

I wouldn't. If your tank never registers any ammonia it just means that nothing on your live rock is decaying, which is good. If you bought fully cured live rock theres a chance you won't even experience a cycle.

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