H20's Nano-Reef AquaPod 24

[H20]

One more change that I just did, is to aim one of the ends of the "Y" from the locline to point up at the surface. Before, both were pointed downward, one behind the rock, and one towards the front corner, trying to get flow behind and in front of the rockwork.

 

I now believe that I needed one towards the top, for agitation of the surface, to get more gas exchange/oxygenation in the water. Some have said too that it cuts back on the film/crud on the surface of the water, which can hinder your light penetration and suffocate the tank. At any rate, I pointed one of them upwards, but still in the same general direction. I have some surface agitation now, and from what I can tell, there is still good flow through the whole tank.

 

 

Surface:

 

 

 

 

By the way, I just noticed a couple of new things, that I don't remember being there before. Can anyone I.D. these from me? They both look just alike.

 

 

 

EDITED UPDATE:

 

I am adding these pictures a couple of months later, to show what these evolved into. Appears to be a button polyp of some sort.

 

[illuminano]

Wow it looks wonderful so far. those things you have circled i beleieve are glass anemones.

[H20]

This morning I was looking around in the rocks with a flashlight, and saw what appeared to be a worm. It was coming out of a hole in the rock and going into another. It looked about 3/4 the size diameter of a pencil. Kind of a clear/white type color. I have no idea how long he is, since I could only see a small portion of it, as it was way back behind the rock and I couldn't see it very well. I tried to get a picture, but in the dark, and trying to hold a flashlight, it didn't turn out very well. I have got to get a camera with a macro lens! From what I can tell, I am thinking it was a peanut worm, which should be ok to leave in the tank.

 

[phantomknightlad]

Are you making a refugium? I was wondering which compartment to make mine in, since the newer 24 gallon aquapods have 2 compartments. I was thinking of filling the space next to the spounges with live rock rubble. I got about 5 lbs from PA. Just curious what you are planning to do, if anything.

[reefitis]

yup, i'm hooked. you are helping me remember my first time into the hobby...especially with the line "I quickly realized how addictive it is going to be watching your tank, finding new things." hah.

 

pretty cool aquascaping too. please keep it up, would like to see the progress of the tank a year out

[DogfoodEnforcer]

your tank is coming along really well!!

 

i just received my AP24 from drsfostersmith (after reading your thread) and it arrived in great condition. very nicely packaged and all.

 

how many CUC are you aiming to have?

[H20]

Are you making a refugium? I was wondering which compartment to make mine in, since the newer 24 gallon aquapods have 2 compartments. I was thinking of filling the space next to the spounges with live rock rubble. I got about 5 lbs from PA. Just curious what you are planning to do, if anything.

 

I am not planning on starting a refugium anytime soon, but I could change my mind on that down the road. If I did, I would probably start some Cheato (macroalgae) to outcompete the algae in the tank for nutrients. I am still open to it, but not doing it soon.

[H20]

your tank is coming along really well!!

 

i just received my AP24 from drsfostersmith (after reading your thread) and it arrived in great condition. very nicely packaged and all.

 

how many CUC are you aiming to have?

 

 

I do not have any set plans on how many total CUC at the moment. Kinda playing it by ear at the moment to see have algae growth goes, and how the few that I have in there right now do. It looks as though I am going to add some more, right now I am thinking of adding a few more in the next few days, probably some more Astraea snails and a couple of sand-sifting snails, like some Nassarius or Cerinths. I am going slow with the CUC, as I don't want to add too many and have them starve, or have them all pooping, creating more fuel for the algae.

 

Good luck with your new tank, I would like to see a thread about it.

[shift_9k]

Rock work looks awesome man, taggin along for the ride.

[H20]

I just got home from a 5 day vacation. Since I only had a few inverts in the tank, I didn't have much to worry about. The diatoms on the rock had cleared up a good bit (probably with the help of the Astraea snails), but the glass had gotten some brown smudges and the sand looked about the same, or a little worse. It will probably go away on its own, but it looks to be on the sand in the areas that get the least flow. I ordered one of the new Koralia Nano powerheads, so when it comes in, I expect to be able to get all areas of my tank with decent flow, between the MJ1200 with the 'Y locline', and the Koralia.

 

 

Koralia Nano - 240 gph - 3.5 watts - 2" x 3"

 

 

I did have one loss while I was gone. One of the little dwarf blue-legged hermit crabs met his demise, from what I expect was the Emerald Crab. I was swapping the filter sponge out in the back chamber, and found a little carcass with little blue legs. Those guys are so small, I can see why they would not last long. I never see them anyways, as they hang out in holes in the rock, I expect to hide from the Emerald. I will never buy any that small again. I did find 2 of the 3 original ones, so 2 are still alive and kicking. I never see the Emerald Crab anymore, except if I sneak up to the tank late at night while only the moonlights are on, I can sometimes see him cleaning on top of the rocks. He must have a new burrow under the rocks in the back of the tank. Its a shame, he was a cool addition to the tank and I love the way he looks, but I never see him. Oh, well.

 

(Later edited to add: All of the Blue legged hermits are fine. A couple of them just molted and that is what I found, they did not get killed or die.)

 

 

I did a water test, and everything still looks good:

 

Temp: 78.5

Ammonia: 0

Nitrates: 0

pH: 8.3

 

I am still using the Catalina boxed natural sea water from Petco, and even though I have an RO/DI filter, I am hesitant to mix my own water for water changes, as everything seems to be going so well, I hate to mess things up. The Catalina water seems to be great so far. Phosphates are 0, pH is 8.3, and my nitrates are 0. Hard to beat those numbers so far, so I might keep using it for a while longer. The salinity/s.g. in the boxed water is a bit high, but a couple of big cups of RO/DI water bring it down to normal.

 

I hope to add a few more inverts this week, but may have to order them online, as none of the LFS's have any of what I am looking for.

 

Probably going to go with a couple more Astraea's and a couple of Nassarius or Cerinths.

[H20]

I have not seen my Scarlett hermit Crab since I got home, seems like he would be the easiest to find with his big shell. He is pretty good size, but he must be wedged up in some rocks in the back. I am sure he will turn up. As I was looking around for him, I came across another worm. Looked to be another peanut worm. This one was kinda white colored with black stripes. When the light from the flashlight hit him, he quickly retreated back into a hole, but I adjusted the light to only let a little near his hole, and held it there for a minute, and he slowly came back out. He seemed to be eating off the rock within his hole, then it did something strange. He pulled back slightly into his hole, then seemed to regurgitate something that looked like a long string of poop, about 1 1/2 inches long. Very weird. Wish I could get a picture, but my little Kodak Easyshare is not good at closeups. May have to invest in a camera with some macro shot capabilities to get some decent closeup pics.

 

I looked on Google and this is what he looked like:

 

 

 

I also saw something amusing that I wish I could have caught on video. I was watching a little bitty dwarf blue leg hermit climbing the rock near an Astraea snail. It started climbing onto the back of the Astraea, and when he got near the top of the snails cone, the Astraea started freaking out. It came almost totally out of his shell, and started flinging around his own cone-shell, and twisting it all around trying to fling the hermit off. It was very amusing to watch, as you can imagine how slow the snails normally move, then to now see one jerking around like that at fast pace, and kinda vibrating trying to rid himself of this hermit....... I had to laugh. He finally shook him off, and they both went back to their "slow" normal business.

[c est ma]

^^^Nice observation! These are the sorts of little "dramas" that keep me glued to the tank, too.

 

I would not be so quick to assume your little blue-legged hc is dead. You would be amazed at just how much a shed skin can resemble a carcass--I'd bet at least half of all reefers see their first crab molt and fear the worst, only to have the crab reappear in a few days, fit & healthy.

 

This is also why you may not be seeing your scarlet. HC's (arthropods in general) seek out the most inconspicuous spots possible to hide in when they molt. I would not have thought they could completely disappear in my little (5.5g) tank, but they sure can. They will be "missing" for a few days, and then reappear, picking at the rock as usual.

 

I think that it is fairly common to have these guys molt soon after a tank transfer, so I'd be patient and not give up yet.

 

THere are certainly mixed opinions about emerald crabs here. Personally I'm a big fan of them and almost always have one. I have heard that females are more likely to remain innocuous than males (you can tell the difference by looking at the ventral surface of the crab). IME, they are most likely to resort to harmful habits--usually polyp eating--only when they are starving.

 

They do a great job on tank algae, and are also great at cleaning up leftover food, but they seem to be constant eaters and I don't think they should be added to brand new tanks that don't have any algae to speak of...

 

I used to give my first emerald an algae sinking wafer from time to time. I held it out to him with a pair of 12" forceps, and he learned to come charging out whenever he saw them. There came a time when he got too big for my tank, and I wanted to return him to the lfs. I just fed him, and as he chowed down on the sinking wafer I was easily able to grab him, pellet and all, with the same forceps. He was so preoccupied I'm not even sure he noticed!

 

I think it's very doubtful that your emerald ate your hc, but if you don't have much for him to eat in the tank it might be a good idea to try some supplemental feeding.

 

--Diane

[H20]

Diane,

I think you are correct on the molting. I found another little carcass-type thing with the little blue legs on it, and thought that I had lost another one, but sure enough this morning there they were, crawling around in their little shells. I also saw the Emerald and the Scarlett Reef again, so I think everyone is still accounted for.

 

 

On another note, I have been finding several worms within the tank, and caught a couple on videotape. Sorry for the grainy footage, but I compressed it to upload on Google.

 

The first worm shown is harder to see, he is in the big hole in the middle with the flashlight shining in. He is white with black rings/stripe on it. The second worm on the second part of the video is very easy to see.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4421156039092340402

[c est ma]

Nice! I believe those are both sipunculids, a.k.a. peanut worms. These are beneficial scavengers and common hitch hikers. They will likely multiply in your tank. They come in several color/pattern morphs--some of the common ones are black & white striped, gray, tan, and clear/whitish. Some of the more solid-colored ones may also have faint stripes.

 

They live in holes in the rock and extend their feeding appendage, called an "introvert," to pick at the rock; usually they are nocturnal but over the years I've had quite a few start emerging while the lights are on as well. Perhaps they've "noticed" that there are no real predators in my tank!

 

They are pretty interesting in that they represent a completely different phylum of inverts! Two very unmistakable traits distinguish them...one is the "telescoping" motion of their introvert as it extends and pulls back, and the other is that, at full extension, a "corona" of small tentacles is briefly visible surrounding the mouth.

 

Oh, and don't be surprised to observe them pushing sudden little avalanches of detritus out of their holes, from time to time, or to find an accumulation of such beneath the holes!

 

Here are some pics & links:

 

One of my black & white ones--some of these have a blurry glimpse of the tentacle corona around the mouth:

 

 

 

 

A gray, "elephant-trunk" type:

 

 

 

A gray/tan one extended and eating at night:

 

 

 

A couple of pics by Helfrich's Chick of peanuts out of their holes:

 

http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u302/He...20use/?start=40

 

 

Some links:

 

http://www.seaslugforum.net/factsheet.cfm?base=sipunculid

 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-04/rs/index.php

 

http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/1024frameset.htm

(Click on “Other Interesting Inverts,” then on “Worms,” then scroll to section on “Phylum Sipunculida”)

 

http://wetwebmedia.com/pnutwrmidfaqs.htm

 

HTH,

 

--Diane

[H20]

A quick update:

 

My Scarlett Reef hermit molted. And I found all the tiny dwarf blue legged hermits too. I earlier had thought one or two got killed, but they are all fine, just molted.

 

After about a month of just having inverts in the tank, and my water parameters have held steady at 0 for Ammonia and Nitrates, I decided to make a couple of additions.

 

One of the LFS had a Tail Spot Blenny in stock, so I picked him up. I decided a while back I was going to get one of these as I have read they are great fish and have lots of character. The first few hours after I put him in, he stayed mostly in some holes. He is funny to watch, when he wants to hide, he swims up to a hole in the rock, turns around, and back himself in. Nothing sticks out but his head. With his big eyes and mouth, and his little antennae, it makes him look quite funny.

 

Then that night, I put some flakes of Ocean Nutrition Formula Two in the tank. He went crazy running around, nipping at each flake. He didn't seem scared of me at all when feeding time came around.

 

Picture from Liveaquaria.com:

 

I also added a Peppermint shrimp. He hides most of the time so far, but comes out occasionally. I was doing a water change today, and was scrubbing inside the tank with a little pad near the sand, and he darted out of the rocks, making a charge at my hand. At first, out of the corner of my eye, I just saw a fast movement out of the rocks toward my hand, and I jerked my hand out so fast I think I threw water all over the wall. haha I had to laugh at myself over that. I put my hand back in the tank to clean, and he came back out and walked right up to my hand. I am not sure if her was trying to defend his territory, or if he just wanted to check me out, but he was funny.

 

Also added another snail, this time a Turbo snail. This one is very pretty, his conical shell is silver and shiny.

 

I hope to add some pictures of all of them soon, if they will allow me to take them.

 

 

 

Tank now consists of the following:

 

Tail Spot Blenny

Peppermint Shrimp

Emerald Crab

Scarlett Reef Hermit

3 Astraea snails

1 turbo snail

3 dwarf bluelegged hermits

 

 

I am going to add a couple of corals soon, and a couple of sand-sifting snails, like Cerinth or Nassarius.

 

 

I forgot to post that I also added the new Koralia Nano to the tank. I have it on the back wall, pointing up towards the surface to get some water agitation. I have my two loclines from the Maxijet 1200, one pointing down behind the rocks, and one pointed towards the front corner, and in front of the rocks. Well, see how this setup goes. THe diatoms have pretty much gone away. It is not on the rocks or sand much anymore, it is just occasionally on the glass, and I just use the MagFloat on it every few days.

[H20]

I was able to videotape a very short clip of my Tail Spot Blenny feeding. Sorry for the bad video quality, and also I had just added a Koralia Nano, and it blew alot of junk off the rocks, hence the snow flying around.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=54...31700&hl=en

[H20]

A quick picture of my newly added Koralia Nano on the back wall. Might move it soon, and also redirect my Y loclines......... We'll see.

 

 

[pinballwizrd315]

Hey,

 

Im really liking your tank. I am deciding if im going to buy an all-in-one or buying everything seperate. How do you like it so far?

[H20]

Hey,

 

Im really liking your tank. I am deciding if im going to buy an all-in-one or buying everything seperate. How do you like it so far?

 

 

I really like it. Everything has run smoothly so far (knock on wood). My water parameters have all been at 0, and everything looks good. I attribute most of my early success, due to using quality live rock and live sand from premiumaquatics.com, and the Petco Catalina boxed natural seawater. The Catalina water had been excellent so far (you can't really mess it up, ha), and I hope all continues to go well with it. I added a couple of corals yesterday and need to update with some pics.......

[H20]

A few updated pics:

 

 

Here are a few of the inverts:

 

Turbo snail with silver shell:

 

Cerinth Snail:

 

Scarlett Reef Hermit:

 

Blue leg hermit deciding if he can carry around that huge new home:

 

Blue leg again:

 

Meeting of the great minds: (Astraea, blue leg, turbo, and cerinth)

[H20]

Yesterday I added two corals for the first time. These are the only two in there as of now. Bought a small size cluster of Super Colored Zoa's, and a Medium size Trumpet Coral, from Liveaquaria.com. Also bought 2 Cerinth Snails (they sent 3, as they say sometimes one won't make it, both all of mine lived) thinking they would bury in the sand and sift it around, but it appears the 1-2mm Reef Grade Aragonite is too coarse for them, as they don't seem to like it. They are good at sucking the diatoms off the glass where to sand meets the glass on the sides. May have to look into a bigger snail like a queen conch or something that can get down into this coarser sand.

 

 

Trumpet Coral (both pics of same coral, under actinic lights, just two different camera settings. First pic has sweeper tentacles partway out)

 

 

Super-colored Zoa's (starting to open up):

 

 

I am happy with the both of them. The trumpet looks to be in great shape, and I love the bright Zoa's. the Liveaquaria website said the super colored zoa's would come in either orange or green, and mine came with both. I like the contrast! We'll see how they both look after a week or so in the tank. Hopeful not worse...

[Toomin]

the zoas looks great!

[c est ma]

Whoa, sweet additions! Nice pics, too.

 

FWIW, my ceriths burrow in my crushed coral. And don't forget, Nassarius bury themselves too.

 

--Diane

[RC51 in SD]

Your tank is really coming together! Looks great and great additions.

[avalanche1201]

been reading your thread today when i've had time. very detailed. Its looking real great so far

 

any ideas on what your future fish will be?