Atomic's Aquapod 24g & Biocube 14g Thread

[Atomic081]

i've been to aquirium world in lafayette, the guy there seemed real nice and knowledgable. I didnt buy anything from there cause I made my decisions in Indianapolis where I live. I go to The Reef down here.

 

tank looks good. I am going to do some water testing on mine today, DAY: 9.

 

 

Thanks for the compliment Dopamine. Ive been to "The Reef" a few times lately and they seem to be very knowledgeable about there saltwater tank. Ive seemed to see that they are a little pricy for me right now, although when i start getting into my more expensive stuff ill go there or premium aquatics. You tank is looking great and im looking forward to seeing it in the future.

 

does anyone know if there is a Indy Reef club? If not then we should start one. maybe meet once a month or every 2 months and do some trading of frags??

[Atomic081]

OMG.... i found a new hitchhiker. out of a small hole in the LR comes 2 black and white striped legs. both are about 3/4 of an inch long, very small in around and im asuming they are connected. my first impression is that they look like somekind of a starfish thats sticking its arms out. anyone have any clue what this could be?? i would be so happy if it is some kind of a starfish.

 

Edit: it almost looks like a brittlestar..could this be possible

[Mitch529]

OMG.... i found a new hitchhiker. out of a small hole in the LR comes 2 black and white striped legs. both are about 3/4 of an inch long, very small in around and im asuming they are connected. my first impression is that they look like somekind of a starfish thats sticking its arms out. anyone have any clue what this could be?? i would be so happy if it is some kind of a starfish.

 

Most likely a mini brittle starfish, before you know it there will be tons of them... Look for them after lights out or when you feed.

 

Check out this link it has some pictures of them.

[Atomic081]

yes thats what it looks like. Is this a good thing??

[Mitch529]

Yes they are very good to have nice little scavengers who never bother anything, a wonderful part of the CUC. If you watch closely you can see them pop out of their holes to grab food.

[Atomic081]

Yes they are very good to have nice little scavengers who never bother anything, a wonderful part of the CUC. If you watch closely you can see them pop out of their holes to grab food.

SWEET Ty for the ID

[Atomic081]

I got new livestock today. Ill post picture's after Dinner. Since i live a hour or so away from a LFS i had to get alot more than i wanted today. This will be my last Livestock purchase for a few weeks.

 

i got

1 yellow watchman goby

1 false Perc Clownfish

2 Scarlet reef crabs (they are not doing so well, ill post about them later)

1 Blue Ric

1 Orange Ric

1 Colt Tree

1 Blue Mushroom

 

The Scarlet Reef Crabs are not doing well at all...EDIT...only one is left now i think. My exsisting blue hermit crabs i got with the LR has kicked one of these out of there shell and has taken it over (or it could have molted, but i dont think one will molt within a hour of putting it in the tank). the other one is rather large and I have been trying to keep the other hermits away from it. I dont know how well this will work since ive twice found one of my blue crabs trying to get in the shell and its not done any moving yet. If this goes on like this then i dont know how much longer i will be able to keep them.

[Mitch529]

I got new livestock today. Ill post picture's after Dinner. Since i live a hour or so away from a LFS i had to get alot more than i wanted today. This will be my last Livestock purchase for a few weeks.

 

i got

1 yellow watchman goby

1 false Perc Clownfish

2 Scarlet reef crabs (they are not doing so well, ill post about them later)

1 Blue Ric

1 Orange Ric

1 Colt Tree

1 Blue Mushroom

 

The Scarlet Reef Crabs are not doing well at all...EDIT...only one is left now i think. My exsisting blue hermit crabs i got with the LR has kicked one of these out of there shell and has taken it over (or it could have molted, but i dont think one will molt within a hour of putting it in the tank). the other one is rather large and I have been trying to keep the other hermits away from it. I dont know how well this will work since ive twice found one of my blue crabs trying to get in the shell and its not done any moving yet. If this goes on like this then i dont know how much longer i will be able to keep them.

 

 

Don't feel bad over the hermits, I have had some die on the way home on a 20 min drive... Very strange, but the blue legs can really be bastards. They have killed a few of my snails and will fight over biggest shells, I have a couple that are just too big and I will be getting rid of them soon. Scarlet Reef hermits I have found to be very peaceful and never cause any problems.

[Prowland]

Too bad on the hermits... you need to get some extra shells asap.

 

I have around 10-15 empty shells at any given time in my tank.

 

 

Go home today and glued the new yuma to a rock and its looking good!

 

Cant wait to see how you put your new stuff in the tank.

[Cuervo420]

can't wait to see the updated pics!

 

hermits can be wierd like that. and lil bastards towards snails. i don't keep them much anymore for that reason.

[Atomic081]

So i dont think the last Scarlet Reef Crab is gonna make it...ohh well, give me another excuse to go to the LFS this week!!!

 

Here are the pics. Ill get better pics once the GF brings our good camera over in a few weeks.

 

False Perc

False Perc and Blue Shroom

Yellow Watchman Goby

Blue Ric

Orange/Green Ric

Blue Shroom

Colt Coral

Full Tank Shot 10-13-07

 

Im always up for sugestions on where to place things. So if you see something i should move then feel free to tell me. Thx!!!

[Atomic081]

i split my first mushrooms today so we will see how that goes in the upcoming weeks.

[Crawf71]

What store do you go to in Indy? Just Curious. I'm in Indy once a week near 10th and Country Club. Any good stores on the West side?

 

How did you split your mushrooms?

 

Thanks.

 

Chris

[Atomic081]

i got a medical knife and i cut the mushroom in 1/4 like a pizza. Ive been told they will regrow into 4 different shrooms.

 

I usually go to Premium Aquatics (on the SE side but only open on friday and sat) but the only other places i know of are "The Reef" (Keystone and 56th st). There are a few stores called "Uncle Bills pet store" one in greenwood, and one on the E side off of Washington St. Ive also heard of a new store called "Paradise Reef" on the SE side off of Southeastern Ave.

[Duffee]

Hey Atomic thanks for posting all of the details in your creation. It looks great so far. I, too, just bought a used 24 AP. It had upgraded lighting system, corallife 96w 50/50. I put 20 lbs of both LR and LS. I think all of the filter stuff is stock. I use chemi-pure, Purigen, and Phosguard. I'm very open to filtration ideas. I plan on upgrading the pump. Did you drill a hole to insert the other power head in your tank?

 

It's cool that all of you Indy people found each other on here. There aren't that many people from Myrtle Beach that I have found in the hobby. I was born in Indy and my parents still live in Carmel. I will definitely look for advise as to where to visit next time I'm in town.

 

BYW go COLTS

[Atomic081]

WOOT GO COLTS!!!!!!

 

Duffee: Thanks for all the kind words. Im doing all this so other people might learn from what im doing, and so i can look back at how much my tank has grown. Im officially addicted to my tank..ask my fiancee..haha

 

Im not using any type of filter stuff other than a small piece of the blue foam just to clean water particles. Im planning on getting some Perigen in the future. I did cut the hole in the back for my other powerhead. im not sure how much it is helping but i feel like ive got plenty of flow in the tank.

[Prowland]

Tank looks good.

 

Cant wait to see how the shroom propagation goes. I am going to do a yuma soon.

 

With that extra powerhead in the back chaimber you should be pulling a lot of water through your filtration set up. That will be great when you add the purigen.

[Atomic081]

Update:

 

Im still a little disappointed in my CUC.

5 Nass Snails

5 Blue Hermit Crabs

2 Turbo Snails

Green Emerald Crab

 

My tank still has some green hair algae and some that looks similar to the green hair algae in the sand. After the disaster with the Scarlet Reef Crabs im looking to find something that will take care of my sand. Ive also still got alot of junk from the LR that is on the bottom too. Can i just siphon it up when im doing my water changes? ive tried a little but all i did was stir up that tank so i stopped. Should I add more to my CUC?? Ive been hesitant to add alot more because i know they will die after they eat everthing and starve to death. If i should add some more, then what should i add??

 

 

Also the Mushroom Propagation is going very well. I went ahead and did both my mushrooms and they are both starting to heal. Now its just a waiting game until they get bigger. Once they get a little bigger i might do it again so ill have something to trade with some local Reefers.

[fries852]

See if you can get cerith snails. They are great for the sandbed. They clean the rock the glass and the sand. I find that mine spend a lot of time in the sand. I have 5 or 6 in my 24g. I have nerith for the glass/ rock and a ton on stomatella hitchers that seem o be doing a great all over job. Your tank is looking good.

[cp3823]

lookin good.

[Ganomish]

Update:

 

Im still a little disappointed in my CUC.

5 Nass Snails

5 Blue Hermit Crabs

2 Turbo Snails

Green Emerald Crab

 

My tank still has some green hair algae and some that looks similar to the green hair algae in the sand. After the disaster with the Scarlet Reef Crabs im looking to find something that will take care of my sand. Ive also still got alot of junk from the LR that is on the bottom too. Can i just siphon it up when im doing my water changes? ive tried a little but all i did was stir up that tank so i stopped. Should I add more to my CUC?? Ive been hesitant to add alot more because i know they will die after they eat everthing and starve to death. If i should add some more, then what should i add??

Also the Mushroom Propagation is going very well. I went ahead and did both my mushrooms and they are both starting to heal. Now its just a waiting game until they get bigger. Once they get a little bigger i might do it again so ill have something to trade with some local Reefers.

 

IMO you need more snails. I like Star Snails, but you really gotta make sure they don't get flipped. I got some nice smaller turbos, (not big Mexicans) that do a great job. My solution to taking care of the sand is filling my tank with rock. Almost no light hits the sand, and I siphon up any minor debris at a water change. I have (3) MJ900s in my Apod 24 and not much settles out. I use a layer of floss in chamber 1 and change it at least twice a week. Do a small stir to the exposed sand once in a while and the debris collects in the floss.

My tank is 15mo old and getting crowed.

Check it out.

Ganomish

[Atomic081]

Thanks for the Sugestions. I guess ill go this week and get a 5 or 6 more snails. i feel like they would help.

[Atomic081]

I added 5 Cerith Snails today. So far they are doing a good job with the algae.

[Atomic081]

1 Month birthday for my tank. i guess ill wait until this weekend before i buy it a present. any suggestions on what i should get? and no...i dont wana get a Tang....lol

[Atomic081]

I got a cleaner shrimp from the LFS today. He is a breath of fresh air for the tank. The little guy is all over the place exploring.

 

Im also going to do 2-3 10-20% water changes in the next week because of hair algae and Red slime algae. Is this the best way to get rid of the algae??