Shaz's AP 24 HQI

[shaz1971]

Howdy all.. Just thought Id post my appreciation for all the fine work presented here. As many a members have done, I aim to post my endeavors here for anyone to correct and advise me.

 

I have had freshwater tanks for years but never dared saltwater till reading this board. After about a month of lurking as a guest then finally joining a few days ago, I decided to take the plunge. I ordered my Aquapod 24G with sunpaq from Dr. Foster and Smith on sale for $169 plus the stand for $69 plus $17 shipping. Two days went by and I kept reading about what corals I can keep with the light I was to have, decided to upgrade my tank to the one with Metal Hallide lights. I searched on the net and found the best price from Atafish.com in Artesia, website lists it for $309. Called them up and it was for $299 and the stand for $60.

 

I will be returning the one from the docs when it arrives on the 30th.

 

Went to Artesia today and found the staff on very helpful or knowledgeable. But I was there for the tank. They have a modest variety of fish but at great rates as compared to the net. Will be back for some corals once my tank is established.

 

Things I purchased.

 

24G AP HQI. $299

Stand for AP. $60

Refractometer. $60 (I know I should have got one from Dr. Fosters but a few newbie mistakes I allow myself)

Established tank water. 20 Gallons for $20

Nature's Ocean live sand. 20 lbs for $25

Master test kit. $25

B-Ionic calcium buffer. $20 (this got pushed on me and I have no idea why I bought it)

Uncured live rock. $2.99 per lbs bought 8 pounds worth of piece.

 

I have already purchased some Figi from lfs. 18 lbs for 80 bucks. It has coralline on it already.

Will be picking it up in the morning.

 

 

The salesperson said that I could put in a fish tommorow if I wanted to, any advice would be great though I know the answer already. Just wanted to confirm.

 

Got home, setup the stand which was a pain in the sss.

Cleaned the tank somewhat and filled it with water 1/4 way.

Placed the rock and poured in the sand around it. filled in with rest of the water.

It is very cloudy right now and the only test I have done is for salinity which seems to be 1.023 just after I added the sand and rock.

 

Will check for the rest of it in a few minutes.

 

Seem to have misplaced my camera battery charger but will post pics tommorow. Thanks again for all of you who have inspired me.

[newnanoboy]

becareful with fish from ata.... they sell sick fish with fungus and ich. next time you go in there, take a look at the tanks really good. most of the fish are close to death. i learned the hard way when i first got started reefin'. a lot of people told me that ata was a bad place to do business. i should have listened. they post really good prices on recycler/craigslist but when you go in, they do not honor the price. they will say, "the prices on recycler/craigslist is not updated" you have to visit atafish.com ... wtf is that.... i prefer not to do business with them. they have a tendency also to advertise jbj products which they do not carry. it's the old bait and switch... when you get in there, they will say they just ran out and all they have left are the aquapods. the truth is, they are not authorized dealers for jbj at all.

 

if you buy tanks and corals from them, that is fine... but do yourself a favor and buy your fish elsewhere. the fish will not live too long.

 

and as far as adding fish tomorrow, if you buy fish from ata, it wouldn't matter when you add your fish because the fish you buy from them will just die anyway. but if you buy fish elsewhere, i would not recommend you doing so for about a month until your tank is fully cycled.

 

if you want to go to a reputable shop, i would highly recommend going to pacific reef, tong's in fountain valley, or my new go to guy, RON at AQUARIUMS IN MOTION 2 in fullerton...

 

just my 2 cents....

[shaz1971]

I appreciate the advice. I wouldnt buy expensive fish from them anyhow. You are right, they do look like they would bait and switch you. I am not planning on putting fish in my tank any time soon. How is Aquariums in motion as far as facility and service along with the prices?

 

 

Just did the master test and the results are as follow. Ph. 7.8..Ammonia. 0Nitrite. 0.25Nitrate. 80Salinity. 1.023Any suggestions on what I should do to correct the Ph, Nitrite and Nitrate? Thank you

[supreme_spork]

Established tank water. 20 Gallons for $20B-Ionic calcium buffer. $20 (this got pushed on me and I have no idea why I bought it)Uncured live rock. $2.99 per lbs bought 8 pounds worth of piece. The salesperson said that I could put in a fish tommorow if I wanted to, any advice would be great though I know the answer already. Just wanted to confirm.

 

!

 

OMG -- they sold you something called "established" salt water??? oh, they ripped you a new one for sure... "established" salt water is basically no better than salt water that's just been mixed, and frankly could be a lot worse depending on what's in it or what's no longer in it -- it's *not* the same thing as established live rock. a buck a gallon for tank water means someone at the store is probably laughing at your expense. especially if they also sold you uncured live rock, which will be fouling any kind of water you have for the next few weeks!

 

this store smells really fishy, as they say. ditto with the b-ionic -- there's no reason for you to buy any dosing or buffering agents while your tank is cycling and before you've measured your parameters for a while and understand your tank's unique chemistry, with an eye to what kinds of things you'll be keeping in there.

 

the worst of all, of course, is that they said you could add fish tomorrow with uncured live rock -- on this advice alone i would never return to this crap establishment, as no reputable LFS would suggest such a thing. with uncured rock you're at least a month away from adding any fish unless you want to torture and likely kill them.

 

i'd return to that store, call them on their "established tank water" crap, make them refund my money for the buffer and never go back. definitely never buy any living things from them!

 

Just did the master test and the results are as follow. Ph. 7.8..Ammonia. 0Nitrite. 0.25Nitrate. 80Salinity. 1.023Any suggestions on what I should do to correct the Ph, Nitrite and Nitrate? Thank you

 

nothing at the moment -- you haven't even started your cycle yet, so just sit back and relax. just top things off to keep your specific gravity/salinity stable.

[H20]

So far so good. And as said in an above post, nothing do do just yet. The nitrites, nitates, etc, will go up and down on their own right now, just have to wait it out. Test the water every few days and they will get down to 0 at some point. Maybe a week, maybe a month, but it is a waiting game at this point....... Good luck!

[shaz1971]

I knew I got taken for the solution but I actually thought the water would be beneficial because they pulled it out of their main show tank. Live and learn I guess on that one. Will not buy anything else from them again.

 

Today, I will pick up my cured live rock from lfs. Also need a heater and I am thinking about a Koralia 1.

 

Thank you much for the comments.

[newnanoboy]

SHAZ, AQUARIUMS IN MOTION IN FULLERTION IS A NEW STORE. THE ORIGINAL STORE IS LOCATED IN RIVERSIDE. RON RUNS THE FULLERTON STORE AND HE IS THE MAN. YOU WILL NEVER BE TAKEN FOR A RIDE HERE. JUST LOOK UP THREADS ON REEFCENTRAL AND SOCALIREEFS AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT GOOD THINGS PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT HIM. RON WILL TAKE AN HOUR TO TALK TO YOU AND ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE. HE DOESN'T JUST OWN A BUSINESS. HE IS A TRUE REEF JUNKY AND REALLY LIKES TO SHARE HIS KNOWLEDGE. THE BEST THING TO DO AS FAR AS SELECTION GOES IS TO CALL HIM AND FIND OUT WHEN HIS NEW SHIPMENTS ARRIVE. HE GETS A LOT OF NICE CORALS AND FISH AT PRICES YOU WILL NOT FIND AT MOST STORES. IF YOU SEE A CORAL THAT YOU CANNOT AFFORD, HE WILL FRAG YOU A PIECE ON THE SPOT. INFACT, I CALLED HIM UP YESTERDAY, AND HE HAD TO CLOSE DOWN FOR 2 HOURS TO PICK UP A SHIPMENT OR CORALS. HE SAYS HE GOT A WHOLE BUNCH OF NICE STUFF ALONG WITH EXOTIC FISH. AND HE HAS ANOTHER COMING IN TODAY, SO IF YOU WANT A GOOD SELECTION, TODAY OR TOMORROW WILL BE THE DAY TO GO. HIS NUMBER IS 714-525-FISH....

 

BTW, CHECK OUT RON'S LIVE ROCK IF YOU ARE GOING TO BUY SOME. I GOT CURED ROCK WITH PURPLE CORALINE FROM RON CHEAPER THAN WHAT YOU PAID FOR YOUR UNCURED AT THAT OTHER "SORRY EXCUSE FOR A FISH SHOP"....

 

OH AND THE REASON WHY I HOLD A GRUDGE AGAINST THEM IS BECUASE I BOUGHT TWO CLOWNS FROM THEM. ONE HAD A REAL LIGHT FILM ON HIM. THE OWNER TOLD ME THAT IT WAS NORMAL. "BOY WAS I STUPID WHEN I FIRST STARTED THIS HOBBY" ... HE SAID THAT IF THEY DIDN'T MAKE IT BY THE NEXT 2 DAYS, HE WOULD REFUND ME THE MONEY. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THE 2 FISH BROKE OUT WITH FUNGUS BY THE NEXT MORNING AND WERE DEAD BY THE AFTERNOON. I CALLED HIM UP AND HE SAYS, "NO REFUNDS OR EXCHANGES"..... I ASKED HIM ABOUT HIS 2 DAY GUARANTEE AND HE KINDA CHUCKLED AND SAID "SORRY" .... WHAT AN A-HOLE!

[shaz1971]

Will def call up Ron. Wish I had a good lfs here in Victorville. Costs me 25 bucks in gas to go down the hill for anything I want. I dont know how ATA retain any customers this way?

[shaz1971]

Went to LFS and picked up 18lbs of LR I had selected earlier in the week along with 15 more lbs of LS. Also picked a glass therm and ordered Koralia 1, purpleup and stealth 150w heater from Amazon. I had $10 cert there so it wasnt too bad. Almost ordered a RO unit (same one as H20) but decided to wait on that.

 

So now my delima is how to arrange the LR. Been messing around with it a couple of times but everytime I try to configure it, the water gets so cloudy that I cant see what Im doing. It seems like I have too many rocks in there.

 

Prices for things I purchased today.

 

LS and Therm. $26

Koralia 1. $28.95

purpleup. $13.85

Stealth heater. $15.98 shipped. so essentially it cost me $5.98

[H20]

So now my delima is how to arrange the LR. Been messing around with it a couple of times but everytime I try to configure it, the water gets so cloudy that I cant see what Im doing. It seems like I have too many rocks in there.

 

 

haha, that seems to plague us all. I always want to rearrange my rocks. I love the look of it now, but in the back on my head, I am thinking that with all my caves and the way I arranged my rock, I don't have a lot of good room for corals. Plus, I left a good amount of open space behind the rocks so I could keep it clean back there, but that ate up some valuable real estate. I may have to move them to the back a bit in the future. So...... I usually go to re-aquascape, then talk myself out of it. I tried it once or twice, and like you, it got so cloudy that I couldn't see what I was doing and was fortunate to get them back similar to what I started with.. lol I always want to do something just to tinker. Part of what I like about this hobby, you can tinker alot.

[shaz1971]

just got a mag cleaner thing from petco. Tried to use the @#@$@#@$ thing and it scratched the front of my tank. I am pissed. Wonder if there is anything that can be done about that?? on a brighter note, my tank is all cleared up now and I found a little crab crawling around the rocks. Good thing I didnt try to redo my rocks in the cloudy water or I might have crushed the little guy.

 

H2o, do you think I should leave the rocks till I cycle or redo them now?

[shaz1971]

Thought I'd post some pics now that I had to buy a new charger for my Nikon.

 

FTS

 

Blue legged crab (hitchhiker)

 

Lots of clear tentacles coming out the rocks( no clue what they are, anyone have any ideas?)

 

Seems to be a fan??

 

Some more fans and a snail or a baby conch, cant tell. (EDIT) the snail is a Stomatella.

 

I believe this is a striped star, I could not get a full shot of him but when he was out, he looked like a star.

I see lots of these on one particular rock.

 

 

I wonder if these guys will survive? also I see a tiny Aiptasia there, same rock as the stars colony.

 

Here are my parameters.

 

pH. 7.8

Ammonia. 0.025

Nitrite. 0.01

Nitrate. The chart says 80 but I dont know how to read that? help please.

SP. 1.023

 

Thank you for looking and please let me know if my rock work looks ok? I tried to leave plenty of space for corals.

[shaz1971]

Its becoming a sickness, I cant stop checking on my tank. I just noticed two baby snails along with atleast two bristleworms. They are huge about half of an inch thick and atleast 6 inches long. Kinda creeped me out. I have read that they are not harmful to the tank but would like first hand experiences with them. Any comments? this is becoming a personal blog.

[shaz1971]

bump

[avalanche1201]

looks good. What kind of light is that? the 70 or 150?. also, watch your temps w/ the glass top on there, it can really keep in some heat

[shaz1971]

Hey Avalanche, the light is a 150 Sunpod. I have been watching the temp for a couple of days and it never goes beyond 79. I will be adding a Koralia 1 this week though for flow and retard the heat levels.

[shaz1971]

Here is a pic of the bristle worm. I turned of all the lights in tank and the room and waited for about an hour and snapped the pic using a flash.

 

Bristleworm

 

Here is my idea of a Rubble cup, its a nylon bag with a hook. Do you guys think this should work?

 

Here is the back side with measurements.

 

Any comments appreciated.

[avalanche1201]

the bag would be perfect for some LR rubble...would also make it easy to get it out of the back if u ever needed to

[supreme_spork]

Here is a pic of the bristle worm. I turned of all the lights in tank and the room and waited for about an hour and snapped the pic using a flash.

 

he and his friends should be fine -- i have a few of that size in my tank too along with a few gazillion of his smaller brothers.

[shaz1971]

Thanks Av and SS, I wonder if I should introduce some sort of food for the creatures?

[avalanche1201]

Thanks Av and SS, I wonder if I should introduce some sort of food for the creatures?

 

I missed it...did you add anything to the tank, or are they just hitch hikers?

[newnanoboy]

looks good so far buddy!!! can't wait to see how your tank turns out. what kinda fish do you plan to put in there?

[supreme_spork]

Thanks Av and SS, I wonder if I should introduce some sort of food for the creatures?

 

no need -- they'll scavenge from the rocks and can stay quite happy that way for quite some time.

[shaz1971]

Av, they are all hitch hikers.

 

newnano, thanks for compliment. I want to keep the tank mainly corals but will add a couple of clowns, a goby and perhaps a clam.

 

Nano Reefer, thank you for the answer, I was afraid I would starve them to death.

 

Can anyone id what I think are stars with black stripes for me?

[supreme_spork]

Can anyone id what I think are stars with black stripes for me?

 

can you get a better pic? i can't see anything but rock in the one you posted.