OpenBrain Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Day 1 - rock and sand are in! Trend toward acidification that I am buffering to stay about 8.1 but so far no detectable ammonia. There is a huge tube sort of worm in the rock on the left and a little hitchiker on the slab left front. Will increase the lighting in a week or two depending on how things go. Not sure I realized what I was getting myself into... Link to comment
dchisenh Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Can't really tell from the pic, but it looks a bit like aiptasia. X) If you could move the rock a bit closer to the glass and take another shot closer, that would help. If it is aiptasia, I'd throw the whole rock in the trash right now to spare yourself problems later on. That's a bit extreme, and some people here will say you could try peppermint shrimp to eat them or injecting it with kalkwasser paste, but I say screw it and toss the rock. See if the place you got the rock from will take it back first, and if not, then toss it. -Dan Link to comment
OpenBrain Posted July 20, 2003 Author Share Posted July 20, 2003 Really? That's a great way to start... Sigh. Link to comment
dchisenh Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Yep, take out that rock, see if the store you got it from will take it back, or toss it. It isn't the end of the world though. You've got a nice set up so far, just take your time and everyone here will help ya out. You've done the right thing by coming here and setting your tank up slowly. Keep an eye out for any more of them, and if they do show up, try a peppermint shrimp or two. It's normal tank setup problems you're having, that's all. I noticed that most of your LR is bare, that's going to get on your nerves when it becomes covered in green algaes instead of coralline. So, try using some Kalkwasser from the get-go and make sure your calcium and alkalinity are REALLY high from the start so that you can give your corallines a chance. You won't have enough acids in your water to dissolve any of your substrate/rocks for them to help buffer, so drip some Kalk. Also, it'll hopefully precipitate out some phosphates to make it harder for algae to take control and I've noticed it helps my macros grow too. Which, that's another good idea for your next purchase. Buy some macroalgaes!! They'll take up those initial nutrients and help prevent bad microalgaes from taking hold and driving you insane. I'm using some awesome looking saw-blade calerpa, some red dread-lock, and some red Gracillaria in my 5.5 and they've kept all kinds of bad algae at bay. Had a brief problem with diatom/cyano/dinos..not quite sure what it was, but when I increased the Kalk, the macros shot off and the problem algae just went away. -Dan Link to comment
OpenBrain Posted July 20, 2003 Author Share Posted July 20, 2003 Thanks for the response, that rock is out of there tomorrow a.m.!! (It is an office tank - I run a chemistry lab if you can believe it!). Just happens that I started a Kalk drip yesterday before I went home. I think your advice re: calcium/alkalinity are right on target. I am monitoring pH continuously with a PinPoint monitor and I think that information is really helpful. Will look into the macroalgae suggestion. I have ordered a "bookworm" type compact fluorescent just in case I decide to put some macroalgae in my hang on filter instead of the bioballs that currently are there. Thanks for the input - I am learning fast (hopefully fast enough)!! Link to comment
dchisenh Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Hey, I used to run a chemistry lab too and teach chemistry. I'm working in a geology lab right now, running chromatography columns for the extraction of Pb and Sr isotopes, about to move onto zircons next. And, if that's not enough sciences, I'm a biology major here at Virginia Tech with the biotechnology option and the ecology option under my belt. I'm taking my very last twp classes right now, the second semester of physics and physics lab, and I'll get my degree in about a month. Try some of the macro in your main tank. If you look at the biology of most reefs, you'll see that a lot of it is composed of algaes in various forms, and if you stick the forms you want into your tank, then they'll get a good foothold and outcompete those that you don't want and that plague most reefers. Also, please remove the bioballs. Should a power outage hit your tank, the filter become unplugged, etc. and the temp drops and kills off all the bacterial film on the balls, when you start it back up, it'll pump all that back into your tank....not a pretty situation. Go with a few pieces of LR rubble if you want, and some macros. The bookworm lighting works great. I have two Bayco 13 watt lights on my 5.5, one with a 13 watt actinic O3 and the other with a 13 watt blue 7100K. Personally, I like the color of the 7100K better and am planning on ordering another bulb of that color for my 10 gallon that's attached to the 5.5 by plumbing (I also have a 5 gallon sump attached to the 10 gallon, it's all plumbed together and is a cool system ) On the 5.5, I also have two 19 watt screw-in 6500K compact fluorescents. They are increadibly bright and have a good color spectrum. Very white, with only a slight hint of yellow. GREAT for a refugium and they only cost less than $8 from Home Depot. Keep us posted and if you have any other questions, just let us know. Someone here can always help. -Dan Link to comment
OpenBrain Posted July 20, 2003 Author Share Posted July 20, 2003 Thanks again & congrats on the degree. Do you have any pics posted of your systems? Link to comment
dchisenh Posted July 20, 2003 Share Posted July 20, 2003 Thanks I wish I had some pics, but I don't have a digital camera. I don't even have a camera at all down here. I'm going to try and see if my little sister will bring her digital camera back up here when she comes back in the fall (she's an art major here at Tech) so I can get some good pics then. Until then, I'm going to try and see if I can find someone around here that has a camera I can borrow. But, I'm not much of a photographer...I'm the guy that you ask to take a pic and I'll cut off your head by accident. We'll see how well I do when I can find a camera. : -Dan Link to comment
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