First SW- NanoCube24Dx

[quy_nquyen]

Looks awesome! Were those shots taken with your new underwater camera?

[tsunami35]

Were those shots taken with your new underwater camera?

 

Yeah, Im still getting used to it but the fact that its fully submersible is pretty cool.

 

Diatoms are in full bloom now, still havnt seen any real signs of life from the rock. Ammonia is now 0, ph is a little low so Ill be doing a water change to replace the buffering capacity.

 

How long should I expect to wait until I see signs of life on the rock? How long should I wait before starting to add a cuc? Heres an updated pic:

[octoberfest]

You could start adding a CUC now. I'd stick with hermits (if you plan to add any) and snails for a couple weeks then consider adding any shrimp or other inverts....but that's my opinion.

[Lalani]

Do a water change and test your parameters again. If Amm and Ite are at 0 and Ates are below.. 20 or so (preferably zero), go ahead and add some snails and hermits. Let them clean up the place and a couple of weeks down the road think about what else you want to stock.

 

Edit: Cute av.

[octoberfest]

Yeah this is the time that you want to be patient....yet its VERY hard to do so. Add one fish at a time, if you plan on getting a pair then add them later on when the tank is settled for a while.

[tsunami35]

Is it normal for the rock to look black like this? Im worried that I lost the live part of the live rock by not doing enough water changes, how long does it usually take to see "life" re-emerge from the rock? There have been a couple of small clam like things that have come out, but they all died. How long does it take for coraline to start coming back?

 

Still waiting on the replacement hood from Drs, so Im still running on 40 watts

 

Maybe Ill pick up a couple snails or hermits tomorrow, whats the best acclimation method?

[octoberfest]

Yeah your rock looks fine. Its going to go through several stages of algae now which is normal.

 

I use the drip method for adding fish into my tank. I do this by getting a container, like tupperware (don't tell the girlfriend that though) and placing it at a lower level than my tank, usually on a chair. I then use normal aquarium air tubing, the stuff to run an air stone with, and tie lose not in it. I then start a syphon so the water goes into the container from the main tank. I close the not as needed to regulate how much water is coming out of the tube. I close the not enough so that the water drips out at about 2 to 3 drops per second. After that I'll give it about 2 hours before I'll add the new critter to the main tank. Most people will tell you not to add the water in your container into your tank but I'm going to leave that one up in the air.

[tsunami35]

Got two red hermits today, think theyre dwarf red tips but may be scarlet reef. Also got 2 carribean ceriths. Hermits seem happy eating diatoms, drip method worked well as you instructed. I will wait a week and get a few more snails.

[tsunami35]

Found a bristleworm in one of the spare shells:

 

 

hermit:

 

 

snail:

 

 

FTS:

 

[octoberfest]

Looking good! If both of your hermits look like that they're red legged hermits, I've never had problems with them at all.

[tsunami35]

Just got back from a 3 day trip and tested my tank, ammonia is up around 1-2ppm so apparently the cycle isnt done yet. Also, ph is back down to 7.8. Im preparing fresh sw to do a wc, hoping my hermits will be ok...

[tsunami35]

Well seems that Ive lost both of my hermits, the snails seem fine though. I did a water change yesterday and will test the water again tonight. If I add anything in the next couple of weeks it will just be snails. Diatoms are really taking off.. My ph is still unstable too.

[tsunami35]

Parameters seem to have leveled off:

 

ph- 8.2

sg- 1.023

amm/nitrite- 0

nitrate- 10

temp- 81

 

Also, the rock seems to be regaining some of its color. Today Im adding 2 margarita snails, 2 nassarius, 2 astrea, plus the two ceriths and two hermits that are already in. Hopefully in a couple more weeks I can start adding coral and fish.

 

A hint of purple:

 

cuc:

 

fts:

[tsunami35]

I finally have Copepods!

 

 

Added a firefish and a zoa frag today, more corals soon...

 

 

 

Any thoughts/suggestions??

[Lalani]

Looking good.

[tsunami35]

I need some help..

 

Tested my ph today after doing a wc and it is back down to 7.8, when I tested yesterday is was around 8.1. Should I use some sort of buffering chemical to bring the ph back up? Should I use a buffer when I prepare new sw for wc's? Im using reef crystals in RO water, the fresh RO water tests at around 6.4 before adding the salt, and around 7.8 after. Seems the salt mix isnt enough to bring the ph up enough..

 

Thanks for any help

[tsunami35]

If anyone's watching this thread...

 

Should I be concerned about this green algae that is developing on my rock?? It doesnt have a texture that can I can feel. Will my snails take care of it? They dont seem interested right now..

 

pics:

 

 

 

 

Side note, bought some Seachem reef buffer to help keep my ph up, hopefully itll work

[tsunami35]

Got a new zoa and mushrooms today, heres a couple of bad pics, mushrooms are still opening:

 

 

 

 

Thoughts? The zoas seem to have a couple of polyps that look different, not sure what that is...

[tsunami35]

\

 

 

 

 

[tsunami35]

UPDATE:

 

Added 10 more snails to combat algae problems, green algae is starting to go away now, but cyano has moved in. Today I added two handfuls of chaeto to the second chamber, and peeled the vinyl off of the back for light. Im not sure if the 13w cfl Im using is enough light. I found some nudis on the zoas, and did a freshwater dip last night, but wasnt able to get all of the eggs off. I will do another dip in a couple of days. Im trying to balance the tank out before adding more coral/fish. Hoping to get gsp or xenia next, and either a pair of clowns or a sixline wrasse.

 

Please Comment/Critique/Flame/Anything!!!

 

Pics:

 

shrooms

 

zoas

 

 

13cfl lighting fuge (enough for chaeto?)

 

inside of fuge (looks brighter than it is)

 

nudi

 

fts w/flash

 

side shot

[tsunami35]

Still battling cyano, have lots of biodiversity now and a few new inhabitants including two clowns and a hammer coral. Things would be fine if it werent for this $%^&* Cyano...

 

Any Idea what these are???

 

this almost looks like a flower, rides around on a snail:

 

weird egg things, hard:

 

These zoas have pox, but are growing and look fine still...

 

 

[Gerber77]

The tank is looking really good, keep it up.

[evanski]

VERY nice....I have essentially the identical setup that went into my office this week. Please check out my thread and follow along as well.

 

Great pics by the way. I will have pics next week.

 

E

 

PS the hard green stuff is bubble algae...you do NOT want to puncture these? It is a pain nuisance algae, but a gree mithrax crab will eat it. You may not want this crab in your tank long term because it WILL get a taste for the snails.

[tsunami35]

New pics, cyano is under control now, one zoa rock isnt doing well...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Clavius85]

Nice rock work! Looks cool.