Gerber77 Posted April 12, 2009 Share Posted April 12, 2009 Sunrise and sunset isnt a huge deal, I dont run that in my tanks and they are all fine. Link to comment
bosco Posted April 12, 2009 Author Share Posted April 12, 2009 Sunrise and sunset isnt a huge deal, I dont run that in my tanks and they are all fine. good just what i was hoping to hear. gonna put the lights back the way they were. i wonder what kind of corals i can keep with my lights. hmm. going to have to do some more research. Link to comment
bosco Posted April 13, 2009 Author Share Posted April 13, 2009 Sorry about updating this topic so much. I'm kind of using it as a journal for my aquarium so I can look back and use what I logged to help others and to know what to expect for my next tank when I get bit by the "I want a bigger tank bug" I ran all the tests again today and things look the same as before Ammonia and Nitrite levels still 0... Is it possible the cycle still has not begun after a week? The diatom bloom has grown larger covering my sand and more of my rocks so I assume things are moving along okay but wondering if I should do something to make the ammonia levels go up. Also I'm not sure why my salinity has jumped but I'm going to make sure to drop it to 1.025 when I make my first water change. Salinity 1.029 Calcium 580mg/L (ppm) Carbonate Hardness 9 ºdKH 161 ppm KH Phosphate 0.0 ppm (mg/L) Nitrate 5.0 ppm (mg/L) (5.0 and 10.0 look EXACTLY the same on the card so I guess it could be either or.... It's the same color as it was last time though, I think...) pH 8.4 Ammonia 0.0 ppm (mg/L) Nitrite 0.0 ppm (mg/L) Here are some new pics of brown coating slowly taking over everything. I hope it goes away soon. Also you can see how strange it looks with the actinics in the back and 10ks in the front. I've decided to put it back to how it was tomorrow and order a Coralife Lunar Aqualight and just use it to simulate a sunrise/sunset effect. Also I should be picking up some chaeto tomorrow to toss in the sump (which has no brown algae in it BTW), maybe that will make a difference. Link to comment
dirtwheelsfl Posted April 13, 2009 Share Posted April 13, 2009 ive got the sundial light with the same bulbs as you i believe, its w/b/w/b, each switch operates one color, it sounds like you have the retro, you might have to modify where the sockets are maybe to set it up like that, i couldnt live without being able to have just actinics on... Link to comment
bosco Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 ive got the sundial light with the same bulbs as you i believe, its w/b/w/b, each switch operates one color, it sounds like you have the retro, you might have to modify where the sockets are maybe to set it up like that, i couldnt live without being able to have just actinics on... well i have the nova extreme ballasts. there's only a single power switch that turns both lights on in the ballast. i planned to add some fans because the lights get so hot and i'm sure that's why i have so much evaporation. i don't think i can modify it where only one turn on and even if that were the case i don't know how i would setup the timer to only turn one light on unless i had two power cables coming out of each ballast these are the ballasts i have btw: http://www.aquariumplants.com/ProductDetai...amp;Click=13666 Link to comment
dirtwheelsfl Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 alrite, i got ya, its says in your signature deal 2 ballasts and 4 bulbs.. do you have 2 fixtures? if so just put 2 actinics in one, and 2 10k's in the other Link to comment
bosco Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 The diatom bloom is gone and I have some green algae growing which I take is a good sign. Ran some more tests this morning and things aren't perfect but look alright (I think at least I'd like a second opinion though) The salinity still needs to drop some and will when I do my first water change. The pH is low and the calcium goes up more and more each time I test. I don't get the nitrate test because 5ppm and 10ppm look EXACTLY the same color so I don't know which it is when I see the color of the water in the test tube... Anyway, I am thinking of getting a few snails to toss in and see how everything looks with them eating up this algae. Salinity 1.029 Calcium 600 mg/L (ppm) Carbonate Hardness 9ºdKH 161.1 ppm KH Phosphate 0 ppm (mg/L) Nitrate Between 5 & 10 ppm (mg/L) (the colors look the exact same to me) pH 7.8 Ammonia 0 ppm (mg/L) Nitrite 0 ppm (mg/L) alrite, i got ya, its says in your signature deal 2 ballasts and 4 bulbs.. do you have 2 fixtures? if so just put 2 actinics in one, and 2 10k's in the other yea that's what i did but it looked funny because half the tank was blue and the other half was white (front/back halves) and it just looked really silly... i'm just going to order that suction cup thingy and put it on its own timer to solve it all Link to comment
bosco Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 So I think maybe I'm ready for a clean up crew.... Getting a TON of green algae in the tank since the diatoms went away. I doubt this stuff is gonna go away on its own. Also I'm having a problem maintaining temperature. At night it drops to 78 or so but during the day with the lights on it heats up to 82. Is this okay? I think those 4 lights being so close to the water is really heating it up and causing evaporation. Would getting a lid made help at all with that? I wish there was a way I could elevate the lights a bit I'm sure that would help as well. I noticed some purple algae showing up on some of my coral. Definitely a good sign right?? Anyway here are some pics of the green algae. Link to comment
bosco Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 well i took some water to the LFS and had them check it out. they verified i had 0 nitrites, 0 ammonia, and their test said 0 nitrates as well. also their pH showed my water to be 8.2. i picked up 5 margarita snails and 2 emerald crabs just to see how they do in the aquarium. keeping it slow she was really pricey... $9 each for the crabs and $1.50 each for the snails. 4 of the snails found themselves on the one rock with the most algae. the 5th snail managed to get up on a flat rock and was munching on the algae patches when one of the crabs decided to barge out from hiding and started going to town on the algae. this guy can eat! he hasn't stopped for the past half hour. it's awesome watching him heh. the other crab is still hiding though. hopefully in a few days he gets less skittish and comes out. i've decided to name the active crab jay and the hiding crab silent bob yea i suck at names lol sue me. watch silent bob come out of nowhere in a few days and push jay out the way of his algae i know the margarita snails probably won't live very long as i've read they like cooler waters than the other reef creatures so i'm not going to name them and get attached to them. hopefully they live nice long healthy lives but i doubt i'd be able to tell them apart anyway for names. mmm after getting ready to press post jay ended up disappearing too. i guess he got full once he cleared the rock of algae patches Link to comment
ryanmilo Posted April 25, 2009 Share Posted April 25, 2009 Watch your emerald as you put in corals, mine decided he liked Frogspawn and Blue Zoas after a while. He went back to the store today. I told them it was crab amnesty day and left him on the counter.lol Link to comment
bosco Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 well a friend of mine convinced me to just name ALL the margarita snails gary yea she's a spongebob fan and it's funny to me. ok so these crabs are REALLY going to town. i woke up to check the tank and almost all of the patches of algae are gone and just residue on the rocks remain apparently in the night silent bob came out of hiding and went to town to the rock covered in it while jay was taking a nap. i snapped a couple more pics of them changing places Link to comment
bosco Posted April 25, 2009 Author Share Posted April 25, 2009 Watch your emerald as you put in corals, mine decided he liked Frogspawn and Blue Zoas after a while. He went back to the store today. I told them it was crab amnesty day and left him on the counter.lol from what i've read emerald crabs are hit or miss. some are horrible and some are angelic. i figure if they give me any problems i'll just bring em back to the LFS but for now they're doing their job and cleaning up all the algae Link to comment
CowboyRWN Posted April 26, 2009 Share Posted April 26, 2009 Sorry about all the confusion of the leak. I used a hammer to lightly tap the pipe in more and it appears to have stopped the leak completely. I'll check again tomorrow to be sure. Just to clarify here are some pics of the elbow where it was leaking from (the part with the white tape is the part where it was leaking): I would not trust that lower connection just being pressed into you sump bulkhead like that. If it would work lose you will have a disaster. I would use pvc cement and glue it. You can easily add a union to the long pipe to get the apart again. It should only take 5 minutes and 2 hours of cure time. Just a thought. Good luck. Link to comment
bosco Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 well the algae problem isn't AS bad as it was but i placed an order for some more snails monday. they should be arriving tomorrow (some ceriths and nerites) i'm noticing some purple algae that i'm very excited about! i can't wait for my rocks to go from green to purple. plan on getting a few frags in the next couple of weeks and then hopefully a pair of clowns. until then i'll continue taking pictures of my cute little snails and crabs Link to comment
bosco Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 Well I purchased a Quarantine Tank (QT) today in preparation of my clowns Posted a nice big thread in the beginner forum asking all kinds of questions about it and hopefully will have it setup in a couple weeks to hold my clowns for a month before going in my Display Tank (DT). It's a 10 gallon Top Fin Starter Kit and I got it for $40! Talk about a decent deal. It came with a hood, lights, a pump/filter, and a bunch of goldfish accessory stuff. The two15w T10 120V incandescent bulbs had bad reviews of getting so hot they raise the temperature of the water. It was suggested to get two 10 watt GE Daylight Cool 40s so I did (They are as bright as regular 40w bulbs but run at 10w) Apparently they are brighter than the stock lighting and are much cooler so they don't affect temperature as much. I also got some background plastic to cover the sides/back so the fish don't get too stressed. I wanted to just use black but they didn't have it so I chose the reef appearance I've decided to purchase two Ocellaris Clowns (false percs) once the quarantine tank is ready. Hopefully all goes well with them. Once they get situated I am going to get a Tailspot Blenny and eventually a possum wrasse. Don't plan on having all 4 for at least 6+ months. I'm sure the clowns will keep me happy for a bit. I just hope it's a smart thing to add them first. Can't they be a little territorial? Anyway.. Here are some pics of the QT Link to comment
The Nomad Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 The clowns can/will be territorial. I'd get the most docile fish that you want, first. Probably the possum. Link to comment
bosco Posted May 1, 2009 Author Share Posted May 1, 2009 yea i was reading about the clowns and whatnot and i think you're right. well as soon as my sponges and filter get full of good bacteria i can get the quarantine tank going and get the wrasse first. i hope all 4 fish play together alright. i looked at the compatibility chart and it looks alright but i'm always paranoid about these things. my snails arrived today and i think they sent me more than i ordered. there wasn't a packing slip and i don't remember exactly the quantity but this is a lot of snails. 35 Dwarf Ceriths (these things are so tiny!) 10 Florida Ceriths 2 Large Nerite Snails 5 Small Nerite Snails Now I already have 5 margarita snails and 2 emerald crabs so I'm wondering if I'll have enough algae for all these snails. I thought I only ordered 5 of each but I guess maybe I fat fingered it. I worry that maybe these guys are going to eat all the algae and leave none for the blenny I plan on getting. How can I tell if any of the snails are dead? I don't want to throw dead critters in my tank. Also i did the penny macro algae thingy and they sent a few pieces of red gracilaria which i will throw in my sump near my chaeto. if it grows i might put it in the display tank somewhere since it does look pretty cool. Crappy camera phone pics cuz I'm at work... Link to comment
bosco Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Well most of the snails are excited to be out of the baggies and into the tank. I dumped the dwarf ceriths in the corner so I could figure out which ones were alive and which were dead and only about 5 of them are still in that corner so after a few days I might toss em if I see no movement. The Florida Ceriths aren't doing much moving at all. I hope they are alright The large nerites started moving around as soon as they touched my algae filled rock and the smaller nerites that were attached to the larger ones detached and began nibbling as well. I haven't seen jay in a few days (I hope he's okay) but silent bob was out and didn't even hide while my hand was all up in the tank. He just kept on munching on some algae off a rock maybe I need to swap their names. Link to comment
bosco Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 well i don't know what's up... the dwarf ceriths keep burying themselves in the sand. the florida ceriths aren't moving at all except for 1, and the smaller nerites are all up at the top of the waterline. in fact the only moving florida cerith is up on the water line as well like they're trying to get closer to the light or air or something. i better check my water parameters. ok tested the water and the results are okay 80º F salinity 1.028 ph 8.4 0 ammonia 0 nitrites 0-5 nitrates (not quite 0 and not quite 5, in between) the salinity is a bit high but i just added water to counter today's evaporation so maybe that's why? is the temp too high for the snails? Link to comment
bosco Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 Well today my front glass is covered with what I think are copepods. They're tiny like the size of a grain of sand and have a tiny tail. Everything I read said they're a sign of a healthy tank so I'm happy I found another bit of cyano on a rock and tried to pull it off with my finger but it just ended up sliming me thought it would be like the chaeto and be grabbable but yea it just slimed all over my finger instead. gross. hopefully it doesn't really spread. I'm getting a few spots of very nice purple corraline growth. I hope it continues to spread The hair algae seems to be under control but there's still a good bit of your regular slimy green stuff. The crabs never stop picking I might have to start feeding them nori or something meaty. Monday I plan on ordering my first fish. I read that Possum Wrasses like to jump and I don't have a cover I might end up getting the Tailspot Blenny first and hopefully get a cover soon. I figure since this is my first fish and there are no others in the tank it's ok to just toss him in without quarantining first. No other fish to get parasites or catch anything and no other fish to stress the guy out. By the time he gets used to things I'll have the QT setup and the next fish will be tossed in there for a while. Hope that all sounds good Boy I sure hope nobody minds me talking to myself in here. Link to comment
bosco Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 good news everyone. lowes can cut glass for free if i purchase it from them. they have a 24x30 sheet they will cut for me and it will only cost $10 i told the guy on the phone i just needed a 29.5x11 piece cut but in actuality i'm going to need a little square cut out for my sump return... i hope it's not a big deal. anyway this cover should cut down my temps a little, cut down my evaporation, and prevent fish and snails from getting out win win win situation! also maybe it will make the gurgling sound quieter from the sump drain because it can be rather annoying at times. i'm happy Link to comment
bosco Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 Another LA reefer! oh? what part are you from? please don't say westbank please don't say westbank please don't say westbank please don't say westbank please don't say westbank especially not belle chasse Link to comment
dirtwheelsfl Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 make sure you have the guy at lowes sand the edges, i had a couple little pieces cut there one time, one had chipped edges, one wasnt even square, and they were all sharp as hell, but it was only like a 2 dollar piece of glass i couldnt have expected much.... Link to comment
bosco Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 so the tank is still icky green looking even with all the snails going to town it does look kinda cool with just actinics (i had to unscrew the 10ks for this shot lol) the QT is ready for fishies but it won't be full of water until payday friday. i plan on skipping the possum wrasse for now and am going to order a pair of clowns and a tailspot blenny. the blenny is gonna go in my display tank, the clowns are gonna go into the QT Link to comment
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