Claw's first 10 gallon nano

[claw]

Ok, thanks Yardboy! I'll keep waiting for the bloom. Is there anyway to boost it? I'm just worried that since the majority of rock was dead and the sand was from a bag, that it won't really have a large cycle...

 

Thanks!

[johnmaloney]

the diatoms will come, just keep that light on a regular cycle and it will happen for you...unfortunately..

 

not sure on your flow situation, but I was going to add this 2 pages back:

 

+1 to adding more flow, but if you want to save some money in the short term harbor freight has pumps stronger than the koralia I think for $4. You can dial them up and down too if you go for the stronger $6 version. $5 I think and you get a lifetime service plan....just trying to save some cash in your plan, koralia is a good powerhead.

[claw]

Thanks John! I just really want to get that CUC you made for me. However, I thought I was supposed to keep lights off during the cycle. If I'm supposed to be having it on and off....I need to get on that. Also thanks for the heads up on the Harbor Freight pumps!

[claw]

Woooohoooo!!!! Hitchhikers ahoy! I think they are feather dusters. There are a couple tubes that look polyp/feather duster like and five other tubes that aren't opened. I'm not exactly sure what they are since they look like a cross between polyps and feather dusters. No pictures for a while. However, I did get at least a light bulb that comes on and off. No actinic, but at least 20 watts are on it.

[claw]

I looked at the things that came with my rock again today and they were fully open. I believe they are palys of some sort, a dull brown but corals none the less! I'll try to get pictures up in the next day or so for confirmation from everyone here but I think they are some type of zoa/paly.

 

If they are, should I be worried that they are in there with an uncycled tank? Since this is my first/only salt tank I can't move it anywhere else, plus this is the live rock that should be seeding the tank. Any advice would be appreciated. I don't want to lose the corals but I haven't had a diatom bloom. The chemicals are still stable where they were previously...

 

Thanks as always!

[claw]

So here is the best pic I could get. Any tips? Thanks!

 

[claw]

So does everyone agree that i got some palys as hitchhikers? Is there anything I can do since my tank hasn't cycled?

 

I also just noticed that there is a golden layer of something growing on the sand bed. Is this the start of a diatom bloom? I guess I expected an overnight explosion of crap throughout the tank.

 

Thanks for any help!

[claw]

Just checked all my parameters.

Ph is about 8.2

Ammonia to be between 0 and .25 so I guess .125

Nitrite to be 0...dead on 0

Nitrate is also at 0

 

Is my cycle over then? I have gone down since my last test a week or two ago and I have crap growing on the bottom. What do you guys think? I already have the list from Reefcleaners for a CUC that I want to get going.

 

Thanks for any help on anything

[yardboy]

Refer back to post 48. I re-read most of your thread and gathered that you started the tank about a month ago with dry rock and livesand. If the dry rock was originally liverock that was allowed to dry out then it was probably full of organics. With the livesand for a bacterial culture it could have had a slow start. What temperature has the tank been running at? If cold, then it would have been slow to start.

If you have any ammonia, then the cycle is only just beginning. There should be no ammonia or nitrite before introducing any livestock. The brown paly's you have on some of the rock (not the dry rock surely, maybe I missed something) are pretty tough and are likely to survive a cycle (but not drying out!).

Wait some time longer. The brown film (cyanobacteria) is an indication of an early cycle with plenty of nutrients. Be patient. The beautiful tank you see in your minds eye will come.

[lakshwadeep]

Your feather dusters could be colonial hydroids. The polyps appear to be some type of zoanthids, which include palys. Use the identification forum for more help. Read the soft cycle thread in the biological filtration forum for help on keeping hitchhikers alive during the cycle. In your case, it looks like the cycle is ending.

[nemmy]

You sure do have expensive hobbies for having no money!

Shooting guns and salt water tanks will suck the wallet dry fast (yes i saw the bullets in the corner, they .22's? Not sure if anyone pointed that out yet).

 

@ 45cents a round for .45, and 50cents a round for 5.56mm, and bills + fishtank i feel your pain...

[claw]

Okay....so Yardboy is leaning towards my tank starting a cycle and lakshwadeep thinks it is ending...? I'll keep going until there is a crazy bloom and all my readings are about zero. The temp is steady at about 80. The palys (fairly sure now) came with the pound of premo live rock I bought. I guess the cyanobacteria will have to stay until the ammonia and nitrites drop. Thanks for the tips guys.

 

Nemmy:

LOL good eye good eye. A larger image would show .17, .22, .40 S&W, and some 12 gauge. All very useful rounds for hunting in Montana. Add to those two hobbies homebrewing, kayaking, search and rescue, and my scooter and yeah, pretty much broke! BUT HAPPY!!! And isn't that what matters most?

[yardboy]

From my experience, ammonia in a tank doesn't signify the end of a cycle.

[lakshwadeep]

What are the nitrates at? They take a long time to lower. If there is ammonia but no nitrites or nitrates, it sounds like something could be wrong with the ammonia test. Have you tested freshwater or newly mixed saltwater to see what the color of 0 ppm ammonia looks like?

[claw]

nitrites and nitrates are all zero. They were high originally but now they are down to zero. I have not tested the initial water yet.

[claw]

I have a quick question about the zoas. When I wake up every morning and the lights are on (timer) they are open, but when I come home from work, they are closed while the light is still on. Is this because my lights are on too long (12hr)? I have an east facing window in my bedroom and now the light shines in in the morning. Is it that my powered light is just too crappy and it takes the powered light and the sunlight? I'm upgrading my lighting as soon as my cycle is complete, until then it is just a normal 20w fish bulb.

 

Also, around the zoas that open, there are the little clearish tubes that have a brown tip. Are these zoas to be? I noticed them when I noticed the opening zoas but they have yet to do anything. Just curious.

 

Thanks!

[claw]

Bump, anyone? Anything?

[yardboy]

You already guessed it. Not enough light. Zoanthids are generally shallow water critters, and can take lots of light, certainly more than a 20W light can put out. Hurry up with your new lights!

[claw]

Thanks again Yardboy, you seem to be the most helpful for me! Any ideas about the little clear tubes? Are they zoas to be? Or are they something I should worry about? I can't really find them via hitchhiker id here or elsewhere...

 

Thanks!

[yardboy]

Not sure about the clear tubes, not likely zoanthids as they usually spread from a flat opaque gray "root" or stolon that creeps across the substrate. It's called the coenenchyme.

I'm glad to help. Some just fly bye and throw out info without really reading what you're saying. You're on my subscription list so I see when you post so I'm following your experience. Hope I've helped a little. Maybe some time you can do the same for someone else!

Also you may need some help to maintain your dedication to raising a reef in Montana! The most common reef there is a fossil!

[claw]

Hahahaha, yeah there are some cool fossils though!

[yardboy]

I'm from Mississippi and I remember the first time I went out West, to Wyoming and Montana with my folks on vacation. I freaked out. The geology was just like everywhere. In Miss. you have to really look for it. Nothing much but loess and delta flats. Very few rocks, just sand and clay.

Mountains just stretching for the sky out there! Very beautiful.

[claw]

New life!! I found a starfish (I think) in my tank. I'm still waiting for the new lights and then to get snails. But I found this thing, can anyone confirm it's starfishyness? I also have these new white tubes. Are they a worm or just some crap in my tank?

[yardboy]

First pic looks to be an Asterina starfish.

Second pic looks like zoanthids or palythoa's suffering under too little light.

[claw]

Cool, it looks like I have two of those starfish. I hear people go back and forth on the starfish and if they are safe for reefs or not. Guess I'll have to wait and see. I pm'd a guy here to see if I could buy a T5 fixture from him but so far it's to no avail. The local fish guys have some lighting that I might start looking at in a week or so if I don't hear back from him.