meganistkrieg Posted February 20, 2010 Author Share Posted February 20, 2010 Not having a great night, sadly. After waking up to see my adorable pencil urchin scooting happily along the rocks... nomming up some algae ...I've found him tonight with half the spines he had this morning, and the others lying on the substrate. I know it's bad news when urchins lose their spines, usually due to crummy water conditions. I want to save the little guy but I don't know if doing a water change will screw up my whole cycle, or if it'll even make a difference considering how much he's lost. Current parameters: TEMP: 80.3 SG: 1.024 pH: 8.2 AMMONIA: 0 NITRITES: 0.25 NITRATES: 20 I know it's crap water conditions, but I'm only a week and a half into cycling. Ammonia's been gone for three days now, nitrites have been steadily dropping, and nitrates started rising yesterday. Back to my urchin, I really like the little bro and would hate to see him go in such an untimely fashion. I know they're not wanted in a lot of tanks but I'm an urchin-fan and was hoping he'd stick around. Do I let him go, since he's already obviously not doing well? Would a water change even help?? Honest advice very much appreciated. Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 Sad to say that the urchin didn't survive the night. Found him spines-down in the sand this morning, having fallen right off the rock where he had left a patch of former-coralline looking sandblasted. He probably would have ended up being a right pain, but I was fond of the little dude, and he will be missed! The more I read about them, the more fascinating they've become, and I don't know if I'll be able to resist getting a tuxedo urchin down the road... Anyway, I can now go about stalking the beastly little rock crab without worry of disturbing anyone else. Brazen little SOB was all claws-up at me from one of his various caves earlier today. I've also gone ahead and ordered my Media Rack from InTank, along with the filter floss, Chemi-Pure, and a light for chaeto. My cycle appears to be gradually winding down (and the algae appears to be not-so-gradually taking over...) so I'm definitely eager to get the filtration system moving. I also put in a custom clean-up crew query over at Reefcleaners so I'm psyched to see what recommendations they send back. Today's parameters: TEMP: 80.0 SG: 1.024 pH: 7.8 (not sure why it dropped since yesterday, maybe due to the ammonia peaking up a bit again...) Ammonia: 0.25 Nitrites: 0.25 Nitrates: 20 Oh, and I finally got two light timers set up, so no more waking up/rushing home from work to flick them on and off!! YAY! Very nice. I love the way your rocks have come alive. Well, I had a mishap with my first batch, but managed to save and bake them for later use. The lively ones are all thanks to SeaLife Inc.! All credit goes to their amazing work! Good luck with your tank. I used to live in Astoria before I move to Florida. I miss NY. But I love warm weather My Bio Cube is over nine months and very stable. Just take your time and let it cycle. I'm reading through your thread right now! Very inspirational. Thanks for the heads-up. I don't know if I could stand the humidity of Florida, though the prospect of more pleasant beaches is definitely tempting. Far Rockaway's about the best I have access to and that's not saying much. Come to think of it, even NYC is humid as heck in the summer. Wait a second, why am I living here again?! Link to comment
Kittysnax Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 D: I sawwry on your urchin! I remember when I lost my first one years ago...Seahorses and Urchins look the saddest when you find them dead :< /tears up Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 1, 2010 Author Share Posted March 1, 2010 Thrilled to report that my cycle appears to have finished! For the last five days, my parameters have been: TEMP: 80.0-80.9 SG: 1.024 pH: 8.2 AMMONIA: 0 NITRITES: 0 NITRATES: 20 I'm also having quite an algae bloom of all kinds of questionable things, including what appears to be bryopsis, a patch or two of GHA, and even a dusting of red cyano along the sand. Eek! This is no doubt caused by my tank cycling and being left "untouched" during the process, so hopefully now that I can start really working on it, I'll be able to wipe out the ickies in no time. Plan of attack is as follows! My InTank Media Rack should be here any day, and when it gets here, I'm going to a 30% water change and get the rack up and running (floss-chaeto-ChemiPure) in that order. I'm also going to order my clean-up crew from Reef Cleaners probably on Friday (payday, woohoo!) so they should be here next week, when my tank will have been cycling for a month exactly. Psyched!! No FTS because I'm embarassed by all the algae! Maybe I'll put some up later. For now, here's the little beast who I spent two weeks hunting... He was only about the size of a quarter, but big enough that he was already picking at things on my rocks. No good! It was quite a chase to get him out of his many caves and crevices, but I was triumphant and bid the little fellow adieu. Wish I could have kept him, but the choice seemed to be either Xanthid crab or... anything else. And I want to have way more than just a single fuzzy crab! Starting to plan out my coral selections, too, though they're far in the future. I know that for now, I desperately want some pretty Clavularia, and as far as livestock goes, I'm planning on a Fire Shrimp (lysmata debelius), a few scarlet reef or blue-leg hermit crabs, possibly an emerald crab, and a black and white ocellaris clownfish. I don't have too much space to work with, though, so my coral planning is going to need a lot of work! As always, thanks for reading, and advice/tips/suggestions are highly appreciated!! Link to comment
systemtool Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Cool tank, sorry about the urchin. That is some great live rock you got, tons of hitchhikers! Link to comment
Kittysnax Posted March 1, 2010 Share Posted March 1, 2010 Awww I like that crab! lol! If you had a sump/fuge Id say chunk him in there Hes too cute! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Cool tank, sorry about the urchin. That is some great live rock you got, tons of hitchhikers! Oh man, you have no idea! I really need to learn how to use my camera better - there are so many little creatures of which I want to take pictures! The feather dusters seem to be exploding from every hole in every rock, the little patch of coral has gotten much larger and braver, and the other day I even saw the tail end of something vaguely sea-sluggish disappear around a rock. I'm thrilled that there's so many fascinating "critters" (as we say down south) to watch, and even more glad that so many of them survived the cycle! All hail the mighty Sea Life Inc.! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Awww I like that crab! lol! If you had a sump/fuge Id say chunk him in there Hes too cute! I know! He made me wish I had a fuge. Tiny little guy, it was scary how well he could blend in with the rock! Alas... farewell, sweet prince (of crabs). In happier news, my StevieT InTank Media Basket arrived today, and I've already got it installed! Hoping to swing by the LFS this week and pick up a handful of chaeto so I can really get it up and running (just have the filter pad and Chemipure in there right now). And tomorrow... my first water change! I mentioned earlier that I have a big fluffy explosion of feather dusters going on - starting to wonder if I should be feeding them anything. Time to hit the books!! Link to comment
fishbutt Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Hey all! I'm a former freshwater fanatic who had to give up all my beloved tanks when I graduated college and moved halfway across the country. I've never attempted a saltwater tank before, but now that I'm in a long-term living situation, I figured why not get back into the hobby with a bang? Will be updating periodically with pictures and tales of joy and/or woe as I get my BC14 underway. I figure if I'm going to keep a record of events, I might as well keep it where I can get feedback from people way more experienced than myself! Thanks for taking a look - it's nice to know I've got some back-up if I need it! So after a long leak test and an even longer wait (or so it felt) to acquire some additional equipment, I made the following modifications to my Biocube: 1. removed stock pump and replaced with MaxiJet 900 2. removed false floor in first chamber and inserted Rena Smartheater (50W) 3. tossed away the bioballs 4. removed false floor in second chamber for future media rack The false floor in the first chamber was a battle, but everything fits quite nicely now, so once I had my water in, I gradually mixed in six cups of Tropic Marin Pro-Reef, testing salinity obsessively along the way. my first few cups of salt! Once the salinity was stable at 1.024, I added my sand the next day - a pretty nondescript "live" aragonite mix. No pictures of the dust-storm because I did it at four in the morning when I couldn't sleep, but I do have this: sand guardian! I let it do its thing for a few days, until yesterday, when I ventured forth to my LFS to snag up some of the lovely live rock they had for sale. There were a few (very small) strands of caulerpa on it which I removed (with runners) as best I could, but besides that, it's lovely and the coralline is just to die for. Pics! my first ever FTS! awwwww yeah! left side view right side view mmmm coralline future shrimp grotto? Sadly, I've got New Tank Syndrome something fierce - symptoms are currently manifesting as an insatiable need to re-aquascape, being generally unable to keep my damn hands out of the tank, and staring at rocks for disturbingly lengthy amounts of time. Oh! And now I have test kits, so I can add that to the growing list of Things to Obsess Over. Current stats are as follows: TEMP: 79.7 - 80.6 pH: 8.2 Ammonia: 0 Nitrites: 0 Nitrates: 0 DOES THIS MEAN I CAN ADD FISH??? Just kidding. More as I test and the cycle begins! Or I reorganize my rock yet again! Stay tuned! When starting from scratch, is it best to add salt to the water, let it dissolve, add liverock, add sand? Or what's the best order to do things??! I'm nearing the point when I can start building my reef! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 When starting from scratch, is it best to add salt to the water, let it dissolve, add liverock, add sand? Or what's the best order to do things??! I'm nearing the point when I can start building my reef! I added salt to the heated water (I'm using distilled, most recommend RO/DI) days before I put anything else in there. I wanted ample time to make sure the temperature and salinity were optimal (and correct any potential mistakes) before there was live rock waiting to be put in! After that, I added the sand, then the live rock sometime later (I'm on a budget!) - again, most would recommend putting live rock then sand, so as to stabilize the rock structure and prevent any future collapse from shifting sands beneath it. Definitely make sure your salt is all dissolved and ready to go before bringing home live rock, though - it takes longer to dissolve than you'd think on the first time through! Link to comment
louphoenix Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 That crab looks evil. You did the right thing by taking it out. In fact, I wouldn't trust any crabs in my tank. I'm all snails and slugs! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 That crab looks evil. You did the right thing by taking it out. In fact, I wouldn't trust any crabs in my tank. I'm all snails and slugs! I'm a sucker for crabs! This guy was obviously made of rougher stuff (too rough for my plans, anyway!) but I'm definitely planning on a few hermits and I don't know if I can resist an emerald down the road. We'll see if the potential problems end up outweighing the benefits (i.e. fun to watch!). Snails are incoming first, though - going to put in my Reef Cleaners order on Friday! Can't wait! Tempted to go pick up an astraea in the meantime just because, but trying to make myself learn a bit of patience through this whole process. Link to comment
louphoenix Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 I'm a sucker for crabs! This guy was obviously made of rougher stuff (too rough for my plans, anyway!) but I'm definitely planning on a few hermits and I don't know if I can resist an emerald down the road. We'll see if the potential problems end up outweighing the benefits (i.e. fun to watch!). Snails are incoming first, though - going to put in my Reef Cleaners order on Friday! Can't wait! Tempted to go pick up an astraea in the meantime just because, but trying to make myself learn a bit of patience through this whole process. I understand. I used to like crabs until I'd catch them clawing into things they weren't supposed to be pokin' at... In any case, a good snail/slug crew can be just as good as any crab imho, and they're very fun to look at. Check out the CUC in my tank... link below. Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 I understand. I used to like crabs until I'd catch them clawing into things they weren't supposed to be pokin' at... In any case, a good snail/slug crew can be just as good as any crab imho, and they're very fun to look at. Check out the CUC in my tank... link below. I'm trying to consider the (potential) crabs as more "livestock" than "clean-up crew" at this point - I've read plenty about how much more efficient snails are at the CUC position! We'll see, though - I'm still in the dreaming phase of all of this! Oh man, I can't believe I hadn't glanced at your tank thread before. Absolutely stunning. Loving your livestock, and the rolling fields of GSP/blue xenia!! Link to comment
louphoenix Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Thanks for the kind words. See what happens in a crab free reef? lol Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Thanks for the kind words. See what happens in a crab free reef? lol Haha, definitely inspirational!! Will let my snails have it for a while first before crabbing it up. Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 So I installed my Media Basket (which was a breeze and a wonderfully constructed bit of equipment - thanks again StevieT!!) and unfortunately, in the process failed to thoroughly rinse out the Chemi-Pure elite that I have on the bottom rack. After putting it into the system it fogged the water for a bit but had cleared away within 30 minutes to an hour so I didn't worry about it. Since then, however, I've noticed that the little patch of coral that came on my LR (an encrusting montipora, as it's been determined) that used to have increasingly strong polyps and looked quite stunning has now mostly withdrawn with only a few polyps peeping out. This morning I noticed a white patch at the bottom, which I know isn't good news for any kind of coral. My parameters are the same as the last time I posted them (temp 80.4, sg 1.024, ph 8.2, amm 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20) which is what they've been at for about six days now. My question is what can I do to save this coral? It's about the size of a fifty-cent piece and it's a truly beautiful shade of orange, and I'd like to keep it as part of the natural flora/fauna that came on my LR. Should I have been feeding it? I'm going to the LFS today so if there's something I should get there, please let me know. It doesn't get the strongest light in the aquarium but is in a moderate light area, with good flow. I'm planning on picking up some chaeto today as well, for the second rack of the Media Basket, and doing a 20%-30% water change for my end-of-cycle-get-rid-of-the-nitrates water change, which will also hopefully help to knock out the algae bloom that I've been grimacing through. Any advice is welcome. I know the coral was a "freebie" but it's one I'd really like to hang onto! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 Finally, an update with pics! Glad to say that my (initial) cycle is officially over! I've added floss and Chemi-Pure to my Media Basket and am running the system full speed ahead! Current stats are and have been for a week: TEMP: 80.2-80.9 SG: 1.024 pH: 8.2 AMMONIA: 0 NITRITES: 0 NITRATES: 5-10 (I can't for the life of me tell the difference between the 5 and 10 colors on the API test) I did my first water change two days ago and that pulled the nitrates down from the 20-30 range into a much happier area. Hopefully when I add some chaeto this week, it'll knock it down even further. I also have my clean-up crew on the way, thanks to John at Reef Cleaners! I'm hesitant to add anything besides snails in with any nitrates registering on my test, but from what I've been reading (these forums and Bob Fenner's Conscientious Marine Aquarist) it seems like 5-10 is a pretty standard level of nitrates to have, and that it's rather difficult to reach 0. My encrusting montipora hitchhiker seemed to really enjoy being spot-fed a bit of oyster eggs a few nights ago, and the feather dusters responded with notable enthusiasm as well. Unfortunately, the coral has tightened right up again and I'm not sure what to do about it. I don't want to start dosing anything in such a new tank, but I'd sure be sad to see the happy little patch of orange go. I also appear to have a hitchhiker pistol shrimp, about which I'm terribly excited and have only scarcely seen. Trying to lure him out with a bit of table shrimp as we speak! BLAH BLAH ONTO PICS! Pardon the horrendous algae bloom... FTS! Right side! Left side! (pardon errant thermometer cord, grrr) Thankfully, most of this is diatoms... this is the "confessional" picture of what an algae-thick mess my new tank is! Everything I read has said not to freak out about it and to leave it be, which is just what I've done. Soooo not like me to be so hands off... Bits of sponge and a big happy feather duster Well, at least there will be lots for the snails to eat... Feather dusters, which seem to be reproducing and growing in spades. I don't mind! The big daddy feather duster, my favorite tank denizen. About the size of a penny when fully extended. For comparison, here's an older picture of the hitchhiker coral as it's looked through most of its time here... ...and here's how it's looked for the last two days (since the water change, though no params that I've measured have changed). Poor guy's bringing me down. Pistol shrimp caves are at the bottom right! And a hydroid that I managed to get in focus. Thanks for looking, all! I can't believe my tank is already one month old! Will update again soon, and as always, any questions/tips/comments/concerns are highly encouraged - I need all the help I can get! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 Long time no update! After my tank was "leveled out" post-cycle for a week, I added my clean-up crew to start tackling the tremendous algae bloom that came up during said cycle. Decided, though I think they're cute, to pass on crabs for now and went snails-only via Reef Cleaners (thanks, John!!). They arrived in great shape, along with chaeto for my media basket and a pretty red sample sprig of macro algae whose name I don't know. The nerite snails are algae-nomming machines, with the Florida ceriths in close second. I keep thinking the dwarf ceriths are all dead until I find them ending up in different places, and the Nassarius... how can something referred to as a "zombie" snail not be my favorite!? There's one in particular that cruises up and down the glass all day, unless I'm feeding, and then he mows over anything in his path to get to the bottom. On to the total CUC count! Dwarf Ceriths: 30-odd Florida Ceriths: 4 (one with a barnacle on its back that puts out sweepers!) Nerites: 3 Nassarius: 3 Here's a picture of one of my Nassarii: I kept an eye on my parameters, still testing everything daily and doing once weekly 20% water changes. I also gradually raised my temperature from the former 80.4-ish to 82-ish, and was amazed at how much livelier everything became. Anyway, after another week of [temp: 81.9-82.9, SG: 1.024, pH: 8.4, amm: 0, nitrites: 0, and nitrates: <5] I happened to be at my LFS this last weekend and they had not one but two of the things I've wanted most ever ever ever for a marine aquarium. The creatures looked healthy and excitable, and though I was incredibly nervous to bring home my first real livestock purchase, I figured it wouldn't be any less nerve-wracking to do it a month from now than to just get on with it! And so without further ado (and please pardon the ongoing algae battle...) my debonair blue tuxedo urchin (who is a lawnmower on this algae, oh my god) and... my juvenile black and white misbar tank-raised oscellaris clown! (what a mouthful!) misbar! so cute - I drip acclimated her and the urchin over about two hours and she's shown no lack of energy since! I suspect she's actually "hosting" the current from my powerhead - if I turn it off, she swims all over the tank, but as soon as I turn it back on she rushes right back into it and seems very happy! another shot of the tux - remember that sample sprig of red macro I mentioned? within ten minutes in the tank he was already wearing it as a hat No doubt there will be more pictures to come. I'm mostly just relieved that I did a thorough job of acclimating them, and that both were active and curious as soon as they were taken out of their acclimation bucket and put into the tank. There's been crazy-go-nuts hitchhikers lately, too - a polyclad flatworm, the pistol shrimp (nicknamed El Bandito and with all the trigger-happy attitude of a "get off my lawn!" hillbilly), and I also found a little nudi in my tank tonight and started a thread on the ID forum here: http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=230083 As always, thoughts and comments are greatly appreciated! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted April 7, 2010 Author Share Posted April 7, 2010 This thread is mostly dead, but I figure since I had some pics at the ready, it wouldn't hurt to post them. Have just passed the three-months mark with my Biocube 14G and I'm thrilled to say that it's going very well. My parameters have been perfectly in check since the cycle ended (I've been religious about my 20% weekly water change!) and I've just bought my first coral frags, which is terribly nerve-wracking and exciting. I'm lucky to have a top-notch coral shop here in the city (NY Aquarium Services - manhattanaquariums.com and uniquecorals.com are both theirs) - I was like a kid in a candy store, and unless you're buying supah-dupah LE acans or zoas, everything is very reasonably priced. I picked up all three of my frags for $35 total! I am still contending with the vicious remains of the GHA plague that greeted my tank post-cycle, and a bit of a cyano spread, but using physical removal, an ace clean-up crew (no union laborers here!), a shorter photoperiod, and carefully monitored feeding, I think I'm finally winning the war. The additional flow from the Koralia pump will hopefully help as well! The first handful of pics were taken about a week ago, and the last taken today, so you can see the gradual die-back of the algae. I'm not as algae-phobic as a lot of people and don't mind a bit of a "jungle" look to it, but I'm glad that it's receding from the hold it had before! Enough tl;dr, onto the pics! FTS! Right side Left side Anthelia Galaxea (yes, I know about the sweepers, but it's the one type of coral I knew I had to have, so I'll make do!) Of course, when I try to take a picture of the zoas, my tuxedo urchin (in his GHA pompadour) gets in the way... Clownfish and anthelia (and the patch of GHA atop the rock by which she's being hosted ) My little misbar! Hulkacrab! Hulk SMASH algae! More pictures as the algae battle wages on! It's a bit embarrassing to post these up here, as my tank looks quite a bit "underdone" compared to most people's on this board, but thanks for looking all the same! Link to comment
systemtool Posted April 15, 2010 Share Posted April 15, 2010 Lots of life in there! I like the black clown, they are really nice. Hopefully the urchin will plow through the algae soon. Are you using RO wateR? Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 Lots of life in there! I like the black clown, they are really nice. Hopefully the urchin will plow through the algae soon. Are you using RO wateR? Thanks for the reply! There's definitely a ton of critters living in there, so many of which I can't take decent pictures of (the eunice worm, the pistol shrimp, the few limpets, a chiton I saw the other day that vanished...) but it's so much fun to watch because there's always something new. I'm a big fan of black clowns, I think they look very sleek. She's very spirited, which includes taking bites at me if I get near her resident algae patch, the last outpost of GHA! I don't mind if it makes the clown happy, but now I'm battling cyano on my sandbed. It's always something. Right now I use DI water since it's all that's available to me within walking distance (no vehicle here). Will try to have more pics up soon! Link to comment
systemtool Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 I am just getting over a 4-5 month bout with cyano myself. Its pretty much confined to the rear glass now behind my rockwork. I clean it all off, and it comes back a little less each time. My rockwork and sand bed are clear of it now though. Keep an eye on the limpets if you add corals, some species will eat them. Looks cool tho, you were lucky to get all the different types of macro on your LR! Link to comment
meganistkrieg Posted April 16, 2010 Author Share Posted April 16, 2010 I am just getting over a 4-5 month bout with cyano myself. Its pretty much confined to the rear glass now behind my rockwork. I clean it all off, and it comes back a little less each time. My rockwork and sand bed are clear of it now though. Keep an eye on the limpets if you add corals, some species will eat them. Looks cool tho, you were lucky to get all the different types of macro on your LR! Any tips in the cyano battle?? I've gotten it off half the sandbed and all the rock, but it's built up on the other half of the sandbed now, instead. I've added flow (which I guess I should tweak fully towards the sand) and wrangled up my phosphates/nitrates, but any other advice would be greatly appreciated! Will keep a look out for the little limpets, and in the meantime, here's a random picture of my princely cleaner shrimp on a much less algae-laden rock! Link to comment
MGDMIRAGE Posted April 16, 2010 Share Posted April 16, 2010 Nice Journal How many clean-up crew members do you have in there? The polyps on that mystery hitchiker coral look like Goniopora polyps. Link to comment
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