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SaNChEz's First Pico (First Salt Too!)


sanchez

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Nice Pico. It is your first saltwater tank also, wow good luck to you.

 

I'm tryin! lol $250 or so into it already, so it better work out :angry-fist: :)

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Snails can be funny. I think they need a good aclimation. I have lost a few before day after i put them in. It seems to be a 50/50 shot. I have put them in, they cruise around for a day then just die.

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Got the Chaeto from a guy over on Reef Central. Fuge is running, snails are still dead. My bumble bee hasn't moved at all today either.. Hopefully he's sleeping? The hermit is AWOL, hiding out in the rocks somewhere. Should I buy more snails this weekend or should I just let it cycle some more.

 

Params:

 

Nitrate - 10ppm

Nitrite - 0ppm

Ammonia - 0PPM

Temp - 77.9

Salinity - ??? Refractometer shipped today though.

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params indicate a finished cycle...don't see why delay because of a cycle thats already done, but you should wait until you get the refracto..

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params indicate a finished cycle...don't see why delay because of a cycle thats already done, but you should wait until you get the refracto..

 

Yeah I plan on it. The guy I got the chaeto last night also said he'd give me a free small colony to get my tank started :D

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Did some aquascaping today, didn't like how it just looked like a pile. I started out with a tunnel, as you can see but I didn't like how it looked like the top left rock/coral thing was stuck against the filter.

4388046293_a9006522ac_b.jpg

 

So I changed it to more of a grotto, as opposed to a full on tunnel and moved the upper left to the upper right and repositioned some of the left rocks.

4388810140_4626fc3f62_b.jpg

 

I think this looks a lot better. My bumble bee snail seems to be dead too now, wonder what happened. Hermit is still alive and kicking. I know my glass is dirty, the nanomag should be here tomorrow, so expect a nice clean FTS in the morning :)

 

FTS with stirred up water and dirty glass:

4388810102_95b94f8e35_b.jpg

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no luck with teh snails eh? :(

 

I will most certainly blame the salinity or w/e other parameter you are unable to test for..

 

Just salinity at this point, I have all the other tests. I don't have calcium or phosphate though, should I be worried about my calcium because I have those dead coral type rocks in here?

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if youre planning on a reef with corals, you'll need to get the clcium test eventually and keep levels 400-500ppm

 

Just soft corals at this point, zoas etc. No SPS or anything.

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no LPS either? ;)

 

I'd still aim for that calcium rating, but I'm newb as well so idk with soft corals care that much for calcium...I know coraline algae does though and so do non-coral inverts...to some extend.

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no LPS either? ;)

 

I'd still aim for that calcium rating, but I'm newb as well so idk with soft corals care that much for calcium...I know coraline algae does though and so do non-coral inverts...to some extend.

 

Yeah I've done a bit of reading about it. I don't think I'm going to supplement, albeit it does help the snails grow. We'll see how the readings look once I get some life in there.

 

Do corals have to be acclimated using the drip method or can I just give them a fresh-water bath then toss them in? (not literally, but ya know.)

 

Yay! Bumble snail just took a little walk, guess it's not dead afterall.

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ok cool, thanks for clearing that up :) now I know that my calcium is very good right now.

 

I never said supplement calcium I said make enough water changes to keep the levels between those numbers^

 

A weekly water change should be enough for a while though :)

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Okay.. Week 3:

 

Parameters:

Ammonia - 0.25ppm (dead snails in there finally caught up, removed them)

Nitrate - 10ppm

Nitrite - 0ppm

pH - 8.4

Salinity - Stupid refractometer

 

Bumble bee is still alive and kickin, hermit is doing it's thing as well. I've notices a little patch of green algae growth on one of my rocks, hopefully the hermit will get to it, or maybe it's a nice green coraline, it's not fuzzy or anything just green... I've also noticed a lot of purple coraline growth, it's starting to look good!

 

Going to get some other CUC members this week, possibly one more hermit and some snails. I may introduce my first coral too, we'll see what my LFS has for me.

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Here's what happened today...

 

My hermit decided to pull all of the dead cerith out of it's shell finally, so I picket it out with the tweezers and threw it in the trash. On the way to the trash, some fell on the carpet at work. That stuff STINKS!!!

 

Anyway, a few sprays of Lysol carpet deodorizer later, my hermit has a nice pretty white polka dotted shell. Watching them jump is kinda gross.. I don't want to see it again lol. I like them when all I can see is their little claws, the alien looking body creeps me out.

 

Here he is in his new shell, and a comparison of his new and old shells.

 

4401195867_ebec83ceaf_b.jpg

4401195777_abc9695c9e_b.jpg

 

Nitrate - 5ppm

Nitrite - 0ppm

Ammonia - 0ppm

pH - 8.3

Salinity - Dunno

Temp - 77.4

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ROFL, yes they look all hairy frilly, and slimy

 

That cerith snail had an awesome shell...I wish my baby ceriths will grow up to look that colorful! cuz right now they're just black >_>

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ROFL, yes they look all hairy frilly, and slimy

 

That cerith snail had an awesome shell...I wish my baby ceriths will grow up to look that colorful! cuz right now they're just black >_>

 

Yeah I picked the most colorful one out of the tank. He seems to like that shell, haven't seen him since he walked away with it. he's probably still throwing out all of the snail goo.

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When I came in today, my bumble bee was on the glass above the waterline, does that mean he's unhappy or something? Looked like he was going to jump!!

 

No, really though. What would cause the snail to go out of it's habitat?

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