Question about my cycle.

[zoox]

Hello everyone. After a year or so of reading forums and staring at pictures of other peoples aquariums I finally took the plunge and started one for myself. Things have been going pretty well so far, i think.

 

Two weeks ago today I put 10 lbs of live sand and 9 lbs of well cured live rock along with some seawater into my biocube 14 and thus started my cycle. A couple of days later I visited the LFS and bought a small CUC consisting of 5 turbo snails, 4 hermits, and one emerald crab (a real SOB). Everything has pretty much been on cruise control since then. 10 days in I topped off with RO/DI water from the grocery store to cancel out any evaporation that may have occured.

 

I am now 2 weeks in and wondering whats next. I have algae growing all over the place. Its on the sand, on the glass, everywhere. Several things that have popped up, almost something new every day. I see tiny starfish, tunicates, little arms coming from holes in the rocks (can someone please let me know what these are, I'm guessing coral but where is the rest of it... I even fed one of them), and now copepods.

 

So my question is, whats next? I have been testing the water every few days and nothing has ever registered above zero, although my tests are expired. Is it safe to add fish? Corals? Do I need to replace the filter, and is it safe to rinse it with city water?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who may reply.

 

 

PS. One of the rocks I purchased had three small mushroom corals growing on it. After a week they looked like the were shriveling up a bit and then one night I came home and watched as my SOB emerald crab ate the last few peices of the remaining mushroom coral, is this normal?

[qwiksilver711]

Hello everyone. After a year or so of reading forums and staring at pictures of other peoples aquariums I finally took the plunge and started one for myself. Things have been going pretty well so far, i think.

 

Two weeks ago today I put 10 lbs of live sand and 9 lbs of well cured live rock along with some seawater into my biocube 14 and thus started my cycle. A couple of days later I visited the LFS and bought a small CUC consisting of 5 turbo snails, 4 hermits, and one emerald crab (a real SOB). Everything has pretty much been on cruise control since then. 10 days in I topped off with RO/DI water from the grocery store to cancel out any evaporation that may have occured.

 

I am now 2 weeks in and wondering whats next. I have algae growing all over the place. Its on the sand, on the glass, everywhere. Several things that have popped up, almost something new every day. I see tiny starfish, tunicates, little arms coming from holes in the rocks (can someone please let me know what these are, I'm guessing coral but where is the rest of it... I even fed one of them), and now copepods.

 

So my question is, whats next? I have been testing the water every few days and nothing has ever registered above zero, although my tests are expired. Is it safe to add fish? Corals? Do I need to replace the filter, and is it safe to rinse it with city water?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who may reply.

 

 

PS. One of the rocks I purchased had three small mushroom corals growing on it. After a week they looked like the were shriveling up a bit and then one night I came home and watched as my SOB emerald crab ate the last few peices of the remaining mushroom coral, is this normal?

try having your lfs test the water to make sure. and the emerald crab, well they are oppurtunistic feeders... they've been known to whack fish when they are hungry enough to.

[RussianBoy]

Welcome to SW! little arms, most likely mini brittle star fish, sometimes you will never see them move around, just stay in a hole and stick their little arms out to catch stuff, totally ok for the tank, wont hurt anything. I love them, and have tons one of my favorite HH I have.

 

Emerald crabs don't feed on coral, not living coral, if it was dead or dying, they will munch on whatever, still not really a big deal to keep in your reef, the chance of one killing your fish if appropriate sized crab for your tank is slim.

 

Try not to use your city water for anything in your tank, has too much crap in it that can cause more harm than good. Make sure your water changes consist of RO/DI water, DI is ok for top offs but not full changes.

 

Algae is a good sign, but what kind is it, there are so many, for any of us to be able to tell you what to do to control it, we have to know the kind.

 

Please get some tests that are not expired before risking any livestock, or bring some water to your LFS to double check your levels.

 

Then get some more CUC you for sure are going to need more, what type/size/and what are your running for filtration and so on in your tank? Visit Reefcleaners.org for CUC, best bang for the buck and the owner always takes really amazing care of his customers, would not buy my CUC anywhere else and a lot of people here will agree.

[zoox]

Hello again. Thanks for the replies! The arms i was referring to may be more accurately described as small tentacles, constancy emerging from the rocks feeling around. I have to brittle starfish also and these are something different. The tentacles are very tiny and clear but can reach a couple inches.

 

One other question. In one of my rocks i also have a green and purple polyp. Its been open pretty mu h the entire time I've had the tank set up but for the past two days its been closed. I've done some reading and ut doesn't appear to be shedding so should i worry about it or is this something normal? Am i supposed to feed it?

 

Also, the algae is brown/ red mostly. Like a film on the glass and sand. There's also another type that's green, and has a leaf like structure but there's only about 15-20 in the tank.

 

Tested the specific gravity with a hydrometer a few minutes ago and it appears to be about 1.023, is this anything to worry about?

[zoox]

Hello again. Thanks for the replies! The arms i was referring to may be more accurately described as small tentacles, constancy emerging from the rocks feeling around. I have to brittle starfish also and these are something different. The tentacles are very tiny and clear but can reach a couple inches.

 

One other question. In one of my rocks i also have a green and purple polyp. Its been open pretty mu h the entire time I've had the tank set up but for the past two days its been closed. I've done some reading and ut doesn't appear to be shedding so should i worry about it or is this something normal? Am i supposed to feed it?

 

Also, the algae is brown/ red mostly. Like a film on the glass and sand. There's also another type that's green, and has a leaf like structure but there's only about 15-20 in the tank.

 

Tested the specific gravity with a hydrometer a few minutes ago and it appears to be about 1.023, is this anything to worry about?

 

Bump

[OClownsandNanos]

Hi Zoox,

 

Welcome! It would be really helpful if you could snap some pics of the algae/tentacles/polyps you are referring to so we can get a better idea of what you are seeing. The clear tentacles you mentioned could be aptasia (bad) or digitate hydroids (could be neutral or bad, depending on your opinion) or pretty much anything. They could be just worms (good) living in the rock too. Sounds like the majority of your algae may be diatoms right now. Maybe some cyano? Hard to tell with just your written description.

 

Re: your hydrometer, you should get it tested against your LFS's calibrated refractometer to make sure it's not off at all. It may be off by a few thousandths. If it is, you just need to remember to correct for that everytime you use it. Do that while you get your water tested. Most here keep their SG at 1.025 or 1.026, but it's best to make sure your hydrometer's measuring properly before changing anything right now. 1.023 is fine, just not ideal for corals.

 

You should get some new test kits as soon as possible. The API Saltwater and Reef Master Kits are pretty popular around here. They're reasonably accurate and affordable. Salifert test kits are also recommended, but much more pricey. You'll want tests for ammo, nitrites, nitrates, pH, calcium, alk, and phosphates to start. Those two API kits should have all those tests in there.