GioReef Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 don't worry about pH during the cycle... the instability is normal. as for your orange patches, it could be a sponge... impossible to say without a picture Link to comment
tylernt Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Sure, "be patient". I wouldn't worry about the pH during cycling, it's a normal side effect of dieoff. Once your cycle completes you'll probably see it stabilize. You may want to consider bumping up your SG slowly over the course of several days (temporarily topoff with saltwater) to natural seawater levels of 1.025 to 1.026. Same for the temp, most natural reefs in the ocean are more like 80°F. Link to comment
jcastle Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 don't worry about pH during the cycle... the instability is normal. as for your orange patches, it could be a sponge... impossible to say without a picture here's a couple pictures, my camera is picking up a lot more blue then it is white so it's a little hard to see. Sure, "be patient". You may want to consider bumping up your SG slowly over the course of several days (temporarily topoff with saltwater) to natural seawater levels of 1.025 to 1.026. Same for the temp, most natural reefs in the ocean are more like 80°F. yeah I bumped it up a little bit a few days ago and it ended up going up to 1.028 so i took some out and put fresh RO in and it went down to 1.023 lol i'll get it there and i'll raise my heater a bit to hit 80. Thanks for all your help guys! Link to comment
GioReef Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 diatoms. means your cycle is doing well. they will go away when you add a cuc after the cycle. Link to comment
jcastle Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 diatoms. means your cycle is doing well. they will go away when you add a cuc after the cycle. ok good lol. thanks! Link to comment
jcastle Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 just for future reference; how many and what is the best choice for my CUC? I'm definitely going to get blue leg hermits because my LFS always has them and plenty of them and an emerald crab, but what snails are best for a 3g picotope? i dont really like turbo or turban snail because they are pretty big and i think i'll have a hard time finding ceriths and nasarius(sp?) and also shrimp, what's good and what's bad? Link to comment
Mitch619 Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 just for future reference; how many and what is the best choice for my CUC? I'm definitely going to get blue leg hermits because my LFS always has them and plenty of them and an emerald crab, but what snails are best for a 3g picotope? i dont really like turbo or turban snail because they are pretty big and i think i'll have a hard time finding ceriths and nasarius(sp?) and also shrimp, what's good and what's bad? Reefcleaners is the best and cheapest place to buy CUCs. Even if you don't buy your CUC there, you can read about the snails and such. I highly recommend them. An emerald crab is a bad choice for such a small tank. I had one in my 34 gallon and it pretty much starved. Their main diet consists of hair algae and they will actually lose their green color if they have no algae to eat. That place I just told you about has dwarf ceriths, and my personal favorite, Virgin nerites. Of all the snails, they are the ones that I see eating the most algae in my tank. Day and night. The only type of shrimp you would be able to hold is a sexy shrimp. The rest need some good space. Link to comment
jcastle Posted November 30, 2011 Author Share Posted November 30, 2011 AWESOME!! that's great dude thanks for showing me that! lol that would be perfect. I didn't look at shipping at all on there because i'm about ready for bed lol it's almost 4 am so do you know how much their shipping cost is? flat or variable? Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted November 30, 2011 Share Posted November 30, 2011 free shipping if you go with a quick crew you wont be able to beat the price anywhere--LFS would probably be 5x more expensive at least (ceriths and hermits run $2-3 each around here) Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 3, 2011 Author Share Posted December 3, 2011 i'm going to get the quick crew of snails from reefcleaners and buy a few blue leg hermits from the LFS they have them for $1 each so it's not so bad Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 5, 2011 Author Share Posted December 5, 2011 water parameters for today SG=1.025 temp=80 PH=~8.3 a tiny bit up but it's been holding that and i think it's just because it's the end of the cycle Nitrite=0 nitrate=0 Ammonia=~0.25ppm so the ammonia is a tiny bit high, not completely 0 but just about, the PH is .1 high but i'm not concerned or at least i dont think i should be and everything looks great. so what do you guys think? CUC in the next couple days? Link to comment
tylernt Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 so what do you guys think? CUC in the next couple days? Soon as ammonia and nitrites hit zero and stay there, yep. Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 yeah i'm hoping that the ammonia will be gone in the next day or two EDIT: i just tested the water again and everything is at 0, PH is 8.0, SG 1.025, temp 80!!!! so i think i'll test it tomorrow and then wednesday get a few blue legged hermit as guinea pigs to see how they do for a couple days then get the rest of the CUC Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 6, 2011 Author Share Posted December 6, 2011 i got two nerite snails one pacific and one Caribbean, the LFS guy said they were nassarius?? really dude?? and also 2 red reef hermits....i think one of them found a cave right away and doesn't want to come out....or he's stuck lol but i'll try and take some good pics of them, my camera likes to pick up a lot of blue so it's hard to see but i'll get them up Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 7, 2011 Author Share Posted December 7, 2011 anyone think i should get a porcelain crab and pom pom crab....i'm thinking its a good idea lol my LFS has both and i like them Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 the CUC from reef cleaners should be here tomorrow!! Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 anyone think i should get a porcelain crab and pom pom crab....i'm thinking its a good idea lol my LFS has both and i like them I can tell you, pom poms are awesome and likely to get along with everyone else in the tank. i got two nerite snails one pacific and one Caribbean, the LFS guy said they were nassarius?? really dude?? and also 2 red reef hermits....i think one of them found a cave right away and doesn't want to come out....or he's stuck lol but i'll try and take some good pics of them, my camera likes to pick up a lot of blue so it's hard to see but i'll get them up A lot of times you just have to point to the thing you want and tell the LFS salesperson I want one of those thingies. Like when I went to get a nassarius snail and the guy said he thought they were all out, then I pointed to the tank next to him full of nassarius snails and said, how about one of those. I'll take one of those snails. Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 8, 2011 Author Share Posted December 8, 2011 I can tell you, pom poms are awesome and likely to get along with everyone else in the tank. A lot of times you just have to point to the thing you want and tell the LFS salesperson I want one of those thingies. Like when I went to get a nassarius snail and the guy said he thought they were all out, then I pointed to the tank next to him full of nassarius snails and said, how about one of those. I'll take one of those snails. yeah if i can find a pom pom i'd like to get one. my LFS has porcelain crabs but they just ran out of pom pom's. as for the snails, he guessed what they were, i figured they were nerites but i wasn't 100% sure so i said i thought they were stomatella and that they are just a hitchhiker and i told him i'd give in a buck a piece and he said fine lol so i got them for about half price lol Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 Oh, and for what it's worth, my peppermint shrimp is one of the most enjoyable little creatures in my tank. He's always curious about me and what I'm doing and he constantly sways like he's dancing. He's fun to feed and you never have to worry about aiptasia. He loves sinking shrimp food pellets (so do the hermits). I'm sure I could train him to take food from my fingers. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I'm gonna share this with you since you're thinking about getting crabs. Do not panic when you see your crab laying dead at the bottom of the tank. I repeat, do not panic. My pom pom crab apparently molted this morning, and I found what I though was it's lifeless dead body in my tank. Mind you, I've kept shrimp for a long time and I'm completely used to seeing molted shells. I've seen hundreds of them at this point. No biggie. The crab molt fooled me. How they can get out of their shell without leaving any trace or hole in it, I have no idea. I mean, it was convincing. Bright, colorful, fully intact. I took it out and went to work. Kinda bummed. Then I started thinking that maybe it could be a molt. I came home to find my happy and healthy pom pom crab under the live rock in his little cave. Yay! So, remember this. The first time you find your crab dead in your tank. He's probably not dead. Link to comment
Reef Casa Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 +1 on porcelain crab I love mine He hypnotizing me when I watch him they are very cool crabs Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 I'm gonna share this with you since you're thinking about getting crabs. Do not panic when you see your crab laying dead at the bottom of the tank. I repeat, do not panic. So, remember this. The first time you find your crab dead in your tank. He's probably not dead. lmao yeah i had an emerald crab in the salt tank i had years ago and the first time i saw the molt i was fooled and bummed out too lol +1 on porcelain crab I love mine He hypnotizing me when I watch him they are very cool crabs yeah i think i'm going to get one, i like the way they look but idk if i want to get the porcelain anenome one or the spotted one that blue...if i can find one, i've only ever see the first one at the LFS Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 the blue ones looks cooler than the white ones IMO but IME the white ones are less skittish and are more likely to be out in plain sight ymmv tho Link to comment
jcastle Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 the blue ones looks cooler than the white ones IMO but IME the white ones are less skittish and are more likely to be out in plain sight ymmv tho yeah i've heard that. i'll probably end up getting the white one which is fine they look real cool too. and sorry, what does ymmv mean? lol i'm a noob with the lingo still haha Link to comment
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