jedimasterben Posted September 6, 2012 Share Posted September 6, 2012 Okay. I will keep salinity at 1.025. I use a swing-arm hydrometer. Alkalinity is at ~10.2 or 3.65 meq/L. I do not have a Mg tester so I will let the LFS do it for me today. I would invest in a refractometer. There is no single more important thing in this hobby that can be purchased for $29. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Salinity-Salt-Refr...=item337980a181 I will take this advice. I planned on returning the crab, astrea and Mexican ceriths any way b/c they are already too big for the scale I want to maintain. I will see about getting the CUC from RC. Got it! Thanks for your time and input! Good deal, you're very welcome. I'm glad I could help. Link to comment
pschom Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 For what it's worth +1 to everything that jedasterben said. Hmmm sounds familiar Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 For what it's worth +1 to everything that jedasterben said. Hmmm sounds familiar Sure it sounds familiar. Like most noobs I thought I read enough and understood how it was done. However, a noob like me usually has to learn in the school of Hard Knocks. Until you learn from actually doing and things going wrong you really cannot fully understand this hobby! This is why I am so grateful to all you long-time reefers for your time, effort and REPITION I would invest in a refractometer. There is no single more important thing in this hobby that can be purchased for $29. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Salinity-Salt-Refr...=item337980a181 Good deal, you're very welcome. I'm glad I could help. I have already blown my budget for this month so I will get the refractometer next month for sure. Meanwhile I ordered a quick CUC without hermits to be shipped on Monday by reefcleaners.org. what a great deal. Thanks again! Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted September 7, 2012 Share Posted September 7, 2012 Sure it sounds familiar. Like most noobs I thought I read enough and understood how it was done. However, a noob like me usually has to learn in the school of Hard Knocks. Until you learn from actually doing and things going wrong you really cannot fully understand this hobby! This is why I am so grateful to all you long-time reefers for your time, effort and REPITION I have already blown my budget for this month so I will get the refractometer next month for sure. Meanwhile I ordered a quick CUC without hermits to be shipped on Monday by reefcleaners.org. what a great deal. Thanks again! If you can believe it, I've only been in the hobby about 9 months. Also, prepare for the snailpocalypse! John always sends a couple extra dwarf ceriths. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 If you can believe it, I've only been in the hobby about 9 months. Holy Poseidon! Only nine months. You sure dove right in! (pun intended) Also, prepare for the snailpocalypse! John always sends a couple extra dwarf ceriths. Sweet! I love generosity. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 7, 2012 Author Share Posted September 7, 2012 Ozzie HUNGRY! Ozzie EAT! Nom, nom. Yum, yum. Click on picture to watch the pinching and shoveling into mouth parts. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 Update: My water chemistry seems stable! Has been good since last Wednesday. I am keeping SG at 1.025. Calcium is staying up at 440-460 ppm. The pH is great b/w 8.2-8.4. Hooray. The only major downer is that I have to keep the lid cracked up on my nano-cube 12G all day and night. If I leave it up an inch at night with moon LED it stays at 78-79oF and during the day with regular lights I have to leave at least 2 inches. It really ruins the sleek look of the cube! Last night I left the lid down by accident. This morning the water temp was 82.7! Will this harm corals or invertebrates? What is the maximum temperature you have ever seen in your tanks? I have to end this post now. But I will post again later with a tale of a shrimp Greek tragedy. Moon glow: Link to comment
pschom Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 82 isn't that bad. Quick swings (as opposed to gradual) and anything above 85 things start looking lethargic. Even higher than 85... But of course you don't want to go there. How long are your lights running? Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 82 isn't that bad. Quick swings (as opposed to gradual) and anything above 85 things start looking lethargic. Even higher than 85... But of course you don't want to go there. How long are your lights running? Hello, pschom. I keep PCs on during the day from 10 am to 7 pm. I am leaving the moon glow LED (2 blue LED bulbs on Nano-Cube 12G) on the rest of the time. I hope keeping the moon light on all night is OK. (?) It is a relief to know I did not cook anything. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 A Greek Tragedy of Shrimp on Shrimp Violence In the wet world of MyAtlantis, there once lived two Peppermint shrimp, Abbott & Costello, in a small 12 gallon reef. Their job was simple. They were to eat all manner of dead, decaying matter and/or the villainous Aiptasia anemone. Because there was not much of that around to eat in this small world, the great air goddess, eitallent, provided them with small bits of divine sinking wafers containing spirulina, silkworm and krill. This divine intervention occurred every second or third day. Because she liked their antics so much, one day the goddess deigned it necessary to bring a third shrimp into her watery realm. She named him Karloff. Karloff immediately took control of the Atlantian Arch and guarded it jealously. When the manna from heaven fell to the sand he quickly fought off Abbott and Costello. As all three grew fat they had to shed their tight wardrobe. Two of the shrimp shed their shells with no harmful incidents. However, Abbott the smallest and last to disrobe was not so lucky. His little empty carapace was floating freely in the current on that fateful day. The goddess was removing it when she was shocked and disgusted to find Karloff eagerly feeding on the dead Abbott. Karloff blamed the snails and stated he was just doing his job. Costello hid from sight for several days after. Ozzie the Emerald crab just sleeps in his cave. In the wet world of MyAtlantis, there now lives two Peppermint shrimp, Karloff & Costello. To be continued... Link to comment
Lalani Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Sorry about the loss but great story-telling. 1 Link to comment
pschom Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Your lights are on too long IMO. Run them like 6 hours from like 2-8. Link to comment
got2envy Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 RIP Abbott Your Atlantis is looking great so far! Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 Your lights are on too long IMO. Run them like 6 hours from like 2-8. Ok will give that a try. Thank you. RIP Abbott Your Atlantis is looking great so far! I know. Sad. Lifes a beach and then you die. Thank you. Sorry about the loss but great story-telling. Thanks. I wanted take something positive out of something negative. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 11, 2012 Author Share Posted September 11, 2012 Adding IBFs now that the water parameters are good and staying that way. All of these are itty, bitty frags that I got for $4-$6 @ LFSs. I will add bigger and more expensive items once I can prove to myself that I will be able to take care of these. Mushrooms: red is all curled up & teal is MAD electric green mushroom that wants to be on the sand Kenya tree on a snail shell I was told this is a green button. Is it? Green star polyp: reminds me of daisies Zoanthids? What kind? Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Just yesterday I noticed that another shrimp has vanished. I went from three shrimp to now one. I believe that Karloff, the big Peppermint, was a victim of karma. He probably died from an acute case of indigestion after feasting on another Peppermint shrimp, Abbott. See posts above. Good new is that my water chemistry is remaining level. Also, the sprinkling of new little critters have survived the transition from LFS to tank. See posts above for pictures of the first test subjects. I ordered a CUC from ReefCleaners.org and the crew arrived yesterday. Jedimasterben was correct in his prediction of the snail-pocalipse. Wow, what cute bunch. Most snails went right to work and some are still dormant. May favorites are the itty bitty ones. I will have to look up their ID again. I am heading over to the water chemistry forum to ask about testing RO water for quality from a home filter set up. Is it necessary to use a TDS tester or can one use the regular test kits on RO water right out of the filter? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Just yesterday I noticed that another shrimp has vanished. I went from three shrimp to now one. I believe that Karloff, the big Peppermint, was a victim of karma. He probably died from an acute case of indigestion after feasting on another Peppermint shrimp, Abbott. See posts above. Good new is that my water chemistry is remaining level. Also, the sprinkling of new little critters have survived the transition from LFS to tank. See posts above for pictures of the first test subjects. I ordered a CUC from ReefCleaners.org and the crew arrived yesterday. Jedimasterben was correct in his prediction of the snail-pocalipse. Wow, what cute bunch. Most snails went right to work and some are still dormant. May favorites are the itty bitty ones. I will have to look up their ID again. I am heading over to the water chemistry forum to ask about testing RO water for quality from a home filter set up. Is it necessary to use a TDS tester or can one use the regular test kits on RO water right out of the filter? TDS is what you need to look for. Keep TDS as low as possible, as you will not know what that TDS is made up of. If you have copper piping in your house, invest in a DI resin. Link to comment
fishfest10 Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Adding IBFs now that the water parameters are good and staying that way. All of these are itty, bitty frags that I got for $4-$6 @ LFSs. I will add bigger and more expensive items once I can prove to myself that I will be able to take care of these. Mushrooms: red is all curled up & teal is MAD electric green mushroom that wants to be on the sand Kenya tree on a snail shell I was told this is a green button. Is it? Looking good! But I would wait for someone to ID that green button you're asking about and keep an eye on it. It has a nice green hue to it, but it looks an awful lot like nasty aptasia that spreads quickly and aggressively. Green star polyp: reminds me of daisies Zoanthids? What kind? Link to comment
pschom Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 I don't even test my RO. I do have a TDS meter on the output but I rarely look at it. Just make sure u change out the resin when it's exhausted or it will leech the toxins into the water and really mess things up. Speaking from experience. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 from fishfest10 Looking good! But I would wait for someone to ID that green button you're asking about and keep an eye on it. It has a nice green hue to it, but it looks an awful lot like nasty aptasia that spreads quickly and aggressively. TY for the heads up. I was worried about it. I have never see an aptasia up close and personal. Maybe I am looking at one now! I will double check on it! TDS is what you need to look for. Keep TDS as low as possible, as you will not know what that TDS is made up of. If you have copper piping in your house, invest in a DI resin. No copper plumbing, all PVC. I guess I will have to bite the bullet and get a TDS meter or I will worry myself to death! Thanks for the input. I don't even test my RO. I do have a TDS meter on the output but I rarely look at it. Just make sure u change out the resin when it's exhausted or it will leech the toxins into the water and really mess things up. Speaking from experience. You are person of faith! I just swapped out the resin/membrane(?) to start using it for the reef. Thanks Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 I feel happy that the good folks in this community are so patient and generous with their knowledge. Thank you to every member who shares their time and wisdom with us newbies. Newbies: I have learned to 1. change water to maintain water chemistry levels instead of dosing to adjust for pH, alkalinity, etc. (some members w/ lots of livestock supplement and dose b/c WC would be time consuming and cost prohibitive) 2. invest in good, accurate testing equipment like pH meter, refractometer, etc. 3. realize LFSs are not perfect and will sometimes have mixed SW incorrectly, give out misinformation and/or sell you Green Button Polyps that may in fact be aiptasia. So always verify. 4. mix my own SW for quality assurance. 5. not get too upset when members seem to give slightly sarcastic or rude replies. Usually, it is the case that they do not intend to be offensive. I find expressing thoughts and humor through writing is difficult. Tank update: So far all is well in the tank and these strange life forms seem "happy." (Well, no one is dying at the moment!) CUC is busy and have eaten almost all the algae in the tank. I have stopped scrubbing the tank! 1 Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Here is a 30 second video of possible aiptasia anemone that was sold as a Green button polyp. Input? Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Poke it. If it doesn't close up and look like this: then you got taken. Actually, that is definitely not a green button polyp. I just realized that I have a rock full of them, and they look nothing like what you have. EDIT: and now that I watched the video, I see you did poke it It is an anemone, possibly an aiptasia, possibly not. Take it back to the store and get your money back. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 It is an anemone, possibly an aiptasia, possibly not. Take it back to the store and get your money back. TY for the help. Murphy's law applies, it probably is aiptasia. ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM No need to scrub glass with busy Nerite snails around! Click on the picture to start video. Link to comment
eitallent Posted September 16, 2012 Author Share Posted September 16, 2012 Today was the day for a WC. It is getting easier and faster to do. After the glass was clean and the water cleared up I examined one of the nice big Nerite snails that was helping me clean the glass. On it's back was a little creature fanning the water. I got out the magnifying glass and to my delight I saw a cute barnacle waving. I managed to capture it on video to share with you. Click the pic: Here is a FTS: Here is a closer view with Green Star Polyp and unknown Rock Anemone (poss. Aiptasia) Link to comment
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