BC14 Overhauled: Trip to the Florida Aquarium

[Belac]

Ateras can get stuck. But its sort of true of most snails to an extent.
All hermits will eat snails if they decide they want to. Even more true when they want the shell. I like little blue legs a lot. I have almost exclusively those. They don't seem to kill snails as much as other things I have had, and they ate more algae. I don't know what they could survive honestly. I would suspect 1-3 would be ok if you acclimated them over time but I really don't know.

I would say at the very least pull out that sponge and give it a really good rinse and wringing with some salt water of similar temp/salinity. (keep some of the bacteria alive). I think you could probably chuck it with out any real issues if you want to get rid of it.

Don't worry about water changes tell things start to level out.

[Lilies & Lace]

My cycle was about a month. Added my first fish a couple weeks ago.

 

I have the InTank media basket with floss in the top compartment. I change that floss once a week

after I do a water change (2 gallons). Every 2 weeks or so I pull out the sponge in the return pump chamber

and rinse it out.

 

This week I did two water changes 2 gallons each to help cut the algae growth.

 

Have you done any water changes? Sorry cannot recall reading of any in your thread.

 

David

 

What fish did you add? I also have the InTank media basket, I'm running filter floss in the top, chaeto with underwater light in the middle, and a bag of chemi-pure in the bottom. I will start pulling my sponge out more often then! I don't think I ever pulled it out last time my tank was up and I hadn't cleaned it this time since I started the tank a month ago.

 

I did a small water change (1g) when I added the chaeto and live sand to seed my microfauna, I think it was a week ago? That's where I messed up I think. I thought that since my levels were so close to zero I could add that stuff, do a small water change and my tank would finish the cycle quickly. Instead i'm pretty sure I prolonged it.

 

 

You really need to get a tank thread up! We can learn from each other!

[Lilies & Lace]

Ateras can get stuck. But its sort of true of most snails to an extent.

All hermits will eat snails if they decide they want to. Even more true when they want the shell. I like little blue legs a lot. I have almost exclusively those. They don't seem to kill snails as much as other things I have had, and they ate more algae. I don't know what they could survive honestly. I would suspect 1-3 would be ok if you acclimated them over time but I really don't know.

 

I would say at the very least pull out that sponge and give it a really good rinse and wringing with some salt water of similar temp/salinity. (keep some of the bacteria alive). I think you could probably chuck it with out any real issues if you want to get rid of it.

 

Don't worry about water changes tell things start to level out.

 

Unfortunately I probably won't be able to go to my lfs until next week because it's time for finals. Who knows, maybe by then the tank will finally have cycled and I can just order snails and hermits online instead of driving to the LFS and getting only the hermits. I guess my schedule is going to prevent me from doing anything too soon lol.

 

I should really learn to ask questions before I act. I already had pulled out the sponge and rinsed i out really well with tap water then RO water. I didn't even think about the fact that I needed the bacteria to stay alive, I just thought it smelled gross and needed to be cleaned. Next time I know better though and will rinse it with salt water if I decide to keep it.

[Belac]

If you cleaned it really good, I don't think it will matter all that much you probably flushed 90%+ of the gunk out.

Who asks before they do stuff.

Good luck with finals.

[Pancetta]

My first fish is a tank bred Ocellaris Clownfish. Colorful but dumb!

 

I have Floss, Purigen and Chemi-Pure in my media basket. I added part of a raw deli-shrimp to the tank

the 2nd week and left it in for 5 days. This caused an ammonia spike. The shrimp disentagrated (sp?) and there was so much debri floating around I decided to do a water change (2 gallons).

 

Typically I think you would wait until the end of the cycle to do a water change.

 

In your case I think you just need to wait things out.

 

Hope this helps some.

Not sure if I can really offer much but sypmathy since I am such a newbie myself?!

 

Good luck on your finals.

[Lilies & Lace]

If you cleaned it really good, I don't think it will matter all that much you probably flushed 90%+ of the gunk out.

 

Who asks before they do stuff.

 

Good luck with finals.

 

Thank you! I figure if I waited for answers for all of my bright ideas, I'd probably be very bored staring at an empty tank and having nothing to fiddle with.

 

 

My first fish is a tank bred Ocellaris Clownfish. Colorful but dumb!

 

I have Floss, Purigen and Chemi-Pure in my media basket. I added part of a raw deli-shrimp to the tank

the 2nd week and left it in for 5 days. This caused an ammonia spike. The shrimp disentagrated (sp?) and there was so much debri floating around I decided to do a water change (2 gallons).

 

Typically I think you would wait until the end of the cycle to do a water change.

 

In your case I think you just need to wait things out.

 

Hope this helps some.

Not sure if I can really offer much but sypmathy since I am such a newbie myself?!

 

Good luck on your finals.

 

I plan on getting the same fish, but it will be added last. I figured a clown would be more interesting for a two year old to look at and would be more personable than the fish I really really want.

 

 

Luckily my shrimp kind of just melted away without a trace after about 5 or 6 days and I didn't even really see an ammonia spike because I waited to test until it was almost gone.

 

I will continue waiting impatiently for another two or three weeks if I have to. After that I might end up sacrificing some snails and hermits to the cause.

 

Thank you! I think this hobby is what's keeping me sane right now, yet at the same time it is driving me crazy haha! I just bounce back and forth between my studies and this hobby when one starts to make me want to pull my hair out.

[Lilies & Lace]

Nitrates-3

Nitrites- almost undetectable

Ammonia- .15

 

I'm not letting myself test params again until Tuesday night after finals are over, this is just making me sad at this point. I hooked up my AI Nano to the controller I received in the mail earlier this week. I should have a sunset starting in the tank at 9am tomorrow, so that makes me happy! I really would have fried anything I put in my tank if I hadn't gotten the controller.

[Lilies & Lace]

Nitrates- 1

Nitrites- 0

Ammonia- .01

 

Almost there! I'm a bit confused as to how nitrates are going down though. I thought they were supposed to go up? I got B's on my finals and came out with all A's for the semester. Only an 11 day break before I start a new semester. I really don't know what to do with myself when I'm not studying. Maybe that's why I like this hobby?

 

Been thinking about my stocking list lately since I have nothing else to do, the jawfish is going in first. I've had 4 other fish on my mind, I've been thinking about adding a purple firefish and clown, a tanakas pygmy wrasse and the clown, or the wrasse with a neon goby. I love the way wrasses swim around rock work, but I feel the color of the purple firefish would offset the colors of the clown and jawfish nicely. Feel free to tell me that my tank would be overstocked with any of the combos of these fish lol.

[Belac]

Most likely the nitrate is being sucked up slowly by the chato. It will go down a little on its own. But I suspect that is where its going.

Good deal with the grades.

And yeah after nearly 7 years of higher educations I still feel like I should be doing homework or studying. I still read a lot but it still just feels strange some days when I wake up and am reminded I am done with classes. Those days I consider getting a masters and change my mind...

[Lilies & Lace]

Most likely the nitrate is being sucked up slowly by the chato. It will go down a little on its own. But I suspect that is where its going.

 

Good deal with the grades.

 

And yeah after nearly 7 years of higher educations I still feel like I should be doing homework or studying. I still read a lot but it still just feels strange some days when I wake up and am reminded I am done with classes. Those days I consider getting a masters and change my mind...

 

Glad to know my macro is doing its job!

 

 

It's funny how we get so used to our routines! What did you get a degree in?

[Belac]

We are creatures of habit more then we want to admit, even people like me who enjoy a lot of new experiences. I have two B.A. in cultural studies, and recently finished at a votech for aviation mechanic training.

[Lilies & Lace]

 

We are creatures of habit more then we want to admit, even people like me who enjoy a lot of new experiences. I have two B.A. in cultural studies, and recently finished at a votech for aviation mechanic training.

 

Wow! 2 B.A.'s That's impressive! Those are 2 very different majors!

[Lilies & Lace]

Well the tank is finally cycled! I ordered my CuC from Reef Cleaners this weekend and it should be here tomorrow. I went to my LFS and got my water for the water change and picked up my first softies! The standard bluish-purple mushroom and an orange/blue ric that is about to split. I figured I would make sure I can keep coral alive before I shell out a bunch of cash on the stuff I really like.

[Belac]

Very nice that its getting started.

Watch where you put the mushrooms. Some strains can spread like wild fire. Just make sure you can take the area out if you need to keep them from overtaking the whole tank.

[Lilies & Lace]

Very nice that its getting started.

 

Watch where you put the mushrooms. Some strains can spread like wild fire. Just make sure you can take the area out if you need to keep them from overtaking the whole tank.

 

Thanks Belac, I will keep that in mind when I place it on the rock work! I put the mushroom in a cup and it attached to a shell over night. I'm not sure where I'm going to place it once it's done acclimating to the lights. How do you get them off when they go to undesired locations?

[Lilies & Lace]

My light is on coral acclimation mode, currently they are running- W-5%, B-7%, RB-7%. It will be neat to see how bright these guys are when the lights are at the usual 30%. I will start taking pictures with my camera soon, until then I edited my cell pics a little bit to make the colors more accurate.

 

The new ric is much brighter than the one it is splitting from

 

 

My mushie is kind of angry because I had just taken it out of the glass and placed it on the sand. Also purple is a really hard color to bring out, there is more purple to it than shown.

 

 

 

CuC is here! True to his reputation, John cannot count haha. He was overly generous and upped my order of 21 snails to at my guess over 70 snails. He also threw in 4 blue leg hermits, which on his site are marked for needing quicker shipping than the snails are. As soon as I put these guys in the tank water I had a roiling mass of snails in the bottom of the bowl! It looks like there weren't many casualties so far. I highly recommend Reef Cleaners for anyone needing a Clean up Crew!

 

Bowl of snails anyone?

 

 

[Belac]

You can peel up the foot of the mushroom to remove it but its harder then it sounds. I have just chipped the rock the few times I needed to remove them.

The Yuma you have won't be an issue if they go crazy, they are had enough to come by that you will have some one to sell them to when ever you want to get rid of them.


I recommend removing the excess shells left from what ever snails are dead. Except for a few larger ones for the hermits.

[Pancetta]

Looks good. Nice mushrooms. N ice photos too;pretty good for cell phone pics.

 

David

[Lilies & Lace]

You can peel up the foot of the mushroom to remove it but its harder then it sounds. I have just chipped the rock the few times I needed to remove them.

 

The Yuma you have won't be an issue if they go crazy, they are had enough to come by that you will have some one to sell them to when ever you want to get rid of them.

 

 

I recommend removing the excess shells left from what ever snails are dead. Except for a few larger ones for the hermits.

 

I'll take a razor blade to them if I have to. I'm happy that the ric has almost finished splitting, it's color isn't one I am crazy about so it will probably be one of the first frags I ever sell. I had about 15 doa's and removed them all, with exception of the Florida ceriths which stayed in 72 hours per Reef Cleaners instructions.

 

 

Looks good. Nice mushrooms. N ice photos too;pretty good for cell phone pics.

 

David

 

Thanks David! I've been taking pics with my iphone for a long time lol. I should hopefully get my camera back this weekend or next and

be able to take better pictures!

[Lilies & Lace]

During my break between semesters I took the opportunity to go down south and visit my grandma for mothers day. Since she lives in St.Pete I decided to take Lilly to the Florida Aquarium for mothers day and she and I got in for free! Since I was chasing her around making sure she didn't run off or get abducted, I didn't get many pictures or ones of good quality since all I had was my phone. I hope you enjoy them anyway!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy was probably 3x my size in weight. The picture is very deceiving.

[Pancetta]

Lilly is a beautiful little girl! Looks like she enjoyed the aquarium.

David

[Belac]

Sounds like you had a good time. Also sounds like you needed a leash for the little one.
That's a big grooper. Could have ate the little girl for lunch, even in that picture I can tell its quite large.

[spazizz]

That fish is big enough to eat her. Geeebus.

[Lilies & Lace]

Sounds like you had a good time. Also sounds like you needed a leash for the little one.

That's a big grooper. Could have ate the little girl for lunch, even in that picture I can tell its quite large.

 

 

 

That fish is big enough to eat her. Geeebus.

 

I am so investing in a baby leash! Someone carry's her away from me and she has a fit, but she will run from me no problem lol. I think the Grouper could have eaten 4 toddlers her size and still had room for more lol.

[Pancetta]

Megan,

Have you added a fish to your tank yet? I am curious to see what fish you are going with.

I think my clownfish is lonely. Thinking about adding a Yellow Goby or a Firefish.

 

David