StellaBlue's da Vinci Cube - RETIRED

[ReefWeeds]

Lol Crabcifer, its a good thing you spared him, crabs are quite fun and do have lots of personality.

My husband agrees with you!

[teenyreef]

Good thought! He is big. He's grown quite a bit since I go him in Feb. Although after reading how hard they are to keep happy, I've purposely target fed him every day to every other day and once I started that, he really started to grow.

Thank you ME TOOOO!! Your tank is awesome!

HA! You're probably right! I love the two hermits - and I'm glad they haven't bothered anything they shouldn't.

Someone needs a grooming! I've slacked on grooming Franklin and Iko - they take so freaking long given how big they are. So, right now they're looking a little yak-ish.

 

Franklin 04112015 2.jpgFranklin 04112015.jpg

Awwww, he's cute

[ReefWeeds]

Awwww, he's cute

Ha! Thanks. He can be so funny one minute and such a PITA the next. He's way too smart for my own good

And he's a 75 lb lap dog. I think he thinks he's around 20 lbs.

[ReefWeeds]

So I was poking around with the magnifying glass and saw something really weird. Oh, and I also fragged one of my toadstool corals. Cut the cap off, made 5 pieces. We'll see what happens. Anyway, back to the weird. I found this thing with what looks like massive red eyes and lots of tentacles or legs. It seems stationary but not totally sure. Here are a couple shots. Close up and then a little further away to give perspective. I'm also trying to ID this type of macro algae I have on a piece of LR and can't seem to. I like it, so hopefully it isn't something invasive.

 

close up:

 

Zoomed out a bit (duncan in foreground):

 

 

Macro algae:

 

[ReefWeeds]

My toadstool leather frags are already polyping. Exciting! Sorry, photo is with iPhone and under LEDs so it looks weird.

 

 

[cmccorkle2005]

So I was poking around with the magnifying glass and saw something really weird. Oh, and I also fragged one of my toadstool corals. Cut the cap off, made 5 pieces. We'll see what happens. Anyway, back to the weird. I found this thing with what looks like massive red eyes and lots of tentacles or legs. It seems stationary but not totally sure. Here are a couple shots. Close up and then a little further away to give perspective. I'm also trying to ID this type of macro algae I have on a piece of LR and can't seem to. I like it, so hopefully it isn't something invasive.

 

close up:

freaky spider thing.jpg

 

Zoomed out a bit (duncan in foreground):

 

spider thing further out.jpg

 

Macro algae:

 

macro algae.jpg

That is weird - very cool looking but I have no idea what it is...

[ReefWeeds]

That is weird - very cool looking but I have no idea what it is...

 

Someone commented that it is a fan worm in my post in the Beginner's forum. I don't know about fan worm. It sure doesn't look like any I've looked up. It is cool looking! In a real freaky sorta way.

[LylaPico]

 

Someone commented that it is a fan worm in my post in the Beginner's forum. I don't know about fan worm. It sure doesn't look like any I've looked up. It is cool looking! In a real freaky sorta way.

I say keep it but keep a close eye on it. It could turn out to be harmless and really cool.

[amphipod]

That spider thing looks lots like a tube worm, I could be wrong though.

That algae is pretty cool

[ReefWeeds]

That spider thing looks lots like a tube worm, I could be wrong though.

That algae is pretty cool

The red/orange things that look like eyes are throwing me. Maybe it is a baby tunicate just in the right place making it look like eyes.

[amphipod]

No it'd have to be part of the worm, touch it and see of it retracts in the tube

[ReefWeeds]

No it'd have to be part of the worm, touch it and see of it retracts in the tube

 

It retracted (I think). so I do think it is a duster! The orange spots threw me. Looked just like some sort of alien spider. You'll be happy about this: we went to the LFS today. Jeff (my husband) wanted to get a live rock with lots of stuff living on it for his monster tank. We were talking to the guy and he says "if you really want a monster, take this hermit named hitch". Apparently he was a hitchhiker with someone's macro algae order and after he ate 7 snails in one nigh, the people brought him in and the LFS put him in a tank with some fish and some other hermits, no snails He's really pretty - orange stripped legs. Jeff kept the name: Hitch. So now we are up to three monsters: the greenish crab (now named Crabinstein), the white devil (Crabcifer) and now Hitch.

[amphipod]

He's a duster, just not a common one in tanks.

Lol that's a pretty cool new pet, how big is Hitch?

[ReefWeeds]

He's a duster, just not a common one in tanks.

Lol that's a pretty cool new pet, how big is Hitch?

He's kinda big! Bigger than my scarlet hermits. And the first hitchhiker crab I caught got a lot bigger! Not sure what kind this is, but he has one MASSIVE claw and one smaller one.

 

Here's Hitch. He didn't want to face the camera. So I think he's an orange striped hermit - has the blue eyes.

 

 

Here's Frankie, the not as mean hitchhiker crab:

 

[kimberbee]

Aw! Frankie is cute!

[ReefWeeds]

Well, I bought a skimmer. I got the Tunze 9001 and it will take the place of the fuge basket in chamber 2. I'm still having some cyano problems and they're concerning me a bit. Nothing big, just spots on the sand. Even though I siphon and am doing small water changes daily, it is still coming back. Should I be dosing something like microbacter7 and reef biofuel? I'm not sure. From what my research says, you need to have a good mix of different bacterias.

 

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to install the Tunze. I also got the MJ1200 pump to replace the stock one. That stock one is kinda loud.

 

So, back to cyano. I'd love your advice. Here are my parameters and a few photos:

 

Temp: 77

SG: 1.024

Ammonia: 0

Nitrites: 0

Nitrates: 5

Ph: 8.0

Calcium: 420

Kh: 9

Phosphates: 0

Magnesium: 1470 (this seems high but every time I test with the Salifert test, it always is around 1470)

 

Here are some photos:

 

In this one you can see the purple color on the sand bed. I siphoned after this photo:

 

 

 

In the front, you can see the greenish cyano just under the top layer of sand.

 

 

This is the side view showing the sand bed. This doesn't concern me as much, but figured it may help:

 

 

AND finally the bubbles.

 

Aw! Frankie is cute!

HA! He is kinda! He has some massive claws!!!

[gena]

So I was poking around with the magnifying glass and saw something really weird. Oh, and I also fragged one of my toadstool corals. Cut the cap off, made 5 pieces. We'll see what happens. Anyway, back to the weird. I found this thing with what looks like massive red eyes and lots of tentacles or legs. It seems stationary but not totally sure. Here are a couple shots. Close up and then a little further away to give perspective. I'm also trying to ID this type of macro algae I have on a piece of LR and can't seem to. I like it, so hopefully it isn't something invasive.

 

close up:

freaky spider thing.jpg

 

Zoomed out a bit (duncan in foreground):

 

spider thing further out.jpg

 

Macro algae:

 

macro algae.jpg

I've seen, maybe had, that macro before. I can't remember the name though. It doesn't look like an invasive type and looks easily trimmed .

 

So Chloe decided to turn her nose up at The Honest Kitchen food today LOL. I'll see tomorrow how she reacts. She did end up eating it at the end of the day. I can't believe she's being picky!

[amphipod]

Aw! Frankie is cute!

 

totally agree, also hitch has really pretty orange on his legs

The cyano normally will grow in small amounts in response to small amounts of nutrients in the water, it doesn't go full on bloom unless there is tons of nutrients in the water, the bubbles mean bacteria are doing their job well, my sand has so much trapped gas if you poke it deep there is a mini eruption of bubbles.

[Chris!]

Here's Frankie, the not as mean hitchhiker crab:

 

Frankie2.jpgFrankie.jpg

 

Give that to your hubby too for his predator tank, black tips on the claws are generally bad news if I remember right.... its been a while since I had crabs

[ReefWeeds]

I've seen, maybe had, that macro before. I can't remember the name though. It doesn't look like an invasive type and looks easily trimmed .

 

So Chloe decided to turn her nose up at The Honest Kitchen food today LOL. I'll see tomorrow how she reacts. She did end up eating it at the end of the day. I can't believe she's being picky!

Good for the first! And aww man, Chloe!!! Stella would get sick of the stuff with the proteins mixed in which is why we went with the preference ultimately. But even then, we sometimes have to crumble up some freeze-dried liver and put it on top to get her to eat it. These girls - they're so high maintenance!

 

Give that to your hubby too for his predator tank, black tips on the claws are generally bad news if I remember right.... its been a while since I had crabs

He's for sure in the monster tank!! I don't trust any hitchhiker crabs I need to order more snails since Crabcifer ate so many of them. Reef Cleaners, here i come

[ReefWeeds]

Here's a picture of my husband's monster tank in our kitchen. I love the look of the Fluval edge, but it is a PAIN to reach in there with the small opening.

 

totally agree, also hitch has really pretty orange on his legs
The cyano normally will grow in small amounts in response to small amounts of nutrients in the water, it doesn't go full on bloom unless there is tons of nutrients in the water, the bubbles mean bacteria are doing their job well, my sand has so much trapped gas if you poke it deep there is a mini eruption of bubbles.

Ok, I feel better. I think I need the upgraded pump. I also got a Hydor Flo to try to keep stuff suspended so it gets through the filter. Thanks Amphipod!

[LylaPico]

Cute monster tank! Has he thought about mantis? It would eat the crabs.... But it would be cool!!

[spanko]

I wrote this a few years ago but I think it still applys.

 

Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)

Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.

1. Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2. Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3. Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4. Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5. If you have a Cyano outbreak do the above 4 items and:
   1. At water change time siphon off the Cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanket.
   2. After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
   3. Use a turkey baster on the rockwork now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.
   4. And stirring (not sifting) creatures like Nassarius and Cerith Snails.

 

Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid Cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.

 

Hope that helps.

[spanko]

Can you touch the algae? Is it hard or soft? It appears like some type of Halemida to me.

[ReefWeeds]

I wrote this a few years ago but I think it still applys.

 

Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)

Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.

1. Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.
2. Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.
3. Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.
4. Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.
5. If you have a Cyano outbreak do the above 4 items and:
   1. At water change time siphon off the Cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanket.
   2. After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.
   3. Use a turkey baster on the rockwork now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.
   4. And stirring (not sifting) creatures like Nassarius and Cerith Snails.

 

Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid Cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.

 

Hope that helps.

Thank you, Spanko!!!! You know, I just realized, the hitchhiker crab ate over half of my snail population of cerith and nassarius - I'm down to about 3 cerith and 5 nassarius from 10 and 11. And duh - that's when I started seeing small patches. And definitely good info about increasing flow. That and getting more snails, as well as keeping up with the daily siphoning - I hope I can keep it at bay without chemicals. Definitely appreciate the help.

Can you touch the algae? Is it hard or soft? It appears like some type of Halemida to me.

It's pretty soft - I have a couple halemida in there and that is definitely thicker than this bushy one. It isn't growing too fast - Since January, it has grown less than an inch. So it seems to grow slow like halemida!

Cute monster tank! Has he thought about mantis? It would eat the crabs.... But it would be cool!!

OMG! Don't they break glass??? Who knows - maybe there's one in the big piece of covered with live LR Jeff got yesterday.