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Alex's Biocube 29


xAyanex

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Another update! So soon? That's RIGHT!

 

Bob: Doing great. Dot: Also doing great! Swimming around happily, and EATING FLAKES normally, woohoo!!! Good job Dot, I'm so proud of you. Corals: All happy, yayyyy.

 

So I was sitting there looking at my tank and noticed... an asterina starfish! Oh wait, there are 2! Wait a second... eventually make that NINE! And yes, probably more I can't see. Oh, and plenty of bristleworms came out to play as well. One was really long-like 2.5 inches! Craziness/Icky! I didn't get a picture of the big bristleworm though. I did, however, get a picture of some unknown creature that kind of looks like a snail without a shell. It even kinda looks like he is trying to make one? I have no idea. Anyway, pictures (All bristleworms are on the glass, not on the corals):

 

Bristleworm on the glass in front of the toadstool:

28961977561_e1911a41d0_b.jpg

A couple more bristleworms:

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I should clarify that I'm not 100% sure they are bristleworms. I'm just guessing:

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Asterina Starfish #1:

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Asterina Starfish #2:

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Asterina starfish #3-7 (very difficult to see, I'll try to get a better picture in a second and circle them):

28420893893_0e6d90de8e_b.jpg

Asterina Starfish #8:

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Asterina Starfish #9:

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A better picture of Asterina Starfish #3-7 (circled):

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Unknown creature pictures:

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29005660816_676e351640_b.jpg'

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Final Comment: Bristleworms (if that is what they are) move pretty fast!

  • Like 3
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fishfreak0114

I've never seen bristleworms on the glass before, I don't think that's them (lucky you, they're creepy). Google spaghetti worms perhaps? Some of my bristles are over 4" now!!! And the shell-less snail could maybe be a stomatella? I couldn't tell from the pic (I've never been good at picture ID's)

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Oh, good. Hopefully whatever they are, they're not bad to have. I'll look your suggestions up in a bit. I would flip if I saw that, I hate worms/bugs/etc.

 

Edit: I'm almost certain you're right about the Stomatella Snail! And I've read nothing but good things about them. :D Yay!

In other news, the worms are definitely not spaghetti worms. However, you're right, they probably aren't bristle worms either-they don't look bristley or wide, they look smooth and skinny. I'll keep searching on those.

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Cencalfishguy56

Oh, good. Hopefully whatever they are, they're not bad to have. I'll look your suggestions up in a bit. I would flip if I saw that, I hate worms/bugs/etc.

 

Edit: I'm almost certain you're right about the Stomatella Snail! And I've read nothing but good things about them. :D Yay!

In other news, the worms are definitely not spaghetti worms. However, you're right, they probably aren't bristle worms either-they don't look bristley or wide, they look smooth and skinny. I'll keep searching on those.

bristleworms and fuzzy chiton?
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bristleworms and fuzzy chiton?

Can bristleworms be that small? I have never really seen any worms until a day or two ago.

 

And I did consider the idea of a chiton, but after looking at the "ultimate ID thread" on the Identification Forum and then googling stomatellas and chitons, I'm pretty sure it's a stomatella. My pictures make it difficult to tell, but I couldn't get a picture from the side because my torch coral would have been in the way!

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Cencalfishguy56

Can bristleworms be that small? I have never really seen any worms until a day or two ago.

 

And I did consider the idea of a chiton, but after looking at the "ultimate ID thread" on the Identification Forum and then googling stomatellas and chitons, I'm pretty sure it's a stomatella. My pictures make it difficult to tell, but I couldn't get a picture from the side because my torch coral would have been in the way!

definitely bristleworms! Look at the coloration how they are two toned and if you notice you can see the tiny filaments on their body, I used to have a ton of small ones like that
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definitely bristleworms! Look at the coloration how they are two toned and if you notice you can see the tiny filaments on their body, I used to have a ton of small ones like that

Oh, awesome! Thank you so much for the positive ID! They do have the tiny filaments on their body. My pictures aren't great because they're phone pictures.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update Time.

 

Bob and Dot are doing quite well. All the corals are happy. :D Dot is still in Quarantine.

 

Parameters:

Quarantine Tank:

Salinity: 1.025

Temp: 79 F

pH: 8.2

Ammonia: 0 ppm

 

DT:

Salinity: 1.025

Temp: 79F

pH: 8.2

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 0 ppm

Nitrate: 0 ppm

Phosphate: 0.03 ppm

Magnesium: 1500 ppm (a little high)

Calcium: 500 ppm (a little high)

Alkalinity: 7 dKH (a little low)

 

Well, even though everything in the tank looks happy, it seems mag and calcium are running consistently high, and alk is running consistently low. Time to go try to figure out what may be causing this...

 

Edit: Almost forgot, I found the biggest asterina starfish I've ever seen! Also, you can see beautiful pink coralline algae growth in the background, and there is a sleepy nassarius photobombing.

 

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Now, the instructions for Instant Ocean Reef Crystals (which I use) are to mix the salt to a salinity of 1.020 to 1.023, and this should give you a calcium of 490, magnesium of 1440, and alkalinity of 13!

 

Since I mix to 1.025 every time, that means I'm physically adding more salt, and thus adding more calcium and magnesium. Therefore, it makes sense that those two parameters consistent test at the top of the range for my test kits (which are both Salifert). Sounds like I can just leave those two alone...

 

However, why is my alk riding low? Shouldn't it be riding high? So now I need to investigate alk.

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fishfreak0114

When does Dot get out of QT? That's great coralline growth and you're getting it so quick!

 

That's weird that your alk is so low, I used to have that too. Should've been mixing up around 11 and my tank was always 7-8. I forget what my alk was last time, maybe 9? I have a decent amount of coral using it though. Perhaps it's just that particular bucket of salt?

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When does Dot get out of QT? That's great coralline growth and you're getting it so quick!

 

That's weird that your alk is so low, I used to have that too. Should've been mixing up around 11 and my tank was always 7-8. I forget what my alk was last time, maybe 9? I have a decent amount of coral using it though. Perhaps it's just that particular bucket of salt?

I don't honestly remember when I bought Dot and put her in QT. I know I have had her since at LEAST 08/12/2016, so to be safe I should probably keep her in there until September 9th. I lost the receipt from when I bought her, go figure. And yes, I was surprised at how quickly the coralline grew!

 

Yeah, the alk should mix to around 11, although with my higher salinity maybe even around 13. I'm struggling to keep it at 7! I don't have much in my tank. It may be the particular batch of salt, but unfortunately it was a 200 gallon box (of 4 bags) that are probably all from the same batch-and I'm not even closed to running out. I do plan to switch salts to either RSCP or AF.

 

Tonight when I get home from work I will mix some fresh saltwater and test the alk just to see what I get.

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Very Nice Build Thread! Great Coralline growth :)

I dose our tank with this...

http://www.seachem.com/reef-fusion.php

I dose this every other day.

I do, however have a few more pieces of Coral. Just an Idea regarding ur Alk issue.

 

BTW...*Following* :)

Thank you!

 

I don't know anything about dosing! I would have to read up quite a bit on that. Thank you so much for your input! And for following :)

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I had a crazy busy awesome weekend!

 

But anyway, I mixed up some fresh water and the alk tested 10.5. Then I retested my DT and it was 7.0.

 

The good thing is I know it's not the salt that's the issue. The bad thing is...I don't know what is happening in the tank that's causing the issue. Time to reeeeeesearchhhhhh all week, so I can really get an understanding of how alk works with the other parameters of the tank.

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  • 2 weeks later...

This week is nearly a 70 hour work-week. It is been super busy, and physically and mentally taxing. However, exciting news!

 

Tonight when I get home, I'm going to transfer Dot from QT to the DT! Yay!!! I'll also test all my parameters and possible to a water change.

 

It shall be interesting to see how Bob and Dot get along. :)

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Well I put Dot in with Bob. She was fine all night and all morning and afternoon the next day-I had my boyfriend check on her (and Bob) a couple hours before I got home from work and he said they were just swimming around normally.

 

When I got home from work last night Dot was dead. This hobby is so frustrating. >:/

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:( aww, that's sad. I'm sorry she died :( That seems pretty random, I wonder what could have done it? Well, this hobby is definitely frustrating, but very rewarding too. Don't give up!!! My 2 fish in QT only have a week left and I'm super nervous that something will go wrong. And if it does, well I'll give it another shot! :). And, as my other decorative pillow says, you've just gotta "keep calm and reef on"!
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:( aww, that's sad. I'm sorry she died :( That seems pretty random, I wonder what could have done it? Well, this hobby is definitely frustrating, but very rewarding too. Don't give up!!! My 2 fish in QT only have a week left and I'm super nervous that something will go wrong. And if it does, well I'll give it another shot! :). And, as my other decorative pillow says, you've just gotta "keep calm and reef on"!

The only thing really off about the DT (and the only discrepancy between tanks) was the alk. So I don't know. I've never had time to research alk so I just haven't bought another fish yet.

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The only thing really off about the DT (and the only discrepancy between tanks) was the alk. So I don't know. I've never had time to research alk so I just haven't bought another fish yet.

Did you acclimate dot before putting her in? I don't think alk would be a problem for fish, but u always acclimate even if moving tanks in my house as I'm sure there are differences on stuff we don't test for :(

 

So so sorry about Dot :(

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Did you acclimate dot before putting her in? I don't think alk would be a problem for fish, but u always acclimate even if moving tanks in my house as I'm sure there are differences on stuff we don't test for :(

 

So so sorry about Dot :(

Yeah, but I did not acclimate her as thoroughly as I could have I guess. I don't know. I thought I was doing everything right both times, so I just really don't know. I'll just do a better acclimation next time anyway.

 

And it's alright. My mom (who is a freshwater hobbyist only) is convinced that black clowns are not as easy to keep as regular orange ones. My boyfriend kinda thought the same thing (although he's not an aquarist at all, he just gets dragged through my maintenance half the time hehee...

 

I just figured Bob was a beast and the two black clowns I've had are weaklings. I have considered just getting a 2nd orange fish, but I really wanted a black one.

 

Also I keep watching emotional romance comedy movies which aren't making me feel any better. Lol.

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  • 1 month later...

Update time.

 

Bob is doing well. The hammer was pissed off when I took pictures. Alk is probably still running low. I will test it tonight as long as no one calls in to work and I'm not stuck at the hospital. If it tests low I will order something from BRS.

 

New Dot is here. I got her on my birthday 10/13/16. She is from a new supplier, so I'm hoping I don't have the same issues with her as I did with the last two black ocellaris. The LFS gave her to me for free since I lost the last two and they said they had issues with them as well from the previous supplier. She was very lively the first five days or so, swimming around everything. The last couple days she has kept to the PVC elbow a lot more. I have tried feeding her pellets and flakes multiple times and she has rejected them. I hope she starts eating soon.

 

Pictures:

 

A couple new FTS's (10/17/2016):

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The radioactive dragon eye zoas have really grown:

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New Zoas. I think the store called them candy apple red zoas? I could be totally wrong:

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New Dot:

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A couple rare pictures of Bob:

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Last but not least, the orange Yuma mushroom has really grown:

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Well, that's all for today!

  • Like 5
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fishfreak0114

Everything's looking good! The new Zoas are nice, no idea what they're called. Generally I don't pay attention to names. I hope this Dot makes it through QT with no issues :)

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Everything's looking good! The new Zoas are nice, no idea what they're called. Generally I don't pay attention to names. I hope this Dot makes it through QT with no issues :)

 

Me too!!!!! I reallllly want her to make it. Then I'll finally have 2 freaking fish!! Lol.

 

I like to know names. I find it interesting and I feel like it makes me sound more like I know what I'm talking about. Plus I'm that inquisitive person that's always asking a bunch of who, what, where, when, why, how questions.

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