haleschristine Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 I have been posting my updates on a beginner help thread but decided to create a journal as well to monitor my progress and missteps to better help me in future tanks. Equipment: *Aqueon 20 High Tank w/ glass lid IM 10 Black Nuvo *Tetra 20 HOB Filter using Tetra bio bag, Chemi Pure Blue and Matrix (working on replacing this) - Replaced w/ AquaClear 20 *ViaAqua 50watt submersible heater *Digital thermometer off Amazon *Current Orbit Lights w/ mount (24-36inch) *SunSun Wavemaker 110-578 GPH (this is actually turned off most of the time) Livestock: * 6 5 hermit crabs (mix of blue and red legs) *2 Astrea Snails *1 Scarlett Skunk Shrimp *1 Black Clownfish (baby that's about 1inch) *Blue Spotted Watchman Goby *1 Nassarius Snail * 1 Fire Fish *Pom Pom Crab Corals: (I've obviously not good at keeping up with their names ) *Hammer - branching *Rasta Zoas *Green Bay Packer Zoas *Purple Puddle Zoas *Gobstopper Zoas *Various zoas *Birdnest *Purple Stylophora *Hollywood Stunner Chalice *Purple Chalice *Pulsing Xenia *2 Orange Mushrooms *1 Green/Blue Mushroom *White/Red Mushroom - Added 07/29/17.... *Duncans - Added 07/29/17 *Red/Blue Acan - Added 07/29/17 *GSP 10-2017 07-2017 *New tank and new rockwork 06-2017 05-2017 4 Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 Some critter photos: (excuse the bad quality-have not figured out how to take good ones with my phone) Bernard Unnamed lol Gustafson (Grumpy Old Men reference-it suits him lol) First corals also went in today. Will post better pics when they're open and happy. 6 Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 26, 2017 Author Share Posted May 26, 2017 Zoas and a hammer coral. They started opening up a bit before I left for work this morning... Is the day over yet? lol - Ready to get home and check on them 1 Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 27, 2017 Author Share Posted May 27, 2017 Opening up ? 4 Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 29, 2017 Author Share Posted May 29, 2017 Came home today to what looks like brown algae all over the glass and cleaned it off. It's all over the sand though still-hermits are running around like crazy. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 Maybe diatoms? If so they will burn themselves out in pretty short order. Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 On 5/29/2017 at 5:17 PM, Lula_Mae said: Maybe diatoms? If so they will burn themselves out in pretty short order. @Lula_Mae-I hope it goes away quickly. I cleaned it up and then over night it seemed to come right back. I had not any water issues yet-not even the infamous algae bloom in new tanks I keep reading about (unless this is it). I do think I know what happened. I don't have an RODI system and have been buying water from my lfs. Anyways I was going out of town and got in a hurry and was out of freshwater from the lfs.... long story short-used tap water w/ Seachem prime (disclaimer:used it once). Definitely learned my lesson-no more tap water. Also thinking overfeeding (every other day) may be an issue... I've been going back and forth between frozen brine and mysis shrimp in the individual containers. I also drop 1-2 pellets for the clownfish in there (he eats them and has now moved on to the brine or mysis) But they don't finish it all and it leaves excess at the bottom that my vacuum won't suck up. Any advice on a better feeding regimen? It sucks to open a whole container and waste 7/8 of it. I have also noticed that this stuff is all over my filter... definitely rinsing it off at the next water change. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, haleschristine said: @Lula_Mae-I hope it goes away quickly. I cleaned it up and then over night it seemed to come right back. I had not any water issues yet-not even the infamous algae bloom in new tanks I keep reading about (unless this is it). I do think I know what happened. I don't have an RODI system and have been buying water from my lfs. Anyways I was going out of town and got in a hurry and was out of freshwater from the lfs.... long story short-used tap water w/ Seachem prime (disclaimer:used it once). Definitely learned my lesson-no more tap water. Also thinking overfeeding (every other day) may be an issue... I've been going back and forth between frozen brine and mysis shrimp in the individual containers. I also drop 1-2 pellets for the clownfish in there (he eats them and has now moved on to the brine or mysis) But they don't finish it all and it leaves excess at the bottom that my vacuum won't suck up. Any advice on a better feeding regimen? It sucks to open a whole container and waste 7/8 of it. I have also noticed that this stuff is all over my filter... definitely rinsing it off at the next water change. Oops! Yeah the tap water would've done it lol. You can keep a couple gallons of distilled water from Walmart or grocery store on hand for situations like that. Even one use of tap water can cause issues depending on local water quality. You can actually cut the frozen cubes and only thaw a portion of them. I use about 1/3 of a cube (which is still too much but can be hard for me to cut smaller). The rest you can put back for later in the freezer. If you don't have one, pick up a turkey baster to help suck up things like that at the bottom-they can also be used to blast detritus off the rocks and sand before a water change. 2 Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 1 minute ago, Lula_Mae said: Oops! Yeah the tap water would've done it lol. You can keep a couple gallons of distilled water from Walmart or grocery store on hand for situations like that. Even one use of tap water can cause issues depending on local water quality. You can actually cut the frozen cubes and only thaw a portion of them. I use about 1/3 of a cube (which is still too much but can be hard for me to cut smaller). The rest you can put back for later in the freezer. If you don't have one, pick up a turkey baster to help suck up things like that at the bottom-they can also be used to blast detritus off the rocks and sand before a water change. I usually keep extra water on hand, but somehow completely forgot to run by the store before they closed for Memorial Day weekend ? Noob mistake for sure. I use the individually packaged ones, would it be okay to open it and then cut and only use a portion? I've added the pics of them below. I have a turkey baster that I use for feeding right in their areas and blowing sand off of the rocks. (The watchman only goes so far out of his cave he built, and the shrimp only stays on the back side of one rock especially after he molts and the clownfish stays by the powerhead). Didn't even think to use it to clean the sand. That's very helpful. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 1 minute ago, haleschristine said: I usually keep extra water on hand, but somehow completely forgot to run by the store before they closed for Memorial Day weekend ? Noob mistake for sure. I use the individually packaged ones, would it be okay to open it and then cut and only use a portion? I've added the pics of them below. I have a turkey baster that I use for feeding right in their areas and blowing sand off of the rocks. (The watchman only goes so far out of his cave he built, and the shrimp only stays on the back side of one rock especially after he molts and the clownfish stays by the powerhead). Didn't even think to use it to clean the sand. That's very helpful. Ooh I've never even seen those! I bet it would be fine, you could maybe stick the leftover bits in a small plastic container or baggie if you want. Honestly not sure if it makes a difference, perhaps someone more experienced could chime in lol. And yeah, turkey basters are super useful! Just remember you can always use distilled water and you'll be fine! Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 Side note-the seahorse and boxfish on the fish food definitely makes me want more tanks ? One day once I figure out how to do this the right way lol. Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 3 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said: Ooh I've never even seen those! I bet it would be fine, you could maybe stick the leftover bits in a small plastic container or baggie if you want. Honestly not sure if it makes a difference, perhaps someone more experienced could chime in lol. And yeah, turkey basters are super useful! Just remember you can always use distilled water and you'll be fine! Perfect! Thanks for all your help. This saltwater adventure is a whole new world! Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 1 hour ago, haleschristine said: Perfect! Thanks for all your help. This saltwater adventure is a whole new world! It certainly is! Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 17 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said: It certainly is! Hahhahahha yes!! It really is! I have two freshwater tanks that are so minimal maintenance. It's literally 2 feedings a day with 25% water changes every weekend. And that is it, no testing (unless something abnormal happens-rarely), nothing. Easy peasy. Takes 10 minutes (total over all) a week to take care of them. With this tank, it's like I'm constantly worried about it... Quote Link to comment
Drewbedo Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 10 minutes ago, haleschristine said: With this tank, it's like I'm constantly worried about it... That never goes away ha, this is a nerve racking hobby when it comes to the care of livestock ? Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 Once you get the hang of it, it does get a little easier--knowing what might cause an issue, how to fix it, etc. I can't remember if it's been said before on your threads, but be sure to dip everything that goes into your tank to prevent pest issues from happening before they start. That's one little thing that will make life a lot less stressful! Never stress-free, I think, in this hobby, but depending how you do things, it could be fairly laid back. 1 Quote Link to comment
zohar78 Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: Oops! Yeah the tap water would've done it lol. You can keep a couple gallons of distilled water from Walmart or grocery store on hand for situations like that. Even one use of tap water can cause issues depending on local water quality. You can actually cut the frozen cubes and only thaw a portion of them. I use about 1/3 of a cube (which is still too much but can be hard for me to cut smaller). The rest you can put back for later in the freezer. If you don't have one, pick up a turkey baster to help suck up things like that at the bottom-they can also be used to blast detritus off the rocks and sand before a water change. I haven't had a chance to work with frozen mysis shrimp, but I wonder if you can use the cheese block slicer thing to slice small.. https://www.amazon.com/Bellemain-Adjustable-Thickness-Cheese-Slicer/dp/B018MLW8MG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496204147&sr=8-1&keywords=hand+held+cheese+slicer Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted May 31, 2017 Share Posted May 31, 2017 14 minutes ago, zohar78 said: I haven't had a chance to work with frozen mysis shrimp, but I wonder if you can use the cheese block slicer thing to slice small.. https://www.amazon.com/Bellemain-Adjustable-Thickness-Cheese-Slicer/dp/B018MLW8MG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496204147&sr=8-1&keywords=hand+held+cheese+slicer Mysis cubes are pretty small--maybe about a centimeter cubed. You could try the slicer but I think it'd be hard to hold the cube and use the slicer without taking part of your finger with it! I usually use a cheap plastic disposable knife swiped from a fast food place lol. Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted June 5, 2017 Author Share Posted June 5, 2017 On 5/30/2017 at 10:49 PM, Drewbedo said: That never goes away ha, this is a nerve racking hobby when it comes to the care of livestock ? Haha, so true! I just found out today that I'm possibly moving to Houston (I currently live in Dallas-about a 4 hour move). Researching all day on the best "move techniques". On 5/30/2017 at 11:32 PM, Lula_Mae said: Mysis cubes are pretty small--maybe about a centimeter cubed. You could try the slicer but I think it'd be hard to hold the cube and use the slicer without taking part of your finger with it! I usually use a cheap plastic disposable knife swiped from a fast food place lol. Cutting them works, just put the remaining bits in a ziplock baggy for the next day. Anything that is left over from feeding, I've been throwing into my freshwater puffer tank. Quote Link to comment
haleschristine Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 Added some more corals this past weekend-pics below. (You do have to zoom in on the pictures to see them. They're small and currently upset that I moved everything.) Since I'm most likely moving in a few weeks, I'm not gluing anything down yet. I'm also putting a halt to buying anything new-less I have to move the better. (I also have 2 other tanks I have to move ?) Also-did some rescaping today... Think I'm finally somewhat happy with the layout. I'm currently obsessed with zoas & palys. Hoping to be able to completely cover the main structure in them. Didnt want to mess with the island rock as the goby has built his little burrow under it, and man does he get pissy when things are moved. Quote Link to comment
Drewbedo Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 57 minutes ago, haleschristine said: Haha, so true! I just found out today that I'm possibly moving to Houston (I currently live in Dallas-about a 4 hour move). Researching all day on the best "move techniques". I've done 2 moves and have 1 coming up in about 4 weeks and best advice I can give is multiple 5 gallon buckets. A little water and rock in 1 or 2 depending on how much and water and livestock in another. Leave your substrate and about an inch or two of water in the tank for CUC and don't worry about losing some water in the process just consider it a water change when you refil in the new location. As far as time goes I would suggest getting a battery powered air pump just to keep everyone happy since it will be multiple hours, I wouldn't worry about temp as much in that short of time. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Now that I'm having success with z's & p's for the first time in my reefing career, I am also starting to build my collection as they are just so cute! Check out Natalia's retired zoa garden for a nice collection of them! Quote Link to comment
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