What should I do?

[CarolinaShoreReef]

How's it going reefers? This is my first post and probably not close to my last one... I need your advice as to what I should. I'll link the video I just put out and I'm wondering if what I have is hydroids and if I should be concerned. Watch until the end there's some footage under the microscope to help with the IDing. I don't know what I should do with the tank. I discuss my goals and plans for it in the video to help you all out. Thanks in advance. 

 [you might have to copy and paste it or just look for my channel (Carolina Shore Fishing)]

[seabass]

Welcome to Nano-Reef.com!

 

The tank looks good.  I'll have to watch the video tomorrow with the sound turned on.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Thanks Seabass! My only concern is the hitchhikers I've acquired from the live rock [aiptasia, been dealing with since the setup 1/08/18, one asternia, and now I guess a bunch of little hydroids in the medusa reproductive state (I must have at least ten little jelly fish swimming around now)...] the aiptasia were bad at the start and I'll have them all gone for a couple days then one or two will pop back out. Not sure what to do at this point. Let everything dry out and give it a fresh start with dead sand and dead rock or let it run? Thanks again! 

[seabass]

13 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Let everything dry out and give it a fresh start with dead sand and dead rock or let it run?

No, the biodiversity you get with live rock is worth it IMO.  When you are ready for it, get two or three peppermint shrimp to take care of the aiptasia.  Get them before you get corals, as often, they like to pick at corals.  Keep them fairly hungry and they will get rid of the aiptasia for you (leaving all the beneficial life).  After the aiptasia is gone, I'd get rid of those pesky peppermint shrimp (give them to someone, return them to the LFS for some store credit, or just give them back to the LFS).

 

I wouldn't worry about the hydroids you see swimming or on the glass.  They will likely just go away on their own.  The asterina stars are generally reef safe.  While there are a few species which reportedly bother some coral, most will not.  If you feel better about it, just remove them whenever you see them.

[WV Reefer]

I’ve had two types of hydroids in my reefs and they both went away with no intervention from me.  

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Okay well that's comforting, thanks guys. I personally like all of the life the hydroids and asterina star give the tank and would rather not lose my pods. Glad I came to the forums before taking matters into my own hands and leaving everything to dry out. Torching the aiptasia and glueing them has been pretty effective, I'm hoping that if I continue that for a few months I won't need any peppermints.

 

Have you heard of the scarlet skunk shrimp picking at the corals too or do they just pick at fish? 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Also, I don't have any real algae growth yet, I've got a little bit of a diatom bloom starting on the sand. The tank was set up 1/08/18 and is cycled now. I don't feed anything in the tank but I'm sure the droids and aiptasia are eating my pods, however. 

 

Should I hold off on getting a CUC until I'm ready to start stocking with corals and fish or as soon as the algae start coving my rocks? 

 

My planned CUC entails:

-Nassarius Snail
-Trochus Snail
-Red-legged Hermit
-Skunk Shrimp or Peppermint 

I want an emerald they're so cool looking but I've seen horror stories from them being in reefs. 

[seabass]

14 minutes ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Have you heard of the scarlet skunk shrimp picking at the corals too or do they just pick at fish? 

All of the cleaner shrimp will try to steal food from corals, so many people avoid them.  Feeding the shrimp first is basically a requirement.  When it comes to picking at corals, anemones, and fan worms, skunk cleaner shrimp aren't nearly as bad as peppermint shrimp.  However, only peppermint shrimp will eat aiptasia.

 

Out of all of the cleaner shrimp, I like blood red fire shrimp the best.  IME, they are the least likely to start picking at your corals.  However, like I said, they will still try to steal food.  Shrimp are so interesting, that if you haven't had one before, I feel they would be worth it.  That said, they can be more sensitive than some other things, so I wouldn't get them right away (unless you are temporarily getting some peppermint shrimp to help rid your rock of aiptasia).

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Okay sounds good. I'll hold off on the shrimp even the peppermint bc my LFS doesn't take trade ins so I'd rather see if I can get rid of them first. As far as a CUC goes, should I hold off on those as well? 

[seabass]

Okay, I watched the video (very entertaining) with sound this time (now that it's not the middle of the night).  Here are a few thoughts.

• ChemiPure Blue is a very good media.  However, it contains components which won't typically last the "months" that the marketing claims.  I personally prefer PhosGuard and activated carbon.  Seachem's Matrix Carbon is shaped just like PhosGuard and can be mixed with PhosGuard in any ratio to meet your needs.  You do change it more frequently, but it's also less expensive.
• When I look at your rocks, I see a little dog sniffing the rock on the right.
• With PhosGuard, I think what you read was a warning about aluminum not ammonia.  But the real reason that you wouldn't want to use more than recommended, would be that you don't want phosphate to drop too quickly or too low.  Phosphate should be between 0.01 ppm and 0.03 ppm.  The symbiotic algae in coral utilizes the phosphate for energy.  Coral health can actually suffer if phosphate is too low.  I generally use less than the recommended amount and switch it out more frequently.  You may even find that you can discontinue use of it until levels start to creep up again.  Also, in saltwater, your pH will never drop anywhere close to 6.
• Consider replacing the stock filtration with an inTank media basket: http://shop.mediabaskets.com/Fluval-Evo-5_c157.htm
• Cool video of the hydrozoans BTW.  I wouldn't worry about them.

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Thanks for watching seabass! You are right it's Al not NH4+. I get caught up in my UG research so I skimmed this paper because I've got enough papers to read for myself. There's definitely a puppy calcified in there    I want to do a diy media basket because I can't justify spending almost as much as I got the AIO for on the basket as a student right now... thanks for the info on the chemi pure. If I find that carbon and phosguard are doing the trick then I'll switch to the matrix and do the mixing myself. Thanks for the information and support I really appreciate it! 

[seabass]

You're off to a great start.  The research you've done really shows.

[StephDaReefer]

3 hours ago, CarolinaShoreReef said:

Also, I don't have any real algae growth yet, I've got a little bit of a diatom bloom starting on the sand. The tank was set up 1/08/18 and is cycled now. I don't feed anything in the tank but I'm sure the droids and aiptasia are eating my pods, however. 

 

Should I hold off on getting a CUC until I'm ready to start stocking with corals and fish or as soon as the algae start coving my rocks? 

 

My planned CUC entails:

-Nassarius Snail
-Trochus Snail
-Red-legged Hermit
-Skunk Shrimp or Peppermint 

I want an emerald they're so cool looking but I've seen horror stories from them being in reefs. 

If you’re worried the CUC won’t have much to eat in a newly cycled tank you might be right. However, through my local LFS, which happens to be vivid aquariums (they have some great videos online as well is you’d like to check them out), I found out that it’s benifiacial to start with a CUC because most are sensitive to water parameters. They can pretty much let you know if your tank is ready for other livestock. Plus it’s better to loose a ~10 dollar clean up crew than to loose a much more expensive coral or fish. I would sugest you get yourself a CUC that fits your needs. Looks like you can use a peppermint shrimp or 2 and some snails. You can definitely feed them if you feel they aren’t getting the nutrients they need. I feed mine seaweed sheets as well as algae pallets and they love them. One snail even grew hair algae which I was really concerned about and was about to take it out and scrub it with a toothbrush, but another snail ended up going right on top of him and feasted on all of it within a couple of minutes. Good luck with everything, make sure to keep posting videos to keep us updated and to help reefers learn some new cool stuff. 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Thanks for all the great info seabass and steph! I'm going to see how the parameters are for the next couple of weeks with me doing weekly water changes and then get a CUC after that. I'll try to keep up with the videos as much as I can with classes going on and getting into the heat of the semester. 

[CarolinaShoreReef]

Hey everyone, I've started a discussion on the aquarium journal forums where I'll post my reef updates to. Hope you all find it entertaining and informative.