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pricewayne

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4 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

Found it this morning -- it's called Nature Aquarium (in a shopping center and tucked into the back corner).

 

I've heard of Vivid Aquariums but haven't been able to make it out yet! I hit up Unique Corals few weeks ago.. was really great. Other favorites so far are LAX Aquariums, Ultragem Fish & Corals and Bob's Tropical Fish.

Ah Nature Aquarium...they have some COOL planted tanks there! And LAX Aquariums is bigger than I thought it would be. Ultragem is good sometimes, and I haven't been to Bob's, where is that?

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Just now, MetaTank said:

Ah Nature Aquarium...they have some COOL planted tanks there! And LAX Aquariums is bigger than I thought it would be. Ultragem is good sometimes, and I haven't been to Bob's, where is that?

Bob's is in East LA.  Used to go there a lot back in the day.  They seem to have decent selection though based on their IG account.  

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Just now, MetaTank said:

Ah Nature Aquarium...they have some COOL planted tanks there! And LAX Aquariums is bigger than I thought it would be. Ultragem is good sometimes, and I haven't been to Bob's, where is that?

It's in "East LA" ?

All of em are pretty much a trek for me... I'm central, but without any highways I have a solid commute to pretty much anywhere outside weho lol.

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I was at Pasadena Tropical Fish the other day, saw a couple mantis' and a little itsy bitsy horseshoe crab! Arrow crabs too. They had some cool livestock actually

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5 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

It's in "East LA" ?

All of em are pretty much a trek for me... I'm central, but without any highways I have a solid commute to pretty much anywhere outside weho lol.

And I feel ya, I live in the middle of a canyon, they don't even have public transportation here...lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Phew. Work & life & my other tank kicked my butt last week — finally had time today to play with my pile of rocks and figured out my scape. Grabbed some sand from other tank and a few pebbles//empty hermit shells to help get my cycle jump started.

 

Have it on my desk for now — love it in this spot, but I’ve got a south facing window behind the peg board so need to monitor temp and be sure I can keep it stable. Strung up my fluval evo stock lighting for now - may change later down the line.

 

645C9756-A5BB-4D01-B994-C25542B2B735.thumb.jpeg.1119d1f4b53b8e087d1d57380210502d.jpeg

 

The pink silicone realllllly pops under the blue lights!!

 

5065F20D-CDAB-49F5-83AA-B13DF86BF8C3.thumb.jpeg.ea4bb4e369fe45ae8e51d2e2f1954bf1.jpeg

 

I think I may end up doing macro algae in my display tank instead of a refugium 🤔. Need to read up more on options.

 

I did pickup my first inhabitant for the tank!! Going to add my staghorn crab once cycle finishes (have him in my main tank for now).

 

E1AE3FAD-B9E4-4777-A923-43992E4CF814.thumb.jpeg.75183b0b5551194dd1a3201472ea1f12.jpeg

 

Grabbed a small pink zoa frag I’ll add eventually - also in my main tank for now. I’ll grab a pic tonight/tomorrow and update.

 

Love having the little succulent plants in the pink planter beside the tank... anyone know if the LEDs will harm plants? Hope not.

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2 minutes ago, Tigahboy said:

LOVE that staghorn!  Totally badass.  And digging the pink as well.  Really pops!

He’s so fun to watch!! Really active — also, really hazardous lol. I’ve had to flip him a few times over the past few days. Also had to get a temp barrier between him and my torch in my main tank lol. Apparently, the staghorn coral will die quickly if stung.

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1 hour ago, Wendy said:

Disco party time!!!

Love that bright pink trim! 

I think I see another theme going on too.. Your rock scape looks like a sideways staghorn (;

It totally does!  That scape is pretty awesome.

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1 hour ago, Wendy said:

Disco party time!!!

Love that bright pink trim! 

I think I see another theme going on too.. Your rock scape looks like a sideways staghorn (;

Ha! Wish I could say it was intentional but didn’t even notice until your call out... it’s eery how much it looks like one!! Must be my unconscious or plain fate 🧿

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Think I’m going to name my staghorn crab Lance.  He somehow managed to pickup and trap a hermit today - gave me a good laugh.

 

79CAD62C-0E62-4460-852B-BF8E1AA48B4D.thumb.jpeg.b0c6f00116db9457bf690f9e865b94bd.jpeg

 

542C015F-227A-462D-99D3-6E2912D6BD9C.gif.e8b2ddc315603737836b02380c0cf71a.gif

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Still no livestock in the tank yet. Patience is hard.

 

So, when I cycled my Fluval it took about 3.5 weeks (had a large live wet rock piece at the start) and I picked up on Nitrates for the entire cycle period. This one started at 0 and I'm just seeing it nearly hit 5.0ppm today. I know we don't want to run on 0 nitrates as it pulls nutrients from our system though... Anyone think my cycle is complete ? I'm bit stumped.

 

Test Results & Updates

04/14

pH: 7.8

Ammonia: .25ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

 

04/16

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: .25ppm

Nitrite: .25ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

*noticed some algae growth on the small rubble pieces I'd added from my main tank -- thought of it as a good sign. Maybe I'm strange, but I like the ugly phase of a cycle.

 

04/20

AC50 motor stopped working and was down for about 6hrs -- got it back working but certainly have some pent up anxiety looming if it happens again.

 

04/21

pH: 8.2-8.4

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

*ran a salinity test using my refractometer and it was 1.021 -- I realized the jar of top off water I had set aside & been using over the last week was straight up RO/DI & not my jar of salt top off water. So that was neat.

*made labels for my jars.

*since I don't have livestock in the tank and not worried about salinity shock, I went ahead and did about a 40% water change to course correct -- reading at 1.025 now. 

 

04/23

pH: 8.2-8.4

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0--5.0ppm (color was darker than previous results but not a guarantee read at 5.0)

*hair algae is extending out from my rubble rocks & past few days I've scraped glass walls

 

Love anyone's thoughts on the cycle progress -- not sure how much the AC50 motor issue on Saturday may have affected the cycling 😕 

I really don't want to move my staghorn crab over from my other tank until I know it's safe and not in any rush to move him. Am wondering if I should add a small hermit and/or snail to help with the hair algae, though? And would looooove to get a small frag or two in this weekend if things are ok to start stocking. If not, can always drop in my main tank until it's time.

 

Here's a picture of Lance, the staghorn crab, in my main tank -- waiting patiently for his permanent home.

 

IMG_3972.thumb.jpg.c8cf82a74073b2d067214419e048ab4d.jpg

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7 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

Still no livestock in the tank yet. Patience is hard.

 

So, when I cycled my Fluval it took about 3.5 weeks (had a large live wet rock piece at the start) and I picked up on Nitrates for the entire cycle period. This one started at 0 and I'm just seeing it nearly hit 5.0ppm today. I know we don't want to run on 0 nitrates as it pulls nutrients from our system though... Anyone think my cycle is complete ? I'm bit stumped.

 

Test Results & Updates

04/14

pH: 7.8

Ammonia: .25ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

 

04/16

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: .25ppm

Nitrite: .25ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

*noticed some algae growth on the small rubble pieces I'd added from my main tank -- thought of it as a good sign. Maybe I'm strange, but I like the ugly phase of a cycle.

 

04/20

AC50 motor stopped working and was down for about 6hrs -- got it back working but certainly have some pent up anxiety looming if it happens again.

 

04/21

pH: 8.2-8.4

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0ppm

*ran a salinity test using my refractometer and it was 1.021 -- I realized the jar of top off water I had set aside & been using over the last week was straight up RO/DI & not my jar of salt top off water. So that was neat.

*made labels for my jars.

*since I don't have livestock in the tank and not worried about salinity shock, I went ahead and did about a 40% water change to course correct -- reading at 1.025 now. 

 

04/23

pH: 8.2-8.4

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 0--5.0ppm (color was darker than previous results but not a guarantee read at 5.0)

*hair algae is extending out from my rubble rocks & past few days I've scraped glass walls

 

Love anyone's thoughts on the cycle progress -- not sure how much the AC50 motor issue on Saturday may have affected the cycling 😕 

I really don't want to move my staghorn crab over from my other tank until I know it's safe and not in any rush to move him. Am wondering if I should add a small hermit and/or snail to help with the hair algae, though? And would looooove to get a small frag or two in this weekend if things are ok to start stocking. If not, can always drop in my main tank until it's time.

 

Here's a picture of Lance, the staghorn crab, in my main tank -- waiting patiently for his permanent home.

 

IMG_3972.thumb.jpg.c8cf82a74073b2d067214419e048ab4d.jpg

You got any pure ammonia? Dose up to 2ppm and check to see in 24hrs. If 0 (or as close as you feel comfortable) 

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1 minute ago, Ratvan said:

You got any pure ammonia? Dose up to 2ppm and check to see in 24hrs. If 0 (or as close as you feel comfortable) 

Nah, don't have any, but good idea. Maybe can order something from Amazon and get it tomorrow to try out -- anything that says "pure ammonia" ok to purchase? Or should I be looking at a marine//aquarium specific ammonia brand?

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4 minutes ago, pricewayne said:

Sweet -- ordered & I'll have it on Thursday!

Like @Ratvan said, you dose 4 drops per gallon (actual gallons in the tank) and that should get you to 2 ppm ammonia.  You can test it after you dose to make sure though (which is what I do).  If your tank can cycle that down to 0.2 ammonia and 0.2 nitrites 24 hours later, then it should be cycled.  

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