pmemmer Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Starting my first marine tank... looking forward to it. Starting out with: 1. Cadlights 12g tank (though it only actually holds about 10.5 gallons of water, including the fuge area... go figure... beautiful, though, and completely silent) 2. Koralia nano powerhead 3. Jager 75W heater 4. TAAM clip-on led moonlight 5. 10 lbs live sand (not in tank yet) Things still on order: 1. Live rock (12 lbs) ... arriving Tuesday. 2. Base rock (5 lbs... just in case 12 lbs live isn't enough) 3. Refractometer (cheap hydrometer seems inconsistent... not trusting it) 4. Chemi-Pure and other filter material The plan for now is to get it cycling, and use filter pads and Chemi-Pure in the fuge for now, possibly adding some macro algae later on. Then CuC, then finally some softies, polyps and zoas... and a fish or two. For now, just a pretty blue... ...more after rock is in. Link to comment
pmemmer Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 FTS after the sand storm settled... was surprised at how rough it was to get the rock arranged in a way I liked... hard to see what you're doing and move the rocks at the same time. Fun, though, and I'm pleased with the results, I think... lemme know what you think: Not too many hitchhikers so far... four feather dusters (one might be something else, not sure), one crab, and one mystery anemone/urchin-like thing that has hidden... I hope it comes out again so I can get a picture... can't seem to find anything like it on any of the usual hitchhiker lists. Looks sort of like a red and pink feather duster, but it has a body in the middle and moves around. Thought it was a starfish at first, but I think it had way too many legs... Link to comment
pmemmer Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 Made a slight change to the rock scape... moved the two top rocks around, which created something of a cave in there, and also feels more stable. A question, if anyone can answer it... when I put in the sand, a ton of it fell on the rocks. I've done my best getting it off, but there's still a bunch of sandy schmutz there, especially on the lower rocks. Anyway, I guess my question is, does the sand being on the rocks pose any problems? Is there any reason to be aggressive about getting it off, aside from the fact that it isn't particularly pretty? I've not given up yet, but was curious. No other big news. I have little bugs hopping around now, and some algae beginning to grow a little bit. Link to comment
reeftankguy Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Made a slight change to the rock scape... moved the two top rocks around, which created something of a cave in there, and also feels more stable. A question, if anyone can answer it... when I put in the sand, a ton of it fell on the rocks. I've done my best getting it off, but there's still a bunch of sandy schmutz there, especially on the lower rocks. Anyway, I guess my question is, does the sand being on the rocks pose any problems? Is there any reason to be aggressive about getting it off, aside from the fact that it isn't particularly pretty? I've not given up yet, but was curious. No other big news. I have little bugs hopping around now, and some algae beginning to grow a little bit. With the pump off...Get a Turkey baster and blow it off the rocks if it bothers you... Link to comment
pmemmer Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 With the pump off...Get a Turkey baster and blow it off the rocks if it bothers you... Ah... that explains it. I've only tried removing it with the pump on (and then much of it resettles on the rocks). Great! Link to comment
lajz9 Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Where'd you get themz rockz? Link to comment
pmemmer Posted August 24, 2009 Author Share Posted August 24, 2009 Where'd you get themz rockz? SeaLifeInc. Very nice... the colors on my pics aren't very good, but the rock looks a ton better than any of the rock I saw in the various lfs. Link to comment
pmemmer Posted August 29, 2009 Author Share Posted August 29, 2009 Latest water test: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 10 Still going to keep testing for at least a week or two before adding the CuC... this seems too soon to be cycled. Lots of fun stuff growing on the rocks... coralline of various colors (mostly purple), several new small feather dusters, tons of hair worms, a hitchhiker snail. Found the little hitchhiker crab dead yesterday. Spares me the worry of whether he's a good crab or a bad crab... QUESTION: I'm a little concerned about water flow. By the numbers, my tank is cycling the water through 35 times an hour or so, using the stock pump and a Koralia nano. If anyone has any comments on the placement of my pumps, I'd love feedback...I guess my main concern is that I might have some low-flow areas (in the "cave" in the middle, and behind the rocks). But the various worms and threads and things that stick up from the rock seem to all move a bit, so perhaps I'm OK. Here are side pictures to make the placement more clear, and to also show how it relates to the rock (hard to tell depth from the fts): From the left: Link to comment
jjjo Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 nice aquascape! gonna tag along with the thread Link to comment
pmemmer Posted August 29, 2009 Author Share Posted August 29, 2009 nice aquascape! gonna tag along with the thread Thanks! And nice to see another upstate NY member... I'm in the Utica area. Link to comment
pmemmer Posted September 4, 2009 Author Share Posted September 4, 2009 Tank has cycled... completely stable water testing for the past week. Growing all sorts of algae, rather quickly... as my 3 1/2 yr old daughter says, "Daddy's fish tank is Tisgusting." Well, it is a bit fuzzy. Clean-up crew arriving Wednesday or so next week, from reefcleaners... ceriths, nassarius, nerites. They can't get here a moment too soon. May get a couple hermits locally. Also have some chaeto coming. In the meantime, continuing to find cool new stuff... yesterday's discovery was a chiton... I actually saw it several days ago, but since it had not moved since I set up the tank, I thought it was just a fossil in the rock. Turns out it's alive... it just moves about an inch a day. The big decision, for a couple weeks from now, is fish or corals first??? Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 4, 2009 Share Posted September 4, 2009 You started this on my birthday! I actually started out with zoas and a couple of other easy to care for coral. That gave me a chance to get used to everything and see how all my equipment would work and see how my water quality was over time. I didnt get fish for several weeks after getting my coral. Others may say to get fish first but I probably would have killed mine if I got them first. Link to comment
a novice Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Not to ask a dumb question... but is this tank acrylic or glass? I keep reading on NR that the 12G is acrylic but on the website it seems to be glass. --Thanks. Link to comment
reeftankguy Posted September 11, 2009 Share Posted September 11, 2009 Not to ask a dumb question... but is this tank acrylic or glass? I keep reading on NR that the 12G is acrylic but on the website it seems to be glass. --Thanks. GLASS! Link to comment
pmemmer Posted September 11, 2009 Author Share Posted September 11, 2009 The clean-up crew has arrived... Snails from reefcleaners, and three hermits and a turban snail from a LFS. They're eating with gusto, for the most part... hopefully they'll get interested in the tougher algae spots soon, but at the moment, they've done a pretty good job of clearing the tank itself. I may have to start giving them individual assignments Might also need to add an emerald crab, for help with a couple particular algaes (I have a little red bubble growing)... but I'd rather not, if I can help it. Now for the hard part... waiting a couple weeks longer to start adding the really fun stuff. Here's my stocking plan at the moment... any thoughts? Is this too much? CUC: about 12 little snails (cerith and nassarius), 2 large nerites, 1 turban, and 3 hermits (2 red-leg, 1 blue) Fish (to be added together): Three-striped damsel Yellow-tail damsel Inverts: serpent star maybe a shrimp (my 5-yr-old adores shrimp) Corals: mushrooms ricordea zoas palythoas duncan a photosynthetic gorgonian Also, another question: is there any general wisdom on how many different frags one can safely add at any given time? (Finances will keep from adding more than about four things at once anyway, so perhaps it's not really going to be an issue.) Link to comment
pmemmer Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 Any (bump) thoughts? Link to comment
opy01 Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I have added at least 4 things at once and they all open up nicely that day with no problems at all. Link to comment
MGDMIRAGE Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 Tank looks good and rockscape is awesome, nice work so far Link to comment
pmemmer Posted September 14, 2009 Author Share Posted September 14, 2009 Thanks! I suspect it was beginner's luck, but I like it. I was a bit surprised how difficult it was to move rocks around when they are covered up with several gallons of water I feel like I've been lucky so far, and am still waiting for something to go hideously wrong. No doubt that won't happen until I have a couple hundred bucks worth of corals to destroy... Link to comment
pmemmer Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Finally, added some livestock whose sole purpose isn't to eat algae... pics tomorrow, hopefully. Fish: Three-striped damsel Yellow and blue damsel (yellow belly, not yellow tail) (That'll be it for the fish for this tank.) Corals: Pink false coral (enrcusting gorgonian, looks like GSP but pink... polyps not open yet) Some nuclear green palys (open and doing nicely, it seems) Nice to have something to watch besides snailz... Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Looks like you are on the right track You had some concerns regarding flow. All tanks that have LR have a few 'dead spots'. Just use a turkey baster to kick up the detritus that tends to settle in those areas once in a while. I use the stock pump with a Hydor oscillator and haven't had any issues. Your stocking plan seems reasonable, but keep in mind that active fish produce more pollution in a tank than anything else (high metabolism and food intake requirements). The tank should be able to cope with two small fish, but as they start to grow bigger you *may* find you need to increase your replacement water percentage and/or frequency (dependent also upon how much/often you feed them, if you run a skimmer, have macro-algae in the fuge, etc.). Corals that will thrive in a small habitat are a whole other topic. Good luck and have fun! Link to comment
pmemmer Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 Thanks, nano! Finally, a couple (not so hot) new pics: A few nuclear green palys (there are 4 + a baby in there, though one is hidden and the baby is hard to see): Encrusting gorgonian / briareum (only about half polyp extension, but since I'm about to make it mad by moving it and glueing it, I figured I'd take a shot now): Phish: Link to comment
asting Posted September 24, 2009 Share Posted September 24, 2009 4-stripe is looking nice! Link to comment
pmemmer Posted September 24, 2009 Author Share Posted September 24, 2009 He was rescued from Petco... a little nipped at the tail, but otherwise happy, and had quite an appetite almost immediately (which was nice to see). The other damsel is the real stunner, but it won't hold still for the camera. Came down this morning and couldn't find either fish for several minutes. Finally found the blue-and-yellah damsel in a teensy little cave in the rock... I was pretty impressed at what a good sleeping spot it found. I assume the other has a similar spot that I haven't found yet. That's what I get for building caves Link to comment
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