Ali's "Oasis" RSM 250

ark584

ark584

New Member
Hello everyone! Been a few days since i randomly posted on the main reefsanctuary forum and have finally found the right place (i hope) to start my tank thread. I'm new to this forum posting stuff so bear with me please.

Short intro: 29yr old Iranian Canadian living in Kuwait with countless hobbies, one of which was freshwater aquarium-ing up until recently when I sold my freshwater tank along with my 2 yr old Oscar (aptly named "grouch" whom i miss dearly). I bought an RSM 250 after I managed to read up on the reef keeping hobby and realized it's not as overwhelming as the average person percieves (although I guess it takes more than the average person to maintain one long term.

Without further delay, allow me to introduce my tank:


I have just under 30kgs of cured liverock in the tank... Still not completely happy with the layout as there's not enough circulation room in the back. I'll be moving the rocks around a little tomorrow and then let things brew.

Don't know exactly how much live sand I have, forgot to check the weight of the bags when I got them from my LFS... Hope u guys can help gauge how much i have approximately in there from the photo.

I have a vortech MP10 blowing at full speed (reef mode) rear right side of the tank - providing circulation behind the rocks (switches to night mode at midnight daily), and a tunze nanostream 6025 blowing non stop from the left side of the tank diagonally forward and across (awkward description i know..sorry).

I actually want a vortech mp40 but cant find one here... Told my LFS to get me one.

I find the left side powerhead too strong.... I can barely adjust it without either blowing sand all over the tank or splashing water up against the underside of the canopy hood. Sometimes i wish i could just switch it off. :p
I saw a couple of pics of this snake-like tube thing that connects to the powerhead and allows one to direct the powerhead water anywhere in te tank? Even behind a rock. Looks something like those gorilla camera stand things? (sorry, not very good with my descriptions tonight).

Anywho...everything else is stock so far.

I took this photo a couple of nights ago. Rocks dont show too well under the bright tank lights (stock) but there's purple coraline all over most of them! :D when i was first putting the rocks in, I occasionally saw tiny loose worms suddenly floating down in the water and digging themselves into the sand.... Out of sight within seconds... Something tells me it wont be the last i see of them... i'll need to get rid of those somehow in the future?

Current water parameters are as follow:

temperature: 24.6
salinity: 1.022ppm
amonia: 0.01ppm
ph: 8.2
nitrite: under 0.02ppm (maybe 0.01)
nitrate: undetectable (Tropic Marine)

Which brings me to my next question: anyone know of a better test kit? Or perhaps separate tests for calcium and phosphates? Cuz my tropic marine test kit has no tests for phosphates or calcium...

And what do you guys think of the Tunze electronic Multitester? I was thinking of getting it with the ph and salinity sensors + top-up alarm/sensor?

Ladies and gents... I love my rsm! I know this may be attributed to a possible god-complex (lol) but I just love watching little things coming to life before my eyes in the tank! I feel like every time I sit in front of the tank I see something new! (like those tubular extentions that have little feathery things coming out of them! Must look that up next.

Ok long enough introductory post i suppose. Have a great one everyone, and reef on! :p


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=29.352400,48.029139
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mcentire1123

mcentire1123

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goma

goma

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
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ark584 said:
I find the left side powerhead too strong.... I can barely adjust it without either blowing sand all over the tank or splashing water up against the underside of the canopy hood. Sometimes i wish i could just switch it off. :p
I saw a couple of pics of this snake-like tube thing that connects to the powerhead and allows one to direct the powerhead water anywhere in te tank? Even behind a rock. Looks something like those gorilla camera stand things? (sorry, not very good with my descriptions tonight).
Click to expand...

Welcome!!

As far as the stuff that looks like the "gorilla camera stands" it is a product called Loc-Line. You can search it on the internet and here is one link:

Loc-Line Modular Piping - Plumbing ,Drill Bits , Overflows , Uniseals - Pumps and Plumbing - PRODUCTS - English
 
Yoda34

Yoda34

New Member
Welcome to RSM Club. I found this place as a very rich source about for everything. Also what is the point of having a hobby if you cant share with anyone ;)
 
ark584

ark584

New Member
Thanks for the photo upload advice nanoreefing4fun!

Photobucket account set up and photo uploaded again!

photo.jpg


Please note i have moved my tunze powerhead over to the left side of the tank since the photo was taken.

Goma, thanks for the tip on the Loc-line! I'll see if my LFS can get me one to attach to my left powerhead... Need to redirect its stormy current.. :eek:/

And for everyone else who responded with kindness, thanks so much for making me feel welcome!

However! I have experienced my first new tank problem...

Last night as I was eagerly observing life sprouting all over my tank (note the zoanthid colony growing on the
Left hand side liverock - came with the rock!) I noticed a couple of isolated small sproutlike things growing on a few rocks (5 to be exact). At first i thought "oh wow! Lucky me! More free zoas!" except they seemed quite small, skinnier with longer tentacles...

...and as you've probably already guessed, after some online probing, they look to be Aiptasia Anemones... :(
I'd post some shots but they're too small and dont show up in the photos... (using my iphone for photos till my D90 is done with repairs after my niece knocked it off the table).

In any case... I did more research and came to realize if not controlled early on, these pest anemones can quickly suck the life out of your tank... i'm against injecting anything into the tank.. And my canadian treehugging values force me the way of natural remedies.

Therefore, after more net scouring, i came across the "burghia nudibranch", whose staple meal is none other than the pest anemone mentioned... I recon I'll need a colony of at least one or two dozen to eradicate the threat in a timely manner. I'll ask my LFS if he can acquire that many sooner than later.. And maybe I can convince him to lease them to me, as I refuse to let them eat away their food supply, only to let them die of hunger once their job's done.

Something tells me the specific nudibranch in question wont be found anytime soon...

Any help or suggestions would be great people!

And if anyone has had personal experience utilizing the burghia nudibranch's services, please share as I want to feel hopeful, despite my ignorance in not having been more careful initially... But given the pest anemone's characteristics (retreating into their tiny holes at the slightest disturbance) I guess there was no way of knowing if they were initially present on the rocks when I purchased them. but in retrospect, I guess I could have bought base rock instead and waited a year for them to become liverock.. :eek:/

the long journey down the road to perdition has officially begun! :D
 
Tokalosh

Tokalosh

Well-Known Member
Hi ark584

I would not worry to much about these Aiptasia Anemones at this early stage of your build.
I had an infestation at the beginning of my first build (130) and after adding fish and cuc they all gradually disappeared.

I think I may have spoted one in my tank last night but could not be sure.

Tok
 
nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
Congrats on the bigger pics ! +1 you will whip the aiptasia, some members have luck with peppermint shrimp to if you don't want to use Aiptasia-X, once the tank cycles you will have a better idea of what you need to deal with...
 
ark584

ark584

New Member
Thanks for the reassurances tokalosh and nanoreefing4fun!
I was just a little discouraged when i first realized what they were. I figure I'll have to do something about them eventually. Life is really springing up in the tank though! Tonight I noticed 4 snails that had hitchhiked on my live rocks i guess! Two of them at almost a centimeter! One has dug itself in the sand and is poking it's head or antenna out from under lol. Have to look up what it is.

Anyone know of any other natural remedies to Aiptasia? Do hermit crabs like them? I asked my LFS and he smiled and said they're VERY rare here... I'm getting more paranoid because if i've noticed a handful by sight, there must be more on unexposed areas of the liverock too.

Left side of my tank is showing signs of yellow/brown algae developing on the sandbed... Good cycling i suppose. Seems a little early though, right? I mean i've only been running the tank with the liverock for about 2 weeks now??

Might spend some time rearranging the liverock tomorrow night for better water circulation and whip out my magnifying glass and inspect for more Aiptasia. :D

Will read more about peppermint shrip too nanoreefing4fun. Thanks again guys! :)
 
ark584

ark584

New Member
Thanks Glenn! I managed to get a bottle of tropic marine's elimi-aiptas from my LFS (guess he felt guilty selling me uncured liverock as cured ones. I used it on the ones i could see so now i just have to wait till his next stock of peppermint shrimp (thanks ch3tt) comes in and i'll buy a couple and hope for the best. If that doesnt work out then i might just have to buy one of those wands and go to town on these pest weeds. Lol

Current water parameters are as follow:

temp: 24.4 C
salinity: 1.023ppm
amonia: 0.01ppm
ph: 8.2
nitrite: 0.02ppm
nitrate: 5ppm
Alkalinity: 125ppm
Calcium: 384ppm (finally got a test kit! Feel like a lab technician) :D

brown algae starting to show signs of presence slooowly on left and right sides of the tank. Green algae started growing along bottom of the glass near the sandbed, so i scraped that off today. 10 - 15% Water change this weekend? or let things brew more?
 
ark584

ark584

New Member
Glenn, I can't thank you enough for the link you posted. It answered all my up until now unanswered questions, gave specific timelines, and explained the secrets of the...well... secret cycle. lol.

I'll just stare intently at the tank over the next few weeks and do the tests as instructed. I'm wondering now if I should remove the LF with the paly's on it... the rock looks to become a culprit too.... has excessive hair algae on it.... I've read on the forum of a variety of ways to "clean" a rock... some say, boil it, some say scrub it... some say let it dry out for a couple of weeks... I don't know if I should be introducing hair algae into the tank... especially during the cycle..

I could always chuck the rock... but I mean if I could reuse it when its been "cleansed", why not, eh?
 
ark584

ark584

New Member
Ok i've removed the paly LR. Couldnt stand how brown it looked. Lol

I believe it's save to say that my diatom bloom has begun full force. I have spots of it growing on the back wall of the tank and on the sandbed.

Oh how beautiful liverock is.

My girlfriend came over tonight and saw me sitting staring into the tank with the nightlights on and said, "honey? Are you ok?"

When i said "yea, why?" with a puzzled look on my face, her response was "because... You've been sitting staring at an empty fish tank for half an hour!"

:D

i told her "but it's not empty!! Life is sprouting everywhere!"

She came over, looked into the tank for a few seconds, looked at me and went back to watching tv. Lol

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