Mischko's New Tank
- Thread starter Mischko
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Mischko
Member
LOL I wish they were ;-)
Nope, those are Pyramidellidae. The live on snails and clams like ticks and mosquitos on mamals.
A few won't hurt a clam in nature since those snails are also prey for other predators, but in our tank those predators are missing.
But a huge amount will slowly suck out the life of a clam. I had this my T. crocea for about 3 years and never had those snails on it. Two nights ago I noticed about 25 to 30 of them on the clam.
I went like *enter a bunch of really bad words here*
Now, the question is if my Pseudocheilinhexataenia us in the old tank was keeping them down by feeding on their clutch and by this keeping them down. I saw the fish many times a day checking on the clam and picking.
Or I got infested over the life rock or a coral which I highly doubt. The place I buy my stock from is known for checking on such stuff very very religiously!
Pain the butt now to once or twice a week to stress by sucking them off with a turkey blaster. Worst part is, they will sooner or later also start living on snails :-(
This parasite is often the reason for snails dying in tanks without an obivious reason.
Edit:
After some reading it seems that Pseudocheilin hexataenia is a natural predator for this snail. It would explain why I never noticed this snail in the old tank on my clam. Since there is no P. hexataenia in the new tank it would explain the sudden outbreak. Some more reading mentions that Tridacna breeding stations are using a certain crab to keep that snail down, but of course, it wasn't mention which crab that is.
Since I was already planing to get one or two P. hexataenia I am going to get them sooner. I wanted to add the wrasse as the last fish since it can be very agressive towards new added fish. Experience of others show that keeping them in pairs is reducing this agressivity. From my experience I can confirm that this wrasse is a good prophylaxis for alot of common parasites in a tank. Specially when you keep SPS this wrasse is constantly checking on Acroporas for flat worms.
Nope, those are Pyramidellidae. The live on snails and clams like ticks and mosquitos on mamals.
A few won't hurt a clam in nature since those snails are also prey for other predators, but in our tank those predators are missing.
But a huge amount will slowly suck out the life of a clam. I had this my T. crocea for about 3 years and never had those snails on it. Two nights ago I noticed about 25 to 30 of them on the clam.
I went like *enter a bunch of really bad words here*
Now, the question is if my Pseudocheilinhexataenia us in the old tank was keeping them down by feeding on their clutch and by this keeping them down. I saw the fish many times a day checking on the clam and picking.
Or I got infested over the life rock or a coral which I highly doubt. The place I buy my stock from is known for checking on such stuff very very religiously!
Pain the butt now to once or twice a week to stress by sucking them off with a turkey blaster. Worst part is, they will sooner or later also start living on snails :-(
This parasite is often the reason for snails dying in tanks without an obivious reason.
Edit:
After some reading it seems that Pseudocheilin hexataenia is a natural predator for this snail. It would explain why I never noticed this snail in the old tank on my clam. Since there is no P. hexataenia in the new tank it would explain the sudden outbreak. Some more reading mentions that Tridacna breeding stations are using a certain crab to keep that snail down, but of course, it wasn't mention which crab that is.
Since I was already planing to get one or two P. hexataenia I am going to get them sooner. I wanted to add the wrasse as the last fish since it can be very agressive towards new added fish. Experience of others show that keeping them in pairs is reducing this agressivity. From my experience I can confirm that this wrasse is a good prophylaxis for alot of common parasites in a tank. Specially when you keep SPS this wrasse is constantly checking on Acroporas for flat worms.
Mischko
Member
Now then, I guess it is time for this little gadget.
The clams are virtually sucking out Mg and Ca. Not to mention the Acans. So it is about time to add this little dosing pump, calibrate it, calculate Ca and Mg and get it runing.
Other than that, coraline algae are now finally showing up. Guess, in about 1 or 2 months the reef ceramics will be nicely covered by some good spots of coraline algae.
Got myself some nice Zoanthus, a nice red Goniopora lobata and a hammer coral, Euphyllia ancora. Euphyllias are a good indicator coral for keeping KH up though.
The clams are virtually sucking out Mg and Ca. Not to mention the Acans. So it is about time to add this little dosing pump, calibrate it, calculate Ca and Mg and get it runing.
Other than that, coraline algae are now finally showing up. Guess, in about 1 or 2 months the reef ceramics will be nicely covered by some good spots of coraline algae.
Got myself some nice Zoanthus, a nice red Goniopora lobata and a hammer coral, Euphyllia ancora. Euphyllias are a good indicator coral for keeping KH up though.
Mischko
Member
Spot the new stuff ;-)
Added a few new corals, a baby hammer coral Euphyllia ancora with yellow tips, another nice Acan and a nice Duncanopsammia, plain green color, but with nice huge polyps and already growing new ones. One nice Catalaphyllia jardinei will be added next weekend. Right now I think I am done with LPS corals for now. The animals I added so far all grow into quite huge colonies. The only LPS stuff being added into my 'cave like' spot, will be some nice azoos. That place is reserved for them. Other than that I will add now and then some 'little details' like some nice shrooms, zoas and the like to fill the gaps.
I still want to be able to add some corals over the next months when I find some of those really special ones so I want to keep some spots for those. And knowing my LFS there will be plenty of rare colored ones of the next weeks and months for me.
For now, it is sit back and watch them grow. Keep all parameters balanced, add a detail here and there, but mostly. Keep my hands out off the tank and let nature do its way.
Maybe a few notes what has be done so far starting the tank. As you can tell by the pictures and my humble notes, the tank is run with reef ceramics which was flushed for a week with fresh water and a silictae absorber. After that water was changed with salt water and after 4 days about 10 kilos very good cured life rock were added. Lights were on for 10 hours from the moment life rock was added. Bacteria were added for about 3 weeks. After another week life sand was added, about 1 to 2 inch high only. Another week later a huge amount of snails was added, 5 Tectus, 15 Cerithium and 10 Nassarius. Lights during this time were on for 10 hours a day, full spectrum. During the first moment water hit the tank the pellet filter was runing. From the 15th February (when life rock was added) until today there has not been one algae bloom at all. Only algae growing and that very very slowly, is some sort of Cheatoe at some spots. That can be pulled off easily, but for now is kept in the tank as a retreat for copepods and the like. You can barely notice those few spots on the full tank shot.
Now that the tank is runing in its 3rd month, a good amount of corals was added, it is time to really keep an eye on Mg, Ca and so on. As you can see I added quite a bunch of Acans, 2 big clams and some other Mg/Ca consuming corals. Not to forget, coraline algae started growing which also consumes Mg/Ca.
About feeding the tank. Every 4th day a dose of Fauna Marin's Reef Vitality Marine Organics is added. On a daily basis about 10 ml plankton of various sorts is being added and 2 ml of Red Sea Energy A/B each is being added. Once a week I add life food at nights as in Mysis, Copepods or life plankton. Basically, what I can get and is freshly available on my way home from work at a local shop.
Another thing maybe worth mentioning is the filter sump. It might look oversized for a tank of 212 litres, but I think, it can not be underestimated having the tank valume run through your filter system as many times as possible. The return pump does 5000 litres an hour, it had to been throttled down abit and it is feeding the pellet filter on a bypass on the return. I estimate it is returning water about 2500 to 3000 litres an hour back into the tank. Which means, the tank volume roughly circulates way over 10 times an hour the sump and the skimmer. And by this all attached mechanical filters and absorbers (only have a silcate absorber runing). By this I am able to pretty feed a good amount to the corals and yet have all excess skimmed and/or filtered out.
The corals are being fed a constant flow of bacteria film from the pellet filter since I didn't mount its exhaust close to the skimmer, but next to the return pump's inlet. Specially the Acans show this by really having their tentacles expanded almost 24/7 feeding. Having this huge circulation in the tank it really doesn't matter if the pellet filter points to the skimmer or not. All excess bacteria will get skimmed out anyways.
Quite some babbling ;-)
Added a few new corals, a baby hammer coral Euphyllia ancora with yellow tips, another nice Acan and a nice Duncanopsammia, plain green color, but with nice huge polyps and already growing new ones. One nice Catalaphyllia jardinei will be added next weekend. Right now I think I am done with LPS corals for now. The animals I added so far all grow into quite huge colonies. The only LPS stuff being added into my 'cave like' spot, will be some nice azoos. That place is reserved for them. Other than that I will add now and then some 'little details' like some nice shrooms, zoas and the like to fill the gaps.
I still want to be able to add some corals over the next months when I find some of those really special ones so I want to keep some spots for those. And knowing my LFS there will be plenty of rare colored ones of the next weeks and months for me.
For now, it is sit back and watch them grow. Keep all parameters balanced, add a detail here and there, but mostly. Keep my hands out off the tank and let nature do its way.
Maybe a few notes what has be done so far starting the tank. As you can tell by the pictures and my humble notes, the tank is run with reef ceramics which was flushed for a week with fresh water and a silictae absorber. After that water was changed with salt water and after 4 days about 10 kilos very good cured life rock were added. Lights were on for 10 hours from the moment life rock was added. Bacteria were added for about 3 weeks. After another week life sand was added, about 1 to 2 inch high only. Another week later a huge amount of snails was added, 5 Tectus, 15 Cerithium and 10 Nassarius. Lights during this time were on for 10 hours a day, full spectrum. During the first moment water hit the tank the pellet filter was runing. From the 15th February (when life rock was added) until today there has not been one algae bloom at all. Only algae growing and that very very slowly, is some sort of Cheatoe at some spots. That can be pulled off easily, but for now is kept in the tank as a retreat for copepods and the like. You can barely notice those few spots on the full tank shot.
Now that the tank is runing in its 3rd month, a good amount of corals was added, it is time to really keep an eye on Mg, Ca and so on. As you can see I added quite a bunch of Acans, 2 big clams and some other Mg/Ca consuming corals. Not to forget, coraline algae started growing which also consumes Mg/Ca.
About feeding the tank. Every 4th day a dose of Fauna Marin's Reef Vitality Marine Organics is added. On a daily basis about 10 ml plankton of various sorts is being added and 2 ml of Red Sea Energy A/B each is being added. Once a week I add life food at nights as in Mysis, Copepods or life plankton. Basically, what I can get and is freshly available on my way home from work at a local shop.
Another thing maybe worth mentioning is the filter sump. It might look oversized for a tank of 212 litres, but I think, it can not be underestimated having the tank valume run through your filter system as many times as possible. The return pump does 5000 litres an hour, it had to been throttled down abit and it is feeding the pellet filter on a bypass on the return. I estimate it is returning water about 2500 to 3000 litres an hour back into the tank. Which means, the tank volume roughly circulates way over 10 times an hour the sump and the skimmer. And by this all attached mechanical filters and absorbers (only have a silcate absorber runing). By this I am able to pretty feed a good amount to the corals and yet have all excess skimmed and/or filtered out.
The corals are being fed a constant flow of bacteria film from the pellet filter since I didn't mount its exhaust close to the skimmer, but next to the return pump's inlet. Specially the Acans show this by really having their tentacles expanded almost 24/7 feeding. Having this huge circulation in the tank it really doesn't matter if the pellet filter points to the skimmer or not. All excess bacteria will get skimmed out anyways.
Quite some babbling ;-)
Beautiful rainbow acans ! (acanthastrea)
Mischko
Member
Oooops, need to update, eh?
Will soon this weekend. Waiting for some stuff to be delivered ;-)
So far, tank is doing well. The reef ceramic is slowly but steady being covered by corline alge. Guess by August you won't see a difference between life rock and ceramics anymore.
Interesting for me, the streaming pumps are the most covered by coraline algae so far. Almost time to get them out and have them cleaned after about 3 months.
Only thing still abit bothering me is the current in the tank. It's a gut feeling, but I am not 100% happy with the current streaming setup here. Might need one or two more pumps.
Will soon this weekend. Waiting for some stuff to be delivered ;-)
So far, tank is doing well. The reef ceramic is slowly but steady being covered by corline alge. Guess by August you won't see a difference between life rock and ceramics anymore.
Interesting for me, the streaming pumps are the most covered by coraline algae so far. Almost time to get them out and have them cleaned after about 3 months.
Only thing still abit bothering me is the current in the tank. It's a gut feeling, but I am not 100% happy with the current streaming setup here. Might need one or two more pumps.
Mischko
Member
Oh forgot to mention. Got the dosing pump up and running now. My KH was around 5-6 which is not good for LPS though Ca was consumed moderate so far.
Adjusted one of the pumps to dose 70 ml during the day to keep the KH level up to 8.
The other 2 pumps are not working right now since Ca and Mg were pretty high from the start on and reached now a level of Ca=430 and Mg=1360. I guess, I have to start dosing Ca from next week on in small amounts.
Adjusted one of the pumps to dose 70 ml during the day to keep the KH level up to 8.
The other 2 pumps are not working right now since Ca and Mg were pretty high from the start on and reached now a level of Ca=430 and Mg=1360. I guess, I have to start dosing Ca from next week on in small amounts.
Mischko
Member
Sweet, the dosing pump is doing its meant purpose and KH is now at a steady 8 which suits the LPS perfectly, it seems.
If all goes well, my second part of my cleaning crew will arrive this Friday. Remember, I mentioned no more hermit in this tank?
So far, I got those little critters:
10 Nerita sp. not the biggest snails but constantly feeding and in my tank abit annoying me since the lay eggs in huge amounts on the 'front screen'.
10 Nassarius sp. I call them my zombie crew. Not a sign until food is added to the tank. Then it is a real horror movie them emerging from the sand.
10 Cerithium which species exactly, I have no idea but munching and cleaning. All that counts.
5 Tectus fenestratus I guess you know them ;-)
Now then, the next batch for the cleaning crew consists of:
1 Tripneustes gratilla which supposed eats almost any sort of algae
1 Ophiolepis superba for leftovers and detrius
1 Ophiomastix sp. another good one for leftovers
5 Pusiostoma sp. to be honest, just for the looks
1 Haliotis varia which is like a sea hoare but more robust and won't be sucked in by streaming pumps! Gets pretty large, moves slowly and won't harm corals at all.
5 Cerithium caeruleum another algae feeding snail, but also feeds on cyanos. Just in case.
and last but not least
1 dolabella auricularia sea hoare, because they are so ugly they are cute again.
As you can see, quite a range of snails species which nicely replace hermits. Though I will have to feed some of the critters which veggies sooner or later. But this will put a lot of pressure to algae growing in the first place and supress them.
If all goes well, my second part of my cleaning crew will arrive this Friday. Remember, I mentioned no more hermit in this tank?
So far, I got those little critters:
10 Nerita sp. not the biggest snails but constantly feeding and in my tank abit annoying me since the lay eggs in huge amounts on the 'front screen'.
10 Nassarius sp. I call them my zombie crew. Not a sign until food is added to the tank. Then it is a real horror movie them emerging from the sand.
10 Cerithium which species exactly, I have no idea but munching and cleaning. All that counts.
5 Tectus fenestratus I guess you know them ;-)
Now then, the next batch for the cleaning crew consists of:
1 Tripneustes gratilla which supposed eats almost any sort of algae
1 Ophiolepis superba for leftovers and detrius
1 Ophiomastix sp. another good one for leftovers
5 Pusiostoma sp. to be honest, just for the looks
1 Haliotis varia which is like a sea hoare but more robust and won't be sucked in by streaming pumps! Gets pretty large, moves slowly and won't harm corals at all.
5 Cerithium caeruleum another algae feeding snail, but also feeds on cyanos. Just in case.
and last but not least
1 dolabella auricularia sea hoare, because they are so ugly they are cute again.
As you can see, quite a range of snails species which nicely replace hermits. Though I will have to feed some of the critters which veggies sooner or later. But this will put a lot of pressure to algae growing in the first place and supress them.
Mischko
Member
Now then, been some time, but being really busy with some IT stuff aside from work here. You know, getting some extra bucks for new corals and stuff ;-)
Just made some frag stones today since I am going to do a little rearrangement in the tank. Not so fully satisfied with some spots in the tank layout-wise.
Otherwise, I am not too happy how my Acans doing lately. Not fully opened up for like 10 days though all water parameters are about perfect. Makes me a bit worrying here since I got a complete yellow/orange Acan frag. Not something you can get every day here. Well, I get this fixed somehow.
Going to take some nice shots soon here for you. The reef ceramic is getting nicely covered day by day with coraline algae. As I amntioned before, I had some Chaetomorpha antennina and Chaetomorpha linum growing form the life rock and then starting growing on the reef ceramics. The Tripneustes gratilla took care of that and I am pretty amazed about the amount of algae this sea urchin is capable to eat/digest during a day.
A notice of warning though, the stings of Tripneustes gratilla are poisness. As to which amount, I am not sure, but it's recommended not to get stinged. Don't mind me, not in the mood to test it either ;-)
Another thing I did today, cleaned the skimmer and the sump. Was about time, since after cycling in the tank there was a lot of debris in the sump and skimmer from the life rock and life sand. Was interesting how many of those tiny feather duster worms were growing in the sump and in the skimmer after 3 months.
Just made some frag stones today since I am going to do a little rearrangement in the tank. Not so fully satisfied with some spots in the tank layout-wise.
Otherwise, I am not too happy how my Acans doing lately. Not fully opened up for like 10 days though all water parameters are about perfect. Makes me a bit worrying here since I got a complete yellow/orange Acan frag. Not something you can get every day here. Well, I get this fixed somehow.
Going to take some nice shots soon here for you. The reef ceramic is getting nicely covered day by day with coraline algae. As I amntioned before, I had some Chaetomorpha antennina and Chaetomorpha linum growing form the life rock and then starting growing on the reef ceramics. The Tripneustes gratilla took care of that and I am pretty amazed about the amount of algae this sea urchin is capable to eat/digest during a day.
A notice of warning though, the stings of Tripneustes gratilla are poisness. As to which amount, I am not sure, but it's recommended not to get stinged. Don't mind me, not in the mood to test it either ;-)
Another thing I did today, cleaned the skimmer and the sump. Was about time, since after cycling in the tank there was a lot of debris in the sump and skimmer from the life rock and life sand. Was interesting how many of those tiny feather duster worms were growing in the sump and in the skimmer after 3 months.
Mischko
Member
Jesus, been over 2 months since I last posted here! Sorry for that. Been pretty busy finding a new job since the current one is getting on my nerves. So, in case somebody is in need of a Lotus Notes/Domino administrator or knows someone needing one, let me know ;-)
Now then, I have stripped down my Red Sea 130D. Some of you remember my mods on the 130D I posted here. It was a good 4 years with it, but it has come to a point where it just didn't work out anymore for me. Too many modifications, too many hoses, cables and the like. And some errors I made as a beginner, too. It was good gaining experiences, understanding how things work out, biological and mechanical wise.
I moved some stuff into the new tank and most of all, I moved my male Salarias ramosus into the new tank where a female was waiting.
He was not too impressed being caught and put into the new tank at all, I can tell you. Never seen such red eyes on him being pissed off completely. And I was afraid for the female being torn into pieces in no time him being about 12 cm long now (which is 4,7 inch!). The female is a good third shorter than him. One day passed with him inspecting the tank step by step finding the most exposed stone in the tank making it his royal throne overlooking the tank.
The female was hiding the first hours completely somewhere in the rocks. I kept my fingers crossed.
The next morning I see them both grazing rocks and the tank walls. It's been now 2 weeks and today big boss Blenny decided to throw in a mating dance! She is just f*?"'ing fat now and that is not from feeding! Guess it was a good sign of them nibbling eachother on their fin tails. Hope that's it now and I have a couple of starfish blennies in my tank now ;-)
And yes, I promise here now to take pictures and videos of them! Serious!
What else is new? I got a couple of Amphiprion clarkii for the new tank and they are doing pretty ok so far. Guess they are not yet sure who is going to be male and female, but they get along for now. I just need a bigger anemone for them which I should get this coming week.
One of my biggest problems with the new tank, low nutritions. I have to add Nitrate and Phosphate into the tank despite overfeeding. Also reduced the pellets, but to no avail. I was expecting this due to the reef ceramics being so well structured and offering such a huge and cavernous surface for the bacteria. Well, I get that sorted out, too.
As a replacement for the RS 130D I am thinking of the new RS 130C or a tank from Giesemann. Of course, whith reef ceramics again ;-)
So, promised, pictures will follow soon and now excuse me. I have to catch up reading here and see what you guys have been up too ;-)
Now then, I have stripped down my Red Sea 130D. Some of you remember my mods on the 130D I posted here. It was a good 4 years with it, but it has come to a point where it just didn't work out anymore for me. Too many modifications, too many hoses, cables and the like. And some errors I made as a beginner, too. It was good gaining experiences, understanding how things work out, biological and mechanical wise.
I moved some stuff into the new tank and most of all, I moved my male Salarias ramosus into the new tank where a female was waiting.
He was not too impressed being caught and put into the new tank at all, I can tell you. Never seen such red eyes on him being pissed off completely. And I was afraid for the female being torn into pieces in no time him being about 12 cm long now (which is 4,7 inch!). The female is a good third shorter than him. One day passed with him inspecting the tank step by step finding the most exposed stone in the tank making it his royal throne overlooking the tank.
The female was hiding the first hours completely somewhere in the rocks. I kept my fingers crossed.
The next morning I see them both grazing rocks and the tank walls. It's been now 2 weeks and today big boss Blenny decided to throw in a mating dance! She is just f*?"'ing fat now and that is not from feeding! Guess it was a good sign of them nibbling eachother on their fin tails. Hope that's it now and I have a couple of starfish blennies in my tank now ;-)
And yes, I promise here now to take pictures and videos of them! Serious!
What else is new? I got a couple of Amphiprion clarkii for the new tank and they are doing pretty ok so far. Guess they are not yet sure who is going to be male and female, but they get along for now. I just need a bigger anemone for them which I should get this coming week.
One of my biggest problems with the new tank, low nutritions. I have to add Nitrate and Phosphate into the tank despite overfeeding. Also reduced the pellets, but to no avail. I was expecting this due to the reef ceramics being so well structured and offering such a huge and cavernous surface for the bacteria. Well, I get that sorted out, too.
As a replacement for the RS 130D I am thinking of the new RS 130C or a tank from Giesemann. Of course, whith reef ceramics again ;-)
So, promised, pictures will follow soon and now excuse me. I have to catch up reading here and see what you guys have been up too ;-)
Mischko
Member
I know, I know, pictures!!!
But a quick note, my star blennies mated today! The female was bloated up like a balloon and today I noticed she had some eggs on her after fin left and then I found the clutch. During the day the female is watching and taking care of it. At night the male sits on it like a bull terrier. The placed their clutch in such a spot that it will be very hard to take any decent pictures at all, any pictures where one could see anything.
Was quite interesting to see the male doing its dance every day during the blue light phase for about a week trying to impress the female. She was playing the hard to get card, but in the end he won with his charme, I figure. Trying to get some pictures for you guys, but can't promise they will turn out any good. I am in the process of getitng myself a new job and having a job interview tomorrow in Switzerland ;-) So, pretty busy here hence me lacking posting here lately.
But a quick note, my star blennies mated today! The female was bloated up like a balloon and today I noticed she had some eggs on her after fin left and then I found the clutch. During the day the female is watching and taking care of it. At night the male sits on it like a bull terrier. The placed their clutch in such a spot that it will be very hard to take any decent pictures at all, any pictures where one could see anything.
Was quite interesting to see the male doing its dance every day during the blue light phase for about a week trying to impress the female. She was playing the hard to get card, but in the end he won with his charme, I figure. Trying to get some pictures for you guys, but can't promise they will turn out any good. I am in the process of getitng myself a new job and having a job interview tomorrow in Switzerland ;-) So, pretty busy here hence me lacking posting here lately.
