Cody & KCs Newbie Reef Tank!

[Melanie]

Sorry I haven't responded to your last questions.

I googled articles related to refugium set up and quarrantine tanks. There are even some really good threads on here as well that discuss it in detail. Have you tried out the handy-dandy search feature on RS? It's pretty cool and you can find all sorts of things.

I don't know the SD area so hopefully someone around there can help you out. I think there is a link to a database of LFS on the home page of RS in the lower left.

How are the baby snails?

[DrHank]

A good fuge operates itself. It is a place to have a small DSB to help with nitrate conversion, to put cheato and/or other plants to help reduce nitrates and phosphates, to grow pods for suplemental feeding, to isolate (temporarily) undesirable or overly agressive critters, etc. It is fed by a low flow pump or powerhead and gravity returns the flow to the tank or sump.

They are usually lit on a reverse cycle from the main tank lighting (if they are under the tank) or on the same cycle if HOB. Hope that helps answer your question.

[Melanie]

What's new with the tank Casey? Any new photos?

[cynicechoes]

Umm... not too much new going on right now. I was planning on getting new photos the other day but cody managed to hide the battery charger for the camera from me. I just recently found it and I will be getting some pics soon hopefully. We're also about to order the HOB fuge w/ the protein skimmer & the MHs! YAY! I can't wait!

I am now pretty much completely sure the pep. shrimp, if that's what it really was, since I never got to get another look at it to check and be sure, is dead! I have never seen him after those first 2 days and I have looked at all different angles and times, plus I did have that nitrate spike kind of come outta nowhere! It caused a diatom bloom on the sand again, but hopefully buy the time I get home the CUC will have taken care of it!

I had a question about alkalinity. My LFS gave us this 2 part calcium buffer to use, as I mentioned before, part 1 is an alkalinity buffer and part 2 is calcium buffer. What is the highest safe number for alkalinty? And if I still want to raise the calcium but not the alk anymore can I just add part 2?

Later!

[Melanie]

Yes, your questions are now all officially out of my range. ha ha ha. I'm interested to see what more experienced reefers have to say.

I was referred to this great article that I have read several times. I also just finished a good book called "Water Chemistry for the Marine Aquarium."Calcium and Alkalinity by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

[Craig Manoukian]

How did I miss this thread? Need time to catch up! Nice nano guys!

[DrHank]

Your tank is really not at the point that you need to concern yourself with balancing Ca and Alk yet. Also you must be able to test for Ca and KH before you start supplementing. This is only really required when you have a number of LPS or SPS corals, Clams, etc. that draw Ca from the water. Regular water changes should be fine at this point. Many reef owners have very nice reefs for years without supplementing.

The link that Melanie gave you will explain the principle.

[cynicechoes]

HAHA Thanks for the link Mel! I guess we are somewhat learning together now, except you have a little better knowledge base to go off of! I will continue to steal from it! lol

Thanks Craig! Do catch up, i would love to have another experienced person to advise me!

Thanks Dr Hank... I do have the tests for them. I have an API reef master test kit that includes Alk, nitrate, phosphate, calcium and Salifert ammonia and nitrite tests. We have been doing our own testing since we got the tank and took the water to the LFS occasionally just to double check.

The last time we took in water to double check that we had cycled they told us everything was good but that calcium was low, so they gave us the buffer system, and the calcium had decreased quite a bit since we started running tests. I think I will probably leave it alone until I gain a better understanding and i feel it really needs it though.


I think the baby snaills kicked it! Hopefully they are just where I can't see them though.

Since my pep shrimp, that I am unsure was a pep shrimp, is probably dead the anemones in my tank are spreading and getting bigger. I am pretty sure they are aiptasia still, but I am not totally positive, maybe now that they have gotten bigger I can get a decent pic of one to post for ya'll(yep i grew up in texas lol) to identify!

Pics and new test results soon!

[Melanie]

I agree with Dr. Hank 100 percent about supplementing Ca. Water changes will work for now.

Do any of your tests give you dKH?

I think Craig is GREAT and he gives super advice.

I still say to manually remove the aptaisia before it overtakes your tank. I'm DEFINITELY no expert. But I had two or three aptaisia in my fuge when I used that Fiji mud. I used a blade to slice it off the glass and it never came back and now I have none (knock on wood). If you can use a razor knife to get every bit off of the LR go for it. If it's too ingrained in the rock, you can use one of those other methods like joe's juice.

[cynicechoes]

I am getting a new badass Digital SLR camera as soon as it gets here in the mail! I can't wait, then I will finally get some decent pics of our tank! Until then we will just have to live with these news ones I just took! They are a little big, but they loose too much quality when you reduce the size any more than that... Enjoy!

Updated tank shot

Updated red growing branchie type stuff that I am assuming is coralline algae

The little bastards taking over... This is aiptasia right?!

Hiding anemone thingie and some others...

Red stuff & anemone

More

This ones growing at an angle

You can see toke in this one and anemones AGAIN


So there isn't too much new aside from more and bigger anemones which I will call aiptasia until someone tells me otherwise... anyone able to ID it positively as that? The little pods are ALL OVER the tank, they kinda look like little shrimp almost, they are weird, and I have ALOT of them, so fishies should be happy when we add them! They will be like mmmm pods! lol Wow I am really retarded anyhoo, let me know what you guys think!

Nite nite everyone!

[Craig Manoukian]

That's aiptasia alright. Time to nuke em before the take over completely.

[Melanie]

I agree with Craig. It is definitely Aptaisia. If you do decide to manually remove them, be sure to get every tiny little bit because if you leave even a smudge it will regrow. Don't you wish everything was that hardy in a reef tank?

I'm so excited for your new camera! You are going to love it. I read some good photo tips I'm happy to share if you are interested.

I don't think the branching red stuff is corraline algae, but the maroon and purple dots look like corraline algae. Once you get your better camera (or if you can manage to get a macro shot with the one you have) try to get a close up of the branching stuff. It's really hard to tell what it is from that angle.

PS, Great pics and update!

[DrHank]

The coraline algae is the purple stuff in your second photo. I'm not sure what the red stuff is but I'm sure it's harmless.

Your tank is looking good. The pictures are excellent and other than the aiptasia, I don't see any problems. If you want to try to get rid of them now you can ue Joes Juice, Kalk paste (Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime), or white vinegar. If your tank is nearing the end of it's cycle, you may want to wait a couple of weeks and add a pair of peppermint shrimp when Ammonia and Nitrite have bot reached zero. Make sure that you do a water change or two to reduce nitrates to around 5 before you try the peps. Most invertebrates and corals don't like nitrates.

[DrHank]

The little shrimp looking things are pods (probably ampipods) and yes, lost of fish eat them. It's also a sign that your tank is doing well. What are your parameters looking like now?

[AQTCJAK]

I would use Joes Juice to rid of the Apitasia