Tori's First Marine Expedition!! nano style!

[Dentoid]

Bristleworms, Fire Bristleworm is one species, are not necessarily bad for your tank. In fact in small numbers will benefit your tank by serving as detritavores, helping to keep your tank clean. They become a problem if they start appearing in large numbers or if they start to chow on things you don't want them to. For now I would leave them alone. In time your tank will strike up a balance with the worms and rest of the ecosystem.

BTW, Fire Bristleworms can cause a nasty sting, so use gloves when messing around in your tank.

[leahski]

but i don't think they're bristleworms. are bristleworms charcterized by the white tufts? mine don't look like the pictures i've seen. they look like arms of a very small brittlestar. but all i've seen is arms.

[Dentoid]

Bristleworms come in all shapes, color and sizes. It could be the arm of a brittle star as well. My point was, bristleworms can be a good thing if you encounter them in your tank.

[dobejazz]

Green Brittle stars tend to be the fish killers they get quite large and are completely different than the mini's

Here is a picture of a common bristleworm

[BigAl07]

It's very possible you are seeing the arms of "Mico" brittle star fish. When I feed my tank I see MANY small "hairy" arms slowly waving in the current trying to snag a bite. I do have some bristle worms and they are obviously different once you see them. They are very good detritus munchers no matter which one it is. They are a "part" of your eco-system and unless they are causing a problem just let them alone and be "aware" of them in your tank

[leahski]

will he ever come out? i'd like to see more of him! he's got cute little arms...

well, i got shrimp today and i'm going to stick one in to cycle. it's okay that it's cooked, right? it just needs to rot to make ammonia? yay cycling! :/

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by leahski

will he ever come out? i'd like to see more of him! he's got cute little arms...

I don't know about coming out. I never see mine out at all. Once in a while if I moved something I will seem them crawling along the bottom to get under something else.

Originally Posted by leahski

well, i got shrimp today and i'm going to stick one in to cycle. it's okay that it's cooked, right? it just needs to rot to make ammonia? yay cycling! :/

Put it into a stocking or some type of media bag so that when it's done you can remove the carcus easily.

[leahski]

well i put my little shrimpy into a black dress sock and hung it in my tank. also picked up a test kit and ran some tests.
my pH is crazy off the charts high. ammonia around 0.8, nitrites barely present, and hardness at 210.
let the cycle begin!

[leahski]

alright, i'm itching to play with my aquascaping and add a new rock. will this mess up the cycle by adding new stuff and stirring it up? it's still early in the cycle, i doubt i'll have any real bio stuff to disturb at this point.

i'm also getting rid of bio balls and replacing with LR rubble soon. would you recommend putting it in something or just leaving it in there loose?

[lcstorc]

I would go ahead and add any rock you can get now. Then it all goes through the cycle. Remove the bio-balls now before they become part of the system. Put the rubble in when you can. The more you get set up right before/during cycling the better. Once the cycle is done changes should be made very slowly.

[althea2you]

i thought there was a difference in using raw and cooked shrimp. i thought raw was better... that cooked had preservatives or whatever...?? this isnt directed AT you Leah, just a general question about it... also... very nice rock you have!!! and the asteria stars are no worries! no need to pick them out.

[leahski]

yeah, i was kinda wondering about the shrimp...they don't appear to be cooked in anything, so i'm not adding anything funky to the tank. other than that is there a real difference between the two?

thanks sarah! i like my rocks too! i'm hoping to get another one or two this weekend and some rubble for the filter. i'm new to aquascaping, but i think its going well!

[leahski]

so, my plans for the weekend:
1) remove bioballs and replace with LRR
2) possibly widen overflow between chambers 1+2. see if stock filter still fits, and if not put filter floss above chamber 2.
3) picking up a bucket of RO/DI water
4) getting a couple pounds of new LR and doing some aquascaping!

i've read that lots of people with this tank get a second nano pump to increase flow. is this really necessary? or can it at least wait until i put something in that needs more circulation?

BTW, how soon should NH3 start to spike?

[althea2you]

one little piece of "advise" i can say... try to arrange the rock so you can clean the glass... i did not do this and its been a PITA.... i have too much rock in my 28g cube... and i reallly like the scaping of it, so i deal, but its a pain to clean the glass and the sand cause of where my rocks are! :P... so as you scape.. try to scape around that initial prob! :P and gl with the tank!!!! here is the scaping of my tank...

[leahski]

i really love what you did. and that's good advice, i didn't really think about that before, right now my rock is touching the back wall. i'll take care of that!