My tanks progress

[live rock addic]

Well I started with a 30 Gal. and added the water and sand and LR then waited till the tank went thru the stages of becoming stable, My tank has a built in bio wheel in the cover (which I took out Immediatley after reading about them being a nitrate factory and I filled the compartment with LR rubble) I figured it was a good safe place for the bacteria to grow unhindered by any critters I may get..
I went thru the brown algae stage and got 4 margarita snails and 2 peppermint shrimp and put those in, No problems everything is alive and seem happy, I waited awhile and introduced 2 Emerald crabs and 2 more Peppermint shrimp and 2 Blue Damsels, one died not sure why(after seeing the condition of the Fish at Petco I am pretty sure I didnt kill it)NO MORE PETCO FOR ME!!!
I have since added another Damsel and they are doing great,
Then the problems started, I have read aboutcoralline growth and that its not a bad thing but mine is PINK of all colors lol...
Why me and why pink lol of all the colors that this grows in mines gotta be pink lol(I reckon I can say I grew it intentionally because its for one of my daughters lol)

[Planet_Reef]

Pink is a very common color of coralline.

Congrats on the researching and moving slowly.

[live rock addic]

Thank ya lol ya got any blue ya wanna trade for lol just kidding, as long as the tanks growing and doing its thing Imma happy camper lol,
I have read some pretty terrible stories about systems crashing and I sure hate to be one of them stories..
But I gotta say all ya`ll make it darn near impossible to be patient with this because of the super looking tanks ya`ll have set up,LOL
Imma grow up and be a full fledged reefer one day if the Lords willing lol

[live rock addic]

I was wondering about the feather dusters, do they generally stay out most of the time and is it considered normal for them to stay in the tube for a day or so?

[wm23oh]

I'm still new to the whole Reef tank setup but have had a Feather Duster before (have one now too) and haven't ever purchased one. From my experience they like to come out during the day (few hours before and after) and hide at night but if anything like a crab etc bothers them they will pull in their feathery debris catchers to try and keep them safe.

Did you just add one to your tank? Did one show up one day out of the blue like mine has? Photos?

Best wishes,
James

[live rock addic]

Hey James sorry I missed ya post. Mine just showed up, I figure it came in on the LR I bought, it was staying out all the time and then I didnt see it for about a day and a half. Now hes out full time again , maybe it was just resting? I did see a little brittle star that was hitching a ride too, but unfortunately from what I have read they are kinda hard to see and stay buried, which is cool kinda lol, I wish I could get a glimpse of him again just to make sure its still living.
I went today and bought this thing that lives on photosynthesis and I cant remember what the guy called it lol, I do know he said it was a colony something or other, I dont have any pics, The camera I have has never really taken any decent macro shots, I guess I may have to get me a new one..
I kinda like the ole feather duster and I do hope more show up, It sure does grow fast, it was slow at first but now it seems to grow maybe a 1/4 inch a day, well tthe tube is,not sure about the duster inside lol I have no idea if it grows as long as the tube..

so far I have only lost one fish that came from a naional pet store and one shrimp apparently just died after like 2 weeks in the tank and I figure maybe it was just time for it to go..
the fish that died never did seem to at right to me so it may have been sick or stressed to start with...
Thanks for the reply and good luck with your tank,
Ron