Brand Newbie Jumping In!!! All Friendlies Welcome!!

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Brian_pham7

New Member
My Girlfriend bought me a 24 Gallon Aquapod, a bag of coarse live sand and a bag of fine live sand. One bag of LS was leaking upon arrival. Tank setup initiated immediately with tap water and no rinsing of anything. I got live, cured rock 2 days later (about 9 lbs.) and about 15 more lbs. the next day. I was so happy to see life come out of the rocks, and thought I just got a lot of feather dusters. Unfortunately, research led me to believe more than half of them were the Aptasia (Aiptasia?) anemone and now I'm not sure which route to take to resolve the issue. Luckily so far (I Hope), Ph is at 8.2, Kh is strong at 11 drops and Ammonia is beginning around 0.375 and Nitrite level is nil. Sorry for the long babble and I hope I still get some responses. I'll definitely show you my successes and share my knowledge as I accrue it.
 
DrHank

DrHank

Well-Known Member
Welcome to RS and don't panic. You'll have plenty of time to take care of the aiptasia. Right now your primary concern is cycling in your tank. I'd put 4 or 5 shrimp from the grocery store in a nylon stocking and get it in the tank. It should take a month or more (not always) to complete the cycle. I would recommend that during that time you read and research all you can. Ask any and every question you can think of.

Our main reason for being here is to help one another and try to ensure your success. Again welcome.
 
sasquatch

sasquatch

Brunt of all Jokes~
PREMIUM
Hi Brian and Welcome to RS! looks like you jumped in for sure, deal with the aiptasia now! before you start stocking the tank its lots easier, Joes juice, stop aiptasia, and several home brews are available, are you sticking with tap water or planning ro/di in the future? keep us posted and ask questions. Steve
 
caitrina

caitrina

Well-Known Member
:wave: Come on in the water is warm and the people are friendly! Welcome to RS and before some our friendly RS Canadians butt in and start asking for pictures, I on behalf of the Floridians will tell you ... we want pictures, pictures. lol

To id those rock inhabitants properly guess what would be a help? You guessed it, Pictures! Or more detail about them.

One other thing to help you on your road to salt water is go slow! Be Patient.

So are you doing reef or FO?

Again welcome to RS.
 
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Brian_pham7

New Member
Thanks, Y'all. I just bought a 5 Gallon purified water jug with 4 refills. Yeah I got a lot of questions. I guess I can wait to do a water change until the ammonia builds more and becomes nitrite, then nitrate. I would like to remedy my Aptasia (by the way, how is it spelled?) now instead of later. Is That AptasiaAway any good? or should I try just Hot water and lemon juice. Where should I find an injector anyways.
 
DrHank

DrHank

Well-Known Member
I don't know Steve, I like the peppermint shrimp approach. Five of them cleaned up 175 lbs of rock in my tank with moderate infestation in about a week. I wouldn't add the shrimp until after the tank is cycled.

I guess you could try Joes juice, Kalk paste, vinegar, etc now but the peps are so much fun to watch.
 
DrHank

DrHank

Well-Known Member
Brian, don't use hot water and lemon juice unless you're making yourself a homemade cold remedy. Go with Joe's juice.
 
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Brian_pham7

New Member
Thanks again, I was feeling a little worried. I'm going to plan my tank well from this point, but unfortunately it's 11 PM here and quitting time. I will add all warm replies to my buddy list and will post a picture tomorrow. Thanks for putting me at ease and I will catch y'all later. Peace Outside!!!
 
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Brian_pham7

New Member
Yeah, See? My boy Will's got a tank and he liked the peppermint shrimp idea, too. I like the purple firefish goby idea, some shrooms look cool, and the less aggressive coral.
 
goldenmean

goldenmean

Well-Known Member
Howdy Hoooo!
Welcome to RS!

There is a lot of great knowledge and experience her.
Plus we are a helpful bunch.
 
Craig Manoukian

Craig Manoukian

Well-Known Member
No need to change water until after the cycle if you need to export nitrates. As your dentrifying bacteria gets going and is balanced, the nitrates will be converted to harmless nitrogen gas. You can see the bubbles sneaking out of your sand and rising through the water column.

Oh and by the way, welcome, welcome, welcome!
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
Welcome to RS! dont' forget to be patient with all that you do, and you'll have a beautiful tank in no time!
 
lcstorc

lcstorc

Well-Known Member
Welcome to RS!
Well you have already taken the first steps. You have the tank filled with LR, sand, and water. Let the cycle begin.
Personally I would work on getting rid of the aiptasia now. I'm guessing that you haven't aquascaped much yet which means it will be easier to reach them all since you can pick up a rock and turn it over etc.
I love using peppermint shrimp but it is a bit hit or miss. My peppermints are too well fed and don't go after the aiptasia. I had one a long time ago that did but many don't particularly if well fed. I have had very good success with Joe's Juice. Sometimes you have to repeat the process if you don't get the Joe's in the mouth of the anemone but right now you have nothing but time while waiting for the tank to cycle.
HTH
Look forward to seeing you in the posts and your pics when you post them.
 
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Brian_pham7

New Member
Thanks for your advice. I think I'm gonna take care of the AIPTASIA now with maybe tweezers and/or Joe's juice. Aren't there spores you can't see, too? I've taken a couple days now to make sure I do the best thing for my tank. I don't see much worry since it's still in the first stage of the cycle. But I would like to take the time now to learn as much as I can to decide what I want to put in there. Lemme see if I can get these pictures up.
 
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Brian_pham7

New Member
Ok, I just got home and was about to tweeze them, but I'll go get the juice tomorrow. I like the purple firefish gobies they're pretty cool. I want a small clam later. I think I'm going with the grape snails instead of a sifting starfish as it seems there are not many starfish that are safe for coral and clams. I might want some cleaning crabs or shrimp and I don't want them to pick at the starfish either. Is all this too much for a 24 gallon reef tank? Oh yeah, I like some of those cool shrooms, too. Oh boy, my girl was looking at bigger tanks today at the fish store fue to the restrictions of a small tank.. Whew! Love the feedback you guys.
 
sasquatch

sasquatch

Brunt of all Jokes~
PREMIUM
Hi Brian, any trace of aiptasia left behind will make a new one, wait till you see one walking across your glass, thats cool.
 
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