Search results

Well, I have great news and not-so-great news. First, for the not-so-great news. I have two surviving corals. The zooanthids are doing pretty good although it looks like the ones closest to the light may be dying while the ones hanging over are more open. My starburst polyps were/are my...

My "12 gallon nano cube" has one fish in it, a regular Ocellaris clownfish. He's been in there two weeks now. The day I got him, I got a black and white version too, for $50. Six days later, the regular one finished off the fancy one after slamming him one too many times. I had been told...

I've been using RO water the last few weeks and put in phosphate remover so the phosphate is now low. My test kit won't measure lower levels accurately though (I guess I need a different one). I'm not reading any nitrate. All the snails have been removed or rotted. There is some hair algae...

Thanks. I wouldn't have gotten so wrapped up in the details except so many animals have died. People suggested it was the water chemistry so I was trying to figure out why. I think I will go back to weekly water changes instead of twice a week since it takes 2 hours to make RO water and...

I just make things too hard for you all and myself! I got my new pH meter and calibrated it with pH 7 and pH 4 buffers ("borrowed" from work). Here are the pH readings from today: The pH of the tank was 8.4 by dry marine test kit, 8.8 by dip stick, and 8.13 by pH meter. The pH of the make...

I guess you're all too busy with your nano reefs to give me some more advice. I certainly understand how time consuming it is! Anyway, I got the pH meter today, calibrated it with solutions I stole from work. The pH in my nano reef reads 8.41. That's neither the 7.95 the work pH meter said...

So many questions! Here are the answers: I first put water and live sand in the tank on 4/26/08. I put in 11.5 pounds of live rock on 4/27/08. The store said it was pre-cured but I didn't add any animals at first just in case. I tested the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate weekly. I never read...

Update: When I got home, that white thing on Nemo seems to be gone; he/she seems healthy. The crabs were having fun. It seems the remaining animals are fine. I brought home some more accurate pH dip strips from work. The result: 7.8 or 7.9! Then, I dipped my 6 in 1 aquarium dip strip. I...

Well, Crusty is dead. I am now a fish murderer too! I've never lost animals like this with freshwater, ever! When I came home, Crusty had white film on his left fin as well as two white things under his chin. I don't know if it was bacteria, fungus, or skin sloughing (indicative of water...

I put the snails foot side down. The crabs knocked them over a few times but I righted them. And no, the crabs did not kill the snails; the snails never came out and moved except that one who came back to life for half a day. Crusty the clown was still eating as of this morning. I will see...

Well, I took some water to work this morning to test the pH with a real (expensive and calibrated) pH meter. It took a long time to stabilize but ended up at 7.92! Yet, the at home tests were saying high 8's and even close to 9! It goes to show you how off the test kits really are (or my...

Well, one of the mushrooms definitely died, fell all apart with the green parts separating from the stuff that looks like shed frog skin. I think maybe they were too close to the light. I asked at the store about that; he said they were used to strong light. The other mushroom had drooped...

I got up photos of the corals. Let me know if you think they're dead or dying. I think only the star polyps are okay. http://www.fishpondinfo.com/marine/corals.htm Also, last night, I saw a bristleworm on the glass who swam to the live rock. Should I be worried or are most bristleworms...

I don't have time tonight to process my digital photos of the new animals. I have good and bad news. The good news: one of the snails (a Cerith snail) came back to life! When I got up before the lights were on, I saw something hanging out of one of the shells so I shone a light on it...

I'm making my first batch of RO water right now. They sent zero instructions! The canister says to discard the first 4 gallons but doesn't say 4 gallons total or just RO or whatever. I'm letting it run an hour and then collecting. Anyway, if phosphate, silica, or copper are a factor, with...

I read that drip acclimation was the key to keeping corals alive. I dripped acclimated an hour with the first round of hermit crabs and snails which came in the mail. The crabs did fine; the snails all died. This last batch of animals was from a "local" (one hour away) store (Mr. Coral except...

I would think if the water were "bad" then the hermit crabs, fish, and corals would also have died right away. Everything I'm testing for is okay except the phosphate. I got my RO unit today. I put in phosphate removing beads yesterday, and it went from 2.5 ppm to 1 ppm today. Once I get the...

A few weeks ago, I got my first nano reef animals - 6 hermit crabs and 7 snails of 3 species. The hermits survived and did well. All the snails died instantly despite an hour of drip acclimation. The store said it was because the salinity was too low (1.023, now it's 1.0245). I also brought...

I have plant lights on my freshwater tanks. There's certainly algae in my saltwater tank now but I wouldn't say it's out of control (yet). I plan to go to Mr. Coral today and get my first fish, a few snails to try again, and maybe my first coral (the smallest, cheapest they have to see if I...

Yeah, I have more than 15 years experience with freshwater. I have all the test kits but only test when there's a problem. I know when something's off, and it's almost never the water chemistry. I know my systems and my well water. I normally test once a year just to see if there are any...