Finally put my tank together...

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funkngroovy

New Member
?

Here is some light reading for you.
Every single animal or coral you put into your tank requires research.
Never impulse buy. Find something you like, go home, research and then purchase if you are certain it will survive.



http://www.reeftime.com/reef-articles/a ... nes/11.htm

http://fins.actwin.com/species/anemone.html

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen8.html



The death of your anemone will spike your amonia. It may take a day or two but you need to be on the lookout.

Have lots of water ready for changes and check on corals.
Corals are very slow to react to changes. Really bad things can happen within the tank and the corals will look fine, for now. You need to keep on top of this.

As you will find from the research, this anemone was added too early to a system that wasn't ready and didn't provide enough light. It was already dieing which never helps either. Hope you have better luck with the corals.

A quote from Reefs.org

"recent survey of reefkeepers conducted by Joyce Wilkerson found that among a couple hundred respondents only 5% of hobbyists with *2-5 years* of reefkeeping experience had managed to keep their anemone alive for 2 years or more"
 
KoNP

KoNP

New Member
Lemmiwinks is doing fine, in fact he's as healthy as he's ever been. I've had to cut back on his food though because he's starting to get a bit pudgy.

Now it's my turn: what was the point of that question and what the hell did it have to do with anything? :???:

-EDIT-

Also, almost 11 hours after removing the anemone there is still no ammonia registering via my little master test kit. If it's going to "turn up" in two days then it's not coming from the anemone.
 
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reing7299

New Member
To completely ignore the war you guys are having...

I think no matter how much research you do there is a high risk with your 1st tank (or 1st after a while) is going to be kind of unstable and create issues until it just settles down and really balances itself out. Unlike FW saltwater take a lot of time to get balanced from the start (sometimes months).

patience is important with saltwater.
 
KoNP

KoNP

New Member
reing7299 said:
I think no matter how much research you do there is a high risk with your 1st tank (or 1st after a while) is going to be kind of unstable and create issues until it just settles down and really balances itself out. Unlike FW saltwater take a lot of time to get balanced from the start (sometimes months).
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I for one think there is a bucketload of wisdom in that statement. It makes sense that knowing how to keep a reef and get it right the first time is something that's only going to come from self-experience.

Now, onto other matters. My tank is still fine. Picked up some more Red Sea salt today and did roughly a 40% water change - matched salinity almost perfectly in my new mix too. Added some PhosGuard in a sock to my hang on filter to take care of any phosphates or silicates in the water (I use tap water; sorry, but an RO/DI unit would break the bank in many ways. If I ever get a huge tank i'll obviously have the money to get one though). Added a scoop of Buffer Max to the new water to up the pH and the KH. Added some Seachem Prime to the tank to detoxify any ammonia that was taking a tour since the anemone decided to fall to pieces; the ammonia level spiked to an earth-shattering 0.25ppm at the highest when I checked it thismorning.

Added the bi-weekly dose of StressZyme to the water to help the biological filter re-develop after the water change, and also added some reef-safe algaecide which is doing a fantastic job of wiping out the green hair. Also added a new carbon cartridge to the internal filter and a new carbon/bio filter to the hang-on.

So my tank has not shat itself royally like Calamity Jane up there was trying to convince me it would. And after a water change to dilute any nasties and a whole heap of friendly additions, I would say the chances are lower once again. Everyone in there seems to be enjoying the new 10000K + bright blue (actinic?) lighting, especially my little coral that's high-up. The purple spots on his tentacles have come out and his greens are stunning. The candy canes are also looking nice. I'll post some pics after everyone has had a chance to settle down from the water change.

-EDIT-

Here's a tank montage. I'm still trying to figure out the best camera settings to get a shot with decent vibrant colour, that isn't grainy, over/underexposed, noisy, or generally cruddy. I'm using a Canon IXUS-40 (inb4 old camera, I know) so if anyone knows the best settings to use, I'm all ears.



Thought I'd lost the Peppermint Shrimp but he'd just found a new place to hide.
 
KoNP

KoNP

New Member
funkngroovy said:
http://ozreef.org/faq/starting_out/can_i_use_tap_water.html

This is why you shouldn't use tap water.
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The jury is largely out on that. You've posted a single source. A single source that is poorly written, on a site that is registere-user editable. That's not nearly enough to present a stable argument. Of the many, many sources I've read, I've seen opposing and supporting opinions for pretty much every option, ranging from the cost, all the way to the hardness of the water. All I can say is there are people that have had varying levels of success with all the different options, going on what I've read.

Fair enough, a lot of the people here recommend RO/DI water - but you yourself have said you don't use it and you use half-tap, half-rainwater collected 20 minutes after the beginning of the storm, if I remember correctly (if it wasn't you I'll retract this). Not only that, you actually stated earlier in this thread that the people here didn't really know what they were doing on a professional level. A lot of the people I have spoken to IRL have stated all the different options and their support for them and what they have against the alternatives.

I'm going to continue using tap water. Have a nice afternoon. :)

-EDIT-

FEEDING TIME!!! I just went and fed the frondy guy on the rock whose name I have regretfully forgotten. Have some frozen fish meal - I drifted that past him with some tweezers, and he latched onto it and gobbled it down. Also fed the peppermint shrimp, he scuttled out from the rock to see WTF was going on.

Hands down, my that frondy guy feeding is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. He attached to my finger for a second also thinking it was a piece of food.
 
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funkngroovy

New Member
No I use only rain water, check your facts.

And I posted that particular article of the MANY out there because I believe that it suited your intelect.

No, the jury is not out on this, Tap water is not good for marine aquariums the end. It contains high levels of PO4, Cu, No2, and various other nasties.

Once again buddy I am only trying to help.

Not listening to any advice will not help your aquarium.

I am stunned by your ignorance.


The 'frondy guy',??? your on the internet, look it up and find out the requirements of this coral. This research you think you have done is not evident in your posts.

Again, you are welcome to come and get some advice from the 8692 members of masa.asn.au posting over 300 posts per day if you would like some different opinions. Dont whinge about nobody resoponding until I did (negatively) when you are on a site that barely gets 20 hits a day.

This is a great site. It is a forum, (it's a discussion, it's like a conversation but with typing) If you don't want to learn from others through discussion and provide your gained knowledge, go away and start a web page.

Surely I can get some back up on this,?

Why have no other experienced members offered any meaningful advice?
 
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funkngroovy

New Member
I don't want to knock you down, as I have said several times I am trying to help.

My previous post, explaining the issues with tapwater was genuine advice and did not have a malicious tone at all. My first post merely pointed out some issues that you should be aware of, most of which have since come to fruition.
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
This site has always been friendly to new users and tries to help by answering questions so that people can hear our side.

If you see something you don't agree, please take the time to say so in a way that has a positive outcome.

Instead of saying "That is wrong!".

Say something like "Hey I don't think that anemone is the best idea, normally an anemone is sensitive to any sudden changes in water parameters and that young of a tank simply needs a bit more time. Maybe the store will hold onto it for you. In the mean time frogspawn corals are a bit hardier and may be a good place to start off."

I personally would *not* recommend tap water as it will always have quite a few things floating around it, but KoNP knows my opinion about this.

This is his tank, he has asked questions and received answers. Not only has he asked on this site but from other sources as well.

I am a facilitator in Chicago and I *always* tell everyone to make sure to do their homework and get a couple different perspectives so that they may choose the action that best fits their situation.

I do not like having to type this much non-fish stuff here. And this site may not have 100s of hits a day, but it has always been user friendly.

PLEASE, keep it that way.


:neutral:
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
Glad to hear you are enjoying your tank. I do think going a bit slower now would be a good idea. Let the tank mature up a bit and see if you can get the algae under control before adding in any *sensitive* critters.

Did you happen to get a shot of the coral feeding?
 
KoNP

KoNP

New Member
TimSchmidt said:
Glad to hear you are enjoying your tank. I do think going a bit slower now would be a good idea. Let the tank mature up a bit and see if you can get the algae under control before adding in any *sensitive* critters.

Did you happen to get a shot of the coral feeding?
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I didn't get a shot of him feeding, no. I was too busy being excited by it, hahah. He just grabbed what I gave him, curled inwards, om nom nom and it was gone. He looked noticably happier afterwards too I might add. When I went to turn the lights off later he spat a ball of food out - I overfed him I guess.

Yeah don't worry. I'm not gonna go dumping fish willy-nilly in there or anything. Frogspawn was next on my list as it is a rather hardy coral. I'm going to track down exactly what my other guy is today. I did know but of course, I forgot :gcool The algae problem is basically under control now - I notice less and less of it every day and the brown slimy stuff right up the back hasn't returned. I hope the Phosguard does it's job and removes the algal food source. The algaecide seems to be working however - the green hair hasn't reappeared on the original rock and it appears to be growing in reverse on the other pieces.
 
TimSchmidt

TimSchmidt

New Member
Yep, it does sound a bit overfed. :lol: Very easy to do. Something I do is once a week or so I will soak my food in Selcon and Vitachem for a while to enrich the mysis shrimp.
 
KoNP

KoNP

New Member
TimSchmidt said:
Yep, it does sound a bit overfed. :lol: Very easy to do. Something I do is once a week or so I will soak my food in Selcon and Vitachem for a while to enrich the mysis shrimp.
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Nice. Bought a bottle of phytoplankton and copepods and whatnot today - shoulda seen the peppermint shrimp! he came running out to see what I'd just added to the water and went swimming around trying to catch stuff.

Also, my "that frondy guy" is a Catalaphyllia jardinei. I can't wait for him to grow, there were some absolutely beautiful specimens I saw at a reef store very recently. I got him for like $20 when some of these other specimens were close to $100. I feel like I got a bargain :D


I got a reef test kit today (the other one is saltwater) so I can test my calcium levels, carbonate hardness, and phosphate levels. I also looked at getting a sock with some copper-and-other-heavy-metals remover in it, but that's for next payday which is just over a week away.

It rained heavily this afternoon so I put the bucket outside but regretfully missed most of it. I've left it there because it looks like we're expecting more rain, but even a few inches is better than nothing.

-EDIT-

OK so just did my run of KH, calcium and phosphate tests. It's amateur titration, lol. Brings back memories of grade 11 chemistry class.

Calcium came back at somewhere between 440 and 480ppm (i accidentally miscounted - margin of error of about 2 drops)

KH was at 11% or 196.9ppm

Phosphate was at 0 so either the phosguard is doing it's job or the water here is better than I thought.
 
KoNP

KoNP

New Member
OK was passing my tank and nearly had a goddamn heart attack, saw what I thought was a spider in there. My girlfriend (who is deathly afraid of spiders) almost started crying in fear when she saw it scuttling.

It was an effing MITHRAX CRAB. Going to get him out of there ASAP before the little bastard eats my corals.

Here's the little horror in a separate tank:



Now, is he reef safe or non reef safe? I'm reading reports that say both - some say yes he is, others say no he's not. Some say he's purely herbivorous, others say he's omnivorous and will get into my corals and inverterbrates when he runs out of algae to eat. If he is reef safe I'd like to keep him as he is rather neat-looking.
 
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