Nano came in today....look

[jgreen]

Well here it is. It took me all of 30 minutes to set up and transfer everything from my holding tank to the Nano. I didn't think the chambers would be so small. I had to clip on my powerhead so that it not in any of the chambers. I wanted to put the powerhead into one of the chambers to keep it hidden from view. Well I guess I cant do that on this tank. I've decided to keep the rings and bioballs and just stay on top of my water changes and cleaning of the bioballs every 4 months. This should keep my nitrates down enough where I can have CUC and one small damsel. I doubt that I will have any coral in this tanks due to it's limited size. Time shall tell.

Well enough of my words..take a look at the beginning of a long journey towards Nano SW reefs.

Stay tuned.....Next set of pictures will be once the tank settles and I have some sign of life in the tank. I do have life on the rock now, but they are so small that my blackberry cannot pick them up without becoming to blurry to see.

Current life in the Nano:
-Bristle worms (I want them in there for now...they are serving a purpose)
-Small shrimp
-Limpet snails
-Some other kind of worms which are smaller than the bristles worms. I notice that they aren't bright light shy. They can reach really far up. I've watched them feed during the day and night. They are hard to explain without a picture. Well enjoy.... :alice

 

[drty811]

looks like your off to a good start, keep up the good work.

 

[jgreen]

After I noticed that I had a large amount of BUBBLE ALGAE growing in my tank, I took all my LR and placed them in hot water for about 1 minute. :twisted: All bristle worms, shrimp and Limpet snails died. :sad: I then took each LR and scrubbed it with a soft toothbrush until all Bubble Algae were no longer in the line of sight. :roll: I'm not sure how successful I was at removing the bubble algae, but I know for sure that I don't see anymore on any of my LR. I just hope that I haven't killed my LR in the process to rid my tank of unwanted critters and algae.

 

[islandcreation]

Jgreen all your living bacteria is dead. You mine as well scrubb the LR even more since your not sure that all the bubble algae is gone.... :neutral: Sorry to break the news, in the bright side the future holds no bubble algae for you ;-)

 

[jgreen]

Yeah I know. I took all the rocks out of the tank and filled a bucket with Real Sea Water from Catalina and placed all my rocks into the bucket. I placed my PH in the bucket and sealed the bucket. I placed a dark trash bag over the buck and cover the bucket with a dark towel so no light can get into the bucket. The cooking process has begun.

Let me say this. This was premium live rock that cost me $9 per lb. Because I'm new to the hobby, I can't say that it worth the price or not. I can be sure that my LFS sold me rocks which weren't fully cured as they say it was. I believe the rock was pre-cured. The rock came with bubble algae already on it with other hichhikers which I believe had the rock been so premium as they said it was, it would have been in much better condition. When I called the LFS back to ask how do I get rid of the bubble algae, they told me to buy a hermit crab. That right there told me that the person I was speaking to didn't know what they were talking about. Is it possible that this same person who told me that I had premium live rock didn't know that in fact I only had pre-cured live rock? Is it also possible that the person I spoke with in the store and on the phone thought that since it was in thier tank for only a week or so thought that the rock was fully? The flag should have went up when I asked them what type of rock it was and they told me they didn't know nor did they know where it came from. Why would the LFS sell me "premium live rock" with bubble algae on it which was very clear and hard to miss?

I have a lot to learn in this hobby and I think I just learned my biggest lesson. Thus, rather than toss this rock out, I'll cook it. My tank will be drained and cleaned out. The live sand thrown out, I have too since I noticed that there are bubble algae floating around in the sand.

If I sound bitter, it's only because I didn't listen to that small voice in my head which told me to keep looking. I'm only angry at myself for being impulsive which I have serious problem. I buy everything on impluse.

 

[islandcreation]

Jgreen, how we learn the hard way! Yeah, the live rocks at $9 pound was pretty high pending on what kind of rocks they were. Where are you located? I'm from the bay area and craigslist.com is really popular to pick up LR/LS or whatever you may find. For the catalina water that gets pretty expensive, start looking into making your own water too since that will add up in no time!

Hmmm... Did you throw out the sand too? I hope not! :???: You can easily clean that out and buy a cup or two or three of live sand from an already established tank from a reputable LFS. If their customer friendly they'll throw it in free if you buy anything?

I remember going to a fish store and bringing my own ammonia test kit and tested the water where their LR were in saying cured! HA,ha,ha they were more than embarrassed since there were other customer in there. But I did it in a quiet manner rather than exploit them to everyone there. So sad that they do this too beginners then sell them fish and corals at the same time!

 

[djconn]

Brought in your own test kit. That is awesome. Sounds like something I'd do!

 

[islandcreation]

Djconn, yeah I just brought my ammonia dropper and a tube. I still bought the rocks cause ite was only $4.50 a pound and smelled how rotten/dead they were once out of the water!

 

[jgreen]

I'm from Philadelphia. I know I read about the best places to get LR before buying this LR from my LFS. However, because I was implusive, I didn't want to wait or pay for shipping and went to my LFS. I called my LFS ahead of time and asked if they had fully cured live rock and did they have at least 15LBS. They told me they did. I told them I was on my way.

When I got to the LFS, they had already packed up the LR and had it waiting for me at the cash register. He did take the newspaper off just enough for me to peek in but not enough to unwrap the LR. I didn't even take the time to ask the proper questions, like how long have they had the rock. How have did handle the rock once it arrived. Smell the rock. Looked at each individual rock and spot check for anything that shouldn't be there. Walk around the store and look at other LR to see how they continue the curing process.

I know now. Any rock I buy from now on, will be cooked first. I'll immediately put the rock into a bucket full of saltwater with the highest salinty I can get it for at least 1 min. I will scrub each rock prior to setting up my tank despite the loss of life. Sorry, but this is something that I should have done regardless of what they told me. The only cured rock I want is the rock I know that I curred myself.

So you see, I'm learning. By the way, I haven't thrown out my live sand and it's still in the tank. I don't trust the sand so I will be removing it from the tank. I can see bubble algae rolling around on the sand and I don't want to take a chance of infesting my LR once I finish the cooking process. Besides, I'm planning on cooking my rock until at least Feburary of next year. The live sand I'm sure will be no good and will need to be thrown out.