Thanks so much!
Thank you.
They are definitely unique. I think one of my favorite things besides being such enchanting creatures is their willingness to spawn in the home aquaria. Fascinating! I definitely recommend them to anyone.Nice work, I have always wanted to try them.
What does all this mean ,, this is where I get lost I have never even herd of these things until I joined site. Honestly it’s a little scary I’ve always done fake and you know about my complete water changes n 100 percent tank cleans often(I’ve posted one ) I believe you even asked about micro something. I guess I never let my tank go long enough to even notice growth. I have so much to learnDay 21 of cycling. Did the 2 wks of microbacter 7 with no result. Switched to a commercial bac and saw immediate results. We finally have nitrite! Almost time to add the macros and get this tank looking good.
Current parameters:
Ph - 8.1
Salinity - 1.024
Ammonia - 1.5ppm
Nitrite - 0.25ppm
Nitrate - 0
Alk - 9.5
Calcium - 390
Mag - 1380
Phos - 0
Most definitely helped explain what is going on in tank. I’m sure I’ll catch on more as I go but ur explanation has shed a little light on what’s going on. Thank you, I feel I need to go back to school, lolThe parameters are checked via saltwater test kits so that I know what's going on in the tank. The nitrogen cycle (the breaking down of waste to less harmful chemicals by the beneficial bacteria) is occurring in all our tanks. You can't see it with the naked eye but the foods we feed out fish, their waste from digestion, die off of small critters, etc all produce ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to our sealife. That ammonia is combated by beneficial bacteria living on the surfaces in our tanks converting it to nitrite, which is still toxic but less so. Another group of bacteria then colonizes and consumes the nitrite and converts it to and even less toxic nitrate. Nitrate can also be converted to gas by yet another special bacteria and can theoretically escape the tank completing the nitrogen cycle.
Anytime there is a body of water (our tanks) and fuel (ammonia) the nitrogen cycle will eventually get going. It can take 4-8 weeks to grow and stabilize but it happens none the less.
That's why I was curious about your water changes and cleaning. Typically we allow this "cycle" to happen so that the tank can sustain life and process ammonia produced by our critters. However, washing things and sanitizing kills these beneficial bacteria. Hence my confusion with your situation. Hope that helps explain some.
Do you get all of your water from the ocean when you go out?
Yes,, every time and never any closer to land than 5 miles ( I prefer 10 miles ) it’s so much cleaner the farther u go offshore where water is so blue it looks like Motortrendz eyes ( haha Mikey)
Wow looks amazing, and going from the design you made in last set of build pics to what it is now is so cool, to see the change in color and all. Just beautiful. I’m sure when u get ur seahorses they will be happy thereWay overdue for an update, but here it goes.
All of the macros from Algaebarn quickly died except the "mystery" algae. It looks like a brown ogo and it is the only survivor out of the lot even after they sent a replacement. Bummer.
I ordered from Gulf Coast Ecosystems and was absolutely blown away by the quality difference. Only downside (and upside I suppose because of free amphipods) is most things are wild collected. I placed a pretty significant order with them, many macros, gorgs, snails, etc and was extremely pleased with their packing, shipping and the health of all specimens. Zero DOA.
I carefully inspected everything and decided against separately quarantining the macro and gorgs. I am fully aware this could be a big mistake but being I dont have the seahorses and have a couple months yet before I will I am observing everything in the main tank. If it turns out to be a mistake, I will be the first to admit it. I did dip everything before introducing which means little to no copepods/amphipods survived to the tank but better to be safe than sorry.
I did get a chance to use a par meter and switched out the light I purchased for a black box I was using on the fresh water tank. I'm shocked at the intensity from the black boxes. I didn't map out the tank but it is averaging 300 mid tank, 150 on the floor and 450+ at the very top. Very narrow intense hotspot but I definitely wont be putting anything at the top lol. I also took them down a notch so as to not burn anything.
Still have some hair algae in places but it's getting better.
Anyhow, here's some pics.
Amazing tank! I love the Gorgs and Macros. I’m gonna check out gulf coast.Way overdue for an update, but here it goes.
All of the macros from Algaebarn quickly died except the "mystery" algae. It looks like a brown ogo and it is the only survivor out of the lot even after they sent a replacement. Bummer.
I ordered from Gulf Coast Ecosystems and was absolutely blown away by the quality difference. Only downside (and upside I suppose because of free amphipods) is most things are wild collected. I placed a pretty significant order with them, many macros, gorgs, snails, etc and was extremely pleased with their packing, shipping and the health of all specimens. Zero DOA.
I carefully inspected everything and decided against separately quarantining the macro and gorgs. I am fully aware this could be a big mistake but being I dont have the seahorses and have a couple months yet before I will I am observing everything in the main tank. If it turns out to be a mistake, I will be the first to admit it. I did dip everything before introducing which means little to no copepods/amphipods survived to the tank but better to be safe than sorry.
I did get a chance to use a par meter and switched out the light I purchased for a black box I was using on the fresh water tank. I'm shocked at the intensity from the black boxes. I didn't map out the tank but it is averaging 300 mid tank, 150 on the floor and 450+ at the very top. Very narrow intense hotspot but I definitely wont be putting anything at the top lol. I also took them down a notch so as to not burn anything.
Still have some hair algae in places but it's getting better.
Anyhow, here's some pics.
The sponge came from Gulf Coast too, $10 or $12 bucks, a steal if you ask me! Extremely healthy but I have a terrible track history with sponges. Seems they always slowly die off. I'm getting some sponge specific foods this time to try one last time to keep it alive.
Thanks so much my friend. Going for a macro oasis with a few seahorse friendly corals here and there.
Definitely check out Gulf Coast, when I say I was blown away it's no exaggeration. They tightly double bag everything and into the normal styro box and it was all lush and healthy!
Most definitely do! They are amazing to work with and super pricing. Doesnt get much better than that. Even the ulva was 3 HUGE sheets. Thoroughly impressed.
