Caleb's first reef tank

[Impunitus]

Update: Looks like 4 of the Turbans are dead which is not ideal, but everything else is moving around well. Quite a few dwarfs found their way into my back chambers, but everything else is moving around well and has been eating when provided.

Stinks it was some of the bigger ones, but now I get to watch the small ones grow up :)

 

[mh0ward]

That's quite a bit of clean up crew with I'm assuming almost nothing to clean up on such a young tank. I dont think I got any snails until after I had a couple fish in the tank for a couple weeks, and even then I just added a few at a time. You're probably going to need to supplement their diets, otherwise they may all starve.

 

[Impunitus]

That's quite a bit of clean up crew with I'm assuming almost nothing to clean up on such a young tank. I dont think I got any snails until after I had a couple fish in the tank for a couple weeks, and even then I just added a few at a time. You're probably going to need to supplement their diets, otherwise they may all starve.

Absolutely supplementing them and had planned to do so :)

Algae wafers and nori are being provided. I have been removing what is left of the wafers and replacing every other day. Aside from the 4 turban snails everything else has been very mobile and active.

Now to hurry up and wait for the end of October for my first fish!

 

[Impunitus]

Friend or foe? Got some rubble from @LiverockRocks and have tons of cool stuff. I'm battling with myself if this is aptasia or not. Looks like a Zoa or Paly of some sort. It's not brown and to me the tips look yellow. Looking at the cluster of polyps past the sponge.

 

[Impunitus]

Bump! Also another picture. First ugly phase has been setting in for a bit now, under the blue light it looks red and under w whiter light it's a brownish green with red. Might be dinos? Definitely from the small rubble I got from my LFS. Looks to be passing without intervention from me though.

 

[Impunitus]

Found what looks to be a brittle star! Keep on getting good surprises with this live rock. Picture shot under my blues through a pair of orange glasses. I need to get a filter for the tank or my phone for taking pictures. Taking recommendations if anyone has one.

 

[JonoH]

Looks great - Patience is key, and you seem to have it!
Looking forward to seeing this filled with coral and fish.
What test kits are you using?

 

[Sean Clark]

Taking good photos under blue light is a struggle we all have.

 

[Impunitus]

Looks great - Patience is key, and you seem to have it!
Looking forward to seeing this filled with coral and fish.
What test kits are you using?

I'm trying to be as patient as possible, it's absolutely killing me but know that taking things slow is better for the long term.

I'm using Salifert and Hana kits. I also have a Seachem ammonia in tank reader for just keeping an eye out for ammonia spikes. I shouldn't be getting getting them but it's cheap insurance.

 

[Impunitus]

Found a new hitchhiker tonight! Some sort of crab that I need to ID still, just wanted to share what we found after taking a look at the tank after lights off when we got home from dinner.

As always, keep on getting surprised with cool things like this. May not be reef safe but nothing in the tank for it to hurt at this point that isn't replaceable. Let me know if you have any thoughts for ID. I'm off to Google and the TBS hitchhikers list to see if I can make a match.
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[Impunitus]

Survey says a Porcelain crab, looks like he is short a pincer arm but is peacefully filter feeding under his rock this morning and has been this afternoon as well.

Very excited to put fish and corals in soon! Wife and I celebrated our anniversary and she's going in on some corals with me when once we get back from our trip. Love how into this tank she is even though she has her own freshwater tank that she prefers over salt.

Enjoy some tank shots with a bit more balanced light than my normal blues. First ugly phase is subsiding, interested to see what color we get next!

 

[Impunitus]

Update on the unknown crab. He appears to be a gorrila crab which means I'll need to remove him eventually. Will let him grow a bit and then use that size against him for removal.

 

[Impunitus]

I come bearing pictures of progress/change as well as some questions.

The red/brown/green algae has all but subsided and I'm now getting a green color on my rocks that has been progressing over the last week or so. The last color I had on the rocks was like this, then it disappeared over 2-3 nights. I am assuming that was a combination of my snails, hermits, and my pod population.

I have only cleaned the front glass, and that I did over a week ago now and its still pretty clean in person. Honestly most spots on the front glass are actually pods that are just sitting on the glass from what I have seen. Even the side glass is pretty clean and is absolutely covered in pods.

I do have some more flowwy clean algae forming on a piece of my rock as seen below. Should I just let it ride, or remove? I've been hands off in manual removal so far, but am not opposed to manual removal if it is the right course of action. This has been growing for the better part of a week at this point. Sorry if the video isn't great, still trying to learn how to best take pictures of the tank with my phone :)

Is the brighter green on the rock anything to be concerned of? I assume not, but it is noticeably more 'bright green' than what is forming on the rest of the rock so am curious more than anything else.

Biggest question is what are all the white tubes on this rock from TBS? Are they a sponge or something that I may want to remove? I know its a bit late to ask after they've been in the tank for over a week. They are something that lasted on the rock in my tank so if they're beneficial I would like to know, and likewise if I should remove them I'd appreciate pointers in how you would recommend handling them.

My second question for critter ID are these tubes with little antennae coming out. These are all over multiple different pieces of my rock as well. If they are no good, I'd appreciate guidance in how you have dealt with them if they are not good.

I'd also like to show off some of the cool stuff that is on this rock! Multiple different (what I believe to be) feather dusters

A tiny one even seems to have jumped to my rock and started growing! May be hard to see in picture but its almost center of frame.

Final question/ID help request! I know I asked about these before, and after observing them I really do not believe they are aptasia but trying to get a definitive or more informed ID on them. The arms on the polyps are translucent and have dots on them. They also appear to have a ball tip on the arms. These pictures are a pain to get due to where this is in the tank, as well as the number of pods. If I can get some pointers on potential IDs I can try and do some matching myself. This is the largest cluster of heads I have in the tank, but multiple of the TBS rocks have a few of what appears to be the same head on them as well.

 

[Impunitus]

We're home from our trip, tank definitely gained some more green over the week we were gone. All 3 glass faces had a layer that required a scraper to remove as well as whitish/clear things on it that needed the scraper from my flipper to get removed. Not sure what these things are, maybe a sponge of some sort? I'll add a picture of an attempt to capture them but not 100% sure what they are. Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[Impunitus]

Happy Friday R2R! Just placed an order for my clowns from Dr Reef and cant wait. Also have another round of CUC on order from Reef Cleaners to help with some of the pests I picked up from my TBS rock. Not going to complain about the aptasia, I knew they were going to end up in the tank anyways so got some peppermint shrimp on order for them. I also got some bumblebee snails to helps with some of the vermitid snails. Also got some smaller turbos to help with the turf algae that is coming in.

I think I have IDed the little clear/white objects on my glass/back of the tank. They are what I'm going to say are hydroid polyps as they are forming in what I would call lower flow areas. I had to scrape them from the front glass to clear them off and I know I am not mistaking them for pods. They are placed randomly and do not looks like snail eggs from anything in my tank that does lay eggs.

I did also see the porcelain crab that we found a few weeks ago and had not seen for a while today. Similar spot in the tank but completely different side of the rock. I didn't get a picture of him, but will keep a look out for him now that I know where he was. We also found a molt for what I believe was our resident gorilla crab. I also haven't seen him for a bit, but saw a new burrow near my rock base that could be him. I'll keep an eye out.

My wife was looking at the tank tonight and looks like we can also add bristle worms to the list of friends that are in the tank now.

 

[Impunitus]

It's been a while, and I have a lot to share

I have fish that were supposed to be here last week, but due to shipping delays Dr Reefs pulled them back, which I am grateful for. I'd rather wait another week than risk fish because of delays due to the horrific UPS crash.

I do however have some corals that are in the tank and everything seems to be doing well. The duncan is not completely out. I'm working on the placement for it to keep it happier with the flow.

 

[Impunitus]

My fish are here! They have been swimming around all day and seem to be happy.

Does the flow seem like to much or in a good place for them? The small one does blown around a bit but actively makes the decision to get into the high flow areas over and over again. I also have low flow areas available for them.


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[Impunitus]

Going to try this for some extra reach too #reefsqaud #threadmedic

 

[tbrown]

 

[tbrown]

#Smorgasbord