Kaaaarrrll
Community Member
Thank you
It's a pretty exciting time in my house I can tell you!
My Saltwater Adventure!
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It's a pretty exciting time in my house I can tell you!
Kaaaarrrll
Community Member
Small update, today I noticed signs of life in the aquarium in the form of what I believe to be Amphipods. Just spent a while trying to get a photo but the little critters are just to dang fast
Kaaaarrrll
Community Member
Good evening,
Its been a long time since I last updated, my Daughter was born in late February and since I feel like I’ve just been living on auto pilot with not much time for anything other than her and work. I am pleased to report however that I have managed to sneak some time to maintain and develop my tank and in the 3 months it’s been running I feel I’ve cultivated a proper little ecosystem! I often sit late at night with a glass of something and get lost staring at what I’ve created.
Anyway, onto the update
Right from the start, I wanted to ensure that I have as much biodiversity as possible as I believe ultimately this is what will ensure my tank is successful. So far I have dosed multiple different types of bottled bacteria (Microbacter 7 and Pristine) and also added lots and lots of pods which I then feed with phytoplankton, now when I look in the tank when the lights are off the tank is literally teaming with pods, I have also been dosing ALK to ensure it is above 10dkh to promote growth of coralline algae (I read somewhere that having an elevated dkh will help to promote growth) and I’m pleased to report that I am starting to see good growth on the rocks and hopefully the sides of the tank will follow soon.
After I started adding livestock, I was careful to constantly monitor the quality of the water to ensure I did not experience any ammonia or nitrite spikes in the early weeks. The phosphates that have been leaching from the Marco rock I used have been steadily declining which the exception of my most recent test which indicated they had risen slightly, this however I’m sure was down to heavy feeding that I was doing in an effort to increase nitrates as I was also suffering from a little bit of Dino (more on that shortly).
The ugly stage, or not… either I haven’t hit it yet or I’ve largely managed to avoid it. Currently everything in the tank is covered (particularly the sides and Marco rock) with a hard-green algae. I’m certain that this is a sign of a healthy young and maturing aquarium, so I’m not bothered by it, and fortunately under blue lights its nice enough to show up as a lovely purple so I don’t even notice it there. The only problem algae I have yet to experience is Dino that was only growing on the Marco rock (there’s a pattern here… ). To tackle it, after watching the Inappropriate Reefer on YouTube I figured I’d take his advice and start dosing Microbacter 7 and ensuring there is a measurable amount of Phosphates and Nitrates. Well the leaching Marco rock took care of my phosphate levels so the only thing I had to do was increase nitrates which I was attempting to do by over feeding. Additionally, at every water change I did, I would also siphon the rocks with the Dino on. Ultimately It kept coming back and I thought I was going to have a real fight on my hands. The next thing I tried was lights off, I’m quite lucky that the tank is situated in my basement with no natural light so the only light I had to stop was whatever I was shining on it. Anyway 72 hours of lights out and no more Dino… I’m still somewhat sceptical that I have eradicated entirely, but at the moment at least, it is nowhere to been seen.
Right, so what is in the tank (in order of purchase)
Fish
2x Percula Clowns, bought these guys at about an inch long and they seem to be growing well. Fun little guys who are never far from each other, so I hope that one day they pair up. I’m looking forward to the day I introduce an anemone I hope they will inhabit.
Yellow Watchman Goby and Tiger Pistol Shrimp, these guys are a fun little pair who have set up camp right where I can see them. The YWG however seems to throw a bit of a tantrum whenever I put new livestock in the tank. He is currently on day 3 of sulking after my last purchase. I know he is still alive because I occasionally see his grumpy little face staring out from inside the entrance to their lair or the occasional fin movement. The pistol shrimp doesn’t appear to be quite so shy and makes regular appearances above ground.
Blue Eyed Kole Tang, I was rather fortunate that right when I was looking for one of the smaller tangs to go in my tank my local store happened to have the exact fish I wanted. This guy is stunning and I’m always amazed at how adept he is at swimming and his ability to wedge himself into the weirdest of places…
Neon Damsel fish, I was at first a bit skeptical about buying damsel fish as I have heard they are quite the bullies. The reason for purchase was because I was looking for a ‘Dither’ fish, when I first got my Kole Tang he was quite nervous and so wanted to try the idea of a ‘Dither’ fish to encourage him out. I was told that the Neon Damsels are one of the less aggressive damsels and so I thought I’d give them a try and bought three. These guys are out all of the time and bring so much life and colour to the tank, they also performed the task I brought them for and encouraged the Tang to come out and play too!
Blue Star Leopard Wrasse, this was an interesting purchase based solely on the fact it being at my local store every time I went there, and I couldn’t help myself. I kind of blindly bought it without doing my usual research, live aquaria list it as expert only! I believe though that that the reason this wrasse is harder to keep is mainly down to its feeding requirements. My particular specimen however happily takes flake and frozen foods as well as hunting for pods in the tank and so far she seems to be doing really well.
CUC consist of a conch, emerald crab, snails of various variates and a tuxedo urchin. The urchin however has been a bit of a mistake has had several stints in the sump to think about what it has done…
I have also started adding corals to the tank, so far I have a torch, GSP, Forest Fire Riccordia, some blue mushrooms and a Toxic Green Blastomosa. I am dosing RedSea Magnesium, Calcium and Alkalinity and feeding Reef Roids.
If you’re still reading, thank you for taking the time and I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about my experience. Apologies for the photos, I have a clip-on lens on order to hopefully take shots that do the tank justice.
Its been a long time since I last updated, my Daughter was born in late February and since I feel like I’ve just been living on auto pilot with not much time for anything other than her and work. I am pleased to report however that I have managed to sneak some time to maintain and develop my tank and in the 3 months it’s been running I feel I’ve cultivated a proper little ecosystem! I often sit late at night with a glass of something and get lost staring at what I’ve created.
Anyway, onto the update
Right from the start, I wanted to ensure that I have as much biodiversity as possible as I believe ultimately this is what will ensure my tank is successful. So far I have dosed multiple different types of bottled bacteria (Microbacter 7 and Pristine) and also added lots and lots of pods which I then feed with phytoplankton, now when I look in the tank when the lights are off the tank is literally teaming with pods, I have also been dosing ALK to ensure it is above 10dkh to promote growth of coralline algae (I read somewhere that having an elevated dkh will help to promote growth) and I’m pleased to report that I am starting to see good growth on the rocks and hopefully the sides of the tank will follow soon.
After I started adding livestock, I was careful to constantly monitor the quality of the water to ensure I did not experience any ammonia or nitrite spikes in the early weeks. The phosphates that have been leaching from the Marco rock I used have been steadily declining which the exception of my most recent test which indicated they had risen slightly, this however I’m sure was down to heavy feeding that I was doing in an effort to increase nitrates as I was also suffering from a little bit of Dino (more on that shortly).
The ugly stage, or not… either I haven’t hit it yet or I’ve largely managed to avoid it. Currently everything in the tank is covered (particularly the sides and Marco rock) with a hard-green algae. I’m certain that this is a sign of a healthy young and maturing aquarium, so I’m not bothered by it, and fortunately under blue lights its nice enough to show up as a lovely purple so I don’t even notice it there. The only problem algae I have yet to experience is Dino that was only growing on the Marco rock (there’s a pattern here… ). To tackle it, after watching the Inappropriate Reefer on YouTube I figured I’d take his advice and start dosing Microbacter 7 and ensuring there is a measurable amount of Phosphates and Nitrates. Well the leaching Marco rock took care of my phosphate levels so the only thing I had to do was increase nitrates which I was attempting to do by over feeding. Additionally, at every water change I did, I would also siphon the rocks with the Dino on. Ultimately It kept coming back and I thought I was going to have a real fight on my hands. The next thing I tried was lights off, I’m quite lucky that the tank is situated in my basement with no natural light so the only light I had to stop was whatever I was shining on it. Anyway 72 hours of lights out and no more Dino… I’m still somewhat sceptical that I have eradicated entirely, but at the moment at least, it is nowhere to been seen.
Right, so what is in the tank (in order of purchase)
Fish
2x Percula Clowns, bought these guys at about an inch long and they seem to be growing well. Fun little guys who are never far from each other, so I hope that one day they pair up. I’m looking forward to the day I introduce an anemone I hope they will inhabit.
Yellow Watchman Goby and Tiger Pistol Shrimp, these guys are a fun little pair who have set up camp right where I can see them. The YWG however seems to throw a bit of a tantrum whenever I put new livestock in the tank. He is currently on day 3 of sulking after my last purchase. I know he is still alive because I occasionally see his grumpy little face staring out from inside the entrance to their lair or the occasional fin movement. The pistol shrimp doesn’t appear to be quite so shy and makes regular appearances above ground.
Blue Eyed Kole Tang, I was rather fortunate that right when I was looking for one of the smaller tangs to go in my tank my local store happened to have the exact fish I wanted. This guy is stunning and I’m always amazed at how adept he is at swimming and his ability to wedge himself into the weirdest of places…
Neon Damsel fish, I was at first a bit skeptical about buying damsel fish as I have heard they are quite the bullies. The reason for purchase was because I was looking for a ‘Dither’ fish, when I first got my Kole Tang he was quite nervous and so wanted to try the idea of a ‘Dither’ fish to encourage him out. I was told that the Neon Damsels are one of the less aggressive damsels and so I thought I’d give them a try and bought three. These guys are out all of the time and bring so much life and colour to the tank, they also performed the task I brought them for and encouraged the Tang to come out and play too!
Blue Star Leopard Wrasse, this was an interesting purchase based solely on the fact it being at my local store every time I went there, and I couldn’t help myself. I kind of blindly bought it without doing my usual research, live aquaria list it as expert only! I believe though that that the reason this wrasse is harder to keep is mainly down to its feeding requirements. My particular specimen however happily takes flake and frozen foods as well as hunting for pods in the tank and so far she seems to be doing really well.
CUC consist of a conch, emerald crab, snails of various variates and a tuxedo urchin. The urchin however has been a bit of a mistake has had several stints in the sump to think about what it has done…
I have also started adding corals to the tank, so far I have a torch, GSP, Forest Fire Riccordia, some blue mushrooms and a Toxic Green Blastomosa. I am dosing RedSea Magnesium, Calcium and Alkalinity and feeding Reef Roids.
If you’re still reading, thank you for taking the time and I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about my experience. Apologies for the photos, I have a clip-on lens on order to hopefully take shots that do the tank justice.
Kaaaarrrll
Community Member
Thanks for the heads up, they’re growing really well and on an easy removable piece of rock just in case.
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