New member starting a salt water reef with a 29 Biocube

[paul barker]

Pick up some hermit crabs I like the blue ones green emerald crabs the will eat leftovers fish and algae I have 32 bio cube 20 snails 2 green emerald crabs 12 hermit crabs and a star fish and a sand shifting goby

 

[Mary Carmen]

Hi all,
I have some questions.
First one is about some white round circles growing on the rock. Take a look at this picture and let me know what it is.

The second question also has a picture attached to it. It is about the red/pink stains on the live sand. Can you tell me what it is and whether or not I need to do something about it?

I also would like to get a couple of clownfish but I am not sure if it is safe. It is been a month since I started and these are the last results of the water tests:
Am-.5 ppm
Ni-0 ppm
Nitrates-3 ppm
I am also able to see some copepods on my refugium as well as a couple of these creatures. Here is a picture so you can see what I am talking about. I posted these pictures on another thread and someone told me it was stomatellas.

Let me know.
Thank you for reading,
MC

 

[Brew12]

I would guess the white spots on the rock are some form of precipitate and nothing to worry about.

The red stuff is cyanobacteria. As long as it doesn't get too bad, I wouldn't worry much. It is very common in new tanks.

I am concerned about the ammonia reading. Are you sure it is 0.5ppm? And how are you testing it? Your tank looks like it should be ready for clowns but I want to make sure that ammonia reading is a false positive. Should be almost impossible to see that with chaeto in your system.

 

[Mary Carmen]

I use API to test the water, the drops. I am never a 100% sure of the results. I find it really dificult to match shades of green. When I am in doubt I always choose the highest number and treat the water accordingly. I will test it again today and post pictures of the results.
Thank you for the help.

 

[Brew12]

I use API to test the water, the drops. I am never a 100% sure of the results. I find it really dificult to match shades of green. When I am in doubt I always choose the highest number and treat the water accordingly. I will test it again today and post pictures of the results.
Thank you for the help.

If you think it is closer to 0.25ppm then you can treat it like a false positive. API kits are known to read 0.25ppm when ammonia is actually at 0ppm. This also means adding clowns would be just fine.

 

[paul barker]

I weigh on the fish for a couple weeks to am is 0

 

[paul barker]

Brew has a good point about the api test kits

 

[Mary Carmen]

I can also bring some water to my lfs and ask them to test it for me.

 

[Mary Carmen]

Hi all,
I tested Ammonia and Nitrates and took these pictures:
Am looks like .20, and Nitrates are close to 2 ppm.
Look at the pictures and let me know.

I think my tank just cycled and I might want to get a new bottle of the liquid that tests the level of Ammonia. I am going to do a 20% water change and enjoy my beautiful tank for a while. I am looking to add some corals next but I need to research first. When can I add the soft corals? Should I wait until the cyano goes away?
Thank you

 

[Mary Carmen]

Hi all!

Things are really slowing down in my tank. The rocks are covered in green, pink, black, red, and purple algae. The water seems clear, and the glass is also clean, but I can't say the same about the sand. It goes by patches. I got the two clownfish today and they look very comfortable in there. Here is a picture. They are tiny, maybe 3/4 of an inch. Although one is slightly bigger than the other. In this picture, you can't see it clearly but the fish on the right is bigger and more dominant (maybe she is the female).

I am checking water parameters tomorrow and doing a water change of 10%. I am hoping to get 0 value of am and nitrites. I will let you all know soon. Everyone looks great so far but my two snails are not enough to keep the rocks clean. I might get a couple more this weekend or next week. Can you tell me if nerite snails will clean rocks and sand? The two I have now don't move away from their spots so I have perfectly kept chunks of rocks while the rest of the aquarium is overrun by algae. I read somewhere that keeping the lights off helps a lot, so I have been doing that. I only turn on the lights a couple of hours in the afternoon to feed fishes and enjoy the tank. (please let me know if that is ok)

I found out that there are several clams looking creatures living in my chaeto so I pull two of them from the refugium into the tank. Here is a picture. The small one has now moved up into the rock, and the big one is in the side glass. It is changing color rapidly and turning darker by the day. Sorry about the poor quality of the picture but they are really small.

I also took a picture of a lost copepod I found in front of the tank. I am not sure if they are establishing a colony or if this guy is the last one left. Here is a picture.
It is the orange spot. They move fast so I couldn't take a better picture.

So far it is been really fun watching things change color and grow. I am very happy with the progress but I feel like there is something missing in the tank. Can't wait to start adding corals. Can someone tell me when is it safe to add a frogspawn coral? I am interested in adding a coral that the clowns can leave in. Please advice on the best possible easy to take care of coral. By the way, I know clownfish really pair up with anemones but I also know that my tank is not ready for them so what could I add instead? Thank you in advance for the help and for reading,

MC

 

[MaddyP]

Welcome to the family!!!

 

[Krzydmnd]

A fighting Conch is the best sand cleaner I have.

 

[paul barker]

Looking good

 

[Mary Carmen]

Hi all,

My tank is finally done with the Nitrogen cycle. Here is a picture. All fishes are happy and more used to my family getting close to the glass. I also see patches of green and pink that don't go away when rubbed. I think coralline is starting to grow all over the rocks too. What do you guys think?

I think the tank was done with the cycle a long time ago because there was no fluctuation in the level of Ammonia or nitrates. I just needed to do a large water change, which I did last Wednesday. When I tested the water today, all values were at 0 (I mean ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates). I am beyond excited so I went to the lfs and got a large zoa frag. They have a 30% off all corals. If they still have the sale next weekend, I might get another coral. This is a picture I took a couple of minutes ago of the new coral.

Does anyone know what type of Zoa is this? I put it in the middle of the tank and it opened right away but I would like to know which type of zoa is to figure out if I need to do something special to care for it.
Thank you for reading!
MC

 

[Mary Carmen]

I took a better picture:

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I would really look at the ecotech mp10 I really like mine in my biocube and I would look at upgrading the lights

 

[JustDewwit]

I have been using Chemi-Pure Elite in my Biocube 32 Definitely will keep the nitrate & phosphates in check .

 

[Mary Carmen]

I will at some point upgrade lights. As far as wave makers, I have my eye on a hydor system.
By the way, do you know what type of Zoa it that one pictured in my last post?
Thank you in advance,
MC

 

[Mary Carmen]

Hi JustDewwit,
I am running Chemipure, and purigen, and I also have turned the second chamber in a mini refugium with some chaeto growing with an extra light.

 

[Camaro Show Corals]

I haven’t heard very good things about hydor I know it’s expensive but reefing isn’t cheap better to buy it once and right then twice