Oh god what have I done?: Kelsey builds a reef tank

[kelseymybelle]

 

[btmedic04]

Very nice! you have a very well thought out plan! As far as sand goes, I usually shoot for about 2" in depth and have used bimini pink and special grade and like them both. If you prefer a more uniform look, go for the special grade. if you want a nice mix from sugar sized to small shells and bits, go with bimini pink. if you like, I can provide pictures of both to help you decide

 

[kelseymybelle]

Very nice! you have a very well thought out plan! As far as sand goes, I usually shoot for about 2" in depth and have used bimini pink and special grade and like them both. If you prefer a more uniform look, go for the special grade. if you want a nice mix from sugar sized to small shells and bits, go with bimini pink. if you like, I can provide pictures of both to help you decide

Hey, thanks so much! That's great advice; I appreciate it. I would love to see pics, if you happen to have some handy!

 

[btmedic04]

Here you can see that my pistol shrimp has a nice assortment of sizes to choose from for its burrow with the bimini pink. It stays in place quite well except when dozer is doing some serious digging. I dont have a pistol shrimp in my tank with the special grade so I cant comment on if it would be a suitable substrate for one, but it is much easier to clean since it doesnt have the sugar sized granules

 

[LBReefer]

Following along. You’ve made the assembly and planning phases sound way more fun than I remember them. I look forward to hearing about livestock plans and next adventure.

 

[kelseymybelle]

Here you can see that my pistol shrimp has a nice assortment of sizes to choose from for its burrow with the bimini pink. It stays in place quite well except when dozer is doing some serious digging. I dont have a pistol shrimp in my tank with the special grade so I cant comment on if it would be a suitable substrate for one, but it is much easier to clean since it doesnt have the sugar sized granules

Wow, thanks for such a quick response! I like the look of the mixed particle sizes in the first pic you've posted. I hadn't heard of bimini pink before—thanks so much for bringing it to my attention. Time for a little research!

 

[kelseymybelle]

Following along. You’ve made the assembly and planning phases sound way more fun than I remember them. I look forward to hearing about livestock plans and next adventure.

Hi hi! Thanks for coming by the thread, and for your kind words! I've been so caught up in the practical setup steps that I've almost forgotten to think about stocking plans. Almost. I know a couple of species I'd like to have for sure (in terms of fish, inverts, and corals) but I need to do some more thorough research before I land on anything I think. Do you have any particular favorites from tanks you've kept? a newbie "must have"?

 

[NY_Caveman]

I can say the biggest surprise stocking wise for me was how absolutely awesome it is to own a Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas). Beautiful, friendly, always swimming around front and center. He swims up and greets every new fish I add. He is kind of always in this sweet, desperate search for friendship.

The species is colorful and will change its color with its mood. Mine is yellow, sometimes orange, sometimes purple or even blue. Sometimes all those at once. Mine is an African specimen, they are also collected in Maldives. They have no swim bladder, so they have to swim a bit harder to keep up and stay afloat. For this reason he will often take little rests on the bottom or in his hidey hole.

I the wild they will often hide in schools of Anthias. If you considered Anthias in your 90, the Midas Blenny might make an interesting pal for them.

BTW, enjoy your sand storm

 

[NY_Caveman]

How can I plug a fish and forget the picture? That is sacrilege!

 

[kelseymybelle]

How can I plug a fish and forget the picture? That is sacrilege!

Holy crap man that blenny is gorgeous!! I will definitely look into the species. Any specific requirements as far as substrate size/depth goes, in your experience?

 

[JJ440]

You definitely have a gift for writing! A great story that draws you in making you want to hear the entire journey! Thanks for sharing! Following along!

 

[kelseymybelle]

You definitely have a gift for writing! A great story that draws you in making you want to hear the entire journey! Thanks for sharing! Following along!

Thanks so much for reading!! I’m really happy that you enjoyed it

 

[NY_Caveman]

Holy crap man that blenny is gorgeous!! I will definitely look into the species. Any specific requirements as far as substrate size/depth goes, in your experience?

They do not require sand or anything special really. Just a hole in a rock. They are listed as carnivores, but mine seems to love Nori too.

 

[BeardedMcG]

@kelseymybelle You have a great writing style. Made reading your thread very enjoyable.

 

[kelseymybelle]

They do not require sand or anything special really. Just a hole in a rock. They are listed as carnivores, but mine seems to love Nori.

Okay cool, thanks for the insight! I’m so new at this I still get blennies confused with gobies, haha. All these funny, squiggly little fish with goofy two-syllable names.

@kelseymybelle You have a great writing style. Made reading your thread very enjoyable.

Hey man, thanks for reading and for the compliment!! You made my night

 

[kelseymybelle]

Part X: A Brief and ExCycling Update!

Hello salty friends! I will not be effusive—just want to pop in and say that we are on day four of tHe NiTrOgEN cYcLe.

I will assume the faint ringing in my ears is the thundering of distant applause at this pronouncement.

On Sunday, Chris and I added an additional 20 lbs of Arag-Alive (the Fiji Pink; I couldn't find the Bimini that @btmedic04 mentioned above) and a small bottle of Dr Tim's One-and-Only (enough to seed a 30 gallon system, but hey, a little bacteria must be better than none, right?). Since then I have ghost-fed a cube of freeze-dried tubifex worms each day, which I assume are decomposing in the filter sock and providing a nice disgusting source of ammonia (and other gunk, I know, I know) for the bacteria to eat.

I feel like an idiot for not procuring a test kit prior to starting the cycling process. I will blame my general excitability at this point in the project. I've amazon'd some 5-in-1 test strips as a short-term solution, just to make sure the cycle is kicking off as expected.

An updated full-tank-shot:

 

[NY_Caveman]

If you are in no rush, you do not even need test kits. Just wait 40 days and you will definitely be cycled. It may happen sooner, but guaranteed by then. That said, if you think you will test going forward, it may be a good habit to get into now.

 

[kelseymybelle]

If you are in no rush, you do not even need test kits. Just wait 40 days and you will definitely be cycled. It may happen sooner, but guaranteed by then. That said, if you think you will test going forward, it may be a good habit to get into now.

This is great reassurance, thank you! I will definitely be testing going forward, but I'll be assembling various individual test kits to do that I think. These strips are mostly to keep my neuroticism in check during the process, ha! That said, Prime delivery is a day or two late so I'm still not sure whether we're rocking any nitrites or 'trates yet. Maybe soon though!

 

[kelseymybelle]

Part XI: A Quick Query, or solicitation for a reminder to not overanalyze the surface of my rocks

Hi guys! So we are officially a week into the cycle and I have a question that I'm hoping some more experienced reefers might be able to help with—also summoning the #reefsquad just in case (oh gosh, that feels formal. Sorry reefsquad).

I'm noticing several splotches of funny colored spots appearing on the rock in the tank. It's nothing glaring and honestly probably not noticeable to the non-obsessive. I'm assuming these spots are the beginnings of an algae bloom or some form of bacteria (or even possibly detritus?) on the surface of the rock.

I'm sorry for the potato pics, but hopefully you can see the areas I'm talking about. The rocks were pretty uniformly white and beige upon removal from the two bleach baths, which makes me think that these splotches are new developments. It seems a little early for any blooms, though, especially given the newness of the system. One of the areas is rusty-colored, which seems like cyano, maybe? That's been there for a few days now. The other splotches are different and I just noticed them yesterday. Am I letting my hopes get the better of me for thinking some of these spots have a purple tinge? Is it far more likely that it's leftover (and dead) coralline from the rocks' previous life in an established tank?

As I've mentioned, I haven't been able to run any water parameter tests yet, but hopefully that'll change before long. Since it's too early/too unstable for coralline algae, any ideas as to what these funny little spots might be? I'm off to trawl around the subforums for other newbie pictures to see if others have had this question answered before. Figured it couldn't hurt to ask here, though; right? Thanks everyone!

 

[Fudsey]

It's normal, your rocks are going to turn all sorts of colors before they turn purple from coraline.