10 gal reef

[loganj]

OK, I know this ain't Radio Shack, but I also know you folks have answers . I finished setting up a 10 gal reef last night. It has about 3 1/2 -4 inches of CaribSea Seaflor sand, 7lbs base rock, 1lb Florida aquacultured rock, 6lbs Fiji, and 1 1/2lbs of Tonga branch. I am using an Eclipse hood on it. The pump for the Eclipse died several years ago so it is powered by a Maxijet 400. I am using the area where the filter cartridge went for a carbon bag. Also have removed the Biowheel although there is a small piece of filter floss there now to cut down on bubbles entering the tank through the return. I have another Maxijet 400 on the other side for circulation. Tank ran for about 2 weeks with just the sand...just put the rock in last night. The Fiji and Tonga are COVERED with coraline. The Florida has maybe 40% coverage. The base...well it's just rock. Have noticed feather dusters and what I think (it's so tiny) may be a Xenia. Also several little brown stars crawling around...are these the coral eaters? Do I need to get rid of them? Livestock consists of 4 red leg hermits and 3 turbo snails at this point. Have decided to install one very tiny Clownfish with the knowledge that he will have to be moved after some growth. He won't go in for a month or so. So far, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate...all 0. SG is 1.024. Used IO salt. Tank has 30 watts of light...15 blue...15 white. Doubt there will be room for a skimmer anywhere in here. Rock rode home from Atlanta in a bucket...with a little luck, there won't be much die off. Anybody got ideas, criticisms, advice, ect...
Logan J

 

[fishfreek]

Anybody got ideas, criticisms, advice, ect...

YA I got a comment.

Where the PHOTOS!!! Even a webcam shot

Sounds like your tank is off to a great start with all that LR and a good sand bed.

Doubt you need to wait a full month before fish. Give it a week or so. If no ammonia shows up then your good to go. Your cycle will be short if not nonexistant thanks to well cured live rock.[/url]

 

[michealprater]

I use TLC to speed the cycle. Works Great. Ive added fish after a week with that stuff.

 

[loganj]

Stars

Does anyone know about the stars I mentioned? A couple of people have told me that as long as they were serpent stars, they posed no threat to corals. I believe this was a serpent. It had a well defined central disc and long skinny legs. It was very small so it was hard to see really well...especially with these dysfunctional eyes I have 8O . It was a light brown color with no other markings that I could make out. I guess it was about 1/4 inch in diameter including the legs (arms?).
I'll try to get a pic of it (the tank) when I can beg, borrow, or steal a digital camera.
Logan J

 

[SleeplessLwd]

They sound like baby brittle stars.

 

[EMS503]

They may be miniature brittle stars.A picture would be a big help. If they are miniature brittle stars they are scavengers like the full size ones. I have them in my refugium. I don't know the life span but in a few months I had baby mini brittle stars. If I can get a picture of mine I will post for you.

 

[loganj]

Stars

I had read somewhere that there was a variety of stars that ate corals. I wish I could remember more about it. I'll do some research on the matter and post the results if I uncover anything conclusive. The only thing I can remember was that the stars in question were very small.
Thanks.
Logan J

 

[reefrunner69]

Here is a pic of one of my mini brittle stars....it is aprox 1/4"-1/2" from the tip of one leg to the tip of the other. With the exception of the green brittle star, any stars that conform to this body style (no matter what size, with or without the spiked legs) are considered benificial scavengers in the reef tank.

 

[EMS503]

The article about the Starfish eating corals is on Garf's home page.
They are more of a flesh colored starfish and larger then the mini brittle star. Nasty little critters

 

[loganj]

Mini star

Reefrunner, that's the critter. Thank you. Thanks for the info on the article location also. I knew had read about them somewhere.
Logan J

 

[loganj]

Update

Added a very small ocellaris clown to the tank tonight. So far, everything is going well. Have 5 astrea snails, 4 bumblebee snails, 6 scarlet hermits, and 1 peppermint shrimp. Coraline is growing and several mushrooms have popped out. Got rid of the problem crab. Tank has been set up for almost a month. Small cyano bloom...has pretty much disappeared on it's own. Test results are as follows:
Ammonia/nitrite 0
Nitrate 5.0
Phosphate .02
Alkalinity 5.5 meq/L
Calcium 450 ppm
Spec Grav 1.0245
Temp 78
May try a soft coral after I'm sure the clown is settled and water parameters are still good.
Logan J

 

[loganj]

more

Added a rock with some zooanthids tonight. Nitrate has been up and down from about 10ppm to about 5ppm after a water change. Checked it tonight and 0, nothing, nada. Does this mean the DSB has kicked in? Tank has only been up for about a month...would have thought it would take longer than that. Sure about the reading...checked it with Aquarium Pharm, Aquamarine dip strip, and Seachem test. I know that's overkill, but I didn't believe the first test.
Logan J

 

[fishfreek]

If you did not do anything in the way of a water change between the last nitrate test and this one then it looks like it has indeed kicked in.

From your comments about no ammonia it sounds like you started out with well cured rock so it very well could be the sand bed.

 

[loganj]

new rock

Forgot to mention that the new rock with the zooanthids was also home to a pretty good crop of green hair algae. The tank it came from has a little bit of a problem with this. It was with some trepidation that I added the rock, as is, to the tank. To my surprise, the next morning, there was not even a trace of the algae anywhere to be found on the rock. In it's place were all 5 scarlet hermits...looking very well fed
Logan J

 

[michealprater]

sounds like some good scarlets you got there

 

[Salty]

I may have missed it, but have you posted any pics yet? I sure would like to see some pics of the tank. I have thought of starting a smaller tank myself (for Seahorses).