Just booted up...

[Tmar]

New test results:
sg: 1.025 (with refractometer)
temp: up to 80F (different light)
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 5 (did small pwc)
calcium 380
dkH 9-10
takin water to LFS tomorrow after work for tests by a pro.
If it's good, I will bring home my NEMO!!
Started a hair brained DIY sump for this lil 10 gallon.
It is pretty bizarre, but I'm sure hoping it will work.

 

[Tmar]

Today...

I did tests:
sg: 1.022 (same as my LFS)
temp: 78F

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Cute clown. Occellaris or Percula?

 

[Tmar]

Ernie!
Is percula and friendly and not even a bit shy. I fed him tonight when I got home and he swam up and nibbled some frozen brine shrimp right off my finger.
Now I guess I officially have a fowlr tank!

 

[carey]

Congratulations! Hope he does well! Clowns are just so darn cute I cant stand it. lol

 

[Tmar]

Thanks Carey
I totally agree, that he is probably the cutest lil fish ever And, he didn't try to bite me and he's just sooooo little right now, bout an inch. I'm just so happy! I spent over an hour just watching him tonight....

 

[Tmar]

ok...

so I went and got Ernie's bro Bert from the store and added him in too. I have brown diatoms going nutso in my tank, the spongey thing is hanging in, the water parameters are all good and everything seems just peachy. I have also discovered 2 (yes 2) critters that had to have come from the live rock...
I think the first one is a snail the other is too fast and creepy to get pics of or even a good look at!

 

[Tmar]

My snail has disappeared
Bert & Ernie are doing very well tho! Just fed them some micro marine pellets before I leave for work. Will feed them again when I get home. I am still leaving my lights on, as the diatoms look not so bad and they are a sign of a healthy tank. I will be getting the first half of my CuC this weekend.
2x Astrea Snails
2x Marg Snails

 

[KantGetRite]

Looks pretty good...Ive been up and down with whether or not I should get two clowns for the same size aquarium. I think I will wait until January to purchase fish though and I'll just get a cleanup crew. I'm gone 9 out of 10 days in December and I'm gone 4-5 days next week with no one to check on water parameters and a feed the fish so I have to wait

 

[bribo12]

I'd skip the margaritas and just get more astrea. My margaritas used to climb out or die lol. Could never keep the buggers alive but I've had the same astrea for about a year now and he cleans the walls great!

 

[Tmar]

Alright! Thanks Bribo, it's always good to have the input 4 snails to start and we're off to the races. I have started to look at zoas and palys already but just to see what's out there. I also joined some canadian aquatics forums so I will be able to trade and buy private later instead of going commercial

 

[Tmar]

Well Bribo, my snail musta been a margarita one then. It has totally gone AWOL!!
I will be going tonight or tomorrow at the latest to get 4x astrea snails at the LFS too because my "brown diatoms" have gotten very thick, very orange, very aggressive and are starting to creep onto my glass now!! Hope it isn't lack of flow in my tank... I cannot afford another powerhead at this point.
Bert(ha) & Ernie are doing great tho, eating lots (3x per day), and I am careful to take out what they don't eat. I did a small partial water change yesterday of about 10%. I believe things are going very well. Once the 4 snails are in, I will wait a week or two and add a couple of dwarf hermit crabs and 2x peppermint shrimp.

 

[bribo12]

Well Bribo, my snail musta been a margarita one then. It has totally gone AWOL!!
I will be going tonight or tomorrow at the latest to get 4x astrea snails at the LFS too because my "brown diatoms" have gotten very thick, very orange, very aggressive and are starting to creep onto my glass now!! Hope it isn't lack of flow in my tank... I cannot afford another powerhead at this point.
Bert(ha) & Ernie are doing great tho, eating lots (3x per day), and I am careful to take out what they don't eat. I did a small partial water change yesterday of about 10%. I believe things are going very well. Once the 4 snails are in, I will wait a week or two and add a couple of dwarf hermit crabs and 2x peppermint shrimp.

Cerith snails are great diatom eaters if you can find them . I think my fish would love to live in your tank. I starve mine compared to your clowns lol. I feed once every other day!

 

[Tmar]

Well, I am off to a very well stocked LFS tonight but it's over an hours drive away so hoping they have what i am looking for. I will certainly ask if they have cerith snails too then! According to their livestock list for reef cleaners, they have everything....
Since my 10 gallon has so much of the brown "diatoms" now, I am thinking to get a bit more than just half my CuC.
maybe:
3x astrea snail
3x cerith snail
then in a week or two, get:
3x blue legged dwarf hermit crab
2x red scarlet hermit crab (if they stay small)
2x peppermint shrimp
and maybe another snail or two

 

[Tmar]

well since I drove over an hour to get a decent CuC:
5x blue legged hermit crab
1x red scarlet hermit crab
3x astrea snail
2x cerith snails
2x peppermint shrimp
12 hours after acclimation, they are all doing fine!
sg: 1.024
temp: 78F
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 2
Will continue to monitor the progress of cleanup

 

[Tmar]

Today:
sg: 1.024
temp: 78F
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 5-10
did a small 10% pwc and will check again in an hour or so to make sure the nitrates are less than 0.
I am planning on waiting 2 weeks to a month (hopefully CuC has done it's job by then) until the diatoms are cleared up (or died off) and then will start looking into placing some zoanthids/palythoas in my tank!
Can or will clownfish host zoanthids? Can zoanthids harm my clownfish or CuC?

 

[Tmar]

My peppermint shrimp ate at least one of my snails....

 

[bribo12]

My peppermint shrimp ate at least one of my snails....

For real!? I've never heard of that!

 

[carey]

I dont think the shrimp ate the snail lol. he may be picking at the dead body but they cant kill snails.

 

[Tmar]

I don't know. I actually watched him come out and flip a snail over and start pulling at it. I shooed him away with my tongs and flipped the snail back over! Soon as I pulled the tongs out of the tank, that shrimp came out and flipped the shell back over and started pulling at the snail again....
I wouldn't have thought that either, but I saw it happen when I was watching my tank. Now I have NO idea if it killed the snail or not, but the snails were fine about an hour before that. I have fed the shrimps 3 times since Friday night when I put them in too. They have eaten the same frozen foods at the same time I fed my clownfish - krill, ocean plankton & mysis shrimp.
I am worried about the rest of my CuC now AND my clownfish!! One of my hermit crabs shells is empty this evening.. hoping he just switched to a different shell!!