New Solana Aquariuum

[Kurt_Nelson]

I've never purposely fed my cleanup crew (crabs, snails, shrimp). They'll get everything they need from the leftovers and all the other junk in the tank.

That food would be OK for your fish, but try and mix it up and give the fish some variety. Maybe that stuff one day, some frozen the next, etc. Pellets and flakes normally have more stuff in them that you don't want in your tank (phosphates, etc) so frozen is the best if you've got a place around you that has it.

it's only going to cost me like $10 each time

Ouch!

You can pick up a bucket of salt mix online for $50 shipped to your house and it'll make around 150 gallons. That and a moderately priced RO/DI filter setup ($100-$200) seems like you'd be money ahead.

 

[Caige]

Yeah... i probably will eventually make my own water... i did order a RO/DI that I am waiting on... but for short term that is only going to be to refill evap'ed water (and maybe some drinking water for me!).

Hey, i'm a little confused... you say that the Nassarius snails will all come out of the sand bed at feeding time but also say that you don't "feed" them anything because usually the algae is enough...

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yeah... i probably will eventually make my own water... i did order a RO/DI that I am waiting on... but for short term that is only going to be to refill evap'ed water (and maybe some drinking water for me!).

Not sure why you wouldn't want to use it to make salt water, but to each his/her own. I wouldn't drink it - heard that RO/DI water is a bad thing to drink because it is stripped of everything, and can throw your electrolytes off. Never confirmed that - but I can tell you it doesn't taste good. That's why all those bottled water companies use RO/DI, but then put back in a bunch of minerals.

Hey, i'm a little confused... you say that the Nassarius snails will all come out of the sand bed at feeding time but also say that you don't "feed" them anything because usually the algae is enough...

Actually, I didn't say both those things, but I did say...

They'll get everything they need from the leftovers and all the other junk in the tank.

... which means the nassarius sense food like you wouldn't believe and come up to get fish leftovers. They're not algae eaters, but will have no problem finding junk to eat in the sand bed.

 

[Caige]

Thanks Kurt -

- guess I prob won't drink the RO/DI then lol. Also, I will eventually make my own water but want to make sure I have everything established before learning something else LOL

- oh, and I didn't mean "you" said that. Was just replying generally to the forum. Sorry about that.

- the nassarius snails are the only ones I really can't locate / see.... but guess in time I will understand their behavior.

Oh, I love my emerald crabs! Very fun to watch and are grazing on all the spots that I have that bubble algea at.

 

[cmor1701d]

RO water is fine for drinking, just not RODI. Many systems come with a small tank to hold RO water under the sink and have a sink faucet that can be used.

The nassarius snails should pop out of the sand when you add food to the tank. If they don't, then they might not have made it.

 

[fijiwigi]

If you did order the RO/DI unit already you absorbed most of the cost to mixing your own water. The salt, mixing containers,a powerhead, Thermomoter and heater are only another 80 dollars or so And then you will know for sure what is in your water right now you are putting your trust into someone elses work. Plus lugging all those jugs from the LFS not fun lots of work!!! And having a tub for RO/DI water for topoffs and a seperate tub for Mixed water on hand is great in case of an emergency.

 

[Caige]

update from the NOOB

i'm looking good (I think) LOL. Took water test today as follows

- 78.4 degrees
- 8.1 PH
- 0 ammonia
- 0 Nitrite
- 20 Nitrate
- 161.1 KH

I plan on doing water change tomorrow night. I am also purchasing Alkalinity, phosphate and calcium test sets tomorrow.

Questions - Do i need Iodine and Silica test sets in you opinion?

Fan still has not came in yet. I called and they said it was delayed and they shipped today! I have a tracking number now so at least I know it's on the way.

Here are some pictures: 1st 3 are just pics of my awesome tank. 4th pic is something that I noticed today.. looks like a mini fuzzy white star fish - I did some research and looks to be a "ASTERINA STAR"??? which seems to be harmless from what i'm reading.

I'm also seeing all sorts of things pop up... different bugs, algae etc.. They all seem to be harmless.

Xtalreef This is an awesome link that helped me identify almost all of the interesting things i'm finding in the tank!

Best of all... my 10 florida Turbos, 5 Mexican hermits, 3 emerald crabs and 3 peppermint shrimp are all doing GREAT !! every once in a while I see a nassarius LOL

 

[roka64]

WOW!!!! I love the scaping! Where did you get that base?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

i'm looking good (I think) LOL. Took water test today as follows

- 78.4 degrees
- 8.1 PH
- 0 ammonia
- 0 Nitrite
- 20 Nitrate
- 161.1 KH

I plan on doing water change tomorrow night. I am also purchasing Alkalinity, phosphate and calcium test sets tomorrow.

Yup... looks like someone at the end of their cycle. Since you gave us a 161.1 KH reading, sounds like you have a alkalinity test already, so there's no need to buy one of those. I'm guessing you meant 161.1 ppm which would be around 9 dkH, or 3.2 meq/l. Here's a conversion table...

OZ REEF - Alkalinity Conversion

Questions - Do i need Iodine and Silica test sets in you opinion?

I don't see a need for one, unless your curious about your levels. I use purified water, so I'm not worried about silica. But in your case using tap, if you have an algae issue, you might be interested in knowing your levels. I wouldn't worry about iodine unless you plan on adding it to your tank - and I wouldn't suggest that.

 

[cmor1701d]

I agree with Kurt. Congratulations!

Get a Mg (Magnesium) kit instead of the alk (you already have that).

You will be continually amazed at what seems to pop out of the rock over the next few months.

Be prepared for the outbreak of diatoms and algae that all new tanks go through.

 

[Caige]

thanks for the reply's and comments. I purchased my LR from my local LFS "tampa bay marine".

More questions:

Is it normal for a submersible heater to turn on and off if you bang it against the wall of aquarium (not hard)... I'm hoping so and thinking yes it is normal. I'm asking because I want to make sure I don't have a defective one.

 

[Caige]

Just an update. Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Temp avg 76.5 - 80.0
PH 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20 (can never get lower than that. Even after 20% water change and cleaning all filters.
KH 161.1

Think i'm going to go shopping for some Coral / Anemone this weekend!

 

[SpeedEuphoria]

Is it normal for a submersible heater to turn on and off if you bang it against the wall of aquarium (not hard)... I'm hoping so and thinking yes it is normal. I'm asking because I want to make sure I don't have a defective one.

I'm new to this stuff also and I can tell you that mine seems to turn on and off if I move the cord or mess with it, but other than that it functions fine and holds the temp.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

thanks for the reply's and comments. I purchased my LR from my local LFS "tampa bay marine".

More questions:

Is it normal for a submersible heater to turn on and off if you bang it against the wall of aquarium (not hard)... I'm hoping so and thinking yes it is normal. I'm asking because I want to make sure I don't have a defective one.

If the heater is controlled by a bimetallic thermostat, (which 99% of them are) then what makes the contact to turn the heater on is a couple little magnets on a bimetallic strip. As the bimetallic strip heats up, the magnetic contacts are brought closer to each other until the snap together and complete the circuit. As it cools off, the spring force from the metal strips try and pull the magnets apart at which point the circuit is broken and the heater turns off. This is the "click" you hear when you turn the thermostat dial up and down.

I suppose if you whacked the heater hard enough the impact force could connect the magnets, but they should disconnect pretty quick if the heater didn't "want" to be on in the first place. But if it was close to it coming on anyway, then I can see the contact remaining closed until things heated up enough to reopen the contacts.

What I can say for sure though, is that if you continue whacking the heater on the side of the aquarium, you'll most likely end up with a defective one. (Heater)

 

[roka64]

Kurt, thanks for that info, very interesting!
Caige, I would not add an anemone until your tank is more established. A new tank takes about 4 months to become stable and adding one now may cause big problems, since they can be highly sensitive to changing water parameters.

 

[Caige]

Thanks all. I moved the heater temporarilly to the front of the tank so I can see it go on and off without touching it - until I feel comfortable that it is working and it's setting; then I will move to the back and out of the way.

So if no Anemone - think I can get a fish and coral? Was thinking of a six stripe wrasse and a soft coral or two.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

You're cycled... I don't see any reason not to add a fish or coral. Just add one fish at a time though and wait a month or so between additions. That gives the bacteria time to adjust to the new bioload.

 

[Caige]

I'm sad! I came home from work today and saw one of my 3 emerald crabs dead (believe me it is NOT molt). My other 2 emeralds, 3 peppermint shrimp and a couple nassarius were all knawing and tearing him apart. I'm not sure what killed him! So I took my stats as follows:

Temp 77.7 (has consistantly been 76.6 - 78
PH 8 (It has been at 8 since 6/23) I did add some Reef Buffer (2 teaspoons) to bring it up to 8.2 yesterday. As you can tell it didn't work
Ammonia 0 has been at 0 since 6/23
Nitrite 0 has been at 0 since 6/23
Nitrate 20 has been at 20 since 6/23 with the exception of one day 6/25 when it was at 40 (did a 20% water change that night)
KH hardness 196.9ppm this is high but still within range... since 6/23 it has consistantly been at 161.1 ppm

Added these inverts on 6/28 and have all been doing fine. Emeralds were always active.

I have checked my chemicals at least every other day so I know i'm right on them. I did do a 15% water change on 6/6 but water parameters and temp were all good and seemed to go well and fast.

Since I acclimated the inverts I have only put food in the tank once and that was on July 4th.. i only gave a pinch of "microcrabs cyclop-eeze granules. I figured they have plenty of algea to eat and i have seen them eating constantly.

Please tell me i did NOT starve my emerald! I have no idea why it died..... sad sad sad

 

[Caige]

No one loves me anymore You all think I should close this post out now and just open ones as they come in the help section?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Nah... we still love you. But you might grab more attention by starting a new thread for new issues.

Regarding the crab, some stuff just dies - regardless of what you do. The crab could've been on its way out to start with. Or possibly the other guys saw an opportunity for a free meal. Crabs are naturally evil (just my opinion) so I wouldn't put it past them!

Regarding your Reef Buffer, you'll see a temporary (like hours) increase in pH when you add buffer, but it won't increase it over the long haul. It WILL increase your alkalinity though, and it appears it did. You went from about 9 dkH to 11 dkH in one jump, which I *think* might be a quick jump. I honestly haven't read or researched how much of a jump in alkalinity is too much though. Part of me wonders if that had anything to do with the crab, but I doubt it.