New tank questions?

[thincat]

Not me. hahaha good for you. Just remember that compacts have their limits and do not penitrate as much as T-5's but in your size tank should work. With a compact unit you're kind of limited in bulb selection.

 

[milhous3er]

Well it looks like I may be ready for some fish this weekend. Only thing holding me back right now is the noise that my bak pak is making, surely a fish would be too stressed if I placed him in that kind of condition.

 

[thincat]

Put up some reading so we can check it out.

 

[milhous3er]

of course. i've been testing my water just to make sure i was ready and its been spot on the same. my ph is kinda low and i'm assuming a water change will bring that up alittle ?? torn between a pair of percula clowns or maroon clowns. then again tomato clowns are very pretty.....decisions

 

[milhous3er]

Well saturday was the day !!! Added a peppermint shrimp (had some apstasia and what looks like majano) to clear that up, he hasn't taken to them yet. 3 red legged hermits and 2 astrea snails. I know its not fish, but its atleast something to look at !!

Skimmer has been doing a great job at pulling out pea (the vegetable) colored skimmate out of the tank. Smells like crap...literally.

 

[milhous3er]

After a small ammonia spike .25ppm on 5/13, my test have been back to 0ppm for the whole week. Noticed my nitrates are going down, now at levels of 10ppm instead of the 15-20ppm it has been. Those test kits coloring scheme needs some work done to them, half the time I can't tell what range they fall in !!

On a sadder note, I did lose one of my hermit crabs. Noticed the poor guys legs just laying in the substrate....survival of the fittest I guess !!??!!

Skimmer seems to be working pretty good, nice dry, greenish skimmate.

 

[austinsdad]

Sounds like you're on your way! I think that stuff you call filtration in the BakPak is meant to be bio-media. Similar to bio-balls or live rock that stuff lives on.

 

[austinsdad]

Wow, I just realized I was commenting on your earlier post of page 4 about the new skimmer.
And you sure that isn't a crab molt?

 

[milhous3er]

no i've seen my fair share of dead hermits, lol. I can only find 2, and i've been looking all day. he was a good one too i'm sure.

so i have 2 PH, 40lbs of LR, and a PS rated for a 65 gallon tank. Do I really need a source of filtration, due to the amount of LR and flow in tank ?? I have no deadspots in my tank that algea can build up due to low flow. I did notice i had some small hair algea already, but atleast my apstasia is gone now that my peppermint shrimp knows what I bought it for !!

 

[mrg02d]

No, you dont need a filter as your LR will take care of ammonia, but they can come in very handy for filtering out particles and what not. They also make running carbon and GFO very easy. I use a Fluval 305. Keep in mind that youll need to clean these once a week else they become a little nitrate factory.

I bet your hermit molted. Mine do that all the time and look just like a dead hermit. Unless you see an empty shell nearby, assume its a molt. Last night I thought my favorite hermit was dying, so I made him a little house out of epoxy to keep him safe while he recovers only to find him WALKING around somewhere else! Got me good!

Matt

 

[thincat]

Just be sure to have extra shells of variout sizes in your tank for them to change into.

 

[milhous3er]

See I found no empty shell. I need to get to the LFS and get a handful of empty shells. But it looked like some meaty tissue on the ends of the little legs that were laying in the CC.

I had a HOB filter that I had running just for ciculation and had a bag of phosguard in there to control my silicates.

 

[thincat]

I get my extra shells from a Ben Franklin hobby shop.

 

[milhous3er]

I bet your hermit molted. Mine do that all the time and look just like a dead hermit. Unless you see an empty shell nearby, assume its a molt. Last night I thought my favorite hermit was dying, so I made him a little house out of epoxy to keep him safe while he recovers only to find him WALKING around somewhere else! Got me good!

Matt

What do you know, that little guy was in the tank. Either that, or they had a little one that grew up really fast. I counted 3 again and about fell over !! I guess next time, I shouldn't assume...

Its just funny that I've been counting everday since I thought he died, and only found 2, but yesterday I found the 3rd ??? Oh well !!

 

[austinsdad]

And "meaty tissue" on the molts is a normal thing...as you now know. Believe me, you're not the first person that sight has freaked out.

 

[milhous3er]

Not much has changed. Hoping to add 2 tomato clowns this weekend. Need to do a PWC before I add them though, so hopefully I can knock that out Saturday morning.

Here are some new pics, added somemore LR and redecorated alittle. I know its kinda boring with no fish, but hey at least there is some hair algea !!

There is life !!

This is where my pepp hides.. as you can see, he was hiding..

Told you there was some hair algea !!

Notice the green coloring on this rock ?? Its not algea, and it won't scrub off..The below pic..

And finally the color of my skimmate off my skimmer. Smells as good as it looks !!

I enjoy looking at the tank every opportunity that I get. Even though there is no fish, there is plenty of life in there. My hermits were all MIA, so I couldn't get any pics of them.

 

[thincat]

I noticed a couple of things.
1) I would not keep your "Mag-Float" so close to the bottom of your tank.
2) That green on your rock is the first stage of coralline algae.
3) If you can remove that rock with the hair algae on it then do that.
If not try to manuelly remove as much as you can and hope your hermits would take over from there. On very small patches I have had good luck with shooting some Kalk on the area. (monitor your PH levels).

 

[milhous3er]

TC, (not trying to be rude, just don't know how to ask it) Why not have it at the bottom of my tank ?? I keep it there for looks because I don't like it at the top of my tank.

I took out a rock before I took these pictures and scrubbed off the hair algea with an old toothbrush. Worked pretty good. The hair on the rock I scrubbed was probably alittle bigger than the size of a nickel, and about an inch or so long. I left the remaining in my tank so my hermits/snails wouldn't starve.

So signs of coraline are good I'm taking it ?? Sounds like it !!

 

[thincat]

I hope your tank is glass. I have an acyrlic tank and have to be very careful not to get sand between the inside area of the Mag-float so as not to scratch the acrylic. Mag-floats are very strong magnets and in time if you lget sand in there I think it will scratch glass tanks as well.
Yes, coralline is a sign of a health tank. Until you have to start cleaning your glass everyday.
If the hair algae is only in one spot and you can take the rock out I would take it out and get rid of it. Your snails will have more time to eat somewhere else.

 

[milhous3er]

Ok, and I should do this scrubbing in salt water right ?? That way it keeps the bacteria on the rock ??

My tank is glass, and even have CC as my substate. I'll keep that in mind when I clean the glass again !!