new tank but it hasnt cycled and unidentified crabs

[fourstate]

i have started my first saltwater tank its 92 gal corner bow.with 70 lbs of live rock (tampa live rock) with arogonite sand,bio ball, protein skimmer, 2 powerheads for movement. my levels all read good i never saw a high level of amonia it has been going for two weeks i have 2 damsels they are doing good, nice bright colors and the live rock colors have started getting alot brighter.i filled it with distilled water and ro and i use ro for replenish water.Some type of tree looking growths are growing taller and thicker and a creature that is a circle with white tenticles that lives on a rock that sticks out when feeding:its growing too (i dont know what eiter of these are).Could my cycle be over with?
Also some hairy looking crabs have come out of the live rock(about 1to2 inches in size) they seem to be eating the bright orange growth on the rocks, are these bad or good?
Thanks for any help you could give me (It might save a tank if I am doing something wrong)

 

[reefrunner69]

How much light is on the tank?

Any plans on adding more LR?

The majority of hitchiker crabs are bad, if it is eating the sponge off your rock...I would consider it a bad crab and remove it if possible.

 

[cj10488]

Good luck on removing the crabs.. Its been 3-4 months now and I am still removing crabs.. here is a pic on my holding tank that I have been putting them all in.. There must be 30-40 crabs in there.. The thing that i found that works is Krill and a mantis trap.. I can usually get about 2 per day trapped... The trap was purchased to try and get my pair of hitchhiker "Blue Legged Pistol Shrimp" out of there.. I have lots of people who are completely willing to take them but I have no way of getting them without pulling out the rock.. Still very tempting.. BTW I think it was my crabs that killed my Clam...

HTH,
James

 

[jks1]

the other animal may be a spagetti worm

 

[toddwess]

Good luck on removing the crabs.. Its been 3-4 months now and I am still removing crabs.. here is a pic on my holding tank that I have been putting them all in.. There must be 30-40 crabs in there.. The thing that i found that works is Krill and a mantis trap.. I can usually get about 2 per day trapped... The trap was purchased to try and get my pair of hitchhiker "Blue Legged Pistol Shrimp" out of there.. I have lots of people who are completely willing to take them but I have no way of getting them without pulling out the rock.. Still very tempting.. BTW I think it was my crabs that killed my Clam...

HTH,
James

Where did you get your live rock? It sounds great!! I bought my live rock at a LFS here in Virginia and it was the most boring rock I had ever seen.

I've seen some good pics of rock from www.gulf-view.com. Did you buy your's from an online dealer?

Thanks,
Todd

 

[cj10488]

I got mine from www.liverocks.com I must say that it was the most awesome rock I have seen.. FWIW most LFS skim the top of the LR for the good creatures and keep them to sell seperately from the LR.. Buying online is also alot cheaper as these places can sell much more mass quanities than any LFS.. Some retailers I wouldn't be supprised if they move a ton of LR per day.. Speaking of which I have a question for Zach.. Anyways Check out Liverocks.com very awesome to deal with and very awesome LR..

James

 

[fourstate]

i bought the live rock at a store in little rock arkansas its a 5 hour drive from me. they dont have much of a website but its www.nsaquatics.com. i think i found the same rock on www.tampabaysaltwater.com. it is realy cool i have been to numous stores within 3 hours of me and none of their live rock comes close. i am using the flourescent bulbs that came with the tank they say 35 on them i dont know what kind because of my lack of experiance,it is a oceanic system.I talked to nsaquatics about the crabs and they said they are bad. And i do plan on adding more live rock.
Thanks for your posts

 

[CountZero]

Where do you get a good mantis trap? I am getting ready to order a couple hundred pounds from that same website you just mentioned, and if I am gonna end up with nasty hitchkikers, I wanna get them out of there.. The big question is, what to do with them after you catch them? I have a tank with a niger trigger, they seem to like the taste of crustaceans from what I have read. I would hate to kill them, but I figure, if the trigger eats them, its just the cycle of the ocean. Better than flushing them down the toilet. Wish I had another tank I could set up as a Parasite tank.
Zero

 

[cj10488]

mine is an UltraLife Xterminator.. i got mine at the LFS here but you should be able to find them online


HTH<
James