DSB questions

[tbates]

Switched a FOWLR from CC to DSB about 4 months ago and things are going well...I think. Conversion was a bit painful with the loss of a couple of perc clowns but ended up with about 120 lbs of Pure Caribbean Aragonite topped off with 30 lbs of LS from the LFS. Gives me about 4" of sand.

A nasty head cold awoke me at 3am the other night and I thought "what the heck, let's see what's crawling around on the DSB." Grabbing the trust-rusty flashlight, I took a look and didn't find much other than the Sally Lightfoot and Peppermint Shrimps running around like teenagers on a Saturday night. No tracks in the sand, no fans, nada, zip, zilch.

I also am not seeing any bubbles, but DO see some interesting colors (greens, tans, reds) on the glass below the sand line. Also some interesting dark brown/reddish "lines," again below the sand line against the glass, that look like algae (since they don't move). I think the snails and hermits are keeping up with the algae on the surface of the sand since this doesn't seem to be a problem.

Everything else looks "normal" - what am I missing or what should I add? Considering a Detritivore kit from Inland Aqautics, but since there's already lifestock in the tank, I concerned that the kit would just be lunch.

Water Quality (as of last night and has been fairly consistant for the past couple of months):
PH = just under 8.0 (added air venturi to PH today to try and increase O2)
NH3 = 0
NO2 = .05
NO3 = 10
Salinity = 1.025

Tank:
~150lbs of LS
~75 lbs of LR
Aqua-C Remora Protein Skimmer w/Maxi-jet 1200 PH
1 Maxi-Jet 900 PH (for waterflow)
2 Maxi-Jet 600 PH (for waterflow)

Livestock:
2 Yellowtail Blue Damsels
2 False Perc Clowns
2 Flamefish
1 Auriga Butterfly
1 Sally Lightfoot Crab
3 Emerald Crabs
1 Brittle Star
~10 Astrea Snails
~10 Scarlet Hermits

Any thoughts on "what's next" would be appreciated.

 

[talenzmeier]

Water Question

Did you keep the water or did you replace it when you replaced the FOWLR? I am assuming you didn't. If you didn't, you're probably experiencing some changes to the chemistry of the water. By adding the DSB you've introduced a whole new set of variables. I would imagine it will take several weeks for it all to settle down and re-establish some kind of equilibrium.

 

[tbates]

Yeah, replaced the water since removing the CC mucked the chemistry up too bad (I think that's what knocked off the Percs) and started with new. Cycle completed as expected and, as indicated, the water chem has been stable for at least two months with the anticipated small spiking with the addition of livestock.

By the way, forgot the 4 Peppermint shrimps in the livestock list!!

 

[fishfreek]

I find it interesting you dont see any pods or worms at all. Where did you get your live rock from?

 

[tbates]

LR & LS came from LFS.

There are a few worms (small with fans that are less than 1/4" across) on the LR and I took care of a Mantis (RIP) that came along for the ride with the rock. The LR has a nice layer of coraline growth (purple & some green) so it appears to be "live" LR (and the fact that the chemistry is stable with no other bio-filtering).

The LS also had a few clams (that have since died off) and a horseshoe that I removed shortly after I noticed him (took a day or two for him to surface). Other than that, nada.

It's a mystery to me