Hi there! I've had a 38 gallon freshwater aquarium for about 2 years now, and decided to try my hand at saltwater. I had a question about my live rock and about the setup.
I am waiting on a used 45 gallon that someone has offered me at the end of this month, but for now, I decided to get my 10 gallon quarantine tank set up. I started with some crushed coral for substrate. I got my filter running and the heater is at about 78 degrees. A friend of mine gave me 5 gallons of water from his aquarium to get started with, and then he helped me mix some salt and water for the remaining 5 gallons. We ran a quick test and noted a small level of ammonia, about 0.2 ppm, which must have come from his aquarium, but everything else looked good.
After the cloudiness went away, I purchased 2 pieces of live rock (about 3.5 pounds in total) and placed them in there, and allowed them to get set up in there. About 5 days later, I checked the water, ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0, and the nitrates had gone up a bit, so I decided I was in business!
3 days ago, I purchased a small coral beauty angelfish and put him in there. Eventually of course, he will go in a larger aquarium, but he seems to be doing well in there. He knows I'm food already, he comes up to the glass to see me when I come up! I replace evaporated water every day with freshwater from my freshwater aquarium, and feed him a small amount of frozen shrimp every day.
I just checked the chemistry again, ammonia might be showing up just a little little bit, but barely over 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrates are of course still there...so it seems I did a good job on startup?
My other question is that the live rock seems to be doing interesting things. One piece doesn't do anything, but the second one seems to be sprouting little "noodles." My LFS said they might be marine worms, but they don't look like they are worms, they look like they are plants almost? They are very thin and brownish, growing out of the live rock? If that doesn't help, I can try to get a picture of them.
In any case, my Coral Beauty is still healthy and seems happy, my chemistry is good, and the specific gravity is staying constant. Why did everyone tell me this was going to be so difficult? Any hints or ideas? And does anyone know what those little "noodle" growths might be?
Paul
I am waiting on a used 45 gallon that someone has offered me at the end of this month, but for now, I decided to get my 10 gallon quarantine tank set up. I started with some crushed coral for substrate. I got my filter running and the heater is at about 78 degrees. A friend of mine gave me 5 gallons of water from his aquarium to get started with, and then he helped me mix some salt and water for the remaining 5 gallons. We ran a quick test and noted a small level of ammonia, about 0.2 ppm, which must have come from his aquarium, but everything else looked good.
After the cloudiness went away, I purchased 2 pieces of live rock (about 3.5 pounds in total) and placed them in there, and allowed them to get set up in there. About 5 days later, I checked the water, ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0, and the nitrates had gone up a bit, so I decided I was in business!
3 days ago, I purchased a small coral beauty angelfish and put him in there. Eventually of course, he will go in a larger aquarium, but he seems to be doing well in there. He knows I'm food already, he comes up to the glass to see me when I come up! I replace evaporated water every day with freshwater from my freshwater aquarium, and feed him a small amount of frozen shrimp every day.
I just checked the chemistry again, ammonia might be showing up just a little little bit, but barely over 0, nitrite is 0, and nitrates are of course still there...so it seems I did a good job on startup?
My other question is that the live rock seems to be doing interesting things. One piece doesn't do anything, but the second one seems to be sprouting little "noodles." My LFS said they might be marine worms, but they don't look like they are worms, they look like they are plants almost? They are very thin and brownish, growing out of the live rock? If that doesn't help, I can try to get a picture of them.
In any case, my Coral Beauty is still healthy and seems happy, my chemistry is good, and the specific gravity is staying constant. Why did everyone tell me this was going to be so difficult? Any hints or ideas? And does anyone know what those little "noodle" growths might be?
Paul