Day 16
Got home today after being gone for 6 days. I lost about 5 gallons of water to evaporation which is about what I expected. Everything looked fine other than a small amount of micro algae that was growing on some of the sand and glass. I had the lights running for 6 hrs per day while I was away.
I immediately saw the YW Goby and eventually found one of the peppermint shrimp so I assume everything is alive and well. My wife is convinced that the Goby grew... lol. Still have not seen the tiny pistol shrimp since putting him in the tank.
My water tests looked great
SG = about 1.025 +/- (still waiting for my refractometer)
Temp = 78.5
Ammonia = 0
Nitrate = 0
Nitrite = 0
After the tests I siphoned off some of the algae from the sand and did a 20% water change. My clean up crew from John at Reefcleaners.org will be sent out tomorrow - so help is on the way. He is sending me the following:
60 Dwarf Ceriths
19 Nassarius
26 Florida Ceriths
18 Nerites
This "crew" is only rated for a 60 gallon tank but sure sounds like a lot to me. I was also thinking about finding a few hermits locally which I have never had in a tank before but have heard they might kill snails?
Fortunately the algae bloom was a minor one and is no where to be found except on some of the substrate and glass. The macro algae I have in my sump is doing really well and growing. Won't be long before I will be thinning some out.
Good news is that I had around 10-15 aptasia in my display tank when I left.... I now have 2!!!! And they are the larger sized aptasia. So the peppermints appear to be doing their job! I will be buying a 3rd peppermint to put in my sump as I have a few aptasia on some of my rock in the fuge as well. I just hope I can keep it from going through the bubble trap and into my return chamber.
I did notice however that it appears I have something else spreading in my tank that may not be good.... Need help identifying this guy. It appears to be out more when lights are off and when the lights come on it shrinks. When I touched it, it would retract but slowly - not nearly as fast as the aptasia. It almost looks like a mushroom when the lights are on but when the lights are off it looks more like an anemone with white balls or tips on the end of each tentacle. So any ideas?
Here are some photos of what Im talking about - this is not the same one but looks the same - its just that one was out of the light and easier to photograph. So here it is when contracted:
And here is a similar one that is shaded from the lights and not contracted.
Other question... I will be heading to Boise this coming weekend and might be adding another fish or two or coarls if my water tests keep looking good. Wondering what tests I should think about adding to my pH, Ammonia, Nitrate & Nitrite tests. Calcium? Additionally, what supplements or anything else should I be considering if any?
Lastly a couple more photos from the tank...
Mr. YW Goby and some Zooanthids that was on a piece of my live rock.