first saltwater tank

[Mrc8858]

The bubbles are bubbles algae which you will wanna get rid of. Emerald crabs will eat it or you can manually remove it but don't pop it or else it'll spread its spores.

[Paulm7373]

What would happen if I left the bubble algae? Would it have any negative impact on my cycling and overall water quality for the health of the fish when I end up getting them? Would have liked to have kept them to add to make the rocks look more natural and the guy from my LFS didn't say anything bad about it when selecting my rocks. Otherwise, what is the best way to remove them if I don't have any crabs to do that for me?

[ethana123]

thats some nice live rock you got ... does anyone know some good ways to get rid of aiptasia

[Paulm7373]

Thanks! There's a lot of life coming out if those rocks, I even got a hitchhiker in the form of a sea urchin but haven't seen him today do not sure if it had still survived. I placed a raw shrimp in there yesterday to get the ammonia kicking and my reading tonight was 0.10ppm which is still very low. Some suggest I shouldn't have worried about the shrimp as I would get enough die off source of ammonia from all that live rock I have. They say I should be patient and let nature take its course as I would have created a large bioload, which means massive amounts of if bacteria must grow to deal with the situation and there will be nothing left to feed all that bacteria once the ammonia in the tank is converted and the cycle is underway, which means the bacteria can die off and cause another mini cycle. What are everyone's thoughts about this? Also, should I keep the lights off during cycling or would that kill off all the organisms in my rocks?

[ethana123]

i had the prawn in with my rocks and had my lights off but im not really experienced enough to tell ya whether thats a good or bad idea lol

[Paulm7373]

Although the rock I got last weekend is nice, I still didn't think it looked full enough so I bought another 10kg today making a total of 30kg! I have also placed some live rock rubble into my sump to add extra bacteria. It seems like the shrimp I added has not made a great difference to the ammonia level as it has only increased by about 0.20ppm since adding it. My sea urchin is still alive so it must not be that high yet. Will also keep lights off during cycling. Can everyone give your thoughts on how the scaping of the live rock looks now? Does it look too full? I like that sort of effect and there are much more hiding places for the fish. I think live rock is the best sort of saltwater filtration media to use, so all that rock can't be too bad can it?? Lol.

[Mrc8858]

I think it looks great! I might even add more for a "step" in the front so you have sandbed, medium level, and top of the rocks for coral placement and more depth to the tank.

[Paulm7373]

Thanks Mrc, I like your idea, I'm just concerned that by adding a front layer I will almost be left with no sand bed at the front, as I only have around 10" of sand in the front and it may look like there's too much rock in there. I'm also starting to wonder if maybe I've built it up just a little too high?? I also plan on using the space I have at the front with a few corals in the future.

[ethana123]

if i were to get a yellow tang thats about an inch and a half long would it be okay in my tank until i get my 6 foot tank that i put on layby ? i probably wont have the other tank up and running for 5 or 6 months though

[ethana123]

or maybe a copperband butterfly thats about 2 inches long ? and a white tail bristle tooth tang thats about the same size ? i will be getting rid of the puffer this week as he has been picking at the clowns fins