From beginning to End

[Etunes]

I agree, i would have a pet shop test it before buying corals just to be safe. I wouldn't buy a scond test kit.

[Zer0]

Hey guys, its been a while, but i just started college classes on monday and i already have a paper to write :/ Anyways, heres a little update without pics. Mom has the camera again.

Water Levels:

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 20ppm
SG: 1.024

So finally the nitrates are dropping, because i havent done a water change since the test last said 30ppm. I'm doing a 20% water change right now to drop the nitrates some more now. Feeling more confident since the nitrates are dropping by themselves. On another note, i have it pretty bad with diatoms lol. Like its all over my rocks and sad EVERYWHERE. All except the parts of sand that are shaded from rock overhangs.

Fish are doing fine, and are eating and swimming fine. The one that got beat up pretty bad looks to be making a recovery. They stopped fighting and for some reason they are together for the most part, sometimes staying on separate sides of the tank. But all is well for now. Just that these diatoms are giving me migraines. I would think that since i'm using RO water i wouldn't have it so bad.. but i guess not.

[thominil]

They are common in new tanks, don't worry lol. They will burn themselves out.

[Zer0]

Yeah, i figure that. It's just that they are cramping up my tank lol. Also, you were right about PWC's and my fish. I matched the temp and the sg, and they were playing around wherever i poured the water in and they tried eating all the bubbles that the water made lol. Also, they were playing around with my hand when i put my hand in the water to clean the tank. It was pretty funny. Anyways, yeah. lol.

[Etunes]

Are your clownfish a little nicer to each other now that a little time has gone by?

[Zer0]

Yeah they are. They still swim at eachother at high speeds, but i've noticed that when they do this they actually don't even hit eachother. Don't know, and i don't really care either. They can work it out between themselves. They are also starting to use all of the rockwork in the tank now. They don't just stick to one part, they go all throughout the caves and spots i made for fish to go in. Seeing some coralline growth to etc.. etc..

[Etunes]

Once you get more fish they might actually start to calm down a little bit more. You know, dispersing there attention.

[Quartz92]

Thread is cool! Not good without pictures though!!

[Zer0]

Heh, yeah as if i haven't heard that enough in this thread. I'll try to get some pictures uploaded soon. I've just been pretty busy these past few days with college starting and all. Blah Blah Blah. I'll get some pics.

[super-duty]

Sounds like it is going good! Looking forward for the pics myself.

[InfernoST]

Ditto

[Zer0]

Alright well i have a question for all who can answer. If my nitrates are as high as 10-15ppm.. then shouldn't there be like a mass amount of algae growing? I have almost NO algae growth in my tank. Only a little bit of algae started growing on one of my rocks, and it's about the size of a quarter.

[thominil]

Originally Posted by Zer0

Alright well i have a question for all who can answer. If my nitrates are as high as 10-15ppm.. then shouldn't there be like a mass amount of algae growing? I have almost NO algae growth in my tank. Only a little bit of algae started growing on one of my rocks, and it's about the size of a quarter.

10-15ppm isn't as high as you are describing it IMO. Just wait a while and you will be going through a cycle of all kinds of algae lol, best I could describe.

[InfernoST]

Originally Posted by thominil

10-15ppm isn't as high as you are describing it IMO. Just wait a while and you will be going through a cycle of all kinds of algae lol, best I could describe.

I usually wait till around 20ppm to do a PWC, after the PWC it gets knocked down to about 5. Are you talking about the green, brown, redish, purple & Pink stuff all over the tank?

[thominil]

Pretty much, as your tank matures, you will see all different kinds of algae. No point in trying to ID them all IMO. Nice part is that coralline grows like weeds once you are at the end of the "algae cycle", I just finished it about a month ago lol.

[InfernoST]

cool

[Zer0]

So 10-15ppm really isn't that high? I always thought it was.. lol.

[Zer0]

Heres some well overdue pictures:

FTS:


Feather Duster:


Zoas:


Feather Duster Again:


Heres some rocks. That quarter size algae patch is right in the middle lol.:


Another Zoos Pic:


Side Shot:


Another Side Shot:


Alright so that should suffice lol. I do have a couple questions for any with experience in these situations.

1. My firefish is behind all the rockwork, and haven't even seen him once. Think he'll be alright? He was perfectly active, and breathing normally during acclimation. Wasn't being twitchy or sporadic or anything. Looked normal.

2. Do feather dusters preffer to be off the sand or it doesn't really matter?

3. Should i keep my Zoos where they are? I put them mid rockwork and pretty much right in the middle of the light.

Thanks guys.

[Etunes]

#1 The firefish can be a shy fish, i had a friend that had 3 firefish. 2 of them were always out but 1 you would only see once every 2 weeks or so. They can be shy or very active, so i think he will be fine, also give him time he is now in a new world (new tank). Alot to get used too.

#2 Have no idea but i would think that they would like the sand better.

#3 i think they look fine where they are, i would just make sure you had a rock up against the rock they are on so they have a place to spreaad to once the colony grows.

Now for my input, i was just gonna say that your feather dusters leaning on there side like that would look better if you dug them in the sand an had them stand up a little IMO.

*EDIT*

Just to let you know i see some coraline i think on the rock the zoas are on.

[Zer0]

LOL. Thanks Etunes.

Sooo, the firefish pops out every once and a while. Saw him eating when i just fed so im not worried about him anymore. All my dusters are out and about now, and yes, im going to dig them in the sand, once i decide to go back in the tank lol. Also, my Zoo colony is actually touching like three rocks, but it may be hard to see haha. But seriously tho, these Zoos are awesome. I love them. They look so nice. Thanks Etunes, i appreciate your input and you help.