New SW tank

[thincat]

Hi all,

If your interested I have attached some further pics of the tank, Im two weeks in and have added some more live rock. Amm is at .25 and should be rising, tell ne what you think!

Nice seascape!!!

 

[Walkerrobin]

It now looks like I have my first hitchhiker! You can hardly see it but it's there!

 

[thincat]

I guess you do! LOL

 

[Walkerrobin]

Amm and Nitrite levels are at 0. I have not really seen a spike yet - how long does it normally take?

 

[MBliss81]

It depends on the tank. Sometimes it's just a couple weeks, and it can be over a month. It's best to give it a lot of time and not rush it. You don't want to have animals in your tank and then have a spike because it wasn't properly cycled.

 

[Walkerrobin]

Amateur aqua blog (with questions) part something. there seems to be loads of small White lice in the tank, what are these and will they assist in the cycle? Amm is at .25 debit maybe the spike I'm looking for. I have also attached a picture of what I think is a polyp?

 

[Smitty]

They are most likely copiopods and they are good. Your fish will love them once you get some.

 

[Walkerrobin]

Thanks smutty, I googled what you said and it does look like them. I think the organism in the picture is a Aiptasia anemone, are these a bad news hitchhiker as there seems to be a few of them?

 

[Walkerrobin]

Sorry, **** predictive text, should have been smitty!!!!

 

[thincat]

apitasia are bad hitch hikers. Don't try to pull them out as this will make them spread really fast.If you can remove the rock from the AQ I have read good results with just using a lighter to burn them off. Otherwise you need something like "Kalk"paste or a product called "Aiptasia X.

 

[Walkerrobin]

Thanks, I have heard peppermint shrimp are good exterminators of aiptasia?

 

[Smitty]

Just like every animal the peppermint shrimp is hit or miss. You could get one that will take care of it without a problem (if it isn't too big) or it may just ignore them all.

First, I don't like the idea of buying an animal specifically to get rid of a problem (be it alga or whatever). What happens when that specific problem is gone? Many times the animal dies because that is what it eats. Second, you wouldn't want to get anything like that during your cycle anyway because the ammonia could very well kill it.

Getting rid of the aiptasia is pretty easy. It would be even easier right now because you are cycling and you don't have to worry about causing an ammonia spike by killing too many of them because you want ammonia right now!

 

[Walkerrobin]

Thanks smitty, wise words, look at the cane toad as a good example!

 

[Walkerrobin]

Is it worth buying a refractometer? I get my water already mixed from the aquatics?

 

[XxVooDooxX]

I would. I'm going to get one. Getting pre mixed water is great but if you ever had an aquatic emergency or ever needed to adjust your salinity you would be out of luck!

 

[Walkerrobin]

This tank is packed full of bugs! It looks like I now have a crab, I'm sure I saw a claw nibbling at the rock, I tried to take a picture in the dark but it shot off! I guess these little Gits are bad news too??? Quite cool though!

 

[Walkerrobin]

I have now id the little critter and it's a crab for sure, you can just make put the claw in this pic. This recent batch of LR sure was live, how do it get rid of him?

 

[XxVooDooxX]

You should try to ID it first before outing it. Google crabs and look through pics, see if you can find it!

 

[Walkerrobin]

He/ she is small with a larger claw which is black tipped. Anything with a large claw is not really welcome?????

 

[Walkerrobin]

I think it may be one of the xanthid crab family. How the **** do I catch a critter like this? I guess he must be helping with the cycle?