:welcome:

So I was told to start a Journal to show you all how my aquarium progresses so here are a few pictures of just the tank with my LS and LR

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01255.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01253.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01252.jpg

Well thats it for now sorry it wasnt more interesting LOL

Thanks! I think that you have a good start on your aquascape. I can't tell from the pictures but you want to make sure you can get a cleaning magnet between the rocks and the glass.

i kno this is gunna sound dumb but cleaning magnet?...and there is room its kinda in the middle

They are like these ..::Mag-Float.... Cleaners:::............................... (http://www.magfloat.net/). Super handy so you don't have to have your hands in the tank every time you get a spot of algae. Be careful to not pick up grains of sand when you get close to the bottom. You don't want to accidentally scratch your glass.

Oh how nifty! LOL i am deff going to get one of those! see you are full of great information!

Okay so i decided to drain most of the water from my tank since it was the tap water we used to mix the salt water and didnt really know any better. getting it mixed and putting it in is another story LOL. Ugh im in for A LOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGGG NIGHT haha

IM thinking once i get the hang of this and iget my tank up and running and welland fishies and what not. My mom has a really nice 100 gal tank that we used for fresh water fish but she hasnt used it in a while and its nice maybe after iget this upand running and get the hang of it, maybe use the small one as a QT just a thought

I have a powerhead that I use to mix my SW and a vinyl tube (bought at the hardware store) that attacnes to the end of it. I siphon the water out of my tank into a bucket and then pump the new water into the tank. It makes life easier. :)

Bigger is better! If you ever used copper based meds in the FW tank you will want to take precautions to make sure it does not leach and cause problems. Let us know if you decide to do that and we will help you with it.

Im so proud of myself im starting to tink i got the hang of this. Reminder Get a big ass bucket this running up and down the stairs kinda sucks

Look at it this way, you will have a beautiful tank and be in the best shape of your life! Just remember that water weighs 8.8 lbs/gallon so make sure you can carry the bucket. :)

Your LFS may sell water jugs. If not, the 5 gallon water containers that you buy for camping work well. They have a handle built in to make it easy to carry and are designed so you can pour easily. Make sure that whatever you buy is labeled for potable (drinking) water.

LOl yea i need some buckets and some bigger portable water carriers LOL thanks Carmie for all the great advice i am so happy i found this site i would have been LOST without all of you

:hat: Always happy to be of service. :hat:

We are glad you are here. You've got the right attitude to do well in this hobbyy.

OKay so first testing of the water since ive changed it

PH: 8.0
Ammonia: 1.0
Nitrate2: 2.0
nitrate 3: 10

okay...your nitrites (NO2) and ammonia will gradually decrease. At the same time your nitrates (NO3) will increase and then gradually decrease again. When you see your ammonia start to go down, then you know your cycle is going into the decreasing phase, which is good. Once your nitrates are to zero, then you'll be in good shape.

have you bought a phosphate kit yet??

seems to be moving along right on schedule.

yea picked one up today im testing it now and working on new pictures LOL

New pictures a little clearer

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01260.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01266.jpg

The water has cleared up nicely.

Yep, looking real good. That hex is going to look great with a couple of fish in it :).

thanks im excited

I know carmie said with reguards to containers to get water containers, but I along with many people at my LFS use 5g plastic gas cans from walmart $5-$6 to transport ro/salt. They are pretty easy to carry and empty, i figure if anyone steels them to fill up their car its their loss and my fun joke. (I dont have any gas cans around with gas in them either, you dont want to mix that up :x )

Well guys everything is still bpretty much the same. The levels are pretty much the same as well. i did have a question tho, in regaurds to the ammonia now i have the regular test tube kit and you put the right chemicals into the testtube with the tank water and what not. well the last few times when ive tested the ammonia ive been getting a really light color it looks like its lighter than the zero color on the color card that you match the test tube to is that weird?

I could be the lights you are reading them under. Some test kits are very specific about reading them under cool white lights. http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/12/12_5_25.gifMost of us read them under aquarium lights which are not exactly the same thing.

Cool I have the same tank. Check out the pics!!!

http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/member-tank-projects/3762-my-42-gallons-hex.html?highlight=hex

its nice.. but hey i am happy to announce that our test and our ammonia and nitrate and nitrite all leveled out YAY!

Yeah! By leveled out do you mean zero? If not zero what are they now?

yes they are ZERO!! yeay...and i am happy to announce that we have copepods tooo woo hooo!

sweet, any ideas on what you want to keep in there ??

well i was looking at a peppermint shrimp to start out with ..

i dont want to get to many things at once.. i figure ill add as i get used to caring for this one ya kno.

i think that i would add a fish first. first, to help build the bacteria needed to break down the ammonia and nitrates created by everything that will live in the tank (eventually). secondly, shrimp need a well established tank, by that i mean with little to no fluctuations in parameters. with a fish first ... that will give YOU time to learn how to keep everything where they need to be and the tank a little extra time to stabilize.

I agree with Bobby. You just spent all that time and effort building up those bacterial colonys, now you need something in there to feed them. Namely fish pee :)

Take a look around the web or the LFS and let us know what strikes your fancy, and we'll try to help you pick one that will be good for your tank, and as a "first" fish.

i think a clown will do...

lol stupid question but dont shrimp "pee" too hahah

i mean i would think they do..maybe thier "pee" isnt the same lol

They just don't generate the volume of waste a fish does. Plus, Bobby is correct that shrimp and other inverts are more sensitive to the fluctuations common to newer tanks.

I think a clown is a great choice. If you're planning on keeping a pair, you may want to consider adding them both at the same time, as it can sometimes be hard to introduce a second clown.

i agree with Pearson, a clown would be an excellent "first" fish, and a pair would be even better. if you are looking for fish that we do not see everyday ... i suggest Picasso Clowns. if you can spend the money for them they are worth it, IMO.

well the boyfriend bought me a shrimp...its okay tho hes doing great..he molted for the first time.. and the water levels are doing fine.. he also bought me some ocean water for my 10% water change im doing every week. we are going to wait for a week to get the clowns .. i think he should be okay for now..he is going all over the placce and when i come close to the tank he always pops his head out its cute..

Good stuff :up:

What kind of shrimp did you get?

a peppermint shrimp hes all over the place..we had a care last night though..the heater went.. so i had to rush to buy another one .. that kinda sucked but.. hes doing well

most heaters suck, so keep an eye on it. Just because you set it at 78, doesn't mean it will shut off at 78. I would highly recommend you buy digital thermometer to verify that the temp dial is correct. I have used a Coralife one (about $7) for many years with no issue. It reads accurate to the probe built into my controller.

a peppermint shrimp hes all over the place..we had a care last night though..the heater went.. so i had to rush to buy another one .. that kinda sucked but.. hes doing well

Jerseygirl0398, there are numerous amounts of manufacturers that produce all types of Heaters for Aquarium in general. Some are constructed of glass, other of plastic and even titanium. I personally prefer the Marineland Visi-Therm Stealth Aquarium Heater. They are constructed of a Non-shatterproof Plastic covering and are accurate to within 1 Degree of of the desired set temperature. Also they are quite reasonably priced. You are definitely going to pay moe at your Local Pet Store for this heater but since your in a pinch go and support your Local Pet Store. :D

I would recommend that you purchase a Heater from your Local Pet Store in order to get your water temperature back into an acceptable range. Then I recommend purchasing a secondary Heater if your budget will allow you to and you have adequate space to mount it within your Aquarium. This will allow you to have a Heating setup that will split the workload between the two Heaters allowing each Heater to work less. Also in the unfortunate event that one Heater fails you will not be in the situation you are in currently.

Also as Poppin_fresh stated definitely invest in a Temperature Gauge or Thermometer. I also have the Coralife Thermometer as well and they are definitely affordable and reliable. I personally run two of these in different locations of the Aquarium so I can get a average temperature range of the entire Aquarium as oppossed to the temperature in one spot which can be effected by waterflow and other various temperature conditions.

yea well i got one thats plastic and shatter proof its working well now so im hoping it stays that way the shrimp is doing so well im so excited and the levels are still perfect so i am a happy camper.. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Glad to see that things worked out.

something to remember about the shrimp, so you dont freak out when it happens. they will molt in the tank and it should look like a normal shrimp, but it will obviously not move. so dont think that you have a dead shrimp. lol

i say this because it happened to my wife. she had a purple reef lobster in her old tank, and saw the molt and thought that it was her dead lobster. lol

something to remember about the shrimp, so you dont freak out when it happens. they will molt in the tank and it should look like a normal shrimp, but it will obviously not move. so dont think that you have a dead shrimp. lol

i say this because it happened to my wife. she had a purple reef lobster in her old tank, and saw the molt and thought that it was her dead lobster. lol

The same thing happened with my wife. My peppermint shrimp had molted, and she didn't know what had happened. She e-mailed me a picture at work.

2194

haha well he did molt already and my boyfriend freeked out woke me up at lik 5 am and said the shrimp is dead the shrimp is dead! lol im like oh shut up and i rolled out of bed and i looked at it and seen the peppermint shrimp walking around and the skin just chillen on the sand lol i was laughing at him and said the shrimp isnt dead its right there it just molted lol..!

oh another thing i think i am going to have to invest in a digi thermometer i have two on the tank now one of the plastic strips you put on to tell yo and a regular thomemter inside the tank.. i dont think thier right cause i stuck my hand in to get something out and it felt kinda cool..so i think i will do that tommorrow..

The little stick on thermometers are often inaccurate. I have one but it is off about 2-3 degrees from my temperature controller. My Coralife digital that I use in my nano is off about 1.5 degrees from the controller.

The little stick on thermometers are often inaccurate. I have one but it is off about 2-3 degrees from my temperature controller. My Coralife digital that I use in my nano is off about 1.5 degrees from the controller.

CarmieJo, is the sensor probe for your controller located in the same position as the sensor probe for the Coralife Digital Thermometer? If not this could be the cause for the varience and also most probes for controllers are constructed to a much higher standard then the Coralife sensors which brings us back to the saying. "You get what you pay for". :-)

Oh, I use the Coralife in my nano but "calibrated" it to my controller. In my experience they are consistently off so I know that it is really 1.5 degrees warmer in my tank than the thermometer says. Truly a couple of degrees doesn't make a difference when you stay in the middle of the range. Now if you run your tank at either edge of the "comfort zone" that much off will make a difference.

okay so i think i have alge..loli think i have the kind thats caled hair alge cause it looks liek hair.. there isnt alot but its deffinately there..what are your suggestions?

test your water (both in tank AND source water) for phosphates (PO4) first. then if that is 0, we can narrow down what could be causing it. i would test you source water first. i think you are buying it somewhere ?? if so ... test theirs. it could be coming from a lot of places. if you tesy your tank water, you could get a false reading because the algae is consuming it all and there will be nothing to show up on the test.

cool ok .. i will.. and i do buy it. the salt water from the LFS

i thought i read some where that alge is natural tho?.. maybe that was something else?

its not alot.. but it is becoming a bit ugly lol..

i would test their water first. it is probably about time to change out their RO/DI filters, an honest mess up, IMO.

well the box says it comes from the ocean its acctually ocean water at least that is what it says

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01284.jpg

oh and hows this for a surprise..the little burgandy spots on the rock ive seen.. i was looking at this alge website.. and its corraline alge.. well its not a lot its jsut a few specks here and there.. ohh balls..

can you get a macro pic of that spot ?? from that pic it looks alot like a Diatom bloom to me.

yea i cant get it any closer i tried.. but what i did do tho is i siphoned the alge on the sand out and some of it off the rockand then i did a water change..so i guess that is cool for now..the shrimp is still alive and healthy hes happy when i feed him i put the food between my fingers and he eats right out of my hand its the coolest thing ever lol..im going to the fish store tommorrow to get some things i lowerd the amount of time the light stays on because i seen that that helps the algae growand i think there is some kind of treatment you can do for the bloom so i guess i will get that tommorrow

I would not add any algae treatment. Your tank is pretty new and the golden brown stuff looks like diatoms to me as well. Diatoms are just a part of your tank becoming established and they will go away on their own. How much are you feeding the shrimp? I'd test the NSW but I'd be really ticked off if it has nitrate or phosphate in it.

Hey Yall!..its been a while since i posted last my tanks is wonderful and flourishing.. the alge has slowed down and isnt as much of a problem as i thought it would be...the levels are still perfect and im stil ldoing a water change every week.i added a blenny and two Clowns to the tank..they are doing splendid..i named the blenny Rocky cause he looks like a rock when hes all blended into the rocks lol.. and there is Molly and Polly..they are so freeking cute..when i go to feed Jacques my shrimp by hand they come close to my hand and then swim away .. go and then swim away.. well i am finished i think i have plenty in the tank now.. and sometime in the future i will upgrade.. its funny when Rocky was alone with Jacque he never would come out of the cave ..but now that Molly and Polly are there he comes out alot more.. its nice to seem him out and about because hes so neat to look at.

Well i am chaing the fishes names cause i found out the meanings.. and its Molly is a Sea of bitterness and Polly is Sorrow..yea i didnt like that lol.. so these are my two favorite movie Character names...Christine and Joanna...Christine from Phantom of the Opera and Joanna from Sweeney Todd.. yea i like that lol

Cool. I'm glad to hear everything is progressing smoothly. How about some updated pics?

Good deal! I'd like to see a new pictures too. :)

yea im working on it...but christine and Joanna move so fast and Rocky moves so quick when i come up to the glass but im trying!

Okay guys.. so im looking at Christine and Joanna and Joanna is plump..like in the tummy plump and i see some like little black dots looks liek eggs?.. i think she might be pregnant!...what do i do ? i dont know the first thing about fishie babies i mean ive seen dividers and what not..but what do i do when they get big?..oh lord..fantastic

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01315.jpg This is Rocky!

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01322.jpgChristine she LOVES the camera everytime i bring it up to the tank she swims right up to it lol and hangs around

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01326.jpg Joanna Hard to get a good shot of her shes camera Shy

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01330.jpg My Little Rocky..he pokes his head out to investigate

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01334.jpg Mr. Jacques Chillaxin in the cave

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q282/Charmedone0398/DSC01338.jpg Top view

looking good, you can send me one of the babies !! lol

they will seriously most likely end up as fish food though, unless you are prepared to raise them.

how would you raise them tho lol..i feel bad if they havve then and then eat them lol..

Here are a couple of shows on clownfish that should help you.
http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/podcast-episodes/4360-clownfish-part-1-intro-podcast-episode-100-a.html
http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/podcast-episodes/4435-clownfish-part-2-breeding-podcast-episode-101-a.html

Okay.. so jsut a quick question...when should the filter cabrbon be changed?..because i have a regular HOB filter on my tank....my boyfriend keeps saying we need to change the carbon part int he filter because its getting dirty and what not?...now i think i read some where to just rise it? or should i change it?..i dont want to do ne thing to my tank since the levels are all perfect and my little fishy buddies are all happy and healthy ...so changing something up scares me..because i dont want to change something and have my happy little habitat go tro hell..also i want to get more LR maybe lik 8 lbs more?...if i do that will it make the tank recycle again?..

The carbon will get depleted. I would replace the filter as soon as it looks dirty. The detritus on and in it could start raising your nitrate levels.

I agree with Carmie. Carbon is theorized to have a useful life measured in hours to a few days at best. It's not technicaly necessary to change the carbon that often, but you should definitely wash the detritus off the cartridge as soon as it looks dirty.

There's always the potential for a mini-cycle when adding any new rock.

:( well today.. i woke up to find Mr. Jacques dead..i thought he was molting but..he wasnt moving.. and i had to make a decision for the rest of the fish...i decided to take jacques out of the tank and put him in a seprate container to see if anything changed....it didnt..he passed away late last night while we were sleeping..im so sad..he was fine yesterday.. and now hes not..the nitrates were a bit high..so im doing a big water change.. i cleaned off the carbon filter.. and tonight im going out and getting a new filter cartraige..well.. my first hurdle...this sucks.. i love my fish.. and my shrimp.. well.. the fish seem to vbe fine.. i fed them..they are swimming around wondering what the hell is going on lol..i might get some new rock..but if i do .. will that hurt my fish?

I'm sorry about Mr. Jacques. I have found shrimp to be very sensitive to water quality. If your nitrates were high that may be the culprit. I think a water change is a good idea but make sure that all your parameters are dead on. I might hold off on the rock or only add a small piece of fully cured rock.

yea.. im going to wait on the rock..i put the new carbon in and things seem to be fine the nitrates went down..and i know thats why the shrimp died..and everyone else is looking good..the fish are happy and swimming..and that is all that matters.. im starting to think i might get a bigger tank in the future..

Uh oh, a bigger tank, then another tank, you will have a fish room if you don't watch out!

LOL yea.. one day LOL..i think im getting the hang of this though..im so happy with this one i am starting to think about the next one ill get and i know i want to get a bigger one with a better light and some coral..the rock is nice and all but its so bland i see everyones tanks and they are so beautiful with all of the corals and anemones and just all the cool colorful animals i want some LOL

I hear you!

the only thing thats holding me back on corals now are the lights... =( my lights aren't good enough to grow corals under them... i tried....and failed....i need to save up for metal halides... maybe when i move out and have more room for a nice 300g tank then ill get all that fancy stuff...lol