Explosif's 65 Gallon (Img Heavy) - Page 2

Explosif · 02-12-2007, 11:35 PM

I added a 20 lb bag of live sand and 2 little hermits. They are great to watch! I'm really not sure what im going to end up stocking in this! there are so many beautiful fish let alone corals!

Explosif · 02-15-2007, 12:24 AM

added 20 lbs more live rock. theres some wierd looking anenomes on it, no pictures yet.

Explosif · 02-15-2007, 02:26 AM

SO heres some pics, I have some aiptisa anems that came on the rocks =/ as well as some cyano, but all is well! I found a really tiny Asterina Starfish on my glass! its really really tiny, but way cool! A hermit crab came a long too!!

heres some pics

Whats a good way to counter these anems? I've heard good things about Copperband Butterflies?

Thanks guys!

veriann · 02-15-2007, 06:17 AM

wow, sweet start-up. your have the space in your favour for a nice future set-up.

I wouldnt worry about the cyno, cause all experience that. You want to addresss your triffid problem though, & real quick. They can reproduce like crazy, even in total darkness, & once they have a foot hold, its an absolute night mare to rid the tank of them. They love over feeding, which you dont have that problem yet, & even if you think youve got them with manual removal, chances are theres some triffid tissue left that can re-spawn quite easy.

Copper is easy, but the fact of the matter is, if your planning corals you can scrap that idea, much the pitty too.

yes you are correct, some fish can eat them, butterfly, copperband & some angles dig the taste for some reason, best while the triffids are small if only for the sting factor they can punch at a later date. But then what are you going to do, take the fish back?, these fish are beautiful but belong in larger aquariums or in the ocean cause they grow large, & nip any & all corals without favourtisms.

grab a syringe of pure white vinagar or kalk liquid & inject the suckers as close to the base of the foot as you can. you might have a fighting chance of heading off a potential pest before it becomes one.
Just in future, & this isnt "I told you so" i would suggest the rock your looking to purchase> look at it hard in the holding tanks, study the organisms that live on it & try to determin friend from foe. if the tanks are hooked up to a protein skimmer, wonderful, ask the LFS to drop just enough food to tain the water & see what moves or comes out. Plus i know your starting out, so its easy to say after the fact what to look for, open any marine book under "pests" & you'll have an idea on what to look for.

anyways. i like what your doing with the place, so keep it up.
also glad your loven the marine side.

Explosif · 02-15-2007, 11:58 AM

thanks for the great reply. I ended up gettng 20 lbs of the rock for abround 20 bucks, and I didnt even know what aptasia looked like at the time, but now I know! Its all a learning experiance!!
Where do I get syringes?

Alex

mikellini · 02-15-2007, 06:50 PM

the local pharmacy will sell diabetic syringes for cheap, most likely

Explosif · 02-16-2007, 09:18 PM

so did some water tests today
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
0-.5 nitrate, I couldent tell.
79 degrees
8.4 ph

Now i need to figure out what to put in there!!

Any ideas?

iglowce · 02-17-2007, 06:43 PM

i have that asternia starfish. are they bad??

Explosif · 02-17-2007, 08:13 PM

It just hangs out on the side of my tank, I havent seen it do much of anything lately!

Explosif · 02-20-2007, 11:26 PM

did the aptasia treatment of death today, They sold syringes at my LFS, I ended up using more vinegar than I thought I would, but it looks to have gotten the job done. I still see a few tiny ones here and there, but the big ones look pretty toast. It was relatively easy, Just stick the needle in their mouth and squeeze!

I also picked up 2 little green clown gobies, Probably the happiest ones ever, they have a 65 gallon tank all to themselves!!

Danamck · 02-21-2007, 02:24 AM

Alex -

You must get all the aptasia - even the little ones - and nows the time.

I will now share with you the best advice I have ever gotten in my many years of fish keeping: be patient. I know - it's hard. You've got this big empty tank. The water parameters all check out great. Trust me - take your time. There is a saying in fish and reefkeeping that goes "nothing good ever happens quickly" and this is so true.

And while I'm on my soap box - if you can pick up a 10 gallon tank, a sponge filter, an air pump, a heater, and a cheap light. Then read up on all the threads about QT.

I have now gotten off my soap box and wish you nothing but success with your new tank.

Explosif · 02-21-2007, 10:19 AM

Well theres some good news. I checked out my tank this morning, all the aptasia are gone. There are 2 left on the substrate, but il will grab those suckers when im done with class today. I spotted 2 more starfish this morning as well.

Quote:

And while I'm on my soap box - if you can pick up a 10 gallon tank, a sponge filter, an air pump, a heater, and a cheap light. Then read up on all the threads about QT.

I already have a QT tank setup, its just not for fresh water, but since im done adding fish to my cichlid setups, I guess I can just convert it, only thing I don't have is a light. Is it really necessary? and instead of a sponge filter I have one of those little Aquaclear power filters hooked up to it. Will that work out alright?

Shananagans · 02-22-2007, 01:48 PM

Im very interested to see what you do with this tank. I am about to start a 65G tank, but my dimesions are diffrent. I am going to do a reef tank, and have a good general idea of what i want to do, but not completly. I also am going from cichlid to salt. Any ideas with what you will stock it with?

Explosif · 02-22-2007, 06:12 PM

Not really yet, problably be full of peaceful and semi-agressive fish. Its been an adventure, there seems to be a lot more exciting things happening in the salt world. All different types of good and bad things. Its almost like a whole nother hobby! take your time do your research, and understand its okay to add things piece by piece!!

Enjoy your time here at talking reef because Ive grown to love it here!!

Explosif · 03-22-2007, 09:46 AM

Hey everyone, just a quick update. My hair algae has gotten a lot worse, probably because I dont have a cleaning crew. But waiting has really done some things! I see bristle worms coming in and out of all my live rock at night,
So quick update. Today I picked up a new MH fixture!! its a 2x175 watt 10k and 2x64 watt actinics PC. And wow check the ripples on the sand! its nuts! however, One of my lamps took a few tries to start this morning, where the right side bulb started on the first sideNow the bulbs that came with it are 5 month old ushio 10ks. How soon do i need to change these? The PCs are 6 months old. Any idea on how soon I need t ochange these out? The guy I bought them from also gave me a free GSP polyp. How should I attatch these to my LR??

Thanks A lot
Alex