wvfisher BC14

[wvfisher]

Here is a tank shot taken this afternoon. I have a small CUC and I hope to get some more later this week. I have ordered some zoas from Mr, Coral and will get them sometime next week. He offers free shipping for our area. You can't beat that. I have a question for everybody. Should I be feeding my hermit crabs any extra? If so, what? I have put a small piece of seaweed salad in but i don't know if thats enough.

[CarmieJo]

I'd just give them a couple of pieces of flake food until you have fish. After yuo have fish the hermits are on their own as far as food goes.

[wvfisher]

Here are a few pictures taken today. I have a question, does coraline algae come in lime green? If you look at a couple of these pictures especially the top down you can see something growing on a couple of the Marco Rocks and I don't know what it is. It doesn't look like HA.

[Phurst]

It does come in green, but I'm not sure that's what this is. What does it feel like? Can you scratch it? How fast is it growing? I wouldn't expect coralline to start at the top, right under the lights, but I would expect some form of algae to start there. That's a Marco rock, right? It was dry base rock, correct? I think we're looking at algae here.

[wvfisher]

It might be algae but its not slimy and it doesn't scratch off easy. There is a snail sitting right on it and it doesn't seem the least bit interested.

[CarmieJo]

Was it there when you added the rock?

[wvfisher]

Was it there when you added the rock?

No, I don't think so but now I have a full blown green algae bloom. Glass is covered. Slime on top of water and a good bit of algae in water. I think this is part of the normal process. Should I do a water change. All my chemical parameters are at 0. Salinity is 1.024 Ph is 8.2 and temp is 79. Thanks for the help.

[Phurst]

I don't think I'd call that much algea "normal", but it's nothing to freak out about. I think I'd start changing some water now, and keep changing it regularly now. Did you get around to adding a cleanup crew? Assuming there are no corals or other photosynthetic creatures in there, you might keep the lights out for a while too. Algae is normal, but it's still somthing you shouldn't let get out of hand.

[wvfisher]

Yes, I have a clean-up crew.7 hermits and 9 snails. I think I will need some more snails. I hope to get some zoas this week some time. I will do a water change tomorrow. I hope that will help.

[Phurst]

It should help. You may want to hold of on the zoas until things get under controll, especialy if you have to go without lights for a while.

[wvfisher]

They are already ordered....

[wvfisher]

Well it has been over a month since I set up my tank and everything is going well. I have a royal gamma, featherduster, coralbanded shrimp and of course my CUC. I have a couple of zoas and I would like to add some more. I was talking to my LFS and he suggested a clam. I wonder if it would do well with my standard lighting. Any comments? Also I would like to put in a clownfish, really I would love to put in a mated pair but I don't think my tank is big enough. Do you? As far a corals are considered. I want my reef to look "natural" so I don't want to just dump a lot of frags in. I want to put in some nice pieces but am not sure what will do well with my lighting. Here are a few new pictures to show you how it is doing. I had just fed some reef plankton to get everyone to come out. That is why the tank looks so dirty.

[CarmieJo]

I've never kept clams but I think that they need more light than the stock lighting. I am conservative when is comes to stocking, I have 2 fish in my 24 and I think that 3 in a 14 would be too much.

As far as corals go, mushrooms and xenia would do fine. Pocillopora and digitata do OK under PC's.

[wvfisher]

Well here is my latest update with pics. I have received a couple of corals from a friend and also bought a toadstool coral and a yellow polyp coral. I also got my last two fish. A pair of clowns. I am not going to put anymore fish in tank. I want to put some more corals but I want to wait for awhile.

[V]

its coming along nicely bud. plenty of swimming area, & growth potential.
just make sure your glass cleaner is properly sealed if your leaving it in the tank.

[wvfisher]

Thanks Veriann for that reminder, I never thought anything about it. I will check. I am having a problem with crytobacteria right now. I don't think my water parameters are out. Everything is zero. I don't have a phosphate test kit. I don't know for sure what is causing it. I have been really careful about not over feeding. Are there any CUC that will work on this? I was wondering about an Emerald Crab or a Fighting Conch? Any suggestions?

[CarmieJo]

Increased flow, more frequent water changes (siphoning up the cyano), and decreased nutrients all help control it. I did not go back & read your whole thread, are you using RO/DI water?. Frozen foods often include phosphate in the binder. So, if you are feeding frozen I recommend thawing it in a strainer and then rinsing with RO.

[wvfisher]

Hey everyone its been a long time. I had a very hectic spring. I had a heart attack on April 19th and then I had 4 bypasses on April 30th. I am doing ok. I am in rehab and it helps. I have an aquarium problem though. I have lots of hair algae! I think part of it is because of al the "help" when I was in the hospital. I have a lawnmower blenny but he doesn't seem to like the algae. I know my tank is too small to put a tang in it. Any suggetions?

[PhotoJohn]

sry to hear about the problems. The best way to get rid of the algae will be water changes/decreased feeding. The algae will be eating/growing on any excess nutrients. If you still have cheto in there keep it, it will help starve the hair A. You should also do frequent water changes to help lower nutrients. You may also want to build one of these: http://www.talkingreef.com/forums/po...sode-88-a.html
I will be putting one on my 75g

also you can pull the algae out when going water changes, pull it out and suck it up right away, you dont want it floating about

[CarmieJo]

WV, sorry to hear about your health problems but glad to hear you are doing better.

When you do water changes you can pull the rocks out and scrub them in the water change water. You may also want to add some Phosban or similar to the sump area. You can use many of these ideas simultaneously.