Sooo I was shopping craigslist to upgrade to a bigger freshwater aquarium and here I am

[Sheldog]

LIke the title says, I was shopping craigslist to buy a larger aquarium with stand and found a deal I couldn't pass up. This is my setup DSA 65 Reef tank. 20 gal. refugium, 55 pounds of live sand about 40 pounds of live rock. 4 fish and a shrimp. Two korali 750 GPH pumps in the main display and a Rio 17 H 1090 GPH return pump in the fuge. The light is a maxspect 160 watt 16K. and a skimmer plus I added extra filtration. The tank was previously set up running for 2 years. Its been 2 days since we it was moved and set up. Bought a test kit wanting to know where I am at. Figured I would have a small cycle due to the move and sand getting all stirred up. Not sure what I am doing but I read alot. I figured the first thing to do would be to add some peppermint shrimp to kill the Aiptasia that the previous owner has been combating with AiptasiaX for the last year. They are not very big but there is 1 maybe on every rock that I can see. Next would be to get a RO DI system. Would this be suitable?
http://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Reverse-Osmosis-50-Gallon/dp/B00DOG63OY/ref=pd_tcs_subst_hi_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0YVC78H9G6X2NGSV1PJV
I am not in a rush and appreciate taking my time to do things right. I have been reading day and night and still I have questions. Any questions, comments, advice, or criticism is welcome. O ya the fish: Tiger pistol shrimp who works night and day building a fort and relocating every rock 1/3 his size and smaller. I dont even know why I bothered making the sand nice and pretty. His friend the Goby, not sure what kind, hes a solid yellowish brown color. A sunset dottyback who is shy as hell. A beautiful blue Springer Damsel. And lastly the biggest guy in the tank a Lamarcks Angle. Really shes not that big, just not shy.

I'm very excited and feel like I'm spiraling into OCD heaven.

Ammonia.5
Phosphate 0
Nitrate 0
Calcium 420
Hardness 143.2
Nitrite 0

 

[jay0705]

First off welcome. Your the only person ive seen who also has the sunrise dotty back. Purple and yellow? Lol
Mine hates shrimp tho lol. They are not shy just give it a few days lol
your set up seems good tho, just watch the ammonia doesnt spike too high for the fish and inverts

 

[flower]

Hi, Welcome to the site...first off, get some stuff called Joes Juice, or Apasia X and zap the aptasia. You moved the rocks around, it's going to spread like wild fire and the shrimp won't be able to keep up. Once you have zapped all the aptasia you can find, the shrimp will make sure there are no more tiny baby ones cropping up, but you have to get the big ones that are in there first.

Next, I'm surprised you had any spike at all, the move should not have caused a spike if you kept all the rock, sand and equipment. Have some premixed saltwater on hand, and do water changes a few gallons a day until the ammonia reads 0.

I like the macroalgae, that will help you to keep parameters in check. They feed on ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and phosphates absorbing it to live on. As it grows, keep it trimmed down (called harvesting) and as you remove the over growth, you will be removing the nasty stuff from your system. Nice job on the rock work too, it looks great.

It's hard to tell in a picture, so just in case...the rocks need to be on the bottom of the tank, and sand around it. You can't build on shifting sand, many SW critters like to dig, and that can cause a rock slide, killing your critters or breaking the tank.

Until you get your RO/DI unit...purchase your RO water from Walmart or other grocery store with a refill water station. Don't use tap water or well water, it will make an algae nightmare over time.

 

[Sheldog]

The sand was very dirty wo while we were moving so i cleaned the hell out the sand and scraped the glass. The fact all that 75% of the water is new I thought waiting 2 or so weeks would be ok/good. The aiptasia is growing. I would like to drop some peppermint shrimp in asap. Could they handle the water parameters atm? Also is that ro system i linked good enough to get me by for a year or so? Or should i bite the bullet and just get all water from my lfs rill i can drop 150+ on a 5 stage system? I have a 20g planted freshwater in my office that could use the water too. I feel im right in the middle of needing/not needing a ro di system.

During feeding the morning the sunset came out and attacked the tiger pistol. The aggression was instantly returned by the Gobi and the angle.

The pistol shrimp as already holes under every rock in the sand.

Yes the sunrise is yellow purple yellow

 

[flower]

Hi,

Very little good bacteria is in the water, you could replace all the water and it wouldn't cause an ammonia spike. All the good bacteria is in the sand, rock and on the items in the tank, such as the power heads or décor. In the future.... remember when you clean the hell out of something, you destroy all the good bacteria. When moving an established tank, it's best to keep everything as "dirty" as it was when you moved it. That way the fish and critters in the tank will be safe from ammonia.

The peppermint shrimp will not eat large aptasia, nor be able to keep up with the growth. You disturbed the rock in the move (unavoidable) and the aptasia will now be stimulated to spread like fire, sending spores everywhere. Aptasia X is the answer to the problem before it becomes out of control. You can't add shrimp yet. Shrimp can't live in any kind of ammonia, they are very sensitive, and they also need to be acclimated very slow when you do get them.

Back in the day when miners were digging coal, they used a canary to let them know if the air was bad. The bird would die before it would affect the humans. So if the bird in the cage died, the men would get out. Shrimp are kind of like the canary... if the parameters are off, the shrimp will be the first to die.

 

[jay0705]

I agree w flower. Now w a ton of apatasia, either chemical , natural or both are needed. Once cycled your tank can house both inverts and fish that will eat it. Your border line if your tank could handle a copper banded butterfly. But they love apt. Also there is a file fish that eats it. Do some research and see what wrks for u and your tank

 

[Sheldog]

It seems that both chemical and natural methods are needed to remove it. Even when you x it, it still sends the spores out. Ya ive done alot of reading and still have more to go. My lfs recommended not getting a ro di due to cost of replacement filters and not needing enough of the water to justify the cost. Maybe they are right. Are there any down sides of using aiptasia x?

Thanks for all the comments

 

[jay0705]

Alot of people use it

 

[flower]

It seems that both chemical and natural methods are needed to remove it. Even when you x it, it still sends the spores out. Ya ive done alot of reading and still have more to go. My lfs recommended not getting a ro di due to cost of replacement filters and not needing enough of the water to justify the cost. Maybe they are right. Are there any down sides of using aiptasia x?

Thanks for all the comments

Hi,

Aptasia X is very safe to use, it's a pain in the butt sometimes to reach the dreaded aptasia you want to zap, but otherwise as long as you follow directions, it works great. You have to get very close WITHOUT touching it...and squirt the stuff right into it's little disk, it will fold over it and eat it up because it thinks it's yummy...then watch it melt right before your eyes. Once you get rid of the big ones, the tiny ones cropping up from spores, will be eaten by whatever critter you have that feeds on it.

Your LFS is crazy. I'm going to assume they would rather you purchase water from them. At least get an RO (reverse osmosis) unit, or purchase it from Walmart where they sell it for 37 cents a gallon, or go to any large grocery store with a refill station. You will need plenty of RO water, not only for water changes, but for top offs. It's also better for the family to drink. Whatever you do, don't use tap water...it's loaded with stuff your fish just don't need, such as fluoride. There is more in tap water then just chlorine, and it will give you SW tank nightmares of nuisance algae.

Just in case you don't know: Water evaporates but the salt doesn't, so to keep the SG stable, you just keep the water at the same water line you began with. Add just enough freshwater to bring the water back up to that line. (use RO or RO/DI water) We call it topping off the tank.