Azfishgal New Tank Diary!
- Thread starter azfishgal
- Start date
azfishgal
Active Member
Originally Posted by saltn00b
cool! its exciting isnt it? FYI , you can drip acclimate all your inverts together
I did them seperate, three hours later they are all in.
I just wasn't sure if the emerald crabs would fight with the hermits and I wanted to do the cleaner shrimp by himself. Next time if I have a lot like that I'll use a larger bucket and do them all at once. I will post pics later. I'm pretty excited that I have some critters in my tank now.
The emerald crabs are going to town eating like crazy as is the hermits in the sump. You'd think they've never seen food before.
Snails are also doing a good job on the diatoms already, so I'm pretty happy.
cool! its exciting isnt it? FYI , you can drip acclimate all your inverts together
I did them seperate, three hours later they are all in.
azfishgal
Active Member
Today we added our first critters, 30 cerith snails, 30 nassarius snails, 1 cleaner shrimp (wanted 3 but lfs only had 1), 3 emerald crabs and 14 hermit crabs for the sump (asked for 10, but they tossed in a few more). Here are some pics, not the greatest, but I'll try and get better ones when I get back from vacation.
Zebra Hermit
Emerald Crab
This is as far out as our Cleaner Shrimp would come. As soon as I took the picture he crawled backwards back under the rock.
Zebra Hermit
Emerald Crab
This is as far out as our Cleaner Shrimp would come. As soon as I took the picture he crawled backwards back under the rock.
azfishgal
Active Member
We made it back from our week long vacation and everyone is still alive!!!! :jumping: :cheer:
We had a great time at Disneyland and Mickey sais "Hi".
The tank looks great and the clean up crew has done a great job, we can now see the purple coraline again.
Nemo and Marlin did great in there QT while I was gone and I tested the water and it's still at 1.009 (keeping the salinity low to kill any ich that might be left over). Two more weeks and I will slowly raise the salinity and then add them to their permanent home. Monday I'll probably order some more snails, emerald crabs and two more cleaner shrimp. I did have some red slim stuff on top of my macroalgea (cheato), not sure what it is, havn't taken it out yet to see. I'm thinking maybe red algea? :notsure: I had the lights on the entire time in the sump with the light in the main tank on for 7 hours during the day. I'm now leaving the sump light off during the day and on at night, to see if that will help, and I will try and pull the red stuff off later. On a good note, I did buy some more cheato before I left and it doesn't look like any of it died.
Well, back to laundry and all the work that comes from being gone for a week.
The tank looks great and the clean up crew has done a great job, we can now see the purple coraline again.
Well, back to laundry and all the work that comes from being gone for a week.
goodwin9
Active Member
Well, it's about time.... Glad to hear that every thing is well. I get the red slime in my fug on the algea that is very near to the top of the water. I've been told that a little more water flow will help reduce that, but I chose to skim it off in the net. Works well for me.
azfishgal
Active Member
Originally Posted by goodwin9
Well, it's about time.... Glad to hear that every thing is well. I get the red slime in my fug on the algea that is very near to the top of the water. I've been told that a little more water flow will help reduce that, but I chose to skim it off in the net. Works well for me.
So sorry to keep you all waiting. And yes, the red slime is at the top of the water. I think I'll try what you are doing because right now my flow is perfect and I'm not sure how I would increase it. Besides the flow is pretty strong as it is, so I don't want to mess with it.
Well, it's about time.... Glad to hear that every thing is well. I get the red slime in my fug on the algea that is very near to the top of the water. I've been told that a little more water flow will help reduce that, but I chose to skim it off in the net. Works well for me.
azfishgal
Active Member
Originally Posted by Katz
Welcome back. Did you get your doors?
Katz
No, no doors.
Not sure when I will get them now. I have a feeling I'm going to be living with my styrofoam doors and no canopy for some time. I'm trying not to nag about it, but it would be nice to have it finished.
Welcome back. Did you get your doors?
Katz
No, no doors.
azfishgal
Active Member
Originally Posted by Kevin34
How deep is your sand bed? How many pounds of sand do you have in there? Also is your live rock fully cured yet and is your tank done cycling?
I have 100 lbs of sand (that includes what's in the sump), it's about 2" deep or so, some areas less, some areas more depending on the current blowing it around. According to this site I would need 105 lbs of sand for a 2" sand base. With my 100 lbs I bought I have a deep sand base (close to 4") in my sump. So, if the sand was spread out evenly in my DT it would be less than 2". I have 160 lbs of live rock and yes, it's fully cured and the tank has cycled. I'm just waiting for my clowns to be in QT two more weeks before putting them in, then I will order my next fish, probably a lawnmower blennie or jawfish, and then they will be in QT for three weeks before they go in my tank. So I'll have about 3-4 weeks between adding new tenants. Long time to wait for a full tank, but going slow will hopefully prevent any disasters.
How deep is your sand bed? How many pounds of sand do you have in there? Also is your live rock fully cured yet and is your tank done cycling?
I have 100 lbs of sand (that includes what's in the sump), it's about 2" deep or so, some areas less, some areas more depending on the current blowing it around. According to this site I would need 105 lbs of sand for a 2" sand base. With my 100 lbs I bought I have a deep sand base (close to 4") in my sump. So, if the sand was spread out evenly in my DT it would be less than 2". I have 160 lbs of live rock and yes, it's fully cured and the tank has cycled. I'm just waiting for my clowns to be in QT two more weeks before putting them in, then I will order my next fish, probably a lawnmower blennie or jawfish, and then they will be in QT for three weeks before they go in my tank. So I'll have about 3-4 weeks between adding new tenants. Long time to wait for a full tank, but going slow will hopefully prevent any disasters.
azfishgal
Active Member
Originally Posted by Kevin34
Sounds like you have a good plan. I was wondering about how much sand you had because I was planning on getting a jawfish and they need 3-4 inches of sand to make their burrows. So you will need more sand for a jawfish. Just a heads up.
I was thinking of pilling up some additional sand on one of the sides, because I don't want a 4" sand base for my entire tank. I think it will work out ok.
Sounds like you have a good plan. I was wondering about how much sand you had because I was planning on getting a jawfish and they need 3-4 inches of sand to make their burrows. So you will need more sand for a jawfish. Just a heads up.
I was thinking of pilling up some additional sand on one of the sides, because I don't want a 4" sand base for my entire tank. I think it will work out ok.
azfishgal
Active Member
Went to the lfs and picked up some more snails, another cleaner shrimp and two feather dusters.
I'm having so much fun with this hobby!
I think this picture is the best one I've taken so far of my tank. Turned out pretty good I think.
Feather duster #2
These nassarius snails are so fun to watch. They all stay under the sand, but the minute I put some Omega One pellets in the tank, it's like the bottom of the tank turns into the invasion of the snails. I've never seen snails fight before, but boy, these guys duke it out for that pellet. The cleaner shrimp also comes down and has stolen a few from the snails. My girls make sure I wait to feed them after they get home from school, because it's so fun to watch.
Full tank shot taken today. Feather dusters are on each end, but they are hard to see. You can also see the two cleaner shrimp if you look real close.
I think this picture is the best one I've taken so far of my tank. Turned out pretty good I think.
Feather duster #2
These nassarius snails are so fun to watch. They all stay under the sand, but the minute I put some Omega One pellets in the tank, it's like the bottom of the tank turns into the invasion of the snails. I've never seen snails fight before, but boy, these guys duke it out for that pellet. The cleaner shrimp also comes down and has stolen a few from the snails. My girls make sure I wait to feed them after they get home from school, because it's so fun to watch.
Full tank shot taken today. Feather dusters are on each end, but they are hard to see. You can also see the two cleaner shrimp if you look real close.
