I put my LR in first, then my LS, but there was only room for a thick layer infront, will this cause a problem in the future?

[kilofey]

So I read to put the LR in first, then the LS, when I did, I realized I didnt leave room behind the LR for the LS. Since its against the wall, I cant get behind there with a siphon, will this cause a problem down the line? I just set it up yesterday, should I rearrange?
I really dont want to rearrange if I dont absolutely have to because my LR came with a couple soft corals and polyps and such, and theres some itty bitty starfish on the LR that I dont want to kill

 

[monsinour]

Odds are the starfish is an asterna and you will want to get rid of it anyway. Why a siphon behind? your CUC will clean the sand bed. Just ensure that you have the proper amount of sand in the tank.

 

[kilofey]

Theyre little white starfish, I like them I googled them, and yes they are the ones you were describeing, why are they bad? and there is 2 (that I know of) baby black brittle stars.
Anyway, it just seems like I should siphon behind the rock, if I dont need to, then great lol. I dont have a CUC yet other than the 6 or so starfish and 2 adult brittle stars and 2 babies and 2 urchins and a snail that came with my ls and lr (which I dont expect any of them to make it since the tank is so new, but it was either I take them or the guy lets them dry out and uses them as bathroom decor). I have a 75gal with roughly 75 lbs of ls and lr, the other question I had is that since all the ls is infront of the lr, in some places, it is very thick, will that be an issue later on? Ive only done fw tanks and I know gasses can build up and whipe your whole tank out, im just scared of my tank crashing one day and I wanna make sure im not screwing myself over before I start.
Also, I have bio balls in my sump, I now know I should remove all of them, but is it safe to do it all at once? The tank has had the lr & ls for 24 hrs (there was like 10 lbs previously for like a week) I wouldnt immagine there would be much on them yet. What should I replace them with? Another bag of filter fiber that stays submerged possibly? And yes im running carbon in the tank. Other than the inverts, I will not be adding any fish until I know my tank is stable. Should I be feeding any of the above listed critters? If so, what?

 

[flower]

Hi,
The little stars are harmless and you don't need to worry about them. I have a bunch in both tanks..coral and all, they don't bother a thing.
The urchins are a seriously bad idea to have in a new tank. They eat a ton of algae (including the pretty blue/purple coraline algae) and a new tank does not have enought to keep 1, let alone 2 alive. Remove them and take them back to the LFS....you don't wan't them to die and rot up in the rocks from starvation a month from now.
The bio balls are a hassle to clean but there is nothing wrong with them. The idea behind the balls are like you already said..a place for good bacteria to grow, and your correct you should not remove it all at once. Pads should be removed weekly, replace bio balls with rock rubble, but I read that even rock rubble needs to be cleaned...so I would just keep the bio balls if you do that. I don't have anything in my sump except my skimmer and a heater.
The critters in the tank that came on the rock eat algae, so what they eat must grow on the rock...Besides the urchins I wouldn't worry.
The sand don't concern yourself with, a good CUC of snails will keep the sand stirred so no toxins get trapped in there.

 

[kilofey]

My filter fiber has to be changed weekly? ? I have a whole package of blue filter fiber with the carbon inside it (i wrapped the filter fiber around the carbon like a burrito). I thought I could just replace it when I replace the carbon or rinse it in some tank water, no?
My lfs who usually takes fish is in the process of moving and arent taking any fish/inverts at the moment. They are the only lfs around me, so I dont have much of a choice but to try & keep them and hope theres enough on the rock and sand for them to eat... Is there anything else I can feed them? It was either me taking them, or he dries them out :-/

 

[1guydude]

you can turkey baster the back of ur tank! Turkey basters come in real handy for SW folks

 

[monsinour]

I had 4 urchins survive the cycle in my tank. But i was also told that my LR was better than most. GL with the urchins.
As far as asterna, they reproduce fast. If your not careful, you might be in the market for a harlequin shrimp.

 

[kilofey]

monsinour- that would be okay :-} I looovvveee harlequin shrimps! I think theyre gorgeous... I would rehome my brittle stars in order to have one (id just feel terrible watching it eat my brittles) thats down the road though when they do start reproducing, for now I will enjoy my brittles.
Also, where did u get your lr? A lfs or from someones tank? I got mine from someones already established tank (same tank the urchins came from)... Do you suppose it would be ok if they still have the lr & ls they were with previously? Id really like to keep them, my purple urchin is my fav (the kind with long spines)... I also have a blueish whiteish grey urchin with short little spines, do u know what it might be called? I know, not the best of discription

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilofey http:///forum/thread/386510/i-put-my-lr-in-first-then-my-ls-but-there-was-only-room-for-a-thick-layer-infront-will-this-cause-a-problem-in-the-future#post_3395512
monsinour- that would be okay :-} I looovvveee harlequin shrimps! I think theyre gorgeous... I would rehome my brittle stars in order to have one (id just feel terrible watching it eat my brittles) thats down the road though when they do start reproducing, for now I will enjoy my brittles.
Also, where did u get your lr? A lfs or from someones tank? I got mine from someones already established tank (same tank the urchins came from)... Do you suppose it would be ok if they still have the lr & ls they were with previously? Id really like to keep them, my purple urchin is my fav (the kind with long spines)... I also have a blueish whiteish grey urchin with short little spines, do u know what it might be called? I know, not the best of discription
Harlequin shrimp won't eat the brittle stars, but they will eat the asterinas and can really tear through a batch quickly. My 155 was COVERED in asterinas, threw in two harlequin shrimp, and came back with almost no more stars in about 2 months time. They're great for controlling the asterina problem, but you have to keep in mind what you'll do with them once the stars are gone. They won't accept any other type of food, so after some time, you may find yourself buying starfish just to feed your shrimp. That's almost the point I'm at right now.
Having established rock and sand will definitely help the urchins. Just keep an eye on t hem, they can really make a mess of the tank if they die. The purple ones are fairly hardy. The "blueish whiteish grey" one sounds like a blue tuxedo urchin.

 

[cryptics]

You can always throw in an algae sheet a few times a week. The Urchins will love it and will last until you start getting diatoms and GHA with the cycle. You will like the urchins then

 

[kilofey]

Thanks tommielynn, I googled blue tuxedo urchins, and its much lighter than those, more on the whiteish grey side mixed with a slight sky blue... Anyhoo, maybe ill post some pix.
Cryptis, thankyou for the advice, I have them on craigslist right now to rehome them, but if I can give yhem something to eat, in addition to the lr and ls they came with, maybe theyll have a chance, theyre pretty active right now, so they seem happy, especially the blueish one, he zooms all over the tank, the purple on is a little slower but he gets around well

 

[kilofey]

Thanks tommielynn, I googled blue tuxedo urchins, and its much lighter than those, more on the whiteish grey side mixed with a slight sky blue... Anyhoo, maybe ill post some pix
Cryptis, thankyou for the advice, I have them on craigslist right now to rehome them, but if I can give yhem something to eat, in addition to the lr and ls they came with, maybe theyll have a chance, theyre pretty active right now, so they seem happy, especially the blueish one, he zooms all over the tank, the purple on is a little slower but he gets around well

 

[cryptics]

I have the same two. The LFS called the little one a Rainbow pincushion urchin. He will zoom around all day. The purple one is mainly nocturnal so you don't see him move much. The pincushion is going to drive you nuts eventually (mine does). He tends to pick up stuff and throw it on his back for protection. Mainly snails and stuff but mine (like others) has taken to grabbing frags and hiding them on me.

 

[kilofey]

Hahaha, how annoying, funny, but annoying im sure.
I googled the rainbow pincushion urchin and I couldnt find a pic of any one specific urchin. My phone wont let me post pix on this site, ill get on my computer soon & post one

 

[kilofey]

That actually explains how the little frag I have in the tank ended up knocked over (upside down smooshing the frag, go figure) when I went to look at the tank this morning XD I think ill name it martha stuart cause it already seems to be a little ******** decorator.
The purple urchin got himself between the glass and the intake tube going from the tank to the sump, he cant fit in the hole and the tube is large so I wouldnt think the suction would be very strong, but should I still move him away from it or just see what happens for a day? It doesnt seem to be impedeing the water flow or anything, at least I dont notice the water level in my sump dropping

 

[cryptics]

He should be fine. Mine spends days on the powerheads and doesn't bother him at all

 

[kilofey]

Really? Like sucked to the powerheads intake tube? Wierd, theyre tough little guys lol, ill let him be. I didnt want to move him cause I didnt want to break his spikes off. Maybe he just went for a day at the spa lol.

 

[monsinour]

my LR came from a LFS. Pics of it can be found in my 56g thread. Pics of my really large urchin are in there too. I had to give away the urchin as it was too big and knocking things over and eating all of the coraline.

 

[kilofey]

Wow, I wish I had time to read all 46 pages of your thread! Theres some awesome pix and great information.
did you get your sump issue figured out for when the power goes out?
also... My parameters... Is my tank cycled after 2 days? ??
Sg- 1.022 (which I will slightly raise with next water change)
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 40 (which I know is kind of high, possibly from adding LS to the tank and fliffing around debris?)
Ph- 8.2
Temp- 77.4 degrees
EDIT: btw, I tested ammonia, ph, & nitrite with a second test and they matched)
Should I mix some sw today and do a partial wc tomorrow to get the nitrates down or should I give it another couple days & see what happens? Keep in mind, tank has only been running for about 48 hrs... But, theres 2 urchins and 2 adult brittle stars and a small snail
(for anyone who hasnt been following my thread, I got the ls, lr, urchins, brittle stars, and snail all from the same well established tank, it was either I take them, or the guy said he would let them dry out and use them as bathroom decor)

 

[monsinour]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kilofey http:///forum/thread/386510/i-put-my-lr-in-first-then-my-ls-but-there-was-only-room-for-a-thick-layer-infront-will-this-cause-a-problem-in-the-future#post_3395636
Wow, I wish I had time to read all 46 pages of your thread! Theres some awesome pix and great information.
Use the seach thread feature for what your looking for. Works well.
did you get your sump issue figured out for when the power goes out?
Yea, bought a return tube and made a hole in it just fine.
also... My parameters... Is my tank cycled after 2 days? ??
Probably not. Hold off on WC and add a piece of raw shrimp. Leave the shrimp in there until you see ammonia in your tests. what kind of test kit you using? Once you see amonia, take the shrimp out and continue to monitor the water. As long as ammonia and nitrite goes down to 0 again, you should be all set.
In the begining, when there arent any inhabitants in the tank, you really dont need water mixed up at a moments notice. Once you get fish in there, you should have water ready for mixing at a moments notice. RO/DI water, yes?