Newb Here.. Introducing myself..

meanbaby01

meanbaby01

Member
Hi there! I'm Stephanie, and for the past few years, I've always wanted to start a saltwater aqurium. I'd done freshwater for ages, and felt it was time to step it up. I ran a tank with CC and shell, and saltwater for almost 2 months before I got around to getting my live rock. I just brought it home a couple of hours ago, and I wanted to share with you all my rock, and its inhabitants. Mostly, I would like to know what the inhabitants are. To me its just "cute little red things" at the moment. Thanks!
1. This stuff is really strange. I would describe it as veins, but clearish, and in some places, there are bubbles in the 'tubes'.

2. These are my "cute little red things".

3. This little guy is really beautiful, and is a very vibrant orange (pic has no justice).

4. These are little bristle thingies.

5. This almost looks like a tiny little anemone.

And this is all three of my rocks...

If you know what any of the little "thingies" are, please let me know. I would like to gain a little know-how on my critters. I also seem to have these little tiny white 'bugs', are those not good?
~Stephanie~
 
kzoo

kzoo

Member
Red tube are worms, and #4 looks like a mushroom, has your tank cycled, what lights do you have?
 
meanbaby01

meanbaby01

Member
The red plant looking thing in #2 are worms?? Weird.. It has been running with salt for at least 2 months now, and I "fed" the tank to get it going. Its been rather stable, so I decided to put LR in it, finally. I have a 17W flourescent aquarium bulb. I know I need to get another one, what would anyone suggest.
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
Just a tip if you dont mind. While you have the chance, I'd get that crushed coral out of there and replace it with sand. Crushed coral tents to trap detritus and uneaten food and that will start to pollute your water giving you nitrate problems down the road. If you have sand, detritus and uneaten food will stay on top of it so your cleanup crew can deal with it before it becomes a problem for you. Other than that it looks like you're off to a good start. Nice rocks too. I would guess that your first picture is some sort of sponge, and the third picture is a mushroom. It looks to be doing alright but they usually require more than stock lighting. What size tank is it? What are your plans for it?
 
meanbaby01

meanbaby01

Member
Yikes! Well, now that I'm told, I regret spending that insane amount of money on the CC and shell. Can I mix it for now, or just layer the top with sand?
Its a 30 gallon tall, and I plan on getting some more rock in there (of course) and eventually work my way up to fish, and possibly some inverts. I really would like to have some clowns and gobies in there eventually, maybe an anemone for the clowns. Nothing too overwhelming, I'm just starting out.
 
kzoo

kzoo

Member
I would agree about the cc, If you want to keep any kind of coral you need more light. Thats a nice hitchhiker but the shroom may not do well with the light.
 
tim_12

tim_12

Member
Originally Posted by MeanBaby01
Yikes! Well, now that I'm told, I regret spending that insane amount of money on the CC and shell. Can I mix it for now, or just layer the top with sand?
Its a 30 gallon tall, and I plan on getting some more rock in there (of course) and eventually work my way up to fish, and possibly some inverts. I really would like to have some clowns and gobies in there eventually, maybe an anemone for the clowns. Nothing too overwhelming, I'm just starting out.
If you put sand on top it will just fall through the cc and it will all end up on the bottom. The longer you wait and the more things you put in there, the more you're going to have to move to get that cc out. Sounds like a good plan for the tank. Nice size to start out with too. Make sure you do your research before getting an anenome. Then need lots of light and special attention to water quiality and levels.
 
meanbaby01

meanbaby01

Member
Jake, don't harass me here, I'm seeking info.. You turd..
Thanks Tim!
Still wondering what some of my "critters" are.. :)
 
mcsd22

mcsd22

Member
Were did you get the rock from? Also get your cleaners in there now. They will take care of alot of problems. They are tube worms and you got a mushroom which is actually your first piece of coral! Get some lighting going soon.
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
Nothing a gallon of bleach cant handle. Just joking looks like you have some pretty good growth going on. Although I doubt it the first picture looks like silicone used to hold rocks together, #4 looks like red algae.
 
meanbaby01

meanbaby01

Member
Its def not silicone, it really feels squidgy and really odd.. Interesting how worms can look like a plant.. They aren't bad are they?
I got my rock from the LPS in town. She is the only person in town that sells saltwater fish and supplies. She gets the rock in weekly, and cycles it in tanks before she sells it. The piece with the mushroom on it came from a tank that had fish in it. I had to have it. The other rock with the veins came out of the LR tank (it also has some nice red growth on the backside). I thought it looked neat. The big white rock is a dead coraline rock, I liked the shape of it.
What kind of lighting should I get? And what cleaners are highly recommended?
 
murph145

murph145

Active Member
welcome to the board
id say first pic is of a sponge type of animal i have some on my LR too
they other is some macro algae
and ur nice mushroom!
but i agree get the CC out of there and add some live sand u will be much happier both visually and as a filtration device
as for lighting just depends on what u wanna keep and how much money u wanna spend u can go either Power Compact "PC" or Metal Halide "MH"
nice rock BTW
 
phixer

phixer

Active Member
I like MHs but they use a lot of electricity and generated lots of heat compaired to floruescent.
 
meanbaby01

meanbaby01

Member
I was thinking about it, and I tried to research whatever I could. Being that it is "live" rock, should it be fed? It seems a little bizarre, but it would make sense. Are there any additives I should consider?
Steph
 
mikeyjer

mikeyjer

Active Member
Originally Posted by MeanBaby01
I was thinking about it, and I tried to research whatever I could. Being that it is "live" rock, should it be fed? It seems a little bizarre, but it would make sense. Are there any additives I should consider?
Steph
One thing you should consider is a calcium test kit. You need to test for that with your live rocks, but if you do your weekly water changes, then there's nothing to worry about. CC isn't all that bad, even though I do prefer sand better. If you lower that CC bed to less then 1" and have some clean up crew, you shouldn't have a problem maintaining it!!! I keep CC in one of my tank and sand in my other two tanks. I haven't had a problem with CC since I lowered it to less then 1". Just vaccum it everytime you do a water change. No problem at all. :happyfish
 
meanbaby01

meanbaby01

Member
Calcium test, check.. Will order one asap..
Still wondering about lighting, can someone throw out some brands, etc? I have the LR in there now, plan on getting some fish, but keeping it simple at first.
Also, what kind of cleaner critters do you all recommend? I supposed I should get them in there rather soon.
Steph
 
saltn00b

saltn00b

Active Member
a good additive for a tank starting with LR is a Marc Weiss Product called Reef DNA. you just put in about 1/2 cap or so in a day and it will 'feed' your rock, and corals, and encourage the growth of your coralline algae, coloring everything in greens and reds. regardless, in time all of your rock will be similar in color.
 
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