SaltwaterKitty's 24g Nano Tank Diary!

posiden

posiden

Active Member
I would just run the skimmer for now and see what the water does. I wouldn't dose the B-ionic till you know what your levels are. After a couple of days your PH might come up on its own. Your tank doesn't have any sort of a demand to require dosing right now. With your old water and the fresh water you made up you should be just fine.
Do you know what salt the PO used?
What salt did you get?
What skimmer did you get?
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3176684
I would just run the skimmer for now and see what the water does. I wouldn't dose the B-ionic till you know what your levels are. After a couple of days your PH might come up on its own. Your tank doesn't have any sort of a demand to require dosing right now. With your old water and the fresh water you made up you should be just fine.
Do you know what salt the PO used?
What salt did you get?
What skimmer did you get?
So, the protein skimmer doesn't fit in aquapods, apparently ... there is just no room for the hood to close all of the way ... not anywhere in the tank so I'm disappointed about that.
It was an Oceanic Bio Cube for 14 and 29 gal tanks.
I am using Instant Ocean ... messaged PO and haven't heard back.
The only difference I have made was adding the CUC ... I got 2 peppermint shrimp, 6 red banded trochus snails, 6 hermits (3 red legged and 3 blue legged) a fighting conch and some nassarius snails (who are so fun to watch when food hits the sand ... they all emerge from the sandbed like zombies in the middle of the night).
Today, PH is up to 8.0 from 7.8. I'm now at 4 full days that its been up and running ... amonia, trites and trates are all at 0 still.

I have not dosed the B-Ionic ...
I'm going to get the testing kits for the alk this week so I can really get a handle on all of my levels.
My husband, who had NO INTEREST in this venture seems to have taken a liking to Lucky too ... he wants to "give him a chance" after I told him the LFS will only take him to resell as a feeder fish!
I will say that activity in the tank (the CUC) makes such a difference ... I sit there and stare at the acrobatics and brute strength of the hermit crabs and wonder how the shrimp can wobble back and forth, back and forth for so long upside down. Before I know it, 45 mins has gone by and I don't even have a fish that I care for in the tank yet ...

Thank you all for your wisdom and input ... it's soooo appreciated.
Kat
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
The fact that the Bio Cube skimmer doesn't fit might not be a bad thing. They will interduce air into the tank for you and I have tuned them in and got a fair skimmate out of them. However, they just aren't the best. The air stone (wood block) will work for a couple of weeks and then they need to be changed. As they plug up you think you need more air so you open up the valve and it works again untill you put on another stone. Then it pushes a ton of water up and out........you can leave the air adjustment alone once a new stone is on but as it plugs up the production lessens, giving you less proformance. Sorry for the long winded story.
There are skimmers out ther that will fit and allow the lid to close. I don't know of any other then the Sapphire skimmer for the AP24. I have heard some say they don't fit and others say, sometimes the issue is the pump is to big to contact Sapphire and get the right pump. Again IDK. My Bio Cube has the Sea Clone 150 on it. Not the best skimmer out there and you can't use a lid unless you do some cutting. I took my lid off so no issues for me. Spanko uses the Aquatic Life skimmer I believe, in his Bio Cube. He doesn't use the top either and I am not sure if it will fit under the lid of your AP. I wish I could help you more in this dept.
On the PH, did you do something at all or did it just come up a bit on its own? Have you opened up the house, done a water change, ect. Just courious.
IO is good salt, used by the majority it would seem.
I have used the API Reef tests, I liked them. I would buy them again. I chose to buy the Elos kits this time for the Alk, Calcium, and Mag. The Elos reads the same as the API kit does that I have right now. Except the Mag, I don't think API makes a Mag test. API is a good bang for the buck IMO.
I here you on the time thing....I got/get in a lot of trouble for it.
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Thanks for the info ... I did see that the Sapphire allows the lid to close on the APs so that's probably around the corner for me fairly soon.
I did not do anything for the rise in ph ... tank is only just under 5 days old so I haven't done a w/c yet, nor have I added chemicals ... I need to get the calcium/mag/alk testerkit so you can guide me through when I need to start the B-Ionic.

I will say that my husband is pretty interested in this now that it's set up ... he's even going with me to a frag swap in the city on Dec 6th so I can't wait for that.
Here are some wildlife pics ... tried to get a few good ones. Lucky is still holding strong!!
Any idea on the ID of this snail? He wasn't on my receipt ... his shell seems to be covered in what looks like a red velvet type of stuff ...

This was another hitchhiker we had ... he's huge!!


Lucky out for a spin ...

A great hermit crab shot with some pretty green stuff that I missed when I cleaned the tank, LOL

Are these new little mushrooms starting to form? They are almost see-through ...

Any thoughts on what these are?

Sorry to be repetitive ... they are practically the only things I have in the tank!! LOL

 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
The rock up closest to my light ... as if they are going up to get a tan, lol ...


ANY IDEA WHAT THIS STUFF IS? IT'S A CREAMY WHITE COLOR ... NOT SOFT TO THE TOUCH ... I HAVE NO IDEA ...


misc ...

 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
You have a lot of hermits....lol....the brown things are probably some sort of button polyp, the "creamy" stuff is sponge....no worries there
In the first pic the snail should be an astrea....but all I see is hermits
YES, those are mushrooms.....they should color up....probably red...they look like some I have
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3177812
You have a lot of hermits....lol....the brown things are probably some sort of button polyp, the "creamy" stuff is sponge....no worries there
In the first pic the snail should be an astrea....but all I see is hermits
YES, those are mushrooms.....they should color up....probably red...they look like some I have
yes, i do ... I got 6 from the LFS and knew of 1 hitchhiker and found another one when I moved some rock around! I have 6 red-banded trochus snails and that strange red velvety one.

Thanks for the info!!
Kat
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by SaltWaterKitty
http:///forum/post/3177822
yes, i do ... I got 6 from the LFS and knew of 1 hitchhiker and found another one when I moved some rock around! I have 6 red-banded trochus snails and that strange red velvety one.

Thanks for the info!!
Kat
I am thinking the red velvety one is an astrea snail with growth on the shell
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3177824
I am thinking the red velvety one is an astrea snail with growth on the shell


Yea, that is just something growing on the shell. I hope it is not the start of red buble algae. I have it in my tank and it drives me nutty.
I know you just got it but, as a general rule if you can't ID it you don't want it. I would toss it.
 
saltwaterkitty

saltwaterkitty

Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3177829
Yea, that is just something growing on the shell. I hope it is not the start of red buble algae. I have it in my tank and it drives me nutty.
I know you just got it but, as a general rule if you can't ID it you don't want it. I would toss it.
liiiiiiiiiike ... into the street? LOL that's horrible ... but I totally see your point. maybe i will pull him out and see what his deal is. or better yet go back to the lfs and see if they know ...
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3177829
Yea, that is just something growing on the shell. I hope it is not the start of red buble algae. I have it in my tank and it drives me nutty.
I know you just got it but, as a general rule if you can't ID it you don't want it. I would toss it.
TOSS IT???? LOL...Just clean the shell....Astrea snails are great cleaners to have

My astreas have all kinds of stuff on their shells....one had HA and I just pulled it off...and I kept the snail
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Your pepermint shrimp,
Looks to me like you got the right one. The distingushing features are the banding or pattern on thier tails. The true has vertical stripes and when looking from the top a very different pattern. Fish stores will sell both as pepermint shrimp. For decoration no big deal but, if you want them to eat Aiptasia........then the true is the only one that will.
This is the true peppermint shrimp. Lysmata wurdemanni/rathbunae


This is the false peppermint shrimp. Lysmata californica

 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by SaltWaterKitty
http:///forum/post/3177831
liiiiiiiiiike ... into the street? LOL that's horrible ... but I totally see your point. maybe i will pull him out and see what his deal is. or better yet go back to the lfs and see if they know ...

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3177832
TOSS IT???? LOL...Just clean the shell....Astrea snails are great cleaners to have

My astreas have all kinds of stuff on their shells....one had HA and I just pulled it off...and I kept the snail


I know, but for a couple of dollars or in this case free. Sure seems like cheap insurance to me.
Now, I am not saying this to beeeeeeeee, un cuth. But, I can see it being tossed in your bag for free when they saw it, to do the same thing.
Oh, and I just don't think you could ever get all the algae spores off of the shell. In the case of bubble algae, I just wouldn't try. Like I say I have it in my tank, I have scrubbed and scraped the rock with a wire brush and a razor blade only to see it re-grow. I know rock and shell have different porisitys. One will be a little harder to clean then the other. I am also not saying that that is what it is, just a thought. That's all.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3177841
I know, but for a couple of dollars or in this case free. Sure seems like cheap insurance to me.
Now, I am not saying this to beeeeeeeee, un cuth. But, I can see it being tossed in your bag for free when they saw it, to do the same thing.
Oh, and I just don't think you could ever get all the algae spores off of the shell. In the case of bubble algae, I just wouldn't try. Like I say I have it in my tank, I have scrubbed and scraped the rock with a wire brush and a razor blade only to see it re-grow.
LOL...KILLER!!!!!
 
socalnano24

socalnano24

Active Member
Looks like your well on your way with your CUC; looking good. Now it may be a good idea to wait for a couple of weeks before getting anything else to make sure your tank doesn't pull a late cycle. You'll know because diatom blooms typically arrive within the first 3 weeks, and is a sign of the cylce progress. (it looks like a brown covering on all your sand and rocks).
(I know its a previously set up tank, but with the freshwater sand washing and the scraping of the tank, it may have some new tank syndrome issues)
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3177838
WOW...they are hard to tell apart
Not really, you can see pretty clear that her shrimp is the right one. Just look at the pic again now you know what to look for.
Here, see the lines going different ways.
 
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