Questions about my tank...

[davematthews]

I have a 55 gallon which has compact fluorescents that have 4 130 watt bulbs....Dual Daylight (10,000k 6700k) and Dual Actinic(460nm 420 nm), also has 4 moonlights....what does that mean and in what kind of cycle do I run the lights?

The tank has been set up for about 5 months....I started with just the tank and saltwater and went very slowly. I have 75lb LR, a small sump, 2- Koralia 3's, misc snails, a few hermits, a couple of pepermints, some small zoas, a leather, and a green polyp and a bunch of other things I'm not real sure of...

Last tests were on the 23rd.....

amm 0
phosphate 0
nitrates 5
calcium 400
kh 10* dkh


Thanks in advance.....here are a few pics

Almost forgot....I have managed to kill all the bigger aiptasia with lime mixturem but now there are also quite a few very small ones on the glass, what is the best way to remove those?

[wantvws]

I have a 55 gallon which has compact fluorescents that have 4 130 watt bulbs....Dual Daylight (10,000k 6700k) and Dual Actinic(460nm 420 nm), also has 4 moonlights....what does that mean and in what kind of cycle do I run the lights?
I have the same type of lights, but a little larger. I leave the moonlights plugged in all the time, and my light cycle is about 10 hours. The actinics come on first, then the daylights come on about an hour later, then the daylights go off after 8 hours, and the actinics go off an hour later. I guess it's supposed to kind of simulate dusk, dawn, etc.
Hope this helps!
Robbie

[davematthews]

Yeah, that helps.....thanks for the info.

[vorlx]

I run a similiar watt setup. Mine is 2 48" (4 65 watt bulbs each). I run a toal of 4 actnic and 4 12k daylight. I run a similiar schedule 8-10 hours. I generally try to bring the actnic on 30-1hr or so before the daylights.

[Grins]

I'd use the same mixture for the aiptasias on the glass.

[davematthews]

Thanks for all the replies...

Grins, these aiptasia on the glass are so small that you have to get right up on the glass to really see them....what would be the best way to do it? Shut off all the powerheads first? I mean there are probably several hundred on there....

[Grins]

Are you sure they are aiptasias on the glass?

[davematthews]

No, not positive....but they are small, white and appear to have tentacles...?

[Grins]

either bleached aiptasias or hydroids I'd think.

[davematthews]

Here is a pic of the hydroid things I found online....the ones on my glass dont have nearly that many arms or tentacles...most have 2 or 3 maybe 4. I would guess there are probably well over 300 of them whatever they are. Not for sure if they will show up but the second pic is of my tank...

[Grins]

If it is an aiptsia on the glass you'll see a definite foot where the stalk flattens out and attaches to the glass. Here is a photo of clear one (foot not visible). Do they look like this?

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y55/steelhealr/Aiptasia.jpg

[davematthews]

No, they do not seem to have any type of stalk....more flat I guess. I was just afraid where they are sooo small that they hadnt grown enough to have the stalk yet? They are only about the size of a pencil tip/\

[Grins]

Hmm, I have some hitchiker links on this blog post (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/blog.php?b=179). Try looking at those for something that looks familiar. Nothing you've said makes me think it could be one of these but just in case...does what is in your tank look like a hard white spiral? So small it looks almost like a speck (if so could be spirobid worms)? Or is it white and flat and moves in a gliding fashion (if so and clear it is a flat worm)?

[davematthews]

Grins...thanks for the links. I checked them all and didnt really see anything that matches what I see, besides maybe the hydro things you talked about, my daughter thinks they look similar except for the color on the bottom of them, the ones on the glass are all perfectly white throughout....so I'm still not really sure. I had probably 2 large aiptaisa in the rock when I bought it and a couple dozen smaller ones that I could see. I have since gotten rid of all the ones I can see and about 2 or 3 weeks later I started seeing these on the glass? Thanks again for your help...

Also they are pretty much staying in place, they dont really move from their spot, but they do sway with the water. I really dont think they are any type of worm. when the snails go by them they make their path so that they dont touch them...

[Grins]

They could be aptasias like you originally thought. 300 or so though startles me. You might try shooting boiling water at them via a syringe. I'd say Joes Juice but I'd be afraid of what that much kalk might do to your system.

[davematthews]

Yeah, I was afraid to use that much....I never thought about the boiling water, but I did think of something really stupid to do. I decided I was tired of looking at them on the front glass and scraped them off...so if there were 300 aiptasia I probably have about 3000 now...

[Grins]

Rut roh.