Making the move

[mrbigisbudgood]

I'm officially making the move to SW at the end of the month. I'm buying a 30g from a friend that's been set up SW for about 2 years. I'm going to pick up a book tonight so I can absorb as much as I can while on vacation before I pick up the tank.

I understand that Clownfish are pretty hardy, so I'll probably try to get a young pair of them.

What would y'all recommend for a cleaning crew for the tank? Peppermint Shrimp a good choice?

Anything absolutely critical I should know before starting this?

[OrionGirl]

Get a good book! There's a thread in Archives that lists the better ones out there.

[mrbigisbudgood]

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist - by Robert M. Fenner

This is the best?

[OrionGirl]

One of them, yes. I also like the Simple Guide series.

[mogurnda]

For actual cleaning, snails (astreas, trochus, ceriths) and hermits (scarlets or blue legs, or both) are excellent choices. Peppermint shrmp are good for going after uneaten food as well.

[mrbigisbudgood]

Alright, I picked up the tank last night and got it set up.

We put all the live rock in a bucket with water, and did the same thing with the substrate.

Got everything put together, cleaned, got the water in and all that. Now the questions.

#1 It seems all the copepods that were swimming around in the tank when we broke it down have died. As soon as I powered up the filter, all I was was dead ones floating around everywhere, but hey, at least I know I have good turbulence. What caused the die off? Water condition changes? And are there eggs in the live rock to bring the population back?

#2 On the live rock is a bunch of black alge. I cleaned some of it off and skimmed it out of the water, but left about 25% of it intact. Is this good algae or bad algae?

Salinity is the only paramater I checked last night because I already know that the amon nitri nitra are going to skyrocket. Hydrometer read 1.021 last night and 1.022 this morning, so I'm guessing all the Instant Ocean has fully dissolved overnight.

Would it be a good idea for me to buy another smaller chunck (2-5 lb) of live rock after the tank cycles just to be weird about it?

[OrionGirl]

Pods are sensitive to salinity changes, and ammonia/nitrites. They will rebound though--just give them time.

Not sure--I've never seen black algae. What is the texture?

I always am in favor of adding more rock.

[mrbigisbudgood]

Slimy, it was all over the back glass too.

[OrionGirl]

Slimy is probably not good--sounds like a cyano. I'd remove as much of it as you can and then make sure to target that area with really high flow. Make sure your phosphates are low, as well.

[plantman1028]

I like pie too!

[mrbigisbudgood]

Originally posted by plantman1028
I like pie too!

Seriously though, who doesn't?

[mrbigisbudgood]

Alright, 5 days into cycle.

Ammonia is staying above .8 mg/l or totally off the scale
Nitrite is still reading 0, maybe .1
Haven't checked nitrate yet, I figure what's the point this soon
pH went from 7.8 to 8.2
SG is 1.023

Does live rock cycle slower? I'm kinda surprised that the ammonia hasn't gone down ANY and nitrite hasn't started registering yet. I'm kind of wondering if I shouldn't do a partial water change to bring the ammonia down a bit as to not overwhelm bio-system.

Some of the black alge has turned velvety blood red and some has turned more of a dark purplish color and not quite as slimy as it was before. A TON of the critters came back in full force after a couple days. Mostly some creepy crawlies that crawl around the rock and substrate and some tiny worms. Some green hairy alge has also popped up as well. The rock is turning all kinds of cool shades of purple and pink.

What sucks.....I have to move the tank sometime around the 11th because I'm moving to Illinois (came up a little quicker than I thought). Will it be really bad if I have to break the tank down before it's fully cycled? If need be, I'll set it up in Illinois, let it cycle again, and add a couple small chunks of new LR and let it culture for a couple months before I start adding fishies.

[OrionGirl]

The cycle sounds pretty normal--it's not a quick process, and does not always follow the same route each time.

You will need to recycle after the move, but it should be pretty quick.

Otherwise--I'd watch the slimy algaes quickly, and make sure it doesn't take over. Cyano's are really tough to get rid of, so you don't want it to get out of control.

If you haven't--check your tank out after lights out! You'll be astonished at the amount of critters you see!