Newbie 30 gal. journal...

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Blinky

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Jun 22, 2004
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Sounds like things are going well :)
You're going to want a lot more snails, especially since you've just added quite a bit of bioload (two fish) to the tank. While I admit it's probably overkill, here's my 30g cleanup crew ATM:
1 - skunk cleaner shrimp
1 - emerald crab (1")
1 - scarlet hermit crab
12 - mini blueleg hermit crabs
1 - crab (LR hitchhiker, unknown species, possibly Mithrax) (1/2")
1 - Trochus snail
10 - Astraea snails
2 - Mexican turbo snails
2 - Stomatella snails (LR hitchhikers)
5 - Nassarius distortus snails
9 - Nassarius vibex snails

They were added gradually over six months. I'm surprised to add it up and find that there are about 30 snails and 13 hermits, as well as a few larger cleaners, I didn't think there were that many. With a medium bioload (1 fairy wrasse, 1 yellow clown goby and 1 prawn goby, the cleaners and corals) I'm sure there's plenty of algae for them to eat. They keep the rocks absolutely spotless and the sand nearly so, but I still need the Mag-float to tackle the 'dust' algae that builds up on the glass - the snails rarely bother with that, so I know they're not starving. I do throw in some meaty foods once a week or so to make sure all the Nass. snails and hermits are getting enough to eat.

Keep us posted on how everyone's doing :)
 

joe schmoe

AC Members
Sep 20, 2000
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The cleaner reinforcements will be here tomorrow. :)

The gobies still wouldn't eat. Tried frozen mysis and flake again. No response at all this time.
 

you made me ink

SAVED YOUR LIFE!
Sep 25, 2005
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this really kool lots of fun to watch i wish more people would do journals like these ... i wish i had the money to setup a saltwater tank :p: mabey when i get a job this summer :idea: -lol-

GOOD LUCK!!!
 
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joe schmoe

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Sep 20, 2000
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Nitrates up to 10 mg/L.

The stuff in reply #12 showed up yesterday. I got home on my lunch to bring them in and get them in my tank and found something kind weird. The big turbo snail I bought earlier had taken a trip up to one of my powerheads and got onto one of the Hydor powerhead flow nozzles/wavemake things. If you've never used one of these things before, it directs flow out in a 45 degree angle stream and rotates. The snail got on there and got wedged between the rotating assembly and the powerhead. He was so stubborn, the thing couldn't rotate and I think it stripped the gears out and it no longer rotates. So, I pulled it off of the powerhead and now that thing flows like a motha'. Aparently the Hydor units restrict flow quite a bit. As punishment I made the snail do some work I put him on top of a rock that was covered in algae. When I came back home, he had cleaned quite a bit.

They sent a BIG wad of Gracileria algae so I just plopped that stuff in the refugium...it takes up a good third of the space. Also planted the shaving brush plant back there.

I placed the new snails on top of the rocks and they did a similarly good job. Although, I have to say, it did seem like the algae was starting to head in the direction dying off. The turbo snail I got at the LFS was MUCH larger than the ones they sent me.

The hermits are TINY! Were talking about 1/2" - 3/4". I expected bigger. I also expected more activity. One of the little Zebra hermits makes his way around the tank quite a bit...from tip of the highest rock to the bottom, and back again. The others are a bit lethargic and sedentary. Funny thing is, I was in Baja Mexico in Oct. and these little guys were everywhere. I had to pay for these, and these aren't anywhere near as agile as the ones we saw in the wild. I also purchased some spare shells for them, but the ones they sent me are all white and are much too big for these little guys to transition to.

As a general note, things are growing. The macro on the middle rocks is spreading, the coralline seems to be holding it's own...long enough for the snails to come by and save it from the brown algae. There are patches of orange and yellow fuzzy stuff on some of the rocks. Maybe that's sponge...I dunno. I'm starting to see tiny patches of what is probably red slime algae. Again, I dunno. It's red and it's algae so it seems to make sense to me. The guy at the LFS talked me out of buying some mushrooms. He suggested I wait at least until Nitrates read zero. He also pointed out that I have no microfauna in the tank yet for the mushrooms to feed on...so I took his advice and will wait.

I'll take some pics when I've topped off the tank.
 
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joe schmoe

AC Members
Sep 20, 2000
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Nitrates at 10 mg/L.

Notes:

-I redid the rocks a bit to make them easier to put coral on.
-The snails have done a good job cleaning up the algae bloom. Now I have lots of snail waste on the gravel which I think is what's keeping the Nitrates up.
-Now that I've figured out a way to keep the noise down, I have the skimmer on 24/7.
-The Gobies still spend much of the day hiding...but they are eating...flake no less.
-One hermit died. He just appeared without his shell and looking half-eaten. He was semi-alive for a bit, then died.
-The plants in the refugium (all plants for that matter) are showing good growth.
-Weird little critters are still popping up. The latest is a small spaghetti-type worm thing that behaves like a skinny water balloon. It inflates, then quickly retracts. Weird.

Important items:
-Red slime algae has made a sudden and significant appearance.
-For the first time, I now see micro-organisms on the surface of the glass, and skittering around in open water in the refugium. I forget what's supposed to eat those, but I hear it's a good sign.

Pics:

New arrangement


Refugium from the side (kinda hard to get pics of this thing) showing shaving brush plant


..and from the top showing the macro algae I purchased.


Colorful snail pic. Click for full-res version.

 

joe schmoe

AC Members
Sep 20, 2000
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Here are some pics of some new additions. The include some soft corals, feather duster and 3 Green Chromis. One pic shows new coralline algae growth that is showing up pretty much everywhere. The dark brown coralline that looked like it was showing growth earlier has pretty much disappeared. The red slime is dying back at a quick rate over the past few days, and the macro algae was so thick on the top rocks that I had to tear some out to prun it back. I threw a little in the refugium and the rest away.

I happy with it now. Now it looks like a saltwater fish tank...not just a pile of rocks. :D

Click this one for full-resolution...








 

loknar28

Registered Member
Nov 28, 2005
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Super Skimmer

I have a new 29 gal setup with a super skimmer and it seems to be working just fine for me. The only complaint I have is the noise generated by the "silencer" for the air intake. seems to make a light rattleing noise. As far as the trouble I have heard here about the skimmer overflowing, one thing I did notice was that if the air inlet/hose was blocked the scimmer would foam like crazy.
 
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