14g BioCube Oceanic

oh I did buy 2 snails.. uhm, an astraea turbo snail and a margarita snail.. they good for anything? the guy said they would be what I want to keep stuff clean.. but ya I have been very impressed with the hermits and will probably get some more of them.. I just got concerned when he was talking about needing to buy them new shells and all that stuff.. weird, anyway I really have found a new liking for these shrimp, I have a few cherry shrimp and am actually planning a 75g heavily planted tank centered around them.. I know I know.. a big tank for lots of tiny shrimp haha

any ideas on what the animal is that's growing in my SW tank?
 
Awesome deal on the snail part at least he told me something right hehe

I will see what I can do to get a picture of that thing.. I'm pretty new with my camera as well.. I have a hard time getting a picture of stuff inside my tanks..
 
I know I said I was going to take pictures and I will.. but I have another question about all this algae.. goodness.. I have read that it's normal.. especially considering I used tap water to fill and aquasafe to dechlorinate, but seriously? when is enough enough?? I have hair algae I am quite sure, and then I got the brown stuff that I was told is fairly normal for a new tank set and now I come home from work today and the whitesand has this.. I swear it's like neon green algae growning on it.. what gives!? What kind of CUC (I need #'s and species) is recommended for a 14g tank.. with a TERRIBLE habit of overfeeding? =)
 
oh ya water,
PH = 7.8-7.9
NO2 = <.03
NH3+NH4 = 0mg/l maybe a tinge of the next shade of green but certainly not to the .25 mark
Temp = 79 steady
 
If you know you can't help "heavy feeding" then the only solution is to do large waterchanges weekly. I am that way myself and I do 50% waterchanges weekly on my 75G because of it. The other problem you have is the tap water, you are only removing chlorine/chloramines when you add that stuff, but that doesn't get rid of the high phosphates that are in tap water, and that is directly feeding you algae.

Also, if the algae is the slimey green stuff like a green version of cyano, then that would also indicate low flow because it is able to settle and "take root" so to speak. While more flow alone won't rid your problem, it will help it from establishing itself, but you have to remove the source of phosphates and other bad things that tap water introduces.

Hair algae and diatoms (brown stuff in sand) are very normal in new setups, the green slimey stuff, not so normal and that is the one that indicates a problem.
 
the brown stuff is all over the LR in the tank.. is that still normal? (wasn't sure about the description "brown stuff in sand") and hopefully I am getting something worked out soon about the koralia 2 and getting that up and running, also I bought 6g of that culligan water that I was talking about today, and plan to only do WC with that from now on, so even in a new tank 50% WC with fish already in there will be alright? It doesn't hurt any of the coral being out of the water right? some of them are located near the top of the rock..
 
You can use a turkey baster and blow out the rocks right before you do a waterchange to really get a bunch of the junk out. Yes, it is fine to let corals out of water. Just keep your lights off on the tank and make sure the water your putting in is temperature matched and better water than is coming out. A large 10G waterchange shouldn't hurt anything. I have done 90% waterchanges 3 times in one week on a 120G tank to lower out of control nitrate levels.
 
ok, some pics finally..

Tank shot w/ flash
100_0142.JPG
w/o flash
100_0143.JPG
Do these still look like the algae? What is the census on using a phosphate remover, checmical? Also, I used a brush to clean all the glass, I am expecting some zoas here in the next day or 2 so when they come I will do a 50% WC with the culligan water.. I would like to order some phosban or something along those lines that I could add to the media tray in there.. just want opinions first

I tried to take a picture of the little "animal" that I wanted to know what it was.. and now it's gone! lol it's certainly alive as it's moved a tiny bit every day to different parts of the rock.. but now I can't find it at all lol so maybe another time haha



100_0142.JPG 100_0143.JPG
 
well that little animal you have could very well be an aptasia and if it is then there will be more than one and you will want to start trying to get rid of them. They are considered a pest anemone and they will grow big and will sting corals and eventually take over your entire tank. aptasia-x has worked for me as well as peppermint shrimp but make sure you dont get camel back shrimp. anyways google aptasia and see if it looks like a small version of that. You cant just rip these things off the rock because any left over part will regrow and any little part floating will grow where ever it lands. Good luck
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom