Aric's Ten Gallon Torture Chamber Log

[Fish-Head Aric]

Well, I've got this 10 gallon marine coldwater (temperate) aquarium "rockbottom experiment" in the running. I've mentioned it in other places, but will settle to this one thread to pursue its developments.

Original Set-Up: I set up the tank on Day 1 with 10 gallons of Puget Sound saltwater, a bottom filter, and basic 5-15 gallon side filter. Upon set-up I placed the following things, collected at low tide:

1 rock with barnacles, etc.

8 small rock crabs

2 limpets

1 cluster of mussels

1 stickleback fish

2 small non-specific jellyfishes

Hitchhikers: several non-specific mini-sea anemones and amphipods
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I knew from the getgo the likely casualties would include the mussels (lack of feeding ability for high-demand filter feeders), the stickleback (for lack of serious current), and the jellies (because "them dudes" just aren't meant for anything but a very specialized tank system).

The barnacles, one rock crab and the various hitchhikers survived. An ample population developing of mini-amphipods that have set up camp mainly in the side filter. A particular very very small sea anemone secured itself to the face of the tank, about 1/3 down from the top, and has actually tripled in size, from 1.5 mm height to 4.5 mm. "Everyone else is dead Dave, the'yre all dead, Dave!" (name that quote anyone?)

The jellies didn't last the first night, disappearing into "filterland". The stickleback, as predicted, passed on after 3 days. Within the first week every crab but one had made its pilgrimage up the filter tubes and out into the great beyond, meeting their maker and moving on to the great rock pool in the sky.

It's been four weeks this last weekend since Set-Up Day.

Saturday, July 16: Decided the tank had been running long enough to set up some form of stability, so took a trip to the water and brought home, introduced:

6 small (1.5 cm long) sticklebacks

1 large (3 inch long) stickle back

2 mussel clusters: Eqwuivalent of a "Live Rock Introduction" (mostly empty shells because didn't want more mussel-casualties) containing several small, intriguing sea anemones, a clump of red-brown seaweed, a clump of green cellophane-like seaweed, and a dozen or more "sea lice" and other potential hitchhikers.
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From this point on I'll keep the running log, including undesirable developments, questions, etc. in separate posts here.

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

Milky Water!!!! Oh No!

Monday evening I got home and the water has a white-ish milky, foggy appearance. You can see in the tank but its translucent.

Monday was the first day the weather has exceeded the 80s in temperature, and the apartment was definitely warm-warm. I knew it was going to be hot, so at mid-day called home to have my wife float a bag of ice in the tank.

Prior to this event, I did see that the water would take on a brownish tint if I left the hood lamp on more than an hour or two, which was obviously an algae issue and cleared up soon after the light was shut off.

But this is the first ongoing, apparent water issue.

I guess it's time to test and track the water scientifically now, eh?

Whoops! Need to do my weekly 25% water swap! Good thing I gathered water this weekend as well.

Any constructive feedback on milky marine water? Thanks all!

 

[PaulB]

"Everyone else is dead Dave, the'yre all dead, Dave!" (name that quote anyone?)

Easy Red Dwarf, I love that show!

Never heard of a coldwater marine setup before so am intrigued.. keep the updates coming!

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

Unless any bright ideas flare in the next few hours...

...I'll be shutting down the torture chamber and starting anew. Things have turned bleak in this little tank. The water remains ominously fogged, the poor sole-survivor rock crab has died along with 3 of the new sticklebacks. Beyond that I'll be assessing tonight what is what, and get off to a new start trying, returning survivors to their places of origin.

Any last comments on alternatives before the drastic move is finalized?

 

[PaulB]

Sorry you hear that you're still having problems.

Did you measure the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels? Ive just re-read this thread and it sounds like you added quite a lot in one hit. My guess would be that you overloaded the biological filter and ended up with an ammonia spike that killed something, creating more ammonia and so forth..

In my (freshwater) experience its really worth testing the water regularly when adding the first few fish and, in a tank of that size, to add a maximum of two small fish at a time.

My only suggestion would be to ensure that the tank is clean and do regular large (say 50%) water changes until the milkiness starts to clear and then monitor the water and do some smaller water changes if need be. If it is down to excess ammonia then you could try some ammo-lock to reduce it quickly, but that will have the knock on effect of screwing up any further measurements you take.

Sorry to say it, but it doesn't sound like you have much to lose by returning the survivors and starting over.

 

[Swimfins]

I was thinking the same thing. Nothing will survive in an uncycled tank. How about getting the seawater, some rock or plantlife and cycling the tank for a month or so. A good powerhead to provide current. Cover the filter intake with a prefilter to prevent losses. Start with one species (the crabs maybe). Measure your levels as you go. Measure the salt content of the seawater you pick up from the bay, and try to mimic it in your tank. The tank should be cool, never over 75 for sure (my newbie guess). Rather than sit back and watch things perish....

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

I was thinking the same thing. Nothing will survive in an uncycled tank. How about getting the seawater, some rock or plantlife and cycling the tank for a month or so. A good powerhead to provide current. Cover the filter intake with a prefilter to prevent losses. Start with one species (the crabs maybe). Measure your levels as you go. Measure the salt content of the seawater you pick up from the bay, and try to mimic it in your tank. The tank should be cool, never over 75 for sure (my newbie guess). Rather than sit back and watch things perish....

Well, after the initial establishing of the tank, nothing was added for about 4 weeks. Only weekly 20% or so water changes. I've held off on tearing it down. The water had begun to clear and I did the 25% water change. The barnacles have been thriving, the sticklebacks all died except for one. So am watching to see what happens. It's still a littl murky, but very much better since Friday.

 

[Swimfins]

Pic? :idea2:

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

I'll see what I can manage for a pic. All I have is a web-cam and not sure if I can get it over to the tank. Not to mention the disaster area around the tank.... and dealing with "Mikey Turtle" who lives in the tank next door. Right now the tank is nothing as aesthetics goes, but if ya like barnacles and rocks, and mussel shells, plus the little sea anemones, got those!

ahhh yes, when I have a little time, I'll tell the tale of "Mikey Turtle, the water turtle that was raised a box turtle." He's our latest charity case, rescued from a life being totally misunderstood by the all-powerful human masters.

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

Update on the Torture Chamber

Well, since the last posts, the murky water has been clear and nice, and there seems to be a stability in the tank. Only a few species apparently still living, and all thriving well.

I have myself an abundance of small anemonoids nestled in various places about the tank - on the glass, in the rocks and mussel shells, etc. I say "-oids" because I can't rightly say what they are, except that they are very small - the largest being about 1.5 inches long, transparent, with a full head of long tentacles. They vary in posture, sometimes stretching out long and thin, other times squat and fat. They seem to thrive on the betta flakes I've continued to distribute regularly. I suspect they may be true sea anemones of some form, but they may well be jellies in their hydra generation. I wonder about this because when the tank was originally established my son and I put two small, transparent jellies we caught in the tank. If jellies react anything like sea urchins, it could be that when the jellies were injured they released their eggs/sperm and set off a bunch of these hydra-stage jellies. This is a lot of hypothesizing, but I do know there weren't that many small anemones introduced. These little buggers grow fast, too. Several of the smallest I observe have exploded in size in just a week.

I also have a plethora of small silvery shrimpy-dudes (copepods or amphipods) still thriving.

The barnacles are plugging along, albeit rather sluggishly.

On another note, am getting close to tackle the large, custom tank I want to build. There's this particular sea anemone I've been observing on a dock piling for some time now when the tide is very low. It's very large - mayube 12 inches tall - and about 4 inches diameter at the base, bright orange and with a big feathery plume for tentacles. I used to know what they're called, but it's been ages. Would be a fine addition to the Puget Sound marine tank I want to start building over the next month.