I wish my parents would get into reef keeping. They've got a pretty nice 55 gallon that I gave them. Initially it was a planted community tank. Now they want Goldfish :S

So, so sad!

Get them a beta bowl and reclaim your tank!

Christine

Sounds like my parents. My mom keeps one of the nicest fancy Goldfish tanks I have ever seen. I mean this thing is spotless. I have been trying to talk her in to getting one of the all in one nano tanks like a Biocube, RSM or JBJ. I even told her I would set it up at my place and keep it for 6 months untill everything is stable and then move it to their place but so far she he hasn't bitten.

Good luck with your Biocube Tine. I have the exact same tank which has been set up for about a month. I moved everything over from a 20 gallon hexagon tank and so far everything is progressing nicely except for the hair algae outbreak which is pretty normal for a new tank.

When my son came over last night he quite liked our aquascape, but, some of the rock was touching the glass. We tore it all down and tried to duplicate what we had. The tank does not look as good as it did, so we will try again tonight.
Snaz did find some life, there are at least 2 sun dial snails, not good, feather dusters, good, a slug, yet to be identified, and a hermit crab (black legged??) good?.

We did some more chemistry, here is what we discovered. Ammonia 0.1,
Nitrate 0, Nitrite 0, Ph 8.1. Temp constant 79°. Looking good so far. Snaz says we have to get some ammonia in there to get the tank going. Any ideas?

The tank looks pretty with out any thing added, find my self looking at it through out the day, I know ,I know it will look so much better when things start growing!!

The rock was well cured and it can probably support some fish but I thought a piece of dead shrimp or something first to ensure the system can break down waste. Any thoughts?

So what are planning on putting in your wee box.....of glass?:mrgreen:

[So what are planning on putting in your wee box.....of glass?]

Well, the more I read, the more I want, would need a 500g to house all I would like. I love the pics that others have posted, but they create such envy!

A mixed tank, me thinks, as much as I can get away with, safely!:biggrin:

Can you help with the ammonia question?

Christine

Raw table shrimp should def kick start the process....or you could ghost feed the tank with mysis. Either way just make sure your Ammonia and nitrites are zero and your nitrates are say less than 10 before you add anything....and add slowly.

hitch hiker
 

Our tank is doing very well, a couple of days after the raw shrimp was added, we had a spike in ammonia, now it is returned to zero. We will not be adding the cuc until we get back from holidays at the end of May.
However we have a strange hitch hiker, it finally came out of the hole it was hiding this morning, it appears to be a brown worm (slug) about an inch plus long, 1/4 wide, when it was hiding it would extend branched tentacles.
Can someone give me an idea what it is, please? Tried to get a photo but by the time I got my camera it was gone!

Here is a nice resource for Identifing hitch hikers:
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchodds.html

Scroll down to SYNAPTID SEA CUCUMBER (medussa worms) I think that is what you have.