SeaSerpants Dual Hills 20g ONE MONTH!!!

[SeaSerpant]

Well it's day 5 and guess wht i have!

Diatom algae,

the conditions are
(Was at.5) ammonia-.1
nitrate-4
nitrite-0
sg-1.023
ph-8.4

I've searched it up and i think i'm nearing the end of the cycle (yay for short cycles) and one last question, what eats bristleworms?

thanks
seaserpant

[SeaSerpant]

Just a quick update, lots of diatom algae and my cycle is done (everything is at 0)


ID PLEASE



Aiptasia


Algae Pearling (quite nice looking actually!)






Comments very Welcome
Thanks
SeaSerpant

[dsaundry]

Dsaundry,
Thanks for the reply! I like the look of a yellow tail blue damsel, but is there a nicer fish for that? (lol, just like asthetics, tis all)
I do like the idea of an anemone, except for the part of it killing other corals/fish and growing to large! I expect to keep it to soft corals, i don't very much like the look of hard corals

Now another question, i have looked at a bunch of different sites and i get totally mixed results, i have a HOB filter, should i get rid of it? Almost all say take out the biowheel (can cause bad things in the long run) and some say that just some filterfloss and carbon is good in it! Is this true?

Thanks
SeaSerpant

I like the looks of the damsel a lot and they stay relatively small, while I agree that the live rock is your best filter I don't agree 100% about the hob filter condemnation. I personally use a Cascade300{ebay}hob filter and use the filter iserts which come with carbon as well, I have a hob skimmer,{ebay again} and just basic pc lighting, the hob adds a little circulation along with 2 hydor nano's and the tank is doing great. 2 yrs+ and going strong. Take the bio wheel off your hob I would agree as well but its no worse than bio-balls imo. You will always get a wide variety of opinions in this hobby, the best advise I can give you is to take notes of what works and doesn't work as you proceed in this mad but wonderful hobby{obsession} and keep whatever works best for you.

[dsaundry]

One more thing, I wouldn't get too concerned about the bristle worms as I don't believe them to be too bad. I am sure there might be the odd variety but imo if you have live rock and substrate you will have bristle worms. Just don't play with them.

[SeaSerpant]

Thanks again!
Well tommorow i am going to my lfs to pick up my Cuc! i will update then!

thanks
seaserpant

[SeaSerpant]

Well i got my CUC today and a few corals! Just a quick update:

Specs:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Ph- 8.5
SG - 1.024

Livestock:
2 Hermit crabs
2 astrea
2 turbos
1 peppermint shrimp

Corals:
1 small Mushroom
group of zoanthids
2 small heads of hammerhead corals

NOW FOR THE PICTURES

GROUP OF SNAILS


PEPPERMINT SHRIMP


HERMIT CRABS


CORALS




TANK



COMMENTS WELCOME

Thanks
SeaSerpant

[Skimmerking]

tank is looking great buds,
loose the BIO wheel IMPORTANT IT CREATES NITRATES.

The HANG on is great for adding oxygen to the tank since you have no skimmer or sump leave it there.

use the media for only polishing the water and use the chambers for carbon and PHosban ok. other cool stuff like probes or what ever. HTH

tanks is looking great and starting on its way to cycle WELL DONE

[SeaSerpant]

Thanks Asmodeus!
I took the biowheels out a while ago, but thanks for reminding me to never put them back in I have some carbon and a bit of filter floss in the hob filter right now and to me everything looks to be ok!

I hope to get most of my corals this friday and hopefully some of my fish (aquarium illusions is having a sale!!!) And then it's just a low road from there! (hopefully!)

Thanks
SeaSerpant

[SeaSerpant]

Hey all,

I just put my peepermint shrimp into my tank on thursday and i found it dead behind my filter intake. It still has all it's colour and i would have expected it to atleast be a bit clear.
Is it actually dead did it molt? It looks like the flesh is still in it... sad.gif
My params are as follows:
Ammonia-0 (could possibly be .1)
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
Ph-8.5
SG-1.025

Everything else is showing no signs of stress or any problems, zoas are out, mushroom is the biggest it's ever been, frogspawn is growing nicely, snails are active, so are the hermits.

WHAT COULD THE PROBLEM BE???

Thanks
SeaSerpant

[Myka]

Hi SeaSerpant!

Great start to your new tank! =] Your tank is rather too new for a shrimp. They are more sensitive than a lot of people realise. I would suggest you wait at least 3-4 months before trying to add a new one.

What are you using to test your pH? I am surprised to see the pH so high during the cycle, as well as after. I suspect it isn't accurate. I would suggest you check it against a calibrated digital pH meter/monitor.

FYI, the "pearling algae" pic you posted is actually dinoflagellates. I see a wee bit of cyano bacteria as well. Usually when you see an algae-like growth that is "pearling" like that it is a bacteria of some sort, and not an algae. I would also suggest you get on top of the red bubble algae (siphon them out when you do water changes) as they are difficult to irradicate.

Corals:
None
Want:
Zoas
Pulsing Xenia
Frogspawn
Feather Dusters
(any ideas for nice colourful corals? preferably soft)

Fish/cuc:
None
Want (will change):
2 clownfish (female, male)
RedFire Fish
Longnosed Hawkfish
Magenta Dottyback
Lawnmower Blenny
CUC
Possibly a pygmy seahorse

Be aware that feather dusters have very poor long-term survival. They require more food than we can usually provide them without polluting our tanks. I hope you don't want to put ALL those fish in the tank!! If you decide to get a Lawnmower blenny pick one that eats prepared foods as most won't accept prepared foods, and will die of starvation in a small tank like yours. The Longnose Hawkfish will get too big for your tank. If you decide on a Dotty, I would suggest an Orchid Dotty instead as the Magentas can become quite aggressive. Pigmy seahorses are one of the most challenging ponies to feed, they are best left to reef keepers who have previous experience with ponies. I would suggest that your tank would be full with only two of the fish on your list (not including the ones I don't suggest you keep). Consider checking out "nano" fish for more options. There are lots of teeny fish out there that allow you to keep more fish in a small space.