3 month update

[icyuod2]

well my tanks been up and running for 3 months now. its a 50g system. 25long display (3x1x1) and a 25g sump. 185g pump moves my water from the sump to the display. i also run a 200gph powerhead and a gutted emperor filter. (for my charcole media bag.
i dont ever dose my tank. sal. is 1.023 amm.-0 nitrate 0 nitrites .10ppm. my ph is 8.2-8.4 (i run my lighting opposite cycles for the sump and display)
this is all i test for, the rest...well i guess i've been lucky thus far. i do a water change (5% every few weeks)
had alot of surprize guests along the way. i've recently found a family of what look to be porcelian crabs(sorry no pic's, thier very bashful) brown with a large bright yellow eye spot on each of the flattened claws. (any ideas?)

i throw out algaes my the handful everyday. (i would have had a green cube months ago if i didnt) i dont specificly feed the algaes, but i do add a cube of frozen food everyday cyclopeeze,rotifers,mysis etc etc. i imagen the over stocked 23g tank and overfeeding are the reason my algaes have done so well in such a short time (please correct me if im wrong)

my algaes have alot of preditors in my aquarium. i have a 6" sea hare, an opsitobranch the size of a tennis ball(growing like crazy) as well as countless nudibranch,algae eating crabs (stil no id)
i opted to leave them it the system to help limit the amount of pruning required. so far its not working
some of the other inhabbitants include, pipefish,blennies,gobies(yashia hifin) scooter dragonet,pistols,porcelian crabs,hermits,fairywrasse,spotted cleaner shrimp,reef lobster and the list go's on.

just wanted to share the joys of my very simple,very low care planted aquarium.

 

[graveyardworm]

:eek1: Thats alot of algae.

 

[icyuod2]

yes it is. totally out of control. the only reason you can see some of the sand, i tore out a bucket full of algae a few hours before taking pic's (5g bucket 3/4s full)

 

[graveyardworm]

and you dont dose anything? Amazing. I quit dosing a few weeks ago, and I swear my macros are growing better now.

 

[icyuod2]

i do a waterchange with instant ocean salt, once every 3 weeks. thats it!
heres the tank when i started. most of the caulerpa originated on these rocks. (previously in my sump)

 

[Fishfreak218]

needs more Caluerpa... lolol its still looking good though... hows the fish.. do you even see them anymore??? lolol

 

[Samala]

Very nice. I'm guessing feeding is keeping up with demand. Good to see it happen. Maybe if I actually stocked my tanks with a real bioload it would happen to me too.

So out of all the macros, who's your canary? Whos the fastest to tell you something is wrong?

Last q: are you using RODI water.. or tap for those water changes and salt makeup?

>Sarah

 

[The_Nexis_One]

Congrats! Wow that is a ton of algae

But - it looks good and you seem to have a knack for it - so keep up the good work!

Very natural look...

I'm also curious about the top off water and what kind of lights you use. Also, with that many hitchhikers - I'm curious where you got your rock when you started it up...

John.

 

[icyuod2]

thanks guys.well sarah, im not sure which macro is my canary. i havent had anything go wrong yet
well its not entirely true, i did relocate a powerhead and had some caulerpa go a sexual, but no water problems.

i use ro water never tap. my lights are a dual power compact (36" fixture) 110watts 9375k bulbs.
everymorning i have about 1-2" of what looks to be sexual caulerpa (not clear but white) across the entire tank. within an hour of the lights turning on, it turns green. 1-2" of new growth every night. it really is out of control.(guess this could be my canary sarah. if the growth rate slows i'll know food is running short)

the hitchikers, well most came in on that large 16lbs rock in the far right of the tank. its housed a mantis,the green matrix crabs(not sure if thats what they are) the family of pistol shrimp, the brown/yellow flat clawed crabs (porcelain) and some of the nudi's including the opistobranch. (thats grown from a fingernail sized critter to a tennisball sized critter in just a couple of months) the other starfish and nudi's where hidding out in my codium.

i bought the rock from big als here in london canada. it arrived at the lfs at the same time i did. i was told it was a cuban shipment they were unpacking (i bought the codium at the same time/same shipment) i bought the rock because it was covered in ulva. i took it home dry in the same box it arrived at the store in (a 1 hour walk that day) i imagen with all the life in the coduim and lr, that this shipment came dirrectly from the ocean, to my aquarium without a stopover in an lfs lr curing tank.

i placed the rock in a cycled aquarium to cure. makes me wonder just how many cool critters meet thier demise in dirty curing/holding tanks. btw i got a great deal on the rock-$65 canadian. thats after 15% tax big als sells lr at $7.88 a lbs. the math doesnt work, but im not complaining. the codium was also a fantasic deal at $5.99 considering, each of them had a large bristle star hitchiker and the nudi's.
big als has always been a fantasic place for lr here in london, but the trick is to arrive at the same time/shortly after the new shipments. with such high traffic, the store gets picked over
quickly.

 

[icyuod2]

almost forgot to mention one of my fav. hitchikers. i have a few limpits ( keyhole) very decrotive. these pic's really dont do them justice. last pic of the limpits also has a crab hiding out. the crabs range from a jet black, to the colors pictured below. these also hiked in on the 16lbs rock from big als.

 

[Elite]

Cool tank.. look just like the ocean.. :thumbsup: