Crazed's newbie 70 gallon

[Sisterlimonpot]

What I would do is grab an uncooked shrimp from the grocery store and put it in the tank for a few days to allow it to decompose and create more ammonia that way it will help the cycle. Take it out after 2-3 days though.

Algae is part of the cycle as well. It’s more than likely diatoms, but when your ammonia drops you can add a clean up crew (CUC)consisting of an assortment of snails and crabs. (I tend to recommend no hermit crabs, they'll kill your snails and take over their shell) but a good diverse CUC will help with keeping algae at bay.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Sorry, as far as the lighting, since you have nothing in the tank you can cut back or even go without them until you have something in the tank to look at. No light or little light will help with diatom growth until you can get a CUC in there.

 

[Crazed]

Thank you! I'll try the shrimp and cut backs on the lights.

 

[Crazed]

I took my water to the LFS to have someone who knows how to read the tests actually test the water. The lady who did it said there was no ammonia, no nitrite, and 5-10 nitrate, and looking at the test with her it made sense to me. She said she thought the tank was ready, but I know the nitrite never went up at all (unless it did it within the window of, like, 24 hours). It's been almost 3 weeks now. I haven't done the shrimp thing posted above yet... should I do that before adding anything, or do you think it cycled already? Do I have to keep adding raw shrimp to keep the cycle going until completion if I do it? Or, should I just add a small amount of livestock (like a couple snails) and see how things go?

 

[Crazed]

I think I've come to the conclusion that in my opinion the tank has not cycled enough. I'm going to add some raw shrimp.

I'm also going to be adding fresh saltwater to my QT and get my clownfish. I asked in another thread if I should seed my filter sponge in my DT, whether it would help or not since it's not cycled fully. The consensus seemed to be not seeding it with bacteria first, and making sure to do daily water changes, so that's what I'll go with unless anyone has another opinion.

I also got out my microscope that I used for high school biology (I own my own, a benefit of being homeschooled I supposed!) and took a look at the brown algae. It was pretty neat. I wanted to see what these little diatoms looked like that are beginning to cover everything in my tank. I think I've stopped the spread of the diatoms on new places, but it looks like where they have a foothold they're increasing their presence, to say. It was interesting to investigate.

If anyone has any opinion about any of this, please let me know. Thanks for continuing to read!

 

[Crazed]

Alright, well, I think I'm going to be getting my two clownfish tomorrow, everyone! I set up my quarantine tank with fresh saltwater, but I did end up soaking my sponge in the sump of the DT for two days. Ammonia and nitrate in the QT are 0, salinity is 31 and temperature is 77F (compared to 5-10 nitrate, 35 salinity and 79 temp in DT). I may raise the salinity a bit more, slowly. The fish will be quarantined for 4 weeks, which also should give me plenty of time to add substrate to the DT and make sure it has cycled.

What is everyone's opinion on FW dips? Do you think I should do them?

The DT is still the same as it was, although many of the diatoms have died off as a result of the decreased photoperiod. I've slightly increased it again. I'm going to add the shrimp as soon as I can (yes, I still haven't gotten around to it).

 

[Crazed]

Alright, no clowns tonight. LFS doesn't have any in stock.

So, I was disappointed, but when I returned, I found a surprise in my tank! I turned the lights on in the dark room and there was a slug of some sort crawling up the back pane of the tank!



He was about 1''x1/2'', and he moved at a decent speed once I turned the lights on, by a sort of undulation like other slugs and snails use, but he was moving pretty fast. He retreated back to the rock within a minute seconds of me turning the lights on. Is this a slug, and is it a desirable hitch-hiker? Looks kind of like Stomatella to me.

I also saw tons of little bugs (copepods, I assume) running around the rockwork. Man, I really must observe my tank in the dark more.

 

[dancewithethan]

I removed pictures from the original thread but you can read what others said. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1599983

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Craze, there's no reason to do a fresh water dip unless the fish is showing signs. QT will be fine.

Your tank is like a whole other world in the dark

 

[Crazed]

Got two Ocellaris clownfish today! I drip acclimated them for about 40 minutes then put them into my QT, and they're looking great. No pictures right now; it was too dark to get a good picture with the camera, since the QT is illuminated mostly by natural light. The only problem at all seems to be that it looks to me like the suction of the powerhead might be too strong, since they're usually sticking on one side of the tank (although they have come successfully to the other side of the tank a few times).

I put some Nutrafin Cycle into the tank just prior to putting the clowns in. The LFS kind of shafted me by waiving the 5-day guarantee since I told them I have a newly running QT, and they didn't seem to care that I had seeded the sponge in the sump beforehand. When I got home, I looked up the product online and saw it wasn't very effective, but it certainly looked like it would be harmless at worst and helpful at best, so I added some to the aquarium. Anyone have any thoughts about this specific product? I'll probably never use it again, but if it is at all effective, I suppose it is a good idea to use it since the sponge wasn't soaking in the sump for too long. I'm still not worried about the safety of the tank, since I'll still be doing partial water changes and I've received various assurances the sponge is probably just fine, but I figured taking an extra precaution wouldn't be bad (especially if I can keep the guarantee...).

Pictures of the clownfish tomorrow.

 

[Crazed]

Cleo is on the right (assuming that's the one that will become female; no, she doesn't have a weird deformity, she's just slightly turned towards the camera ). The one on the left I haven't named yet, still trying to decide.

 

[ludnix]

The one of the left looks bigger to me, so I'd think that would be come the female. I personally would have tried to get one which was noticeably different to make the roles apparent, but I guess your guys will figure it out.

 

[Crazed]

Unfortunately, they were all pretty much the same size at the LFS. I think with some work, I'll be able to notice the difference (I already can to some point). I am pretty sure it is the one on the right, though, since he/she seems to be the "explorer" type and goes after most of the food. Unless that's a male behavior in clownfish.

Thanks for commenting.

 

[chartwell]

Congrats on the clownfish! I started my first salt tank six months ago and it is a wild ride, isn't it? I alternate between terror of really screwing something up and pride and happiness at how well it is coming along. I love to just sit and look at all the life in the tank - it really is a little world of its own!

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Crazed,

got the livestock in the tank, now your hooked and the rest is history

Just keep an eye on ammonia. if it does start to rise change 20% of the water. the Ocellaris are pretty hardy so even if you initially miss the amm spike they will survive.

 

[Crazed]

The ammonia spiked today. It was low; below the first color (which is .25), but it was definitely present. I changed 20% of the water (have been doing about 10%/day up until now) and I dosed some more Cycle. I haven't tested since I did the water change, but I will soon. I was going to clean the sponge today, but after I saw the ammonia, I figured I better not screw with the biological filter.

I'm going to get some Ammo-Lock (yes, I'm aware about the false positives you get with testing), since this comes at a really crappy time; I'll be leaving for the shore tomorrow for the next 4 days. My parents will be taking care of the tank until I get back, but I still feel bad leaving them alone right now. They seem alright; I haven't really been able to see how fast their gills are moving, but they're acting pretty much like they did before the spike.

This kind of chemical maintenance is exactly what I wanted to avoid. How can I prevent this from happening in quarantine in the future? Leave the sponge soaking in the sump longer, or what? I'm going to be re-establishing the quarantine tank between uses.

I'm also going to get some Stress-Zyme. Would this help the fish if there were small spikes I'm not aware of over the weekend?

 

[Crazed]

Please forgive the double post, but a fast opinion would really be appreciated on this, as my window of being able to do things before I leave is pretty narrow.

Also, I tested the water after I did the 20% water change, and it was unchanged.

 

[Crazed]

Jamie and Cleo have moved-on-up to the big tank!

They were in acclimation for a total of 27 days. I cut it short by a day because I noticed the pH in my quarantine tank had dipped to 7.4!! It had been at 7.8 several days before, so I was rather surprised. I was doing 80% water changes from the DT every two days, so I was surprised. And 7.4 is the lower limit of the test spectrum, so it might have even be lower. I was shocked. I was going to put them right from the QT to the DT, but the DT is at 8.0 pH. So, I drip acclimated them to the tank water for about an hour and a half, then I put them in. I made sure the powerheads were off with only the sump return running, and I had the T5s off, leaving just a bedroom light on.

Initially, they seemed a little shocked, but they're doing great now. They're swimming around the tank, mostly around the tank edges. I just turned the fans on today, and they seemed to struggle against the flow for a bit, but now they're getting around quite good. They also ate today.

So, it was hectic, but the first quarantine was successful. There were no signs of disease. I learned a lot of lessons for my next quarantine. I thank God I bought tankraised clownfish for my first fish, because I think any less hardy fish wouldn't have survived the quarantine, what with the ammonia, massive water changes, and (apparently) low pH towards the end of the cycle. I'll be soaking my new sponge in the sump for at least a week in preparation for the next arrivals.

I have some questions, though. How can I keep the pH higher in the QT in the future? Also, when you think the clowns will start exploring inside the rockwork? Right now they're just hanging around the glass.

Also, I have a link to some pictures I've been taking, and will continue to take, of the tank's progression, including the brown diatom phase, the kelp forest phase, and more! You can see them here!


Current stats for DT:
Temperature: 80F
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Salinity: 35ppt

 

[Crazed]

Some better pictures of the fish.

Jamie. His middle stripe is more shallow than Cleo's (on the other side of his body), he's smaller, and his color is lighter.

Cleo. I'm pretty sure she's going to be the female. She's more aggressive, more curious, and larger.

I think I'm in love.