Cycling a 40 breeder with TBS

[docklink]

Jeff (docklink),

I've been calling these anemones curlicues, but they don't look like the Bartholomea pictures. They look much more like the "light bulb" anemones pictured on the Gulf View website (floridaliverock.com), with no latin name.

I've been suspicious of that from the picts Laura Moon posted of her anemone. That's why I quoted the discription. Hard for me to say, though, as I've been living my fantasy through everybody elses posts

[/i]
There is a book specific for helping identify corals and anemones of the gulf and tropical atlantic, but I don't recall title and author.

Hy

I'ld be interested in learning what text that is. I might take a look at Amazon later.

By the way, Hy, I've really appreciated your input to the various threads. You seem to have a tight bead on this reef stuff.

DCDeacon, I hope all this rambling is more help than annoyance.

 

[DCDeacon]

All this rambling is what makes this thread worthwhile.

It's definitely been helpful to me and hopefully to others as well.

 

[hdtran]

For ID of tropical atlantic critters, do a search on Paul Humann. I believe he did a series of books to ID critters for snorkelers/divers.

Hy

p.s. Caught my mantis! See post on other topic in this forum!

 

[paintballgoth]

DCDeacon, how many lbs of rock do you have in the tank?

 

[DCDeacon]

Currently have 40 pounds. Looking to add another 40 with the 2nd shipment. I didn't really have the ability to stack up this rock because of those two huge bottom pieces, but they're all the foundation I need with my "top off" rock shows up in the 2nd shipment.

 

[paintballgoth]

ok cool...thanks alot

 

[DCDeacon]

All my parameters continue to be consistent. Nitrate hanging out around 2/2.5. Everything else is stable. Hoping to call Richard today for the second shipment.

I spotted a pretty large crab yesterday morning so I'm hoping to take a stab at getting him and the mantis/pistol out before the next shipment arrives.

Took the urchin to the LFS. While I was looking at their tanks I noticed the guy had already dumped him in a tank. No acclimation, no nothing. I hope the little guy makes it ok.

Saturday was an adventure as my 4-year-old managed to pull the flex tubing out of the elbow on my bulkhead, thereby dumping several gallons on the floor before I ran in and managed to stop it. Thank goodness for GPF extension cords.

Did an extra good job of sealing the hose when I put it back on and put a clamp on there. Didn't appear to be any harm done, other than some wet carpet.

 

[DCDeacon]

Just ordered my second shipment which will be here tomorrow. I'll be sure to take lots of pics of the stuff before and after it goes in the tank.

Didn't want to take my full allotment of snails and crabs as perscribed by "the package" because I'm going to order some different stuff from another place to add some variety, and they were nice enough to let me get some other things instead like some extra sand and a few critters and sponges.

Can't say enough about what a good product and good service these guys provide. I can't wait to get a bigger (75) tank so I can do this all over again on a bigger scale.

 

[DCDeacon]

2nd shipment

2nd shipment

Well, I got my second shipment yesterday. What a mess. Sick kid...wife working late...not the best day to try to add new LR and critters. Ah well, that which does not kill us and all that....

One box of LR had been flipped upside down so that the This Side Up side was, of course, down. So water had been leaking out and the rock was looking a little dried, but not too bad. So I focused on that rock first. Used the selzter water w/ syringe trick to scare out several pistol shrimp and a few nasty mantis. Even pulled one of the large rocks from the first shipment to hit that one and sure enough, found the pretty big mantis that was still in there along with a few pistols.

So, pest free I started putting rock back in. Opened the second box and sat that out for a while, hitting a few holes with seltzer. Flushed out a few more, including a pretty green mantis. Checking the bag as I always do I saw what looked like an anemone. Uh, no. Upon closer inspection, it's an octopus. Yikes! I has thought maybe I could take it to the LFS, but alas it had already passed.

Start putting the second box of rock in only to discover...I have TOO MUCH ROCK! Uh oh. I put as much in as I could, and ended up with more of a "wall" than I had ever intended, but I still think it looks pretty good. Lots of little caves and such. I grabbed a 20 gal I was planning to use as a QT and dumped three large pieces of LR that were leftover (and I mean, they're big) in there along with some extra LS that I had ordered. I may try to find a tank to go ahead and set up in my office downstairs or see if a LFS will give me store credit for it.

Spent 2+ hours acclimating the critters. Everything seemed fine. Put everyone in and they all moved about happily. Somehow I didn't get my two cukes, but since I'm pretty sure I got some extra rock from TBS, and I'm planning to add to the crew anyway with some different snails, crabs, and shrimp (I got less than the "Package" amount for my size tank) I figure I can try to get those later.

Wake up this AM and the tank is very, very cloudy, where it had been pretty clear last night. Tough to see anything. Snails and hermit are crawling about but I can't see the stars or shrimp, which has me nervous. Could be that they've just found a cave and are hiding (and the stars are underneath somewhere), but still has me a little nervous. Ammonia is still almost zero, although nitrites are a little high this AM. Did a 10 gal water change this morning. I'm thinking maybe a bacteria bloom of some sort? Here's a pic:

Any ideas or suggestions? Just keep testing and water changes? Try some activated carbon perhaps? Just chill and let it clear on its own? I assume I shouldn't be overly concerned about not being able to see the critters, given the cloudy conditions, but not sure what else I should do there.

 

[we_want_Nemo]

I'm not trying to scare you ... but if you have high Nitrites you must have some Ammonia too .....
And if they don't show on your test kit ... maybe you should take them to a LFS to have them tested (just to be sure)

I didn't do that ... I relied on my test kit ... and ended up killing the whole tank!

Just a thought
good luck
Manuela

 

[DCDeacon]

Well, I tested with two different test kits and both showed up negative. The LFS uses the same test kit as my 2nd one, so I'm fairly confident I'm getting an accurate reading, and these have detected ammonia when I cycled my tank the first time.

Water seems to be getting better as the day goes on. No foul odor or anything. Skimmer pulling out a fair amount of gunk.

 

[docklink]

What aquascape I can see looks nice. Actually looks like you could squeeze abit more in there if you wanted.

What were your Nititrite readings? A big spike in nititrites with zero ammonia would have me very suspicious of the ammonia test even though done with two different tests (the nitrites have got to come from somewhere). Otherwise, you are probably ok.

Sounds like TBS has abit of a octo colony going in their reef. You're the third (if not the fourth) person to report one in htier shipment in the last month or so.

Keep us posted and good luck.

 

[DCDeacon]

Well, since I'm at home I decided to test again to see where I was at after this mornings 10-12 gallon change.

Nitrite is very low. Maybe .1 or lower. I'd say it was up around 1 or so this morning.

Nitrates are maybe 2 or 3 at most

Ammonia still showing only a trace on both test kits, and total ammonia is also showing low.

 

[Dexter1334]

Shrimp and stars will hide out under rocks. You will probably see a tentacle or two sticking out until they get comfortable. The stars are very greedy and will eat till they burst. My shrimp hang out on the underside of overhanging rocks usually in the darker areas.

If you have any kind of filter it will expedite clearing the water. I use a canister filter when things get messy.

 

[DCDeacon]

I've got a CPR Skimmer/WD sump underneath that has a filter pad in it. I pulled out all the bio bale, but the pad seems to pull out some of the solids and I change it/rinse it fairly regularly to keep it from building up and causing a nitrate bloom.

I've also noticed a ton of tiny white things attached to the sides and back of the tank. Dunno what they could be. They're all very small and just blowing about with the current.

I keep looking for the stars and shrimp. Maybe I'll catch a glimpse when the lights go off and the tank continues to clear up.

BTW, I noticed the 20 I put the LR/LS in is also very cloudy, but has no noticable traces of ammonia. I'm wondering if all this is simply from the sediment in each rock getting blown loose by the powerheads, or something like that?

 

[goblinsharkman]

DCDeacon wahat u gonna do with the mantises cause im lookin for one.

 

[DCDeacon]

They have, uh, gone to a better place... Sorry.

 

[DCDeacon]

Tank was completely clear this morning. Ammonia is up around .2. Nitrite still low at around .1. Nitrates steady at 3. Ph and salinity holding steady.

Spotted both of the starfish in the caves they've picked out for themselves, but still no glimpse of either Peppermint. Given that I've read shrimp can go belly up pretty quickly when adding them, I'm still concerned that these two made it ok. Any suggestion on how I might try to lure them out if they're still around? Will they come running if I hold a small piece of raw shrimp in the tank with tongs?

Second, while looking for the shrimp I looked in one hole in a rock and saw what looked like eggs -- 10-20 white things, each about the size of a grain of rice -- attached to the top and side of the rock inside the hole. Tried to take a picture but I can't get it to come out in focus. Any idea what these might be?

 

[we_want_Nemo]

The shrimp will come out if you feed your tank.

Mine come out as soon as anything (I mean ANYTHING) hits the water.
They eat fish food, they come out when my husband hand feeds the anemone ...
They go nuts when I try to bait the gorillas or mantis with raw shrimp (that would make them canibals - right??)
And I constantly catch them in my trap ....



I would give the raw shrimp a shot ... they seem to like that a lot!

have fun
Manuela

 

[DCDeacon]

Well, I THOUGHT the raw shrimp confirmed what I feared. But, while doing a small water change just now I spotted at least one of them hiding in a whole. So wherever they are camping out, it must be someplace completely out of site. I hope they're both still in there.

Still no idea what the rice looking things are. Someone in another forum suggested they might be some kind of sponge?