Can anyone tell me what this is?

[jamesbog283]

I'm brand new to fish and aquariums. I'm starting a 29 gal so far I have 30lbs of live sand @30lbs of a mixture between dry, semi cured, and fully cured live rock. It was som bad advice I followed to put un cured rock in however its done and I am currently trying to cure it in my tank. My understanding is now it will only increase my cycle time? I noticed this cool little thing on one of the live rock this morning can anyone tell me what it is? Is it a good thing or bad? It's hard to see but it looks like a little flower that opens and then closes quickly. Kinda cool!

 

[Richmond]

Feather duster. Common hitchhiker that'll survive most anything.

 

[jgvergo]

Feather duster. Common hitchhiker that'll survive most anything.

+1

 

[ahiggins]

Feather duster. Common hitchhiker that'll survive most anything.

+1
I love them in my tanks unless they are growing inside my zoas....then theyre a pain.
Theyre great filter feeders, its a good find

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@jamesbog283 Welcome to Reef2Reef!
Yup A feather duster. Nice little score! It was a mini brittlestar hitchhiker that hooked me into the hobby.

My understanding is now it will only increase my cycle time?

No. Your tank is already cycling. Live rock live sand. Its a weaker biofilter right now so go even a bit slower with the addition of animals and feeding the tank.
ie, slow digestion right now. slow digestion means undigested food in the tank= lots of food for the undesirable stuff.
The parameters will be settling in and may take a bit longer to settle in with the uncured rock but its likely fine. but in two months it wont matter.
Every tank is different in how it starts up and you may never see anything odd like increased diatoms or cyano. SO its a wait and see. There are Imo few absolutes within reason as far as that goes.
Some have no probs some have every problem. But both did the same exact thing.

 

[ahiggins]

@jamesbog283
slow digestion means undigested food in the tank= lots of food for the undesirable stuff.

I cannot upvote this enough!
The best thing is to only feed what you want your fish/corals to eat (unless you have some cleaner-upers in there). Any excess will just feed algae/cyano/problems. Good luck

 

[jamesbog283]

I was told by the store I bought the tank at that a yellowtail damsel would help in the cycling, and then They also suggested a cuc, 4 snails a porcelain crab, emerald crab and sally crab. After all the additional reading i have done that may not have been a good decision. My nitrates and nitrites are both extremely high. Ammonia and ph are good. So I'm doing 25% water changes every 2 days for now till things balance out

 

[jamesbog283]

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

imo, slow down on the wc. Are you using any bottled bacteria?

yea the sally may have to go, i think they get hungry......the emerald too prob, they sometimes starve. spot feed the porcelain grab, filter feeders mostly not great cuc. Mine passed away just recently after about 4 years.
IMO snails for cuc....
a good thread https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/choosing-cleanup-crew-critters.258695/

Nice tank btw.

my only .02. always keep stirring that sand, or get a vacuum.

 

[jamesbog283]

Thank you! I am using colony bacteria and prime for my water changes. I'm adding about 7ml of colony everyday as I was instructed for 29 gal. How do I spot feed a crab?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thank you! I am using colony bacteria and prime for my water changes. I'm adding about 7ml of colony everyday as I was instructed for 29 gal. How do I spot feed a crab?

once he finds his spot,usually in a little higher flow. Just use a turkey baster to blow a little small meaty food at him. He can fan it out of the water or once he gets use to it hell grab the tube and just pull the meat out ,like mine did.

oh you can use tweezers or tongs etc,,

 

[ahiggins]

IMO:
1) I used a yellow tail damsel to cycle my 20 gallon but I donated him back to the LFS live rock tub once I was done lol
2) I noticed you said youre using prime for WCs...is that because youre using tapwater? If so....save yourself a lot of trouble and go out and buy an RODI system. Saves you time and headache later down the road. I use http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=26888
3) good idea with the bacteria, build up your nitrifying backteria.
4) other than hermit crabs....I dont like crabs for a CUC. Even then I put them in the sump where all the detritus accumulates. IMO crabs are only good for the job they do. Example: emeralds do great at eradicating bubble algae. Some people love crabs. I do not lol
5) for a 25 gallon CUC I have 4 nassarius snails (sp?), 4 astrea, 4 trochus, 2 cowrie, 3 red leg hermits (in sump).
6) I agree with Salty on the sand. I looooove small particle sand. With the bigger gravel/sand, you have to watch your poop buildup because it can wreak havoc if you stir it up without doing a WC. Vacuuming will be easy though for that size particle.

It sucks that he gave you the wrong advice about that-now youre battling from the get-go.
If youre ammonia is good, you at least have bacteria now. NitrITES Ive heard are worse for SW fish than nitrATES. @saltyfilmfolks-true?
What do you call high nitrates? If you dont have any coral yet...I would think you can go up to 20-30 ish safely before you need to start worrying. Ive never had fish only though. My nitrates go between 5-10ppm.

 

[ahiggins]

what are you using in your filter as far as media/foam/sponge?

 

[jamesbog283]

I take the water in for testing and the colours they come back are off the chart...super bright purple for the one and bright orange for the other. The guy that sold me the tank told me to put whatever substrate appealed most to our eye so my son chose crushed gravel which I switched after 2 weeks to the sand. I am only using what came with the hanging filer for media right now with the bio wheel. It was suggested by one person at the shop to use a nitrate filter pad...then 2 others said to leave it alone...ask 5 people and get 15 opinions

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

..ask 5 people and get 15 opinions

welcome to reefing!
different sand and substrate just have different pros and cons. Most will report their experiences..
same goes for cycling, and nutrition light flow and golf. Imo prime is fine its just bacteria. and is helping w any ammoina.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=62

 

[jamesbog283]

It's a wonderful new hobby and lots to learn. I've found that reading and asking questions is the only way to figure anything out in this life. As far as reefing, aquariums and fish go...I'd just like to do my best and have a beautiful little aquarium and cause as little damage to livestock as possible!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

It's a wonderful new hobby and lots to learn. I've found that reading and asking questions is the only way to figure anything out in this life. As far as reefing, aquariums and fish go...I'd just like to do my best and have a beautiful little aquarium and cause as little damage to livestock as possible!

agreed. I like R2r because no one minds my "stupid questions", they're willing to teach. and no tank shaming either. in this hobby there's a million ways to skin a cat, here, folks will share most of them pretty open mindedly. And some even show pictures of the cat

so I do encourage you to chime in w questions in threads. and then do research on the topic.

heres a similar thread. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/natural-fix-for-cyanobacteria.267435/#post-3198673

 

[ahiggins]

To get rid of the "nitrate" factory, take out the actual bio wheel (I have the same filter lol)
I don't use the stock pads that come with it because I don't like to run a lot of carbon. Personal preference.
In my smaller tanks with little bio load I only use plain ol filter floss and water changes.
Every other week I cut a new square to fit to the area where the regular pack would go and toss the old one.
Every week I do a 20-30% wc.
Just my experience with those types of filters.

 

[jamesbog283]

Thank you I will try that. It's just a kit set up. I believe its a penguin filter with bio wheel that came with the marineland 29 gal aquarium. I've heard wishy washy opinions on the penguin stuff any input? Also the store I got it from suggested nitrate pads? Would u try that or just go with the filter floss? Will I be loosing any beneficial bacteria in my filter pad if I remove whats in there now?

 

[jamesbog283]

IMO:
1) I used a yellow tail damsel to cycle my 20 gallon but I donated him back to the LFS live rock tub once I was done lol
2) I noticed you said youre using prime for WCs...is that because youre using tapwater? If so....save yourself a lot of trouble and go out and buy an RODI system. Saves you time and headache later down the road. I use http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=26888
3) good idea with the bacteria, build up your nitrifying backteria.
4) other than hermit crabs....I dont like crabs for a CUC. Even then I put them in the sump where all the detritus accumulates. IMO crabs are only good for the job they do. Example: emeralds do great at eradicating bubble algae. Some people love crabs. I do not lol
5) for a 25 gallon CUC I have 4 nassarius snails (sp?), 4 astrea, 4 trochus, 2 cowrie, 3 red leg hermits (in sump).
6) I agree with Salty on the sand. I looooove small particle sand. With the bigger gravel/sand, you have to watch your poop buildup because it can wreak havoc if you stir it up without doing a WC. Vacuuming will be easy though for that size particle.

It sucks that he gave you the wrong advice about that-now youre battling from the get-go.
If youre ammonia is good, you at least have bacteria now. NitrITES Ive heard are worse for SW fish than nitrATES. @saltyfilmfolks-true?
What do you call high nitrates? If you dont have any coral yet...I would think you can go up to 20-30 ish safely before you need to start worrying. Ive never had fish only though. My nitrates go between 5-10ppm.

What is an RODI system? Also I'd like to put a protein skimmer on but i have now where to hide everything that goes with it. My tank is visible from 3 sides with just the one 12" side against a wall. Is there anyway possible to make something work without hanging anything else on the tank? I don't even like the filter there...lol I'm a picky SOBI guess