Starting my HelloReef adventure!

[JoJosReef]

I clipped a sheet of nori to the glass and two of my astreas went to town on it lol. For my other astreas and the urchin, I rubber banded a sheet to some pvc pipe and wedged it in between the rocks; hopefully they get to it soon.

For my urchin, is it normal for them to be sluggish the first few days? They’re responsive to my shrimp cleaning it but not much in terms of looking for food (maybe they were full from living in the frag tank at my lfs). It did drop a small spine overnight as it moved to the other side of the right rock but I figured it was accidental or just stressed a bit.

Do you happen to know what the salinity of the bag water was? What did you do before putting it into the tank? Any drip or %added acclimation?

Dripping spines is no bueno, just keep an eye on it if it drops more. My pencil was quite lethargic compared to my tux. Was happy just grinding away at purple paint.

 

[BAMslam93]

Do you happen to know what the salinity of the bag water was? What did you do before putting it into the tank? Any drip or %added acclimation?

Dripping spines is no bueno, just keep an eye on it if it drops more. My pencil was quite lethargic compared to my tux. Was happy just grinding away at purple paint.

I honestly don't but now I'll check it when I get the clowns; I went ahead and floated the bag for temperature acclimation for 15 minutes then placed the urchin in a bucket with the bagged water and added 8 cups of tank water between 5 minute intervals. It's perking up with the nori flying around the water. It took a bit for my snails to get more active so hopefully, it's just unsure of the new environment.

 

[BAMslam93]

Update! The lights went off, I went to watch tv and hang out with my cat for a few hours, and found this guy hanging out on the glass when I came back. Stuck a clip of nori for it right after I took this photo so it can demolish it lol

 

[BAMslam93]

Great news! I got a pair of ocellaris from my LFS and they’re finding their own little spots to hang out. The bigger one (Jess) chose the archway while the smaller one (Nick) likes to hover around the rock work.

I fed them and the Jess was happy to eat but I noticed that Nick was having a hard time catching the BRS pellets, maybe they’re too big for his mouth? Hopefully he can grab some for dinner tonight. May consider going with Hikari frozen food, Marine S, or TDO. Any recommendations?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Great news! I got a pair of ocellaris from my LFS and they’re finding their own little spots to hang out. The bigger one (Jess) chose the archway while the smaller one (Nick) likes to hover around the rock work.

I fed them and the Jess was happy to eat but I noticed that Nick was having a hard time catching the BRS pellets, maybe they’re too big for his mouth? Hopefully he can grab some for dinner tonight. May consider going with Hikari frozen food, Marine S, or TDO. Any recommendations?

You got a gorgeous pair! It took me around 2 days to get my fish to eat, so dont freak out if the clown still can't eat. Not saying that he/she can't eat because of stress, but you will have time to figure it out.

I like the names!

 

[BAMslam93]

You got a gorgeous pair! It took me around 2 days to get my fish to eat, so dont freak out if the clown still can't eat. Not saying that he/she can't eat because of stress, but you will have time to figure it out.

I like the names!

Thank you! I’m still having trouble getting them to eat since all they do is chase the food, take a bite and ignore it or spit it out. I’ve tried Marine-S and frozen Mega Marine but no dice. I’ll ask my LFS what they’ve been feeding them since I suspect the food I have may be too big for them.

 

[BAMslam93]

Hi everyone!

It’s officially been a month since I set up my tank! I’m running into a bit of trouble with my astrea snails kicking the bucket. I’m waiting for the ugly stage to start so they have plenty of GHA to eat but I’ve already lost two who kept falling off the rocks. I keep offering nori and algae wafers in the meantime but they seem to ignore it. Thinking about not restocking on algae-eating snails and trying to supplement food as best as I can until the uglies creep up.

I also got a copepod and bacteria (?) bloom recently and it’s really clouded up my tank! Not sure why my carbon and water changes haven’t cleared up the water. How long did it take for your tanks to grow a jungle?


Other updates!

Jacques the shrimp molted for the third time today. I have yet to catch it in the act but I’m always happy to see him growing each week!

Pencil urchin is cruising around the glass, sitting on my power head and making it vibrate (slightly annoying) and munching on nori.

Nick and Jess the clowns are swimming along but have been on some sort of hunger strike in the week since I got them. Jess has a visible spine and I’m worried they’re not eating enough. Currently experimenting with BRS and Hikari Marine-S pellets and Hikari Mega Marine frozen but they only nibble and spit or miss them. Going to ask my LFS what they were eating tomorrow and I hope it’s something they can get in their mouths.

Nassarius snails have been more active, especially at night and morning. Usually only one comes out at a time but I saw three of four looking for food at the same time!

I also installed a 4-stage RO/DI with chlorine/chloramine removing carbon blocks. Took about two hours to make 5 gallons of water and it read 1 TDS in the bucket. I keep clean saltwater in the bucket and I figured it wasn’t completely rinsed out when I dumped out the old water. Luckily, I collected some water in a clean coffee mug and it was at 0! Out of curiosity, I tested the purified drinking water I was using for mixing and top offs and it read 3 ppm. Tap reads ~200 and fridge filter reads ~150.

I managed to get a Red Sea testing kit and found my alkalinity was at 15 dkh?? Hopefully with the water changes and RO/DI it will get down to a safer level.

 

[BAMslam93]

Hi everyone, thanks for following my tank thread! I'm not the best at updating anything online so I hope I can get in the habit of consistently posting.

Clownfish be clowning, setting up a QT tank
This week has been particularly stressful for me after I had a nagging feeling that my bigger clown, Jess, was breathing a little too fast. I had been able to get my clowns to eat and swallow their pellets and I experimented with baby brine shrimp, which Nick, the smaller one, especially enjoys. Jess has a visible spine and I was worried that she was thin and even affected by flukes or an internal parasite.

I went to Walmart to buy a cheap 10-gallon hospital tank and got all sorts of frozen and pellet foods to get my clowns to eat. Even went to my lfs and they recommended Nutramar Gamma stick on food, which did help a bit but got super messy. Eventually, I went back to Marine S and now they're catching everything they can!

I set up my quarantine and prepped for a FW dip but Jess was not in the mood to be caught. I didn't want to stress her out even more since her appetite and energy looked fine but I know now to always quarantine when I get new fish! Her breathing hasn't affected her activity level and she definitely has the energy to square up to Nick and I even see them twitching at each other. Just gotta keep an eye on water quality and changes!

Algae eaters in trouble and manifesting an ugly stage
I've been having a harder time with my astrea snails and pencil urchin, unfortunately. I made the mistake of adding algae eaters before my ugly stage and I've already lost three with the other two not looking great. I add new pieces of nori every couple of days with a clip or tied to a rubberband but I guess they prefer green hair algae.

A couple of days ago, I woke up to my urchin dropping a lot of its spines and I knew something was not right with the water. I did have to go to work but as soon as I got home, I tested my parameters and noticed my ph dropped to 7.4 (the lowest measurement with API, I would've used my Red Sea kit to confirm but I had to act fast) and my salinity rose a bit to 36 ppt (35 is my goal). My nitrates were in the 10-20 ppm range and I was waiting for new filter socks to arrive, so my only filter sock was getting super clogged even with rinses. I immediately I did a 30% water change, opened my window for fresh air, and pointed my powerhead to the surface for more gas exchange. That night, the urchin lost two more spines and no more overnight. However, I noticed two more hanging loosely last night, ughhhh. I'm still offering it nori on a clip to munch on and today I've seen no more spines lost. Not sure if my metal tongs have been leaching copper in the water but I'm going to buy a plastic one to replace it just in case. Lesson learned, always switch out and wash your filter socks!

Getting into reefing has reaffirmed that there's a bigger learning curve than freshwater (and a bigger financial investment, ouch!). To help with gas exchange and potentially raise my ph to at least 7.9-8.0, I'm considering getting a nano skimmer or at least running an air stone in the back chamber.

For some reason, my cleaner shrimp has been a trooper and molts every week! Not sure what his secret is lol

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Hi everyone, thanks for following my tank thread! I'm not the best at updating anything online so I hope I can get in the habit of consistently posting.

Clownfish be clowning, setting up a QT tank
This week has been particularly stressful for me after I had a nagging feeling that my bigger clown, Jess, was breathing a little too fast. I had been able to get my clowns to eat and swallow their pellets and I experimented with baby brine shrimp, which Nick, the smaller one, especially enjoys. Jess has a visible spine and I was worried that she was thin and even affected by flukes or an internal parasite.

I went to Walmart to buy a cheap 10-gallon hospital tank and got all sorts of frozen and pellet foods to get my clowns to eat. Even went to my lfs and they recommended Nutramar Gamma stick on food, which did help a bit but got super messy. Eventually, I went back to Marine S and now they're catching everything they can!

I set up my quarantine and prepped for a FW dip but Jess was not in the mood to be caught. I didn't want to stress her out even more since her appetite and energy looked fine but I know now to always quarantine when I get new fish! Her breathing hasn't affected her activity level and she definitely has the energy to square up to Nick and I even see them twitching at each other. Just gotta keep an eye on water quality and changes!

Algae eaters in trouble and manifesting an ugly stage
I've been having a harder time with my astrea snails and pencil urchin, unfortunately. I made the mistake of adding algae eaters before my ugly stage and I've already lost three with the other two not looking great. I add new pieces of nori every couple of days with a clip or tied to a rubberband but I guess they prefer green hair algae.

A couple of days ago, I woke up to my urchin dropping a lot of its spines and I knew something was not right with the water. I did have to go to work but as soon as I got home, I tested my parameters and noticed my ph dropped to 7.4 (the lowest measurement with API, I would've used my Red Sea kit to confirm but I had to act fast) and my salinity rose a bit to 36 ppt (35 is my goal). My nitrates were in the 10-20 ppm range and I was waiting for new filter socks to arrive, so my only filter sock was getting super clogged even with rinses. I immediately I did a 30% water change, opened my window for fresh air, and pointed my powerhead to the surface for more gas exchange. That night, the urchin lost two more spines and no more overnight. However, I noticed two more hanging loosely last night, ughhhh. I'm still offering it nori on a clip to munch on and today I've seen no more spines lost. Not sure if my metal tongs have been leaching copper in the water but I'm going to buy a plastic one to replace it just in case. Lesson learned, always switch out and wash your filter socks!

Getting into reefing has reaffirmed that there's a bigger learning curve than freshwater (and a bigger financial investment, ouch!). To help with gas exchange and potentially raise my ph to at least 7.9-8.0, I'm considering getting a nano skimmer or at least running an air stone in the back chamber.

For some reason, my cleaner shrimp has been a trooper and molts every week! Not sure what his secret is lol

Yikes!

That's an eventful update, I hope everything gets better soon!

I think getting a skimmer for oxygenation would work great!

 

[BAMslam93]

Mini update: I found some tiny spots of algae popping up! My camera sucks at taking photos of this tank but Nick wanted to steal the show lol

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Mini update: I found some tiny spots of algae popping up! My camera sucks at taking photos of this tank but Nick wanted to steal the show lol

That's awesome!

It may not look the best, but it's the sign of a healthy tank!

 

[BAMslam93]

Hey hey, the ugly stage just kicked the door open and smacked my tank in the face

Any idea what this kind of algae may be? I’m thinking of getting astreas but I’m not sure about small hermits aside from having to get extra empty shells for new homes.

I also QT’d my pencil urchin when it almost lost all its spines until the algae started. I went ahead, transferred it back and there’s some new spine nubs growing on it and it’s already mowed part of my rock!

Finally, I got a Bubble Magus MiniQ skimmer that’s being broken in and it’s already got some nice gross skimmate in the cup

Next Friday will be 2 months running!

 

[BAMslam93]

Knee deep in the uglies so I owe you all an update!

One of my deceased astrea snails had a small aiptasia that managed to split off and find a home at the top of my rockwork. A little F-Aiptasia made quick work of the little pest but I know there may be more lurking somewhere...

I'm also dealing with a bryopsis, gha, and diatom outbreak so I decided to recruit more CUC members from Saltwateraquarium.com and added 5 (6? 7? They're so tiny and came with extra shells lol) dwarf blue leg hermit crabs and 5 trochus snails to help clean up the place a bit. My pencil urchin is now hanging out on the rocks having the time of its life eating up the gha and growing back spines! The hermits are already crawling around and checking out the extra shells I added (free real estate). Since bryopsis is tougher, I also got Reef Flux to deal with it but I still want gha around for the crew. Guess I'll get my hands dirty and go weeding the reef.

Finally saw my ammonia and nitrite drop to zero and bought Hanna checkers for nitrate and phosphate while a Salifert magnesium test kit is on the way. I found out my nitrate is at 18.3 ppm and phosphate is at 0.70; not sure if this is par for the course for a 2 month old tank?

I'm also attaching my recent parameters below.

 

[JoJosReef]

Blazing through the uglies, eh? PO4 is really up there. Have you considered adding some macroalgae to help with sucking up the nitrients? I like Botrycladia and codium. The pencil urchin might leave it alone or decimate it, hard to tell till it's in there. A decent sized bush of codium can persist, though, and is an excellent nutrient sink.

 

[BAMslam93]

Blazing through the uglies, eh? PO4 is really up there. Have you considered adding some macroalgae to help with sucking up the nitrients? I like Botrycladia and codium. The pencil urchin might leave it alone or decimate it, hard to tell till it's in there. A decent sized bush of codium can persist, though, and is an excellent nutrient sink.

I honestly thought it would be much worse; would my PO4 indicate that there's less algae consuming it now? I've considered adding a macro but yeah, the urchin eating it is making me feel iffy about it, especially since it may be pricey for me to replace. I could ask my LFS to see if they can order some for me to try out

I took a look at botryocladia and I love the look! Reminds me of the giant kelp forests here off the coast in California lol

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Knee deep in the uglies so I owe you all an update!

One of my deceased astrea snails had a small aiptasia that managed to split off and find a home at the top of my rockwork. A little F-Aiptasia made quick work of the little pest but I know there may be more lurking somewhere...

I'm also dealing with a bryopsis, gha, and diatom outbreak so I decided to recruit more CUC members from Saltwateraquarium.com and added 5 (6? 7? They're so tiny and came with extra shells lol) dwarf blue leg hermit crabs and 5 trochus snails to help clean up the place a bit. My pencil urchin is now hanging out on the rocks having the time of its life eating up the gha and growing back spines! The hermits are already crawling around and checking out the extra shells I added (free real estate). Since bryopsis is tougher, I also got Reef Flux to deal with it but I still want gha around for the crew. Guess I'll get my hands dirty and go weeding the reef.

Finally saw my ammonia and nitrite drop to zero and bought Hanna checkers for nitrate and phosphate while a Salifert magnesium test kit is on the way. I found out my nitrate is at 18.3 ppm and phosphate is at 0.70; not sure if this is par for the course for a 2 month old tank?

I'm also attaching my recent parameters below.

Awesomeupdate! I am so happy to hear that your urchin is doing better!

Yikes, the uglies. At least you started them, so they will be over soon! Have you added copepods yet? If not, I highly recommend adding them. They will help you with the uglies.

 

[BAMslam93]

Awesomeupdate! I am so happy to hear that your urchin is doing better!

Yikes, the uglies. At least you started them, so they will be over soon! Have you added copepods yet? If not, I highly recommend adding them. They will help you with the uglies.

Right? I thought I almost lost them and I'm glad it's making a comeback! I've definitely considered getting some pods and phytoplankton from ReefNutrition or AlgaeBarn since I miss the little specks on my glass xD

 

[JoJosReef]

I honestly thought it would be much worse; would my PO4 indicate that there's less algae consuming it now? I've considered adding a macro but yeah, the urchin eating it is making me feel iffy about it, especially since it may be pricey for me to replace. I could ask my LFS to see if they can order some for me to try out

I took a look at botryocladia and I love the look! Reminds me of the giant kelp forests here off the coast in California lol

You're in Riverside, right? There are a few locals there that have macros. I've gotten some from them before. I'll have to look them up, but one is StanD on the Socalireefs forum--don't know if he is on R2R or not.

 

[BAMslam93]

You're in Riverside, right? There are a few locals there that have macros. I've gotten some from them before. I'll have to look them up, but one is StanD on the Socalireefs forum--don't know if he is on R2R or not.

Yup, I'll reach out to him on here and see if he's got any macros you recommended. Thank you for the recommendation!

 

[BAMslam93]

Alright, so this is day 4 on Reef Flux and I’m already starting to see some dieback on the bryopsis!

Diatoms are still growing despite my hermits and nassarius snails turning over the sand but it’s a lot less ugly now.

The aiptasia came back with a vengeance so I had to use the epoxy/f-aiptasia method to smother the little buggers. Last night, I checked out the tank after lights out and found a baby one hanging out upside down in a little crevice, ughhh. Might consider getting a pair of berghias or a peppermint shrimp to deal with this but I'm not sure if this is just doing invasive surgery on a papercut, so to speak.

Also, it was moving day for my hermits! It's funny to see them impatiently waiting for the other one to finish their open house and finally move into their new shells.

Idk what's going on with my trochus snails; it seems that at least three of them have decided to go dormant after exploring the rocks and bottom of the glass/sandbed and the big one decided to keep his foot extended while sleeping on the sand? I moved one of the smaller ones back to the rock after slowly losing grip on the glass and they kind attached to the rock but now they're hiding in the shell. I added some algae wafers in case they were starving, which they shouldn't with all the gha and diatoms. Also noticed some of their shells are turning pearly?

Once my two weeks of Reef Flux are up, I'm getting some codium to add to the tank and planning to get some pods and phytoplankton