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My hope, check back in a year to see how this goes!, is that i can avoid most problems by doing two water changes a week once it has cycled.
The tank is only 47l, so a quarter bucket out and fresh ro or salt water back in twice a week should help keep it all good.
I have lost the hermit crab though, as in literally lost him, no idea where he went!
The tank is only 47l, so a quarter bucket out and fresh ro or salt water back in twice a week should help keep it all good.
I have lost the hermit crab though, as in literally lost him, no idea where he went!
Right tank update, I might do a readers tank if anyone is interested.
Hermit crab found, he was just wandering around like nothing had happened this morning so good news.
However
Nemo is dead
In my naivety, I got the smallest ones I could find and he barely measured 1cm. This unfortunately enabled him to swim through the cable guide for the tank and into the filter return. No idea how long he has been in there, he wasn’t in there at 2100hrs, but clearly long enough to stress him out and kill him. Not exactly a nice depth.
I will be searching for both reef safe putty or similar to plug the hole and a new nemo!
Hermit crab found, he was just wandering around like nothing had happened this morning so good news.
However
Nemo is dead
In my naivety, I got the smallest ones I could find and he barely measured 1cm. This unfortunately enabled him to swim through the cable guide for the tank and into the filter return. No idea how long he has been in there, he wasn’t in there at 2100hrs, but clearly long enough to stress him out and kill him. Not exactly a nice depth.
I will be searching for both reef safe putty or similar to plug the hole and a new nemo!
Sheetmaself said:
Right tank update, I might do a readers tank if anyone is interested.
Hermit crab found, he was just wandering around like nothing had happened this morning so good news.
However
Nemo is dead
In my naivety, I got the smallest ones I could find and he barely measured 1cm. This unfortunately enabled him to swim through the cable guide for the tank and into the filter return. No idea how long he has been in there, he wasn’t in there at 2100hrs, but clearly long enough to stress him out and kill him. Not exactly a nice depth.
I will be searching for both reef safe putty or similar to plug the hole and a new nemo!
Oh no, sorry to hear that, I'm amazed you can even get clowns that size in honesty.Hermit crab found, he was just wandering around like nothing had happened this morning so good news.
However
Nemo is dead
In my naivety, I got the smallest ones I could find and he barely measured 1cm. This unfortunately enabled him to swim through the cable guide for the tank and into the filter return. No idea how long he has been in there, he wasn’t in there at 2100hrs, but clearly long enough to stress him out and kill him. Not exactly a nice depth.
I will be searching for both reef safe putty or similar to plug the hole and a new nemo!
We've been away for 3 weeks, both tanks survived but the Betta's Pico was an algae ridden mess.
Spent a couple of hours yesterday completely breaking down the tank and rescaping, new wood, reused what anubias minicoin was viable and went lighter on the hardscape this time.
Think I'll add a black background as well some time next week and perhaps need a bigger anubias to plug the dead space back right of the tank.
Dropped the lights to 6 hours from 8 to see if that means less algae, this gets full morning sun.
I would love to do that with a tank and have the wood grow out but i have cats!
Nemo2 is decidedly bigger and about half agin on the black one despite them looking the same size in this pic!
The corals are starting to open up as well now
And the conch os being freaky in a way only a conch knows!
Nemo2 is decidedly bigger and about half agin on the black one despite them looking the same size in this pic!
The corals are starting to open up as well now
And the conch os being freaky in a way only a conch knows!
Sheetmaself said:
Just started my journey into the Marine world with a TMC First Wave 47l tank to go with my 2 Tropical Tanks (21l and 120l).
I've just started a similar tank - Fluval Sea Evo 52.This is at 2 weeks now. I've used live sand and dosed with Colony Rapid cycle but ammonia/nitrate/nitrite are all still testing up at zero so a bit confused on that as i though I'd be seeing something by now. Unless I've missed it? It's been 20 years since i last kept fish (tropical) so it feels like learning all over again from scratch.
Luckily for me my mate started his tank a few months ago (a 300l tank) so i put some media i to his tank from the start to speed my process up.
I have seen different methods though from putting in shrimp straight away to starting with a pair of clownfish.
I have Clowns in mine now and running pretty consistent, looks as though i am about to start the ugly phase.
If you are thinking of posting often shall i set up a nano marine thread?
I have seen different methods though from putting in shrimp straight away to starting with a pair of clownfish.
I have Clowns in mine now and running pretty consistent, looks as though i am about to start the ugly phase.
If you are thinking of posting often shall i set up a nano marine thread?
A little update, the tank may of cost only £200 but i have probably spent near if not over £2k on it up to date!!
Currently have 2 x clownfish, 1 x yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp, 1 x royal gramma, 2 blue leg hermits, 1 red leg hermit, a normal hermit, a conch, a pin cushion sea urchin, 3 narcissus snails.
I know i am pushing the tank but i am happy to water change 3 times a fortnight so i also have a Flame scooter blenny on order.
Currently have 2 x clownfish, 1 x yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp, 1 x royal gramma, 2 blue leg hermits, 1 red leg hermit, a normal hermit, a conch, a pin cushion sea urchin, 3 narcissus snails.
I know i am pushing the tank but i am happy to water change 3 times a fortnight so i also have a Flame scooter blenny on order.
Sheetmaself said:
A little update, the tank may of cost only £200 but i have probably spent near if not over £2k on it up to date!!
Currently have 2 x clownfish, 1 x yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp, 1 x royal gramma, 2 blue leg hermits, 1 red leg hermit, a normal hermit, a conch, a pin cushion sea urchin, 3 narcissus snails.
I know i am pushing the tank but i am happy to water change 3 times a fortnight so i also have a Flame scooter blenny on order.
How’s old the tank? The blenny may struggle to survive in a new tank without a population of copepods Currently have 2 x clownfish, 1 x yellow watchman goby and pistol shrimp, 1 x royal gramma, 2 blue leg hermits, 1 red leg hermit, a normal hermit, a conch, a pin cushion sea urchin, 3 narcissus snails.
I know i am pushing the tank but i am happy to water change 3 times a fortnight so i also have a Flame scooter blenny on order.
Lovely tank though you’ve done a great job. I’m about a year into the saltwater hobbie went from a 100 to 200l a couple of months ago.
I have popped five bags of copepods in it and have a further two as trying to load it up.
My tank is about a month old, however, I have stolen a filters worth of media from a friend who has had a set up for quite a while and there is some live rock from his sump that i have broken up and is placed in the tank behind the eco reef rock so you can’t see it.
More photos now the blue light is coming on.
My tank is about a month old, however, I have stolen a filters worth of media from a friend who has had a set up for quite a while and there is some live rock from his sump that i have broken up and is placed in the tank behind the eco reef rock so you can’t see it.
More photos now the blue light is coming on.
Sheetmaself said:
....
If you are thinking of posting often shall i set up a nano marine thread?
Sorry i forgot to check back in with this thread after my initial post. I will post more often (probably asking for advice mostly!).If you are thinking of posting often shall i set up a nano marine thread?
Its been a month now since i started the tank and apart from adding a few blue leg Hermits crabs, haven't done much else apart from regular testing.
Its also started the ugly stage in the last few days, lots of orangey/brown stuff coating everything? Ammonia is at 0, Nitrite 0.1, but Nitrate is way up between 50-100 (Salifert kits). Do i just let it ride out, water change, or something else at this point?
The picture doesn't make it look too bad but the rock and sand are covered.
Edited by HelterSkelter on Sunday 21st September 16:16
HelterSkelter said:
Sheetmaself said:
....
If you are thinking of posting often shall i set up a nano marine thread?
Sorry i forgot to check back in with this thread after my initial post. I will post more often (probably asking for advice mostly!).If you are thinking of posting often shall i set up a nano marine thread?
Its been a month now since i started the tank and apart from adding a few blue leg Hermits crabs, haven't done much else apart from regular testing.
Its also started the ugly stage in the last few days, lots of orangey/brown stuff coating everything? Ammonia is at 0, Nitrite 0.1, but Nitrate is way up between 50-100 (Salifert kits). Do i just let it ride out, water change, or something else at this point?
The picture doesn't make it look too bad but the rock and sand are covered.
Edited by HelterSkelter on Sunday 21st September 16:16
On copepods, unfortunately the ones you buy in the little plastic bags have been sterilised, so they won't breed in your tank. Strongly recommend getting hold of as many varieties (including phyto, especially if you can find it nannochloropsis) - and having specific 'sanctuary' spots for them to live and breed (you can buy 3d printed 'pod hotels' that take up no space in your sump).
When I setup another tank, there's a few things I'd do very differently. I'd definitely get some of the newly reavailable proper pukka live rock (I've seen both aussie and fiji now available, but crikey it's expensive!) - and I'd 'dark start' with a metric f
k tonne of microfauna loaded into the system before I even thought of light, fish or corals. Wow nitrate is really high. No fish at all? Seems a lot of waste to be coming from the crabs. Probably is diatomes as suggested and will go away with time.
Current states of the tank, this is after about £800 of coral, £189 of light, £200 of fish all in a £180 tank!
Current states of the tank, this is after about £800 of coral, £189 of light, £200 of fish all in a £180 tank!
Edited by Sheetmaself on Sunday 21st September 17:43
HelterSkelter said:
Its also started the ugly stage in the last few days, lots of orangey/brown stuff coating everything? Ammonia is at 0, Nitrite 0.1, but Nitrate is way up between 50-100 (Salifert kits). Do i just let it ride out, water change, or something else at this point?
The picture doesn't make it look too bad but the rock and sand are covered.
It's not ideal but no need to panic unless it's causing stress to livestock.The picture doesn't make it look too bad but the rock and sand are covered.
Edited by HelterSkelter on Sunday 21st September 16:16
Whether to water change or not depends how good your source water is. If it is 0ppm RO/DI and a good quality salt, then I'd probably do a series of 20% changes every 3 or 4 days then as required to keep it 5-20ppm.
If it's premixed saltwater bought from your LFS then it's a tougher call. A lot of LFS do not maintain their RO/DI filters properly because it's quite expensive. One of the first things that exhausted DI lets through is silicate, so that would potentially explain your diatoms.
PS is that snail definitely alive? they tend to live on the rocks not sand, take it out and give it a sniff, you will soon know if it's a gonner!
It could be the source of your nitrate if dead.
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