my nano reef update

princess

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2007
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ok so it finished cycling :D and i got 2kg and a striped/halloween hermit crab. my tests are
ammonia: 0
ph: 8.4
nitrate:10
nitrite:0.50

i have no idea why my nitrite has gone up?

the live rock is very much alive with good/bad things, as i've said i'm in no rush to buy fish or anymore inverts. when the tests go back to good i'll get a few more lb of rock.

one of the peices of live rock was exellent with about 6 baby feather dusters and a pink button type coral.

the other wasn't soo great with bristleworms and that stupid ugly anemone! which i plan to kill tonight with lemon juice and i also have a bristleworm trap which is working very well!

could someone tell me what pic 2 and 5,6 are?:D

Picture 119.jpg

Picture 116.jpg

Picture 114.jpg

Picture 124.jpg

Picture 123.jpg

Picture 122.jpg
 

sweeTang21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 10, 2007
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Wisconsin
Nitrite goes up after ammonia so if you notice that ammonia has just gone down, then thats most likely why. You can do a 5% water change with already mixed saltwater to help it down a bit. Also when was the last time you changed your mechanical media in the filter. It might be time for that as well.

I would try and get some better pics, of 2,5, and 6. I am unable to see what it is or what it resembles.

How many lbs of LR do you have. If you want to get some more LR, get cured rock and take a small bucket of water that you can take the rock home in. This will have little to no die off and shouldnt effect your tank readings.
 

princess

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2007
1,060
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my ammonia was 0 and nitrite was 0 before i got the rock...
2kg is 4.4lb but it was just a little over so i have 5lb of live rock.
the rock was suppose to be cured. one peice is.

i washed out the filterfloss 4 days ago when the tank was cycled i did a 50% water change and the nitrate went to 10
thats when i got the rock...i should have cleaned the rock a little before i put it in the tank.
 

Danyal

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 26, 2006
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woodland, ca
why are you worrying about bristleworms? they're harmless. pic #2 looks likes like a soft coral, i'd guess a paly. i can't really tell what #5&6 are, too fuzzy but possibly another type of coral. what kind of rock do you have? is it cured or uncured? i think this was one of my favorite parts of setting up my tank, right after it cycled(never had much of a cycle, started with very cured rock from another guys tank) i had tons of odd things coming out of nowhere and showing up in my tank. i just added another 5lbs last week and one of the rocks had an anemone(un-id, don't think aiptasia) two large black feather dusters, some type of macro starting, some odd black and white striped worms and i just found some weird thing growing that looks like the underside of an octopus arm today, all on one baseball sized rock.
 

princess

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2007
1,060
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because bristleworms are yukky and hairy. Pics are taken with my webcam so they arn't great.....i'll need to buy a new camera
 

stingray man

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 15, 2007
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I had brittle worms but they just went away. I think the crabs did it
 

sweeTang21

Feeder Fish
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Mar 10, 2007
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worms are great, unless you have a huge abundance of them. You will most likely never get rid of them completely. Im not even sure if its possible. Buying cured rock is always a shot in the dark, because most companys will buy uncured and cure it themselves. Its hard to say how long they have had the piece. Depending on how far along the tank is, ill usually cure it in a seperate container to get that initial die off done with. Thats just me though, and there are many options and ways of doing things lol.
 

princess

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 13, 2007
1,060
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yeah as i say it says it's cured...the place where i got it from is exellent, they keep their rocks in a large clean tank with lots of water flow. Once peice is cured, the other just isn't, i have killed all the anemones with a little lemon juice in a seperate tank. I think there is only 2 bristleworms, i think your right i'll stop panicing over them! I just didn't want lots n lots! :) So i'm doing a waterchange tomorrow.

Should i change the foam pad? I put it in to help cycle it was from my mature tank.
Also i have a spare bag of carbon should i pop that in?

cheers guys xx
 

marmot

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 25, 2007
151
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Ohio
More pictures please. Can you take some sort of full tank shot?

Love how that crab is ruling the kingdom.
 

sweeTang21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 10, 2007
2,009
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Wisconsin
carbons an okay idea. I personaly never use it but in your case you have some nitrite, i would say yes. After a month or so you can use it or not. Its up to you. As long as you stay up with water changes you can get by without it.

How long has the foam filter been used?? is it the type were you just rinse and then put back into the tank or is it disposable? Im kinda torn between the best answer honestly. I would probably replace it, but getting rid of all the BB could make your water get worse. Its really hard to say.

If this were my tank i would do 5% water changes every 2 days until all levels are good and stable, and the piece of rock has cured. Thats only about 1 gallon, so not a lot of water. This would make it okay to change the filter pad because the water changes will prevent a build up of toxins. You can increase percentage of water as needed so your not stuck with 5% not being enough.
 
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