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Cuttlefish tank cycling.

I've had bright pink coraline to grow where it does not get much light, usually on unexposed rock. I have tried flipping the rocks to expose it for esthetics but it dies. I have one rock that grows it nicely that I keep in an ambient light only tank and I will try to remember to photograph it next week.
 
I was not able to take a decent picture of the tiny shrimps, but they seem to have mostly gone now. I'm seeing an explosion of the tiny little white flea guys that stick to the glass though. No casualties yet, aside from one astrea snail that was murdered in the name of hermit crab real estate.
 
I was not able to take a decent picture of the tiny shrimps, but they seem to have mostly gone now. I'm seeing an explosion of the tiny little white flea guys that stick to the glass though. No casualties yet, aside from one astrea snail that was murdered in the name of hermit crab real estate.

"Pods" they 'worm' 'wind around sort of aimlessly' and 'flit' around in the water or on the glass. If you stare at a fixed spot of rock on your tank, they are on the rocks too, tons of them in groups. The population ebbs and flows.
The mysterious pink stuff - cool color - great that the critters eat it. No idea what it is, but it wasn't a negative thing seemingly. :smile:
 
Alright, updates. I tested the water earlier in the week a few times and kept getting slightly lower pH readings which, as you can read above, has been worrying me. A lot of people don't worry about a pH of 8, but I'm a worrier. Since I was planning on mixing something into the sand anyways, I opted to use a bit of crushed coral, but a handful at a time so as not to cause a drastic swing. This seems to be working, but I need to take a new test this evening to confirm. I received a small colt coral frag from the LFS for $10 and while Im hesitant to add things while Im still stabilizing here, everything Ive read says they're hardy and actually like a small amount of nitrates in the water. It seems to be doing extremely well. It went from being this tiny deflated sad little thing to looking taller than it did in the LFS's tank. All polyps are fully extended. Nitrates, btw are staying around 10 ppm after a 20% water change last week. I've noticed also, that there are tiny brittle stars living in my rock that come out at night, so that's cool. Finally, this morning I noticed the first signs of some cyanobacteria forming on the glass and on one rock. I peeled it off, but will probably grab some phosphate removing pads next time I stop at the LFS.
 
No change in water parameters, other than an expected slight bump to the pH. Did not get around to testing for phosphates, but decided not to worry too much. Algae blooms in a new tank are probably not a reason to freak out. Actually, the cyano is mostly gone anyways. After peeling that first piece off, I have yet to see more. There has been green hairy stuff on the glass, but my turbo snail went to town on it. By the way, turbos= glass, astraea=rocks. Water clarity is much improved since i put a little bit of filter floss in the filter sock (or it cleared up on its own independent of that, wasn't being very scientific there). Temperatures have been really high around here lately so even with the heater off the tank has been 82 degrees F. May need to rig a small fan. Wish I could just do what I do with my axolotl tank in the summer, which is put frozen soda bottles (filled with tap water) in and rotate them with ones from the freezer, but alas, that's not going to work here. We're almost a month in here and I'm starting to see little flecks of purple, so I think I'm getting some coraline growth. Pretty amazing what a difference a just a month makes.
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I have very good luck bringing the temp down about 4 degrees below ambient with fans on my sumps (heartbreakingly, I lost an octopus this way because one fell in unnoticed last year so a word of caution on securing it). The fans only last about a year (sometimes I get 2) over the open sumps due to the saltwater so I advise keeping to the cheaper models.
 
LOL, half and half -maybe more 2/3rds toward the sump (on all my warm water tanks, not just one) so about 35 degrees. DO NOTE you will need to top off more frequently (daily recommended). Of course, I can't find the ones I have traditionally bought to link them now that I am looking and the ones I have all turned on this year :roll:

Edit: I was looking for the wrong brand and am glad to see they still make it (well display it - shows out of stock so maybe not) : Massey 6" Desk/Clip Personal Fan 2-in-1 - Walmart.com
 
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I'm pretty sure that is one of a number of types hydroid. I did a quick Hydroid Google image search and found its twin on a reef site with a bunch of links that might give it a name.

I don't think the initial question is the same (that image does not display when you enter the thread) but if you will scroll down, you will see one of the responders displays the same animal and provides some links.

Pest or Beneficial?
 
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Managed to lose about 2 degrees by simply opening the glass lid for a few hours a day. I do have a small fan in case I need it, but this weekend cooled down considerably. I went to the Frag Swap at my LFS store on Saturday and picked up a few things. Sadly, ReefGen was not in attendance, although a good deal of their frags were. Anyways, I didn't get to speak with them about cuttles, maybe next time. Tank is looking really great. I think it's a sit on my hands and try not to screw with it too much game now.
 

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