Jocco's Tank Phase 2

[Pennyworth]

I think it is very weird that the snails died.

Have you been regularly checking the salinity, and do you have an auto top off solution?

That would be my guess if ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are all low.

 

[Jocco]

We check once a week. And always before we put something new in the tank. There has been some flux with salinity but its tiny, within good parameters, and around water changes. Looking through our notes, ammonia and nitrates are 0s too. Should they be? I thought 0 was good.
What are other tests we can do?
Could it be a temperature flux?
When I move the heater what should I try setting it at? It is 75.
Idk what auto top off solution is...?

 

[Jocco]

Came home to this lol... Looks like our pistol shrimp, Sir Stewart has moved. Did ALL of this work in a 15hr time span.
I know this bc I did a double at work.
Dug out under the huge rock and the support and covered a tunnel in the back. Crazy lil guy.
It doesn't like to be peeped, so idk why it chose this more open spot. Hm... Maybe the blood shrimp, Whiskers was too annoying. But now it lives with Hoo and Deenie the peppermints.

 

[tonmo]

Looking good!

 

[cuttlegirl]

Thanks Tonmo!
We feel like kids who bring up their art to a teacher

Speaking of unidentified squiggles... what is this plant? It came with our Fuji rock and has had some growth.

I think your "plant" may be a bryozoan - but hard to tell. Is it hard? Are there little tiny white "flowers" that come out some times?

 

[cuttlegirl]

Spot where I peeled some up... The edges are torn and see waving in the current.
Looks like I can peel it off, like bubble gum stuck to a kid's face. Or peeled skin from a sun tan/burn.

Damn cyno.

At least it peels - it gives you something to do...

 

[Jocco]

I think your "plant" may be a bryozoan - but hard to tell. Is it hard? Are there little tiny white "flowers" that come out some times?

No flowers... yet I guess. LFS gave me a not so strong light because we told them our goal was an octo tank.

EDIT: I looked up bryozoan ... nope, it doesn't seem like any of those.

Omg I'm a "blue ring", scary!

 

[Jocco]

At least it peels - it gives you something to do...

I peeled some cyno up and have notice 3 newish "green" colors in the tank.

A dark green, flat algae.
A moss or pea green algae.
And those same two colors, but its kinda... hairy.
I'll post pics in the next post.

 

[Jocco]

1 dark geen
2 moss/pea greens
3 shell starting to get hairy, several algae it seems.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Here is a photo of a bryozoan

 

[ekocak]

I think you and I are at very similar points in our tank maturation. I have the same type of algae growing in mine, although not as much of the dark green. I also have some kind of "hair algae" going on. What are you using for lighting, btw. Curious about the LFS saying you didn't have proper lighting for mushrooms, cause in my experience they aren't all that demanding. I'm using a dual lamp T5 VHO setup with one 10K and one actinic bulb, and I've got a few little polyps (came with the rock) and one colt coral that is doing really well.

 

[Jocco]

Here is a photo of a bryozoan

Oo.. that does look a little closer!
Mine seems to be thriving... although there is some hair algae I need to take care of.

 

[Jocco]

I think you and I are at very similar points in our tank maturation. I have the same type of algae growing in mine, although not as much of the dark green. I also have some kind of "hair algae" going on. What are you using for lighting, btw. Curious about the LFS saying you didn't have proper lighting for mushrooms, cause in my experience they aren't all that demanding. I'm using a dual lamp T5 VHO setup with one 10K and one actinic bulb, and I've got a few little polyps (came with the rock) and one colt coral that is doing really well.

On the light - SolarmaxHE 120v - 60hz, 28watt, T5 G14 28w, se-42148 and it fits end to end on my 55gal.

It seems to be growing ALGAE just fine, gah ... lol. I scrub off a bunch of the cyano and end up with black hair and some sort of dark green starting to blanket things. I definitely need to up my water changes to weekly, I need to buy the equipment. There is no way I'm going to let my LFS charge me $80 every time they come over. Soon those funds will be allocated to live food for an octopus. I'm looking at getting a protein skimmer this/next week. Then a few weeks after that running, I'm going to order or source an octopus

We need to get water changes down to a system in the meantime.

I'm knee deep - lil pumps, water chemical treatments in a bottle, water ideas, hosing, buckets etc...
Living on Staten Island, so, who knows what is in my tap. Some sites say don't worry about tap too much - others are adamant about NOT using tap.

What are people doing for water?
Buying poland spring and mixing the I/O into it?
Filtering Tap with a Britta?
Spending $ on the liquid chemical drops to add to tap?

We have 2 bags of Instant Ocean (purple bags), first time we tried, we did use tap. Then scared off this method, and stopped doing changes on our own because we were using tap and a hydrometer.

We do not want to kill the tank.

If anyone could say for sure what we need, that would be awwweeessooommmeeeeeee. I'm either daft or over thinking this water thing.


It looks like we need:

• At least a 18 gal bucket/garbage pail (to do 15gal water changes) ((is that too much for weekly?))
• 20ft of 1/2in clear hose - if I want it to reach the sink to dispose of icky water.
• Thermometer.

• Water... 3- 5gal jugs? Which, every 2 weeks from poland spring delivery is $30 - there is no way you're all doing this...

• Or - aquacleanse treatment drops if using tap?

 

[Jocco]

Conch with all sorts of gunk growing.
Fake plant with gunk.
Shell and pink reef, now gunked too.

This is driving me batty.

I must do weekly changes asap :/

 

[Jocco]

PS
If you compare this pic to when we aquascaped a few weeks ago... Sir Stewart has been quite annoying/industrious.