its been nearly 7 years

[rrubberbandman]

hello forum peeps,

i am getting back into the reef keeping hobby once again, after seven years things have changed and things

have got more technologically advanced.

I do have alot of ??? for whoever has the time and knowledge to answer them.

i am running a 20 gallon high reef tank with 30 lbs of fiji rock, 3inches of aragonite sand bed, 70 waTts of actinic/daylight lighting via t-8 zoo-med bulbs...a skilter 250 for primary filtration /skimming,,along with chemi-pure pouch and phos pure media...an added power head for extra ciculation is also running.

first ? is how long do i have to contend with the brown slime/algae...my margarita snails from BRK are doing the best they can but this stuff is like weeds in my yard.

also what are those flea like creatures i see scurrying around the bottom of tank?

and on the glass i have tiny bugs the size of salt grains moving around,,what are these?

the tank has been running for near 6 weeks now my nitrites and nitrate and ammonia are near zip....ph is a bit low 8.0 to 8.1...i use primarily kent products for setup and maintenance. tank temp is 77 degrees.

i have 5 marg snails 1 mithrax crab 2 red tipped hermits and about ten teeny baby snails from neighbor who had mexican turbos breed in his 75 gallon tank.also i spotted a snail today the was activily grazing on the glass..but this snail had no shell? it looked like a leech? about .25 inches long.

oops almost forgot the two sand stirring snails from brk ...white shell guys with long tube sticking out of sand.

thanks !

Bryan

ps i know my setup leaves alot to be desired as far as equipment goes but its coming along slowly.

[rocko918]

Everything sounds like it right on track. All the little bugs you see are a great sign the tank is doing well. They are copods, amthpods (sp?), they are good, once you introduce fish they will decrease in numbers.

 

IS it brown slime algea or red? It's it is brown it will go away soon, red you will have to do some water changes and get more flow. But both will go away soon. Adding some red scalet crabs will help, avoid the blue leg as they will eat your snails.

 

the snail with no shell migt be stromatella which is a good snail as well. no worries on that.

 

the tank sounds like it is doing well. If you are going to keep corals you might want to look into new lighting, i think those are fresh water bulbs and won't do much with the corals.

 

Good luck!

[Caribbean Jake]

good to hear Bryan, sounds like your system is cycling normally, and coming around quite right. Do you have any pictures?

[rrubberbandman]

hey again,

first off thanks for the replies,the lighting is two actinic 420's and one 6700k and one 18000k all from zoo-med ....the lighting is going to be upgraded later...i am really intersted in all the mini crabs, shrimps , and various fishes for now so thats why i will upgrading later.

the algae slime is clearly brown...uhggg....

i do have one thing that is bugging me ....i seem to have a film/surface skim on my water....whats up with this?

would this help?if i can fashion it to my skilter intake tube....

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/su...7/Itemdy00.aspx

thanks again for everyones warm welcome!

Bryan

[dbartco]

Welcome (back)!

 

I would say water changes trump fancy technology anyday! No worries.

 

While you are cycling, what is your lighting cycle? You don't need a huge cycle with snails and hermits in there. Slowly working it up to full days mght help.

 

Little critters scurrying good. Copepods and such.

no shell? -limpets maybe, not evil.

more surface circulation might help the oil slick. Wash hands well before futzing in tank.

 

Again, good to have you with us. Joining to the club as a paid memeber will give you access to more trading and for sales areas of the site. Worth every penny and more. Alot of freebies go out, especially easy to grow corals that could get you started in the corals.

[Guest Ominojacu]

hello forum peeps,

i am getting back into the reef keeping hobby once again, after seven years things have changed and things

have got more technologically advanced.

I do have alot of ??? for whoever has the time and knowledge to answer them.

i am running a 20 gallon high reef tank with 30 lbs of fiji rock, 3inches of aragonite sand bed, 70 waTts of actinic/daylight lighting via t-8 zoo-med bulbs...a skilter 250 for primary filtration /skimming,,along with chemi-pure pouch and phos pure media...an added power head for extra ciculation is also running.

first ? is how long do i have to contend with the brown slime/algae...my margarita snails from BRK are doing the best they can but this stuff is like weeds in my yard.

also what are those flea like creatures i see scurrying around the bottom of tank?

and on the glass i have tiny bugs the size of salt grains moving around,,what are these?

the tank has been running for near 6 weeks now my nitrites and nitrate and ammonia are near zip....ph is a bit low 8.0 to 8.1...i use primarily kent products for setup and maintenance. tank temp is 77 degrees.

i have 5 marg snails 1 mithrax crab 2 red tipped hermits and about ten teeny baby snails from neighbor who had mexican turbos breed in his 75 gallon tank.also i spotted a snail today the was activily grazing on the glass..but this snail had no shell? it looked like a leech? about .25 inches long.

oops almost forgot the two sand stirring snails from brk ...white shell guys with long tube sticking out of sand.

thanks !

Bryan

ps i know my setup leaves alot to be desired as far as equipment goes but its coming along slowly.

 

Small critters may also be isopods, I have many of those, they look like pill bugs, and don't curl into a "C" shape like amphipods do. What kind of water are you using? If its not RO, then that may explain why you still have diatoms blooming.

[rrubberbandman]

Small critters may also be isopods, I have many of those, they look like pill bugs, and don't curl into a "C" shape like amphipods do. What kind of water are you using? If its not RO, then that may explain why you still have diatoms blooming.

omino,

i am using distilled water bought from shoppers food warehouse.....and my light schedule is 8 hours of blue's

and 2 hours or so of white lights.

thanks again for all who have replied!..its helping out!

Bryan

[Sharkb8]

first, thanks for finding WAMAS and contacting the club. Great folks here, please join. Second, I suggest you consult this website and read everything you can (I mean reallly, for as long as you can sit and read, read as much as possible):

 

www.wetwebmedia.com

 

my two cents

[rocko918]

omino,

i am using distilled water bought from shoppers food warehouse.....and my light schedule is 8 hours of blue's

and 2 hours or so of white lights.

thanks again for all who have replied!..its helping out!

Bryan

The distilled water is feeding the algea as well. I would look into a Ro/DI unit. They are worth every penny.

[EricBrian]

The distilled water is feeding the algea as well. I would look into a Ro/DI unit. They are worth every penny.

 

I am using distilled water until I can get my RO/DI hooked up. And, I have no algea problem at all.

[rrubberbandman]

hey everyone,

about the distilled water.....what is in the distilled water that is feeding the algae??

as far as my algaie goes it is actually calming down nicely....i do beleive my tank is starting to process and function finally!

the skimmer hardly pulled anything out today which i feel is a good sign???

i am seeing more things poping up and out of the rock.....but.. i did have a marg snail die for some reason but those white shelled snails with the tube that sticks up out of my sand bed took quick care of it...it was funny watching them fight over it!

my ammonia, nitrite and nitrates are still near zip.

my ph is a different story...i cant seem to get it above 8.0.....??????

i am currently using the kent marine nano part a and b stuff.

also when should i see the corraline algae take off...the corraline algae that was on the rock is still there but i dont have any new growth?

tank is nearing 2 months old.

thanks for everyones help

i hope you all dont mind all my ???'s

Bryan

[rocko918]

RO-DI and distilled water are produced by very different processes. The problems with distilled water is that the entire supply chain needs to be clean, and that's not necessarily true. You have more of a chance to have phos/no4 with distilled water which is what some algae feeds off of. Low pH in pure water is very common. The purer the water the less buffering capacity it has. Water like distilled or DI will uptake atmospheric CO2 that lowers the pH.

You will have a hard time bringing up your PH if you continue to use distilled water.

 

HTH.

 

Get an RODI unit and we won't even have to have this talk.

[rrubberbandman]

Get an RODI unit and we won't even have to have this talk.

Would this help any.......

 

http://www.thatpetplace.com/Products/KW/F2...0/Itemdy00.aspx

bryan

[rocko918]

Why not get a ro unit?

 

"One cartridge will last for about 50 to 150 gallons of purified water, depending on how contaminated your tap water is." You will be changing the cartridge alot!!!

 

I like this line as well

"Water is not intended for drinking."

[davjbeas]

I beleive the tap water purifier will work for making fresh saltwater and for evaporation top off.

I have been unsing the tap water purifier for at least 5 years. However, the refill cartiridge costs

17-18$ i believe. I always order 6 or more at a time and pay 13-14$ each. I live in a small condo with a very small kitchen, so no room for an r/o unit. the main benefits of the TWP are that it makes water very fast. like 25 gallons in under 2 hours. it snaps off and on the faucet on your sink easily, you just have to watch the color of the resin. if all the resin beads turn from green to purple then your cartidge is exhasted and must be changed. I usually change cartidges when there is only a half inch of green resin beads at the top of the column.

if you are only operating a 20 gallon tank, I think the TWP will work great.

Good luck, and welcome to wamas.

 

David B.

[rrubberbandman]

I beleive the tap water purifier will work for making fresh saltwater and for evaporation top off.

I have been unsing the tap water purifier for at least 5 years. However, the refill cartiridge costs

17-18$ i believe. I always order 6 or more at a time and pay 13-14$ each. I live in a small condo with a very small kitchen, so no room for an r/o unit. the main benefits of the TWP are that it makes water very fast. like 25 gallons in under 2 hours. it snaps off and on the faucet on your sink easily, you just have to watch the color of the resin. if all the resin beads turn from green to purple then your cartidge is exhasted and must be changed. I usually change cartidges when there is only a half inch of green resin beads at the top of the column.

if you are only operating a 20 gallon tank, I think the TWP will work great.

Good luck, and welcome to wamas.

 

David B.

Thanks david

wamas is great