Photos

Water paramaters

Week five -

     ammonia - 0
     nitrite - 0
     nitrate - 0
     pH - 8.2
     salinity -
     specific gravity - 1.023


Week four  -
     ammonia - 0
     nitrite - 0
     nitrate - 0
     pH - 8.2
     salinity -
     specific gravity -1.023

Week three -

     Ammonia - 0 ppm
     nitrite - 0 ppm
     nitrate - 0 ppm
     pH - 8.2
     salinity - 33
     specific gravity - 1.024

One week in....

Okay, so I didn't post pictures when I said I would.  I took 'em then, though!

Anyway, here are the pictures after the tank had just been running one day.....

I don't know how visible it is, but the third photo shows what I'm thinking is aiptasia.....and I've ordered stuff to try to get rid of it.  Should be delivered Tuesday, though with the Labor Day holiday, I suppose it'll be delayed.

The hermit crabs and snails are scooting around doing their thing.  I didn't know better when I set the tank up, so I've been running the lights normally since the beginning.  I can't really see any negative effects, frankly.  There are a few (could count 'em on my fingers) tiny green "feathers" stuck to the glass in spots, but nothing awful.  The coralline algae seems to be spreading nicely, and I've got some sort of macro algae or aquatic plant popping up in several places on the live rock.  I'm seeing what really look like leaves on some of the sprouts.  I'll take photos.

There are a few other hitchhikers.  Some of them might be spaghetti worms, but they don't really look like what I'd expect them to look like after reading descriptions.  These guys are in tiny tubes, and appaear only to have one tentacle reaching out.  I've seen a couple of tiny featherdusters, and there's also one clam.  He's moved since I first spotted him, and I can't get a good photo of him.

Just tested again.  All is well for now, though the specific gravity/salinity is up.  I suppose I should remove some water and add fresh in its place, but I'm going to check in at 3Reef first.

Specific gravity - 1.028

Salinity - 38

pH - 8.2

Ammonia - 0

Nitrite - 0

Nitrate - 0

One of the hermits found himself a fat snail and decided to have a snack.  He fended off any other crabs trying to horn in on his picnic until he'd had his fill, then another helped himself.  So.....I have a dead snail, with his foot and part of his flesh still at the crime scene, and two fat and happy hermit crabs dozing nearby.  I'm going to leave the snail there.  It should help with the cycling process, I think.

Biocube - Day One

Okay....took the plunge.  Went to Aquatic Specialties in New Orleans yesterday and came home with a twenty-nine gallon Biocube aquarium.  I had a saltwater tank years ago, and all was well until the heater malfunctioned and killed everything.  The hobby has changed quite a lot over the years, and people are even keeping corals in tiny three or five gallon tanks.

The Biocube is an "all-in-one" tank.  The filtration and lighting are all built into the unit.  I did switch out the bio-balls for a protein skimmer built for the Biocube.  It fits nicely into the middle chamber in the back.  I hope to add a sump/refugium in the cabinet below the display tank eventually.  It would allow me to add water "space" to the system, and it would boost the filtration capacity quite a bit.

I got forty pounds of live sand and twenty-seven pounds of Fiji live rock and set the tank up yesterday with saltwater I got from the shop.  I think the initial cycling is going to go really quickly, as everything was 'established' from the get-go.  I also brought home hermit crabs and a few snails, and with the exception of one snail, everybody's creeping around the tank doing their thing.  There seems to be a few hitchhikers in the live rock....I've seen a few tiny featherdusters, some great coraline algae, and other tiny critters.  I do think I've spotted an aiptasia or glass anemone, and I'm looking into how best to get rid of him.

Tested the water today, and these were the results:

Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm
pH - 8.2
Salinity - 33
Specific gravity - 1.024-1.025

Enough for now....I'll take photos tomorrow (my camera's at the museum at the moment) and post them then.