I have a few Newb questions. Please Help!

mng777777

mng777777

Shark Wrangler Wannabe
Hello all,

I am new to this and have already learned a tremendous amount from there forums. Thanks!

I have a 75 gallon display with sump and fuge. I set it up about 2 weeks ago. 1 week ago I added about 65 pounds of dry base rock and about 50 pounds of fully cured live rock. I got the LR from a friend that owned a LFS but decided to shut it down. The rock had been in one of his displays for about 18 months it came with about 5 blue mushrooms that have grown noticeably in a week. I also have a sizeable patch of ricordia on another rock and a whole bunch of feather dusters that also seem to have grown since their arrival.

I found a sally light foot crab with the arrival of the rock which quickly died. I left on the sand and it is becoming smaller every day as it is being processed. I have also had some die off of the coralline.

I have been dosing Bacter-Vital and Reef-Vital DNA for the last 3 days. I have also been dosing B-ionic parts 1&2. I haven't noticed much rise in ammonia, I am currently at about .20 and that’s the highest it’s been, and my nitrates and nitrites have remained at 0.

MY QUESTIONS...

I have noticed several types of algae’s starting to pop up, and have watched my reef go from 1 small Aiptasia to 5 medium Aiptasia and several possible new/small Aiptasia. What should I do at this point? Can I start building a CUC? Can I add a couple of peppermint shrimp? Should I even be thinking about some Chromis or Damsels yet?

I don't want to rush things but I also don't want to allow an outbreak of any of these nuisances if they can be stopped now.

Thank you,
Justin
Tucson, AZ
 
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First off,welcome to the site.
Second,Dont add anything untill you have no detectable ammonia or nitrites.Since you used cured rock,you may or may not have a cycle,but be sure before adding anything else.Your tanks probably done cycled,but you it want hurt to make double sure.
Also stop dosing that stuff.The Bacter-vital and reef-vital arent needed for one thing.Plus you should never add anything your not testing for.
The aiptasias can be taken care of with a kalk paste,or you can even inject them with liquid calcium using a hyperdermic needle.Theres also a product called Joes Juice thats supposed to be good on em.
As for the algae,welcome to the new tank club:D That comes with any new system.Get yourself some GFO based phosphate media such as phos-ban or rowa-phos.That will help with the phosphates.
You should also be using either distilled or RO/DI water.Never use tap water because its full of all kinds of nasty crap.
 
I would stay away from damsels they are not nice fish, I had 3 and had to get rid of them and had a hard time trying to catch them.
 
Thanks! after looking around a bit more I think it may actually be Majano that I have. Here is a pic to be sure... If it is a Majano, does the remedy change? Is there anything I can do without taking the rocks out? (they have picked two of the hardest to remove rocks, and I really don't want to move all of my rocks to get to them)

1027081459.jpg
 
Hey you're in Tucson!! Me too!

You are likely not seeing too much of a spike in parameters because you used cured live rock. So you are fine. You just need to wait until ammonia and nitrite read zero before adding any animals, and algae is normal at this stage.

I also would skip the damsels. Chromis are fine, but damsels are too aggressive and mean.

Once your tank is done cycling, you should add some peppermint shrimp to get rid of the aiptasia. That stuff is awful if it gets out of control.

Which LFS shut down? Hector's store? Majestic? Vince's store?
 
Biff,

It's nice to meet another local. Perhaps there will be oppotunities for trades down the road, but for now thanks for the warm welcome. As for the store, it was actually not quite local, it was Vince up in Oracle. can you believe I drove all the way from Oracle to the east side of town (in snow-bird rush hour I might add) with my rock in nothing more than wet towels and still very have little coralline loss. Guess it was good rock. you should see all the pods and things too. I hate to see a store close but I really lucked out, and, he gave it to me for a price better than I would have offered him if I were trying to low-ball him. He just wanted it gone.

Do you have any advice on the LFS here? I think I have visited them all but I am still not clear on who is honest and who is just clever.

Thanks again,
Justin
 
Southwest is the only one I shop at. I have visited all of them, and I've stuck with Southwest only for the last 3 years. Rob and Bill are honest and don't try to make a buck off of you or take advantage of you. Majestic is way overpriced, but you do get free flatworms and aiptasia with every purchase! And Hector is a con man who is dishonest. I also live on the east side of town, and Southwest is the only LFS remotely close to this side of town.

Vince has really really nice stuff, and always brings a nice selection to frag swaps. Have you been to any of them? There are two "clubs" that meet (due to personal in-fighting, they don't socialize with each other!). One club meets once a month at Thunder Canyon Brewery in the Foothills for a frag auction, and the other group rotates about every 2 months between member's houses for auctions.

I have tons of pulsing xenia if you want some freebies. PM me if you are interested.
 
Biff - thanks! I have heard about the two groups and plan to attend the swaps at Thunder Canyon but realistically probably won't get to any before January as I am pretty busy right now. As for the Xenia's, I know you know that I am nowhere near ready to start adding to my reef yet, but despite what the others say, I'll probably take a SMALL piece from you when my tank matures a bit.

Melon/Yote - Thanks for the heads up. I am the type that would take a whole tank full, and end up with the stuff growing out of the tank, through the dining room and taking over my kitchen. I'll definitely remember to use moderation. :D

UPDATE:

Good News!

I just tested to discover my ammonia is back to 0 and my nitrites are up to about .25 and nitrates are about 10 ppm. I would say you are right I am finally seeing my first cycle. I guess I thought I would have seen this start quicker than it did and last longer but I am happy just to see some different colors in my test kit!!! I would have expected my ammonia to peak higher than .2 Is there something I should do to force another cycle when this one completes or should I just be pleased that it was so mild?

Also, the remains of my sally went from in tact but starting to show signs of decomposing on one of the smaller legs, to the entire crab completely gone without a trace of it anywhere, over night. Nature is awesome!

-Justin
 
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dont force another cycle, your tank will only cycle as much as it needs too. also it wouldnt be just your luck that you would have it growing everywhere because thats everyones luck with it. and the reason most people end up that way is because just like you they said "oh ill only take just a little piece" and then a month later you have no tank left
 
I agree with Biff, peppermint shrimp worked great for my aiptasia problem as well. Tucson, AZ....I was there last month on vacation. Arizona is such a gorgeous state. We traveled from Texas to the Grand Canyon. We stopped in Tucson to do the "ATV Desert Adventure"....it was fun.
 
After doing quite a bit of research, I have discovered that there are two common types of peppermint shrimp, one comes from Mexican and/or Pacific waters, and one from Florida. The Florida peppermint is the only one that will eat Aiptasia. So the mixed reviews people have given to the peppermint shrimp in handling Aiptasia I think can be attributed to the likelihood that they bought the wrong kind. So make sure to ask your supplier where they get their shrimp if you need them to control Aiptasia. Also, they will only eat the young Aiptasia so the larger ones still have to be treated by different means. I visited a LFS where he allows a few Aiptasia to grow in one of his smaller displays to be able to show people. He sold me a product called Aiptasia Control. It's a milky substance that you squirt onto the head of the Aiptasia. It then retracts and eats the Aiptasia Control which kills it. He and a customer that happened to over-hear our conversation both swear by it. I guess I'll find out. The 20 ML bottle came with a syringe and was $10. I still plan to add peppermints but my tank needs to mature before I can and this seems like an easy way to keep the little devils under control in the mean time. I'll let you know how effective it is...

For more info here is the MFR website: http://www.bluelifeusa.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=BLU&Product_Code=00122
 
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Yep, I've used that aiptasia control and it does work. It is also reef safe, which is a huge bonus. Good luck with it.

Peppermint shrimp will eat big aiptasia too. They've taken out aiptasia in people's tanks that are several inches in diameter (just ask Alexander on here). Because some seem to have a taste for it while others don't, I recommend getting several peppermints. Chances are you'll end up with at least one that likes to eat them.
 

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