First Fish!

We got our first first today!! 2 Green Chromis.  These fish are very hardy and are a great starter fish…however, they are one of the FASTEST fish so if you put them in your tank you are basically stuck with them because you will never ever catch them again.  They are doing great! just fed them and they ate it all up 🙂 plus the zombie snail came up out of the sand for once and ate the leftovers, so cool.  Now they are just zooming around the tank having fun swimming against the current of the power head.  They are really pretty looking, cant wait for the LEDs to kick on at 8pm to see how the glow under the moonlight.  Pics below.  Also added in 9 more sails over the last 2 days so we are up to 10.  I need about 10 more in this sized tank so adding them in slowly but surely.  Anyway, until next time, just keep swimming!

It’s Alive!

Sorry I have not posted in a few days to all of my (at most 3) readers.  The last post I put on was about our new inhabitants.  On Monday we added 3 banded trochus snails and 4 Mexican Red Tip Hermit crabs.  Well I am sad to say, that 2 of the sails passed away the following day (RIP).  I knew this was going to happen and actually did not mind if it since the bacteria they produce will help the tank cycle.  On Wednesday we got our first diatom bloom! exciting.  Diatom is a brown algae and the reason it is exciting is because it means that your tank is cycling correctly because there is enough nutrients for the algae to grow.  And since we finally got this bloom it means there is now enough food for a Narcissus snail which I have been waiting for.  These guys are really cool.  Then spend 90% of their lives under the sand and the cool part is that they have this little “periscope” they stick up out of the sand to see if there is any food and if there is, they pop up out of the sand to eat.   They are really interesting.  Well, I just brought our first one home to see how he does (eventually want 6 or so to eat all the diatom since its kind of unsightly).  Well, the second he got in the tank sure enough, gone into the sand.  Oh well, hope he comes up eventually so I can watch him move around.  He is white with a very cool looking shell.  The other 1 of the 3 that did not die on Tuesday is doing great! he is pretty fast and zips around the tank all day cleaning the glass and rock.  The red tip hermits are doing good as well, just doing their hermit thing.

I got some money for my birthday (which was yesterday) and used some of it to buy another strip of LEDs which are now installed in the tank.  They make it a little more shimmery and will help the coral glow when we finally get some.  Going to wait about another 2 week so or so to get our first first which will be a Nemo (Ocellated Clown fish)…tank is still cycling but I think after another 2 week it will be good to do.  Have to make sure the water stays in check as they are pretty pricey (about $30 each) and I want a pair of them.

Anyway, will update you soon.  Picture of the diatom bloom attached.  Until next time, just keep swimming!

p.s. you can see what inhabitants we have in our tank at any time by clicking here

 

Our first inhabitants!!

Our first inhabitants just came home with me!! exciting news.  3 Snails and 3 Hermit crabs.  Pictures and species names coming soon!! right now they are acclimating to the new water temperature.  I also got another 7 pounds of live rock and a power head thanks to Lynda for the present to her “three sons”!! Thanks Lynda.

Water Quality Test #2

So the inside air test did not work out so well which tells me that there is too much CO2 in the house.  I left the air pump outside all night to pump fresh air in the tank and it only raised the pH by 0.3 which I guess is better than nothing.  Still need to get it up about 0.6 to get it in the ideal range.  Water Quality Test #2 result here.

Todays Tank Project

Testing outside aeration on tank water pH levels. Up next, inside air.

Crystal Clear :)

The tank is crystal clear today!! just having a slight problem with pH and temp but working that out.  I think the temp will be fine, my biggest concern is swings in the temp.  Going to try to adjust my heater so that it wont get quite as cold tonight when we turn the a/c down to 73…haha. I turned the settings up on it a little so we will see…I just dont want it to turn on when it’s already 80 in there.  It has been running 80 since yesterday afternoon but went back down to about 76 when I got up this morning.  Also went and invested in a refractometer to measure the salinity and specific gravity of the water since that is one of the major things with salt water tanks.  You can test it with a little $10 hydrometer but most people think that they dont work at all.  One person on the forums said that when he finally upgraded to a refractometer he realized his hydrometer was way off and it was causing lots of problems.  It makes since, the hydrometer is just this little plastic thing with an arm that basically measures how buoyant the water is which can change depending on temperature.  The refractometer actually using light to measure how much refraction (light refracts off of salt) comes off a drop of salt water.  Fresh water would refract zero light and salt water refracts about 1.023 light.  Anyway, I am happy I have it now.  It also make it much easier to test water from other sources like the fish store so that you can slowly increase/decrease the water in the bag with your new fish/coral so they dont go into shock.  You only need about 1 drop of water with the refractometer and with the hydrometer you need about 1/4 a cup.

New picture below! until next time, just keep swimming!

Water Quality Test #1

Just did the first water quality test and will be doing one every other day.  Not really sure what it all means yet but just posted on reef2reef.com to get some insight.  I do know that the pH should be 8.1-8.2 and mine is only at 7.5.  Not sure what to do about that yet but I am thinking it will solve itself as we go through the cycle process.  Nitrite is a zero parts per million which is good! should be at 0 at all times.  The really concerning one is Nitrate.  It should be as low as possible and we are all the way at 20 ppm.  I think this will also solve itself but it is concerning just because people on the forums have said that the bioballs are Nitrate factories and I choose to use them thinking “why would the makers of the biocube build them into the tank if they were bad??” oh well, guess we will find out.  If push comes to shove and the Nitrates dont go down on their own I may have to reconsider.  You can view on the test results on our Water Quality page every other day.

Until next time, just keep swimming!