New Salt H2O tank – skip cycling idea?!

[Parrothead]

Let the drum be, you'll need it for your first water change.

Now for the cool part, good job on the move

Where in the h@#l are the pics, didn't we explain that rule when we started this

We must have pics, why do you think we do this, it's for the pictures

Yes post them here on your thread. Including the smiling pic of the munchkin who got the tank for Christmas

[Ramer]

Glad to hear things are going so good. I didn't realize the move was so close. I have a brittle star also, I do believe they are nocturnal I rarely see mine in the day time hours. I wouldn't think it is stuck.

[ChicagoReef]

Glad the move was successful and your daughter is enjoying her tank. Yes Please post pictures...that's a must around here.

[MarianaK]

One week and everything is going well. First water change was done last night with 8 day old sea water which had been cirulated and heated the whole time in a covered drum.

Nitrate levels are still the only test category that is not at zero (like Amonia and Nitrite). Perhaps it is my inability to see the color well, at zero is should be yellow in the test, and there has always been an orange tint to it. My guess is in the 3-7 range since the tank was started. PH has consistantly been on the high side, 8.4

Two shimp have already molted within one week. Is this normal or are they likely to mold more frequently if there is nitrate in the water?

All fish are eating. We are only feeding once per day, but do it twice at that one time. First time a smaller amount to let the dwellers know there is food in the water and time to come out. Then again when they come out.

Pictures to come later today, just need to convert them and post them.

[Parrothead]

Good Job, very good job,

You are using the api master test kit, got the same one, nitrates aren't bad, it's always good to have as close to zero, but after the move and mini-cycle you've done a good job, just do regular water changes say about 5 gallons or so every other week and keep your skimmer doing it's thing, and don't over feed, and the nitrates will continue to drop. Can't wait to see the pics

[MarianaK]

Okay, here goes my attempt with the photos. Wow, I really needed to shrink it and reduce its quality to make it small enough.

[MarianaK]

This is the coral that my clown fish are trying to host. Will they eventually kill the coral due to so much contact with it? I am thinking I may get one of those structured net houses to go around it and hopefully move to the anename (other picture).

[Parrothead]

This is the coral that my clown fish are trying to host. Will they eventually kill the coral due to so much contact with it? I am thinking I may get one of those structured net houses to go around it and hopefully move to the anename (other picture).

Neither of those are anenomes, the clowns will not hurt them, I've had clowns host to a leather coral, they'll be fine,

All I can say about the tank is WOW, again awesome job, looks great

[Ninong]

Two shimp have already molted within one week. Is this normal or are they likely to mold more frequently if there is nitrate in the water?

Cleaner shrimp in the Lysmata genus normally molt approximately twice a month. Premature molding can be caused by excess iodine.

[Ninong]

As Robert has already pointed out, neither of those two pictures shows an anemone. I'll wait for Gene or someone else with better eyesight to ID them for you. I blew up the size of the first one and I was able to count 24 tentacles, so it's probably Goniopora, which is why your clowns like it so much.

Goniopora is a favorite surrogate host for clownfish. Sometimes they will choose it even if there is a suitable host anemone available. Yes, their constant contact with the Goniopora can sometimes cause problems for the coral. This is usually not the case with most corals that have been selected as a surrogate host but it is sometimes the case with this particular coral.

Before you run off to the LFS to look for an anemone for your clownfish, you will need to know what species of clownfish you have so that we can tell you which species of anemones are natural hosts for it. Then you can write that information down somewhere and wait another two or three months, at least, before acting on it. You need to allow your tank to settle in first and you need to allow yourself time to decide if you really want an anemone or not. A lot will depend on the exact species of clownfish you have because that will determine exactly which species of anemones would make potential hosts.

[Ninong]

Okay, here goes my attempt with the photos. Wow, I really needed to shrink it and reduce its quality to make it small enough.

The size of the photograph is fine. The vBulletin software automatically adjusts the size of the full image to fit the screen of the individual viewer.

[MarianaK]

Ninong, thanks for your feedback. I wasn't sure if the second piece was an anemone (spelled correctly this time!). I am not in a hurry to get an anemone, just thought the other piece may be one. I also have another piece that looks like it may or may not be an anemone, it was there about 1 hour ago and is not completely gone? It was about the size of a small kids fist. It originally was on top of a rock, up towards the light. Then it ended up down near the bottom of the tanks (between the same rock and one of the outside walls). Then within the past hour it just disappeared. There is no sign of where it was or anything. Is this possible? Does it make sense? If it is a piece of coral can it move on its own? What about an anemone?

[Ninong]

Yes, anemones can move around on their own. Very few corals can move around at all and those that can, do so very slowly.

[zhenya]

Ninong, thanks for your feedback. I wasn't sure if the second piece was an anemone (spelled correctly this time!). I am not in a hurry to get an anemone, just thought the other piece may be one. I also have another piece that looks like it may or may not be an anemone, it was there about 1 hour ago and is not completely gone? It was about the size of a small kids fist. It originally was on top of a rock, up towards the light. Then it ended up down near the bottom of the tanks (between the same rock and one of the outside walls). Then within the past hour it just disappeared. There is no sign of where it was or anything. Is this possible? Does it make sense? If it is a piece of coral can it move on its own? What about an anemone?

The second coral pictured in the photograph is a hard coral Euphyllia divisa, or as some people call it a frogspawn coral.
Neither of the two corals will fair well with clownfish hosting in them, especially the Goniopora coral. It is a challenging coral for long term keeping to begin with, constant clownfish presense within the coral's polyps may prevent it from opening fully, but this is a look and see what happens at this time. If coral starts to decline try moving it in a different location, however that usually fails to deter clownfish as Ninong has indicated already.

Otherwise your tank looks very nice, congrats on successfull move!

[MarianaK]

Okay, I will continue to watch the white coral with the yellowish blossoms which is the one the clown fish like. My thought was that if I get one of those screened covers for it (they have a rigid frame to keep the screen material off), then eventually the clown fish will find something new to host. I can also cover the coral and if they don't host in something else, I can then add an anemone at that time.

I found the anemone, it had moved from its previous spot and is now on the underside of a hollowed out rock. I would think it needs some degree of regular light, so if it doesn't move again by tomorrow, I will try to move it myself.

I'll take a water sample to my LFS tomorrow and have them test it. They can confirm the nitrate levels and I will ask if they can measure the iodine.

Thanks again for your support.

[MarianaK]

Well, we found a new fish in our tank, a bi-color blenny. When we purchased the contents of the tank from the previous owner and moved them into our newly purchased tank, this fish was not in either of the two containers of live creatures. The previous owner had reported that this fish must have died at some point as he had not been seen for over a week.

This fish must have been inside of one of the live rocks and I am thinking he must have been partially stuck or something, perhaps had to burrow down through the sand and then up to the open water??? Just last night, after the tank has been set up for over 10 days did he appear. At the next feeding (last night) he was out and feeding fairly aggressively. He remained out and frequently visible during the course of the evening. So I guess this is a pleasant surprise. Is it likely that a fish could survive without feeding for such a long time? Is this species known to go into some sort of hibernation state where this would not be unusual?

Finally, any opinions on whether I should leave my moon lights (the little blue LED lights on my light fixture) on all night or should they cycle off after the other lights and on prior to the other lights in the morning?

[Parrothead]

Major dig on the find

as for the lights, that is probably a matter of preference, and what little bit of energy they may actually consume JMHO

[Doodaa]

The fish...I was scrubbing my rocks to get rid of hair algae and my two firefish somehow appeared in my sink. I was quite surprised to say the least so I'm sure your blenny could do the same type of "taking a ride" thing. I'm sure he ate, he was just sneaky about it ;)

I'd shut the blue LED lights off unless you were trying to create some sort of atmosphere for you or your guests for a period of time. The inhabitants of your tank won't like it. Blue light is totally visible to marine animals and nocturnal creatures will hide from it instead of venturing out and eating detritus and procreating and whatever else they do when we're not looking.