Up and running! But here?s the thing...

[cfellini91]

Hey guys. I am now just 3 months into the tank. Everything so far is cycling nice and smoothly. I check my Alk., pH, and Salinity every other day. Everything is as it should be.

KH 144ppm
pH 8.4
Salinity 1.023
Temp 78 F

I have my 2 Black Perc Clowns
1 Purple Firefish
1 Blood Shrimp
3 hermit crabs
4 snails, 2 turbos and 2 crown tops

I just added a rock with three green mushrooms and 2 clams and a frag green hammer.

Lately when I stick my hand in the tank my arm gets irritated Nothing too visual but a little red. Mostly my forearm and elbow. Some fourms say it?s the salt clogging pores, others say it could be a parasite, others says come corals could release toxins... any ideas? And yes, I will be getting and wearing gloves and I have always washed my hand before putting them in the tank.

Also now that I am adding calcium for the corals do I start checking calcium levels? And when do I start checking ammonia, nitrates and nitrites?

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[Spartanwarrior]

ammonia, nitrates and nitrite levels would've been good to know during the cycle process. That's actually what the entire cycle is all about...growing enough bacteria to turn ammonia in nitrite, nitrite into nitrates. Eventually, your tank should have 0 detectable levels of ammonia and nitrite. nitrates will build up as waste is excreted but hopefully you can export that with a skimmer, biological means, a refugium, etc and get low to undetectable levels depending on the coral you'd like to keep.

definitely start testing for calcium. anything you dose you would ultimately like to test for, so you know if that's an acceptable level or could possibly be poisoning your tank. are you dosing a 2 or 3 part with alk and mag in addition to the cal? that amount of corals will not consume too much of anything right now, so test to make sure. I think water changes alone either weekly or biweekly would suffice to keep levels stable until you start keeping more difficult or higher bioload.

as for the irritation, I can't comment on that. sounds like an allergic reaction to something.


also, in the first two pictures I noticed you have some aiptasia (glass anemones) already...where did you get this rock? Those are considered pests and will multiply very quickly in there.

 

[cfellini91]

spartanwarrior
Thank you for your reply. I will add the remaining testing kits and get those underway.

Thank you for that heads up! I was wondering about those. I will get a peppermint shrimp, do you think that will do the trick? I bought the rock from a local fish store. How else should I try to get rid of these?

 

[Spartanwarrior]

of course.
I've had lots of luck with peppermints. aiptasia x is also supposedly successful. it worked about 50/50 for me. peppermints took care of the rest pretty quickly. for you tank, i'd try 1 first. they will outcompete each other rather quickly. they will eat meaty foods after the aipatsia is gone. don't try majono wands or physically pulling them out. they reproduce asexually, all it takes it one tiny bud to go haywire. kalk paste works too.

 

[cfellini91]

Blood shrimp and Peppermint shrimp

Spartanwarrior
Since I already have the blood shrimp, will it be an *** and kill the peppermint shrimp if I add one in to help kill off the Aiptasia?

 

[Spartanwarrior]

Definitely could. Either banish the blood to a sump for a few weeks (peppermints will make quick work of them - then sell it when you're free) or Maybe try the aiptasia x first. You're rock is relatively new...you could remove from the tank, scrape the aiptasia with a wire brush real well and then rinse thoroughly in RODI water and place back in the tank. Pieces with coral, try aiptasia x or kalk paste. I've had success even covering the whole nem with frag cement/putty but that looks unsightly