Scarsdale Newbie!!

[KathyC]

Take the fish out before you start moving the rock or you'll defeat the purpose of moving them/keeping them in 'cleaner' water.
Who said you have to glue the rock?
If you take your time and start with a good foundation of rock (at the very bottom of the tank -- as in on the glass) you should be able to stack your rock so that it doesn't wobble. You can angle it toward the rear wall for additional support.
If you don't have enough rock to make the aquascape you want..build it to whatever level you can with what you have and add more to the top in the future.
Which design did you decide on..the 'c' or the 2 structures? Or another one?

 

[BlueSi4]

Yea, sorry it didn't come out clear, i will remove the rock so that the fish can't hide and it's a bit easier to catch them, then i will do all the shifting and stuff.
As far as the design goes, i think i might do the "C"...i saw a tank that had the 2 structures and i didn't really like it, but knowing me, who knows, i might just end up doing it. I will mess around with different ideas before anything is final and set, and since i already took the time and effort to remove the fish and everything else, i will play with it for a while haha.
If i have time i was thinking on going to Greenwich Aquaria and see what they have, i told my sister i would take her to see fish lol

 

[KathyC]

If i have time i was thinking on going to Greenwich Aquaria and see what they have, i told my sister i would take her to see fish lol

Yeah, and your parents will be looking for the both of you for a week! lol
Reefkeeping will own your soul after you go there.
You've been warned! :biggrin:

oh yeah..good plan!

 

[BlueSi4]

Yea i saw the pictures and it looks amazing, but i just saw they are closed mondays and tuesdays, maybe i'll take a trip to House of Fins!
My sister is 10 and already started with her freshwater tank, she's already asking about saltwater tanks, and everytime i do something she's always there ready to help!
I'll post pictures tomorrow, i'm going to sleep now!

 

[BlueSi4]

So all the crushed coral is gone with all the sand i had, now it's basically just rock and the glass, i'll probably go and pick up some live sand tomorrow because i don't like the tank without a floor. The fish and rock are in buckets now while the tank is clearing up, it's too cloudy to put the fish in, i think it's gonna be a long night.
When i put the live sand tomorrow, should i do it by stages? Because i'm afraid that if i drop the whole bag in, the water will get cloudy again. What you guys think??

 

[BlueSi4]

Aquascaping is done, pics to be posted tonight, water is still blurry.
All the fish made it, and i believe the corals did too. The fish are loving the new aquascaping with all the caves and holes, especially the Hippo.

 

[BlueSi4]

Here's a couple pics as i promised. There's a couple rocks that still need to be placed, not sure where yet though.

 

[BlueSi4]

My new additions, early birthday gift. Not sure what the coral name is, but i got that, 4 Turbo Snails, and a Hydor Koralia #1.
Well, onto the pics!

 

[KathyC]

Sweet gifts!
It's a torch coral. You don't need to feed it directly - it will grab food floating in the tank. They do sting other corals, so keep it away from what you already have (that shouldn't bee too hard at this point..lol)
HEY - didn't you tell me NO corals til next Spring at the earliest?? Or don't the THREE you already have count since others gave them to you lol

Gentle flow so the tentacles slowly sway.

You're getting there with the aquascaping! I see it changed from yesterday. When ae you getting the sand?
Please move the heater??? :bablefish

 

[BlueSi4]

Well Kathy, that was my decision, but when i bought the lights and the skimmer and everything, it was just hard to stay away from it, plus the tank started to look bare haha. The torch gets decent flow, the tentacles are always moving. I also added 4 snails and they are alive, which is a good sign, considering that the last ones i bought all died within hours. They are already eating and cleaning my back glass!!
As far as the Aquascaping goes, yes i did change it from yesterday, i spent all morning looking for a spot to place the last couple rocks i had laying around in front of the tank, and i finally found one.
All my additions are from House of Fins, but boy, they are pricey! I bought the Koralia because i needed a decent powerhead, but from now on i'm buying all my equipment online. I was also going to pick up a couple Salifert test kits, but they were too overpriced.
Well, here's my parameters as of tonight. All tests have been done with the Instant Ocean test kits.

-PH: 7.8
-Ammonia: 0.0
-Nitrite:0.0 (low)
-Nitrate:10
-Salinity:1.025
-Temperature:77.8F

 

[KathyC]

lol, gotcha. No Calcium, Alk or Mg kits yet?..you're going to need those soon.
Always a good idea to spread your spending around ..especially here, lots of great deals on the for sale thread and through our vendors.
You want those tentacles to be gently swaying..too much flow isn't good for them.

Can I safely assume that you acclimated the coral and the snails - not a step you can skip..acclimation is not only for fish Inverts can be very sensitive to change and should be acclimated slowly.

I'mm happy for you Oriol, your tank is coming along nicely..and slowly. The BEST way

 

[BlueSi4]

I'm working on the test kits, will probably buy them tomorrow, just looking around to see prices.

I did acclimate the snails, i didn't do the Torch since at House of Fins i was told i don't need to, that they don't acclimate them either. I was expecting the coral to be "weird" tonight and tomorrow but a couple minutes after i put it in, it expanded.

And thanks to everyone here that's been helping me out, without that my tank wouldn't be where it's at now!

 

[BlueSi4]

Ugh, so today was a bad day.
First i realize the Hippo has ich. He was improving as far as the HLLE goes, and out of nowhere, he gets ich. I put him in a QT tank, but i think i might get rid of him as soon as he's better, besides i think he might be a bit too big for my tank already.
IN order to get him out, i had to remove all the rock, and i couldn't get it back to the way i had it which i loved, that got me mad.

 

[BlueSi4]

 

[DevIouS]

Nice start.


Torch doesn't look like it will make it though.....

 

[BlueSi4]

Nice start.


Torch doesn't look like it will make it though.....

Yea the torch is in pretty bad shape, but we'll see what happens. Some of the tentacles came out today more than i've seen them, so hopefully it manages to make it through.
The Frogspawn seems to be doing very well, but i've noticed that the parts that barely get any flow, they seem the ones that the tentacles are spreading further out...

 

[BlueSi4]

So while i was looking at the tank, i noticed a brownish/red starfish with really long skinny legs coming out of one of my rocks...what kind of starfish is it? is it good/safe or should i kill that bastard??

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Pics?

 

[BlueSi4]

UPDATE:

Today after taking the Hippo to its new home, i did a water change and added some new Live Sand.
Then i tested the water, here's the results.
- Alkalinity/KH: 16
- Nitrate: 0
- PH: 8.0
- Salinity: 1.023
- Nitrite: 0
- Ammonia: 0
- Temperature: 77.5 F

Seems that the Alk/KH is a bit too high, should i stop dosing the 2 part solution?? It seems that since i've been using that, i've been able to raise the PH.

Here are some pics!

the amazing lawnmower blenny...

 

[DevIouS]

Why are you dosing?
There's only rock in your tank.