Starting up my Nano-Cube

[MikeDeL]

Well I spent the entire day today all excited to get home, because my Nano-Cube and everything else was supposed to show up today, 3 packages in all. **** the person who came up with the idea of the tracking number allowing you to obsesivly check the status of your packages every hour. I was like an 8 year old on Christmas morning when I walked up the starts to my apartment. When I got to the door I saw the FedEx note hanging there telling my stuff had arrived...... Until I read the number of packages."1" Man I was all worked up and ready to start working on putting my tank together, but I knew I wouldnt have everything if only one package was here. So the Nano-Cube was in the package. I filled it up to make sure there werent any leaks and to make sure the pump and everything works. Now it is just sitting there on my standing taunting me with its imaginary tounge stinking out at me. I can just hear it saying HAHAHA now you have to wait longer. Anyone know if FedEx delivers on Saterdays? Anyway I hope I will get the rest of the stuff soon, that way I can add the protien skimmer to it and get it going. I will keep you guys updated on my progress, because Im sure I will be coming up with all kinds of questions along the way.


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeP]

Heh anticipation sucks sometimes. What's even better is when you pay for priority delivery from FedEx and watch 10:30 pass... then 11:30..... 12:30.... 1:30.... 2:30.... finally at 3 o'clock fedex guys arrives and dumps package on doorstep. Complaining to Fed Ex only gets a refund to the shipper if they follow up on it.

[MikeDeL]

Turn out FedEx delivered the last of my stuff today..... They just didnt bring it to my door. Didnt leave a note either. They just dropped it off at the apartment office and took off. Great customer service. I thought I paid them to delivery it to my apartment, but I guess not. Tomorrow is gonna be a fun day for me.... My fiance is dragging me to the Bridal EXTRAVAGANZA :roll: I can just hear the anouncer now, "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY" and all Im going to want to be doing is sitting at home setting up my tank. oh well.


Mike

[alexwolf]

Hey man I just got married January 10. It was GREAT! Of course, my wife made me buy a new 175, so i guess i am pretty blessed!!!!! HaHA I heard those shows are pretty fun (i never did have to go!) :D

[MikeDeL]

There is supposed to be free food there though. Free food makes everything atleast alittle better. By the way anyone know why this site doesnt log me in when I pull up the site, even though I check the box?


Mike

[MikeDeL]

Well I spent the better part of the evening setting up my Nano-Cube. The dust has about settled. Just out of curiosity will a dog hair or 2 hurt anything? It always seems that no matter how hard I try there always seems to be one or two floating around. I just gave the dogs a bath and vaccumed too. I guess the couple stray hairs in the tank are the only ones I didnt get. Im going to the store tomorrow to get some live sand and a few other odds and ends, but other then that I guess I get to play the waiting game now.


Mike

[Brett Wilson]

If you have dog hair in your tank you will end up with spontanious occurances of dogfish, and the dreaded rovercrab, and sometimes the killer fidolapod. ;)

I have a rat terrior and I find hair in my tank all the time, I wouldn't sweat it :)

-Brett

[lax]

take all of that crap out of the back part of the cube, pronto. i have had a cube set up for 6 months and the sponges only lead to nitrate problems. you might leave the ceramic cylinders in at first to help establish your bacteria if you already arent tnansfering rock from another tank of yours. leave the carbon in too, but itll only last you a month, so yea haw for that month. if you break out the middle wall you can fit a tunze skimmer in there, doin it. also go to http://www.nano-reef.com/ they have all kinds of good info there about everything related to nanos.

[MikeDeL]

I want to double check. The RO water they have at AquaTek doesnt have chlorine in it right? Also my PH is at 7.7 should I get it all the way up to 8 or so then add live sand, or will it be ok to add it now?


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

Well here it is all set up. The live rock looks great, thanks Tim.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid105/p5a08be4eabc2f88ea0e58ea1e54ed7e8/f97ab28d.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid105/p749c0fef0e7287f0d00b2735ef17ac13/f97ab29c.jpg

Thanks for yalls help getting me started.


Mike

[greatbarrier52]

I believe the RO process exausts any clorine it that might be in the water. I have a RODI unit and I have never had a problem with clorine.

[Tim Marvin]

Looks good! The carbon on the RO filter removes the chlorine. Chlorine will destroy an RO membrane. If it is RO/DI water there is no need to worry about anything. This is good pure water to start off with, just add the salt and go!

[Tim Marvin]

Maybe I am seeing things, but it looks like one aptasia on the front right rock (the little anemone). If so squirt some Kalk on it or super glue gel. Unless of course you are going to put in a tiny CB butterfly or some peppermints. Otherwise you'll want to kill it before you have 2, 4, 8, 16, and so on.

[MikeDeL]

Is this what you were talking about Tim? Are they bad for the tank, or do they just multiply like rabbits?
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid105/pfa4fa4ffd145229148151ee8bc4005b1/f97ab294.jpg

Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

I just tested my water, and Ammonia is somewhere between .25 and .5 ppm, should I do a water change or just keep an eye on it and ride it out?


Thanks,
Mike

[reefguy]

They will multiply faster than you can imagine!! And they are bad for your tank. Like Tim said, if you can get ahold of a syringe, inject it with a kalkwasser mix or you might be able to just squirt it right next to it and kill it also. You can also always use super glue to cover it up and it will die that way also.

[Tim Marvin]

Right, also do not change any water the cycle shouldn't last more than a few days because you used fully cured rock and live sand.. Since you have no livestock in there lift the rock out and put some super glue on the aptasia. I'd have killed it for you, but didn't realize it was there. They are simple to get rid of if you get them before they multiple too much.

[MikeDeL]

Ok this rock really comes to life at night time. Can anyone tell me what this wormy thing is? I have seen a few of them running around. I would put a picture up, but my computer isnt working with me. Here is a link to the pic. http://www.imagestation.com/mypictures/inbox/view.html?id=4185505403&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.image station.com%2Fpicture%2Fsraid105%2Fp27cd005852fc1e f3ab79c1b9ca1c94cf%2Ff979be7b.jpg&caption=mvc-002f


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

So are these baby aptasia?
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid105/p9e868a6adb06c2dbdf5b903e98719f22/f977f10e.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid105/p25f38d39de80cfe2a2b5ec2e3b1a490e/f977f111.jpg

And so what do I have to do? Just pull the rock out of the water put a little dab of super glue on it, let the glue dry and stick it back in the water?


Thanks,
Mike

[lax]

well in the bottom picture, the bottom 'aptasia' you should chip it off the rock and give it to me. it will start spreading like wildfire and you dont want that in your tank for sure, i think that i might have just the place for it in my cube. haha, no jk, those are zoos, they look like they have potential to color up real nice.

[TexasState]

Yeah, that's zooanthids, look kind of purplish.

[Instar]

The worm you posted a link to is a bristle worm. They eat junk, leftover food, etc. Big ones can sting you real good. Not likely you will get them out of your tank or even want to. If they get huge and you have something that buries in the sand at night, those fish can get stung and hurt by a very large bristle worm. But large ones are easy to get with forceps if need be.

You want to get rid of that aiptasia because they sting some things to death that they touch.

Don't kill the zoos in the process.

[MikeDeL]

So the little ones are zoos and I keep those, the big one is an aptasia and I kill it. I think that whole rock that the aptasia is covered with them. I would post a picture of them but they are too tiny and arent showing up. What should I do?


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

So how do the aptasia reproduce? Do they split and spread or do they start ought tiny and grow bigger? I have a bunch of little things on the live rock that have 10 rays, clear, and about 2-3 mm in diameter.


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

Also I stuck some super glue on that aptasia and today it is still alive. Doesnt look like it is doing as good, but it is still alive. Does it take a couple days for it to die off, or should it have killed it on the spot?


Thanks,
Mike

[Tim Marvin]

The first is a bristle worm, good. Second is zooanthids, good. Next time your in the area drop by and I'll give you a zooanthid frag for you having to hassle with that aptasia. You should also be ready to add stock if you want. You should not have had much of a cycle. The rock was about 5 years old and the sand is full of grunge. Maybe the bacteria stirred up from the sand caused a tiny cycle check it again and bring me some water to test if you have any question. Sorry about the aptasia I didn't notice it.

[Tim Marvin]

Mike, I would be floored if the rock was covered with aptasia. There are all kinds of things living in that tank like tiny feather dusters, spagetti worms, zoos, and much more. If you'd like I can drop by some time and take a look to help ID the life on that particular rock. If they truely are aptasia I will personally buy you some peppermint shrimp, Berghi, or a tiny CB butterfly from Instar after he has them trained to take care of the problem. To my knowledge I have never sold any problematic rock and do not intend to start now! I guarantee that!

[MikeDeL]

Tim, I almost willing to bet it is just my own paranoia and lack of experience that makes me wonder wether or not these little critters are aptasia. They are more then likely not. They are about as big around as a BB pellet. Its just when Im just starting out with something I get really nervous about things Im pretty sure are ok but am not completly postive about. I glad you had a keen eye and where able to notice it in such a small picture. It would probably ease my mind if you would drop by and check it out sometiime if its not too much of a hassle for you. If you need my number just PM me. We can arrange a time for you to drop by. Im probably going to wait for the weekend to put anything in. Im not even sure yet what I should put in there; hermits, snails, shrimp, or fish. Plus I dont like driving in rush hour with fish sitting in my front seat ( more paranioa).


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

And the confirmed aptiasia was still poking out this afternoon, when I got home from work. It didnt seem to be nearly as happy as yesterday before I glued him. I pulled the rock back out and this time stuck the nozzle of the super glue right on it and gave it a little squirt. Hopfully that takes care of it. Again, real glad you spotted it, I thought it was just something cool living on the live rock. Didnt realise it was a potential problem.


Thanks,
Mike

[MikeDeL]

Well I got off work early today so I decided to stop and pick up some critters. I got 3 snails and a blue leg hermit. I guess Im gonna let them tidey up the tank a little bit before I add a fish.


Mike

[MikeDeL]

So how big is a big Bristtle Worm? I just saw one in my tank that has to be atleast 3 inches long.


Thanks,
Mike

[prof]

Big? 12-18"? IMO they are a good thing. Great scavengers.

[kaiser]

Didn't Minh have some in the 3' range?

[MikeDeL]

So I shouldnt worry about a 4 or so inch bristle hurting any of my fish?


Thanks,
Mike