We started the 29G biocube 2 weeks before thanksgiving with 30 lbs live rock, 20 lbs live substrate and 10lbs sand. The LR had a couple of hitch-hikers and they are still alive. Added a protein skimmer and a submersible heater.

In 2 weeks we did not see any ammonia spike and no corresponding Nitrate, Nitrite. All levels were pristine from the start, we never had a cycle. The secret to this IMO is that we used Petco brand Ocean Water (link: http://www.petco.com/product/11884/P…ean-Water.aspx) The water says just add fish (we didn’t but the water is near perfect). The water is not a pre-mixed salt blend water, its the real deal from the ocean.

2 weeks into the tank we added CUC consisting of 10 hermits, 1 emerald, 2 cleaner shrimp, 1 fire shrimp. We also got some stupid ultra small coral frags only one of which is thriving.

1 week later we added 2 wild caught clownfish. One was pretty stressed, then our heater broke, the temp plunged and the stressed clown died. Very sad

1 week later we added another clown and got a green mushroom coral and a button polyp coral frag – large size. The Mushroom since them is super chubby, the polyps are mostly declining. We also added 2 more Emerald crabs (hair algae), sand sifting star and sally lightfoot.

Then we added some beautiful Xennia, and a 14 head Torch. We lost 4 heads on the Torch to BJD because in glueing the frag to a rock, we tortured the poor thing The torch is happy now though still not as vibrant as we saw it in the LFS. The Xennia had a couple of nasty worms which were stressing it out. By the time we got these forceps that actually worked, the Xennia was far too stressed to recover. It hangs on and pulses occasionally (its the non pulsing kind tho), but it is no where close to its former glory.

Also got a blue hermit crab who is very greedy, saw an empty large white shell we had in the tank and took it, its so big he can barely move, he’s very silly, but alive. We also added a Christmas Blenny and the guy was the most interesting thing ever. We read that it likes Spirulina so we got some frozen kind. We fed one cube which the water flow pushed to the back of the tank, so we added another. Big mistake. The next morning the tank was cloudy, huge ammonia spike, the Blenny died, the clowns got fin rot and in general the tank was crashing.

Massive repeated water changes later, all is well, levels have been stable for 10+ days now. For Christmas we bought another pretty torch, some frog spawn and a lovely little Tridacna Maximus electric blue/purple clam. The clowns are recovering well from the bruises we saw on their bodies, the fin that rotted is still missing on both. They host the original 14 head torch. Also got a powerhead.

We feed the corals, I just fragged my first mushroom. The tank is happy in general. The clam went and hid behind a rock and I went to remove him and found he had attached itself, good thing I googled asap or I would have hurt the little guy. I’m concerned he is not getting adequate light but hey he chose that spot so not sure what I can do.

Will try to get some pics up soon. I wish the Xennia would either die or thrive, same with the button polyps. OTher than that both torches are waving about, the frogspawn looks gorgeous, the clam is still hiding but at least I can see him. The green mushrooms are enormous but have not multiplied or moved themselves yet. The emerald crabs use them as blankets

The corals LOVE the spirulina, but we are careful with it now. If you put chunks on the mushrooms they fold over it and become pumpkins as they digest it. The torch opens wide offering unfettered access to their ‘mouths’, its such a fascinating thing when we feed these guys. We feed the fish mysis mostly and I filter feed once a week as well as add trace elements.

We don’t think adding anything more is needed but if the polyp and Xennia don’t make it, will add some more corals but this time shop around for color. And maybe a blenny eventually. Thinking of a small tang as we will be getting a bigger tank eventually.

Thats all the news for now. This hobby is rewarding and amazing. LEarn something new everyday.

Happy Holidays.

Hello, this being my first post I would like to say Hello to you all. I have been reading these forums months before my first post and I finally registered. I have a 90 gallon fowlr with a 25 gallon sump. this tank has been up for almost a year now. however when I started my tank I did not have all the proper test kits that I do now. I seeded my sump with some LS from a friends tank and 30lbs of cured LR. I used the argomax sand which is around 2-3 inches deep. I had this setup 1 month before I ever added a fish. I added 1 damsel after 1 month to help cycle tank.. I now have 2 damsels and 1 clown.. Since I was such a newb I did not know to test my tank 2 see if it cycled. from everything I have read surely it has cycled, cause my tank went through several visual changes.. especially algae outbreaks with what I assume is diatoms. I got on a regular schedule(every 3 weeks) of changing my water with RO water and oceanic salt mix.I also had a small cleaner crew( 3 hermits,10 turbo’s). for 2 0r 3 months everything seemed ok, (although I could only test PH,Ammonia, and salinity)…I even had a little coraline growing on 3 of my rocks. Recently I had a bad case of cyno and lost a few turbo’s and 1 hermit, the fish remained OK. I treated the cyno with red algae removal product from my LFS. after 2 treatments and 2 water changes as per instructions,the cyno went away and my tank totally went brown on LR, sand and tank. I think my cyno was due to low salinity and no flow in tank. I had a hydro that looks to be wrong, since I now have a refracto..my salinity got down below .019..now I keep it at.025.. I also added 2 koralia 1050 wave makers. as of yesterday I have done 2 15% water changes this week already. I have never used tap water not even for top offs. I now test everything and I will post the readings as soon as I get home today since I forgot them here at work. I did start testing everything that I see you guys posting on the forums the day I started my cyno treatment. luckily I do have test results before I added treatment. also the test before each water change during treatment. I did however at time of cyno treatment remove all the LS in my sump (6inches) since I felt it was no longer needed.maybe this can give you guys a small glimpse of my tank until I can post my test readings. FYI!! this tank originally had a wet dry system built into the back of the tank. I drilled it and changed it 2 a sump system. THANKS in advance..test readings will follow asap!!!

MY tank: 90G
2-150 Watt MH 10K 8HR timer
2- nighttime blue LEDS
25 gallon sump with Bio balls and filter media
1000gph sump pump
2-koralia 1050 Wave makers

Hello,
My Name is Amanda I have allot of experence with fresh water fish but I recently bought a 70 Gallon Salt water Tank. I got the tank up and running and decided to add fish… Unfortultly one of the fish brought ICH into my tank and now all of the fish are infected. I was advised to use ICH attack in my tank but it did not work and now two have died and all of my fish are going to die as well. I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to make this set up as healthy as it can be.

Am I using the correct lighting?
How long should the lights be on for?
What is the healthiest way to revive live rock?
Is there anything else I need to buy?

I tried going to SERVERAL fish stores to get advise but they all tell me something diffrent. I am VERY confused on where to start.

MY WATER PERAMMETERS:

PH: 8.4
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
Nitite: 0ppm

Thank you!

I have a 16 gal bowfront and my corals are doing fine but all my fish have been dieing sporadically. Ph-8.3 nitrite-0 ammonia-.15 ppm nitrate-15 ppm salinity-31 and specific gravity is 1.023. The nitrates are a little high bu I thought that would kill corals first. The ammonia is just a little high as well but it was higher and they were fine. Any answers?

hi – i am new to forums but am desperate for some answers so please help. Have a 500 litre marine tank that I have been keeping sucessfully for a year. 11 fish all doubled in size and healthy. Had some early problems – white spot etc but have learnt a lot – especially how fish behave when not well. Fed my fish saturday night all looked good, behaving normally, pH 8.0, ammonia 0, – when I got up in the morning all were dead. I was horrified and heatbroken – amazing how attached you can get to your fish!!
Phoned my aquaruim store and took 6 of the fish I could easily retrieve and a water sample. the shop tested my water an said it was excellent looked at the fish and said they were in good condition, no sign of disease, gills fine still rigid and eyes not glazed. He said he could not expain this sudden wipe out only explanation he could give was an electrocution but in 15 years he had never heard of this before. Got home and retrived remaining fish but noticed the hermit crabs were still alive. Only have a few small mushrooms and corals and they also look ok but not great. One of the big pumps was not working but had been night before. My husband has checked this and the fuse had blown and there was a burnt out smell. Is it possible that this pump could have blown and electrocuted my fish? And if so how could the hermits survive? any other ideas on what might have happened – did have a valentini puffer- 4 months in tank about 2 inches long – was fine night before and feeding/behaving normally.
The tank is now empty and don’t know if i have the heart to start again certainly not before I get a good explanation and can ensure this will never happen again.

I recently saw a thing that is living and is attached to my blue damsel, I dont know if it is hurting the damsel because he seems to be acting fine and the Ufo has been attached to him for about 4 days. What should I do?

The UFO is attached on the dorsal side of my fish. Looking close at the thing it looks to have two black eyes and At the other end of it there are two triangular "tails". Thanks for any help or advice. My computer will not allow me to upload my pictures. Very sorry I will try to get them up here.

I recently saw a thing that is living and is attached to my blue damsel, I dont know if it is hurting the damsel because he seems to be acting fine and the Ufo has been attached to him for about 4 days. What should I do?

The UFO is attached on the dorsal side of my fish. Looking close at the thing it looks to have two black eyes and At the other end of it there are two triangular "tails". Thanks for any help or advice. My computer will not allow me to upload my pictures. Very sorry I will try to get them up here.

Thanks to Spyder, I googled the star and yes it needs a bigger home than my new 29G biocube.

I bought him from a reef specialty store for $19.99. And they won’t take the fish back, bloody hell. Store policy and all. Why did they sell it to me! I was there an hour going on and on about my tank size and what was in it. He’s been in my tank a week exactly and zips around a lot, he’s very healthy.

I live in NNJ, I’m not sure whats involved in shipping him but I really don’t want him to starve as he will in my tank.

$15 plus shipping. I can email you photos of my big guy.

Please save my star

I have been wanting to upgrade my 46 bowfront to a 75 gallon and I did it this weekend. Found a decent tank on craigslist with a pine stand and brought it home Sat and spend the afternoon cleaning up the tank and stand. The tank is RR and in good shape. The stand while structurely sound has seen better days. Both were rather nasty and required several hours of cleaning.

I spend the entire day Sunday breaking down the 46 bowfront tank and moving the livestock in buckets or large trashcans. We moved the 46 to the front porch and put the 75 in it’s place. By this time I’m pooped but still needed to move the livestock into the 75. After moving the rock in, acclimating the fish etc and pulling in all the water from the old tank plus about 20 gallons of new water, I’m about a half inch below the RR opening. Darn it, need about 20 or so gallons for the sump. I added a couple of power heads and called it a night.

Yesterday I collected RO water and mixed hopefully enough water and will be getting the sump operational tonight. What a job but love the larger size of the 75.

I have two frogspawn and one chalic that are bleaching to white, they look healthy. I have one frogspawn 3/4 the way up the tank and the other is very close to the bottom. My tank is two feet deep. I also have one chalic that was a beautiful green with orange eyes and it also has bleached almost white. He is maybe 1/2 way up the tank. All other chorals are doing well and so are the fish.

Thanks Dave .