another new member ...

[conrad]

I've been lurking for several weeks, but did manage to make it to
the auction and joined up (and bought the Emperor 400 filter). I
figure it's finally time to decloak and say hello.

I have two tanks that have been up for a couple of months -- a 5.5G
and a 29G. They have LR, LS, fish, inverts, and I've started adding a
few low light soft corals. I only have NO lights so far, so that limits
me severely.

Anyway, thanks for all I've learned so far -- I hope to learn much
more soon, and perhaps even to give something back eventually.

--cn

 

[~Flighty~]

Welcome to BRS. Spring seems to be the time for new members. I bet a few people will chime in with things that can grow well under those lights.

 

[MelodyDurham]

*wave* Welcome, Fellow Newbie!

My bf (david_3d) and I just set up our first SW tank last night. A little 6 gallon eclipse. It has... sand and water so far! Yay! I'd be curious to see how it's been for you, with your smaller tank and new to the hobby. What types of fish and inverts do you have in that thing? And do you find it challenging to keep the levels in good shape?

Thanks! And again, glad you're here!
Melody~

 

[scavdog]

Welcome!

Welcome! Glad you made the auction.

If you don't mind me asking, how did you find out about the BRS?

-Joe

 

[chuck]

Welcome, this is fun, but highly addictive

 

[conrad]

Wow, you folks do a pretty good job of making people feel welcome!

(Urk, must restrain myself from trying to use unix line editing commands --
I keep closing my browser window. Doh!)

Thanks Flighty -- any pointers are appreciated. Though I would like to get
better lights soon.

Hi Scavdog -- thanks for the red carpet treatment! I think I remember how
I found BRS. I was poking around researching skimmers and found Skipton's
listed as a Boston area dealer on some manufacturer's web site. Googling
for them led me here somehow. (Finding their physical store was much more
challenging for me and I failed in my first attempt.)

Hi Melody -- things have actually gone pretty well with these new
tanks. They're not really my first SW or tank experience, though they are my
first reef tanks. I did at first set up the 5.5G with a Penguin Mini filter,
but that was touchy and unstable. I decided to try the reef method and went
for it with the 29G. When I lost the fish in the 5.5G I restarted it reef
style and it's been stable and happy since.

My biggest problem was with crappy test gear -- after getting digital
thermometers and a refractometer, things have been much less stressful. I
haven't been doing anything exotic, just topping off with mild kalk (though
sometimes the 5.5G gets salt from the 29G -- salt creep occasionally matches
the evaporation rate). I don't have a full set of test kits yet, and find some
of them pretty much guesswork anyway, but I do watch the tanks closely. It's
been a while, maybe I'll take some water to Skipton's today.

In the 5.5G I've got a fairy wrasse, cleaner shrimp, serpent star (and at least
one micro one), five red-legged hermits, six nassarius snails, two monstrous
terebellid worms (and I think I found another small one last night), and some
button polyps. I'm a bit distressed, as I also had a cool little red striped
goby in there, but I can't find him this morning. I see that the shrimp did
his first molt in the tank -- I hope he didn't eliminate the little guy first!

In the 29G I have what I'm sure are too many fish, but they each have a
home and there doesn't appear to be much conflict or stress, even with some
relatively aggressive fish. The tank started as a home for two yellow tail
damsels which I rescued from "jail" (a breeding cage) in my (recently ex)
gf's 46G FO tank. I was unable to catch them to put them in the 5.5G, so
they stayed. I added a pair of blue/green chromis, a chalk bass, an orchid
dottyback, and a barnacle blenny.

I also have a cleaner shrimp and a peppermint shrimp, an orange linkia star,
and a lettuce "nudibranch" (elysia crispata, actually not a nudibranch,
but a sacoglossan opistobranch -- amazing what you can learn on the web --
thank you sea slug forum). I've also got a bunch of red and blue legged
hermits, one "tiger" hermit (?), and a staghorn hermit (now the proud owner
of a much less cumbersome turbo snail shell). My turbo snails only lasted a
couple of weeks, but I've got a bunch of nassarius snails and a couple of
fighting conch (I had three, but I think one of the big hermits tried to
shell-jack him and he didn't make it). There are a ton of little feather
duster and other worms and interesting beasties that came with the LR.

Wow, that was too long, sorry.

Anyway, thanks for the welcomes!

--cn

 

[conrad]

Thanks Chuck! Yes, this definitely seems addictive. Sounds like I've found the
right support group though!

--cn

 

[Moe_K]

Welcome, Conrad.

 

[Piscevore]

Hey Conrad, I'm right up the street from you.
When you are ready, I've got a good deal on a power compact light that will fit perfectly on your 29 (2x64 w/moonlights and cooling fan).

I'm not giving things out of my tanks right now because i'm fighting (and losing) a hellatious battle with red flatworms.

nevertheless, I've got some Xenia and probably calaustrea down the road for ya.

 

[conrad]

Hey Piscevore -- actually you pretty much have to be "down" from me,
since I'm at the very top of Winter Hill -- you can probably see my rope
lights at night if you look up. You'll have to come up for a beer sometime.
I can promise you a pretty spectacular 360-degree view. Maybe we can
see your place from here.

I'd be interested in seeing your tanks sometime. I find there's so much to
learn just peering into tanks. And though I don't have much to look at I'd
love to get input on my tanks. I wouldn't drag someone from far to do it, but
if you're right down the street and I could offer you beers I wouldn't feel too
bad about it. ;-)

I may indeed take you up on the light. I see someone else is trying to sell one
that sounds perfect, but it's up in NH and at the price of gas these days it's not
as good a deal as it would be otherwise. What model light is yours? Does it
have stands to fit an AGA 29G?

I've only been in Winter Hill for a couple of years. Is there a decent bar in the
'hood? Now that I'm single again, but still living with the ex and her brother, it
would be nice to have a place to go get a frosty beverage on occasion.

Anyway, thanks for the welcome, and hopefully I'll see you around!

--cn

 

[conrad]

Thanks Moe!

--cn

 

[Piscevore]

Conrad, its a CustomSeaLife Lunar Light or something like that. It was the first light I bought, a little over a year ago... its been replaced by 2 metal halide systems and 2 different tanks. I've got a 72 bow tank and a 65 Frag tank that has more coral than the display tank

As far as drinking, I do most of that in my house with my GF Heather. There is an awesome liquor store right up 28N over the mystic river bridge... we go up there and buy a case of wine at a time because the selection is only better in NH at the state stores (and the prices aren't that much better,especially once gas is factored in!)

At the top of Winter Hill there is an apt building complex with like, two pent houses at the top, that isn't you is it?

 

[conrad]

Ah, thanks, I'll check out the specs of that light. It sounds good. I think I'd
want something with legs rather than hanging. Not sure exactly what yours
is yet.

I nearly gave up drinking the past couple of years, but I'm thinking that with
my new situation I may need a cold beer out of the house every once in a
while. I haven't dared venture into any of the local places -- sounds like you
haven't really done so either.

When we have big parties we usually shop at Kappy's across the river. Is that
the place you mean? I like Ball Square Liquors for nearby beer and wine.

And yeah, that's me, except it's just one big penthouse. Our building is at 425
Broadway, the one with the really ugly cellular and microwave antennas on it.

--cn

 

[NateHanson]

Welcome Conrad!

Sounds like you've got some lively tanks going. Definitely ask questions about them as you run into them. The folks here have lots of good experience and advice to offer!

You're goby is probably just hiding. Some of the shrimp gobies do that a lot, but are very cool when they're visible.

Do you know what your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels are? If one of those is slightly elevated it could explain why your snails and conch are dying. Just a thought.

What do you have for filtration on the two tanks?

Nate

By the way, that must be a pretty sweet pad, to convince you to keep living with your ex and her brother!

 

[david3d]

Welcome to the forum. I would be interested in hearing your experiences with your smaller tank. My small mantis tank is also NO lighting (8watt) and I'm thinking about putting some low light soft corals in with the mantis. He has to have a nice looking home. What type of corals have you had luck with in your small tank? I think I need to get some LR in the tank first before I start adding too much bio-load to the tank. But that will also give me something to put the corals on, up closer to the lights. I have found that there appears to be a wide variety of soft corals that work fine with NO lighting and low circulation. So the difficult thing is probably going to be choosing what to put in there from all the choices.

-David

 

[AbbeyRoad]

Welcome to the Board (both Conrad and David)!

For Drinking-When we are in the Winter Hill area, we usually end up at PJ Ryans in Teele Sq or keep going to Sligos, The Burren, etc in Davis Sq.
Hope that helps!
-Abbey

 

[conrad]

Thanks, Nate!

(Hmmm, I guess I don't need to wrap this myself.)

I assume "lively" is a euphemism for "overstocked". Feel free to be blunt with me about things if necessary, I'm here to learn from all of you, and I'm not going to take offense at advice and comments.

I'm afraid my goby isn't hiding, though I haven't completely written him off yet. He isn't a shrimp goby, he's one of those tiny little ones with the red stripes that just perches on the rock. He did hide from the wrasse for the first two days in the tank, but he's been out on top of the rock for the past few weeks.

My ammonia and nitrite have always been 0. I didn't really even have much of a cycle with the tanks, since I started the 29 with well cured live rock, live sand (arag-alive or something), and partial water from our (at the time) going FO tank. When I restarted the 5.5 as a reef style tank I took water and sand from the then established 29. My nitrate has also been pretty much rock solid. Unfortunately it's been rock solid at 20 ppm.

I think I need to get refugia where I can put some macroalgae to export the nitrates. I was thinking of a CPR AquaFuge for the 29. I guess I'd have to DIY something for the 5.5 though. Does that sound like a reasonable plan for dealing with the nitrates?

The only snails I've had trouble with are the red turbos. The nassarius have been fine and like I said I think the one conch that didn't make it was done in by a hermit. He was minding his own business when the big blue-legged hermit started nosing around one morning. I moved the hermit a couple of times, but he kept coming back. When I returned that night the conch was but a shell of his former self. My suspicion is that he was shell-jacked by the hermit who then decided he didn't really like the new home. Maybe that's why he hasn't bothered the others. I should get a few bigger spare shells for these guys.

So, is 20 ppm nitrate a big problem? My understanding is that ideally it should be zero, but that 20 isn't really a problem. Am I mistaken?

The 29 has about 45 lbs of LR, 25 lbs of LS, and an AquaC Remora. The 5.5 has about 9 lbs of LR and 15 lbs of LS. I do one IO bucket (6+ gallons?) water change at least every week (about 5g for the 29, and 1g for the 5.5?). I had PH, alk, and CA tested at Skipton's today (thanks Ron) and the conclusion was that I've been a bit too cautious with my kalkwasser mix. I'll mix up a stronger batch today for this week.

And yes, it's a pretty sweet pad. It's fairly big, so that helps. I've been working at Harvard for over 15 years, so this is a perfect place for me and I'm not going anywhere. They may move when they finish school. The ex will probably have to succumb to family pressures and marry a nice Indian doctor or something soon. Whatever. We'll be fine once I stop caring.

Anyway, thanks for the welcome and help!

--cn

 

[conrad]

Hi David3d -- I'm definitely interested in hearing how your mantis nano and Melody's cube come along. I actually thought I found a micro baby stomatopod in my 5.5. I'm such a nerd that I can spend hours looking at stuff near enough to the edge of the tank to be seen with a little folding magnifying glass. I was doing this one day before I had any fish in the tank, and I saw an isopod suddenly jump back. When I looked there was a little white thing it was facing that was maybe 3/8 of an inch long, but looked like a mantis. I watched it for an hour or so, but it was so small and kept getting just beyond my focal range. He'd still be way too small to bother anything, even my little goby, so I hope he's still in there if that's what he is.

Anyway, to your questions. I have a suspicion that most reefers don't really know the lower limits of lighting, since it's safer simply to get or recommend more. Like I said, I'm just starting to see what I can put in these tanks, but everyone is pretty cautious and all I've tried are a few button polyps and mushrooms. Oh, and a pretty good rock with star polyps in the 29. They all seem to be doing well, but I have a lot of rock and everything is fairly high up. The rock in the 5.5 comes up to an inch and a half from the waterline and gets exposed at water changes. The top is a bit bleached from the light. The button polyps are just below where they'd be exposed at water changes.

I suspect I could be successful with some other things, but LFS people are very hesitant with suggestions when they hear you only have 14W 10,000K NO lighting. The 29 has two 18W NO, one 10,000K, one actinic 420. I would like to upgrade these lights, but it's so bewildering trying to figure out all the options.

Anyway, definitely get as much good LR as you can. There's lots of cool things in it and on it to watch. The LR I have in the 5.5 is just two pieces arranged in an arch. But they have holes that go right through the center, so fish can swim through them and the serpent star can disappear with just legs showing out holes on different sides. I was perfectly happy with just LR and LS in the tanks -- there was so much interesting stuff to watch.

Well, good luck and I look forward to hearing about your tanks!

I'd show pictures, but I just got a new digital camera, and haven't managed to figure out how to get it to communicate with my Linux notebook yet. The older model I got my gf for xmas worked fine, but this new one uses USB 2.0, and my aging Thinkpad may not.

--cn

 

[conrad]

Thanks Abbey!

Yeah, I know those places. Those are the kinds of places I used to enjoy. I've been getting dragged to upscale clubs for the past two years, and I think I'm going to enjoy a nice quiet cold beer once in a while if I need to get out of the apartment. I'll have to check out some of the walking distance places in Winter Hill and Ball Square.

--cn

 

[MelodyDurham]

Hey Conrad,

How often do you do water changes? And how much for 5.5 gal?

Thanks,
Melody~