Progression Update

Its been a while since I have updated this.  That is mostly thanks to the hair algae that has been plaguing my tank.  After a week of fighting with it though, Im starting to get it under control.  I also finally moved my clownfish from quarantine to their new home, once I confirmed my water readings with a local fish store.  So far, they seem pretty happy and are extremely energetic.  I have included some pics with this update.  The first two pics are comparison pics, the first taken a week ago, the second pic taken today.  The third pic is of my spiny astrea snail (which is my favorite snail),  and the last pic is of my clownfish in their new home.  Next addition will be Dragon Fire Zoanthids, followed by some Sexy Anemone Shrimp, a Blue Sympodium, and probably a Maxi - Mini Carpet Anemone.

Cycle Finished

A few days ago I added some chaetomorpha to my skimmer cup and it seemed to "jump start" my cycle so I finally placed an order for my clean up crew from reef cleaners.  Ill be getting snails only, which will include: dwarf ceriths, nerites, and some nassarius vibex.  I also plan on adding a fancy brittle starfish and 3-4 sexy shrimp which i plan on ordering from live aquaria at a later date.  Once the clean-up crew is in place and water levels are stable, Ill be able to add my clownfish to the display.  Ill update again when my snails have arrived.

 

Cycle Update 1

Its been a little over a week since I got my live rock into the water, and already the rocks are starting to color up with coralline and other types of algae; so I thought i would share the progress with you.  Its still not ready for livestock yet, but I have a feeling it will be ready sooner than expected.  I will keep monitoring water levels and when conditions are right, ill be introducing some snails including dwarf ceriths, nerites, and some nassarius vibex.

These are before and after shots of the tank after just after 1-1/2 weeks of cycling.

As you can see the rocks are starting to color up and develop various types of algae.

These photos are of the two major diatoms that are taking over my sand bed.

This last photo is a close-up of one of my rocks, so you can see the different algae growing on them.

Rockin' Out

So I finally got the aquascaping done in my new RSM 130d.  I acquired the live rock from a local fish store.  It was very nice and porous, but also very fragile.  I had a couple pieces accidentally break on me and a few pieces that I intentionally broke.  This final configuration came from days of rearranging rock and numerous arch collapses.I ended up using zipties and super glue gel to secure my live rock.  The zipties and glue will encrust with coralline algae in the months to follow and will look like natural rock, so you wont even be able to notice them.

Copepod

I am almost a week into my cycle now and already life is starting to appear inside my tank.  I woke up this morning with hundreds of little white flea-like creatures crawling on my glass.  I knew that these were obviously pods and immediately got excited.  I cant remember the last time I was excited by seeing a little bug.  There are some other forms of life sprouting up too, which include rhizopoda (a form of Foraminifera) and I also found an aiptasia anemone, which is a pest in reef aquariums.  I sadly regret that it didn't make it, and is no longer with us.


CLOWN UPDATE:
Clown fish are doing great!  I added some carbon to my filter floss filter and am also dosing with seachem prime right now to help with ammonia levels between water changes.  They have been super energetic the last few days and seem to be getting some more color to them.

Will update again when more noticeable changes occur! :)

Clownfish Quarantine

Picked up two Ocellaris Clownfish today from a local fish store and started them in QT process.  They seem to be doing well so far despite a noob acclimation.  My qt tank was set to 1.025 salinity which is exactly what the lfs told me their tank was set to.  Once I opened the bag and tested the water, it read 1.028-29 on my refractometer...  They are now currently sitting in qt at about 1.027-28 (I quickly adjusted my QT because it is better for a slow salinity adjustment rather than a fast one.  Ill keep them in quarantine over the next month, while testing for ammonia/ph levels, and lowering salinity down to 1.025 through water changes.  The corals are not real, just a background pic my girlfriend insisted on.  Rest assured I do NOT have one of these on my display tank. LOL.