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Internet Explorer posted:If you are doing a fish only tank you need to have a mechanical filter, similar to a freshwater setup. Where as with liverock+fish, you replace the mechanical filter with a protein skimmer? What's the science behind that? The rock does much of what the mechanical filter did, but produces something that only a skimmer can handle? I've read the whole newbie guide you provided by the way, it's just a ton of information to consume, and they seem to cover full blown coral tanks. I'm just asking out of curiosity, I don't imagine I would skip the live rock, might as well stick to what I know (freshwater) at that point. Last question I promise: How do you handle water changes with a salt water tank as large as the one I've acquired? With fresh water I usually change out about 15% of the water every 10 days, but that's simple with fresh water. How would I manage 20 gallons of salt water weekly? Would I use my 30 gallon quarantine tank to mix it and warm it? How do you all do it? Umph fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Dec 9, 2010 |
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Dec 9, 2010 04:34
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The sea, she is bootiful. So the bug is back for me. I worked with marine tanks when I worked at the zoo (smallest was 10 gallons, largest only 300 or so with an epaulette shark, about ten tanks total, including a reef) but I haven't ever had one of my own. Would like to do a seastar and urchin tank, perhaps a shrimp or two, hermit crabs, serpent stars would be my favorite overall. No fish, no corals, etc. Any recommendations for precise species other than generic serpent star?
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Dec 9, 2010 05:20
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^^^Harlequin serpent stars are neat, if you're into that kind of thing^^^Umph posted:Where as with liverock+fish, you replace the mechanical filter with a protein skimmer? What's the science behind that? The rock does much of what the mechanical filter did, but produces something that only a skimmer can handle? I've read the whole newbie guide you provided by the way, it's just a ton of information to consume, and they seem to cover full blown coral tanks. Mechanical filters remove coarse and fine particulate solids, rocks (or any biofilter) house chemoautotrophic bacteria which convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, protein skimmers remove amphiphillic dissolved organic compounds which heterotrophic bacteria would regularly convert to ammonia and thus adding nitrates to a system. What I recommend is to get a decent canister filter, a skimmer, and use dead rock and sand seeded from another tank. There is no reason to spend extra money on liverock when it's contagious. If you go reef all you will need to do is add the lights and unless you are going to clean it daily, ditch the canister. Umph posted:Last question I promise: I use rubber trash cans. My R/O runs into a 100 gallon bin and I mix my water in a 70 with a powerhead and heater. During the waterchange just use pumps instead of buckets.
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Dec 9, 2010 05:54
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fanaglethebagle posted:um, not to be a total creeper, but where did you get your username? When I ask to fenagle a bagel that means "can I bum a cigarette." It's an inside joke between me and a couple other friends. WEIRD. CONTENT: my roommates 40G tank he's had about 5 yrs. Badass. 
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Dec 9, 2010 07:38
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In addition to my previous questions, if I was to buy base rock and just chuck it in there, what turns it into live rock? Does it just 'happen' or do I need to introduce some sort of bacteria? Would a ton of base rock with some nicer precured live rock for show in aesthetically pleasing spots allow the base rock to turn naturally into live? Or should I forgo liverock completely and just let the sand do the work? I guess im under the impression that liverock looks prettier, but maybe I'm way off base. If they are the same type of rock, will both end up looking the same in the end? I sort of dig this places rocks: http://reefcleaners.org/index.php?p...emart&Itemid=34 I was looking at the prices for liverock, and with this 150 gallon monster there's no way I can afford to buy enough. Where do you guys buy your stuff online? I live in the midwest  optikalus posted:There are also some soft corals that will do fine in a 'dirty' tank with minimal lighting. Many mushrooms and green star polyp should do fine. Wow those mushroom corals are stunning. fanaglethebagle posted:If you go reef all you will need to do is add the lights and unless you are going to clean it daily, ditch the canister. Can I sick to the basic setup if I buy a few low light tolerant coral? Or do I need a sump and osmosis thing at that point? Umph fucked around with this message at 08:51 on Dec 9, 2010 |
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Dec 9, 2010 08:22
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sweetheartjess posted:um, not to be a total creeper, but where did you get your username? When I ask to fenagle a bagel that means "can I bum a cigarette." It's an inside joke between me and a couple other friends. WEIRD. My name's in it and it was a school nickname. Also a bagel store. Umph posted:In addition to my previous questions, if I was to buy base rock and just chuck it in there, what turns it into live rock? Does it just 'happen' or do I need to introduce some sort of bacteria? Would a ton of base rock with some nicer precured live rock for show in aesthetically pleasing spots allow the base rock to turn naturally into live? Or should I forgo liverock completely and just let the sand do the work? I guess im under the impression that liverock looks prettier, but maybe I'm way off base. If they are the same type of rock, will both end up looking the same in the end? Dryrock needs to be seeded with some liverock to get any microorganisms that would make it liverock. The coraline algae and all the prettiness will come later, but I think the wait is worth the time waiting and money saved. Also, the less liverock you put in your tank the less likely it will be for you to pick up any pests, get it from someone with a nice tank. Umph posted:I was looking at the prices for liverock, and with this 150 gallon monster there's no way I can afford to buy enough. Where do you guys buy your stuff online? I live in the midwest http://www.marcorocks.com/ This guy's my boy. No rock is taken out of water and it's all ancient coral rock gathered from quarries on a reef pushed out of water long ago. If you want a genuine looking reef I go for this stuff. Also, it's very light porous rock for its size so you won't need to buy hundreds of pounds of rock. Umph posted:Can I sick to the basic setup if I buy a few low light tolerant coral? Or do I need a sump and osmosis thing at that point? I always suggest reverse osmosis. When I am spending this much money on an aquarium I would like to know exactly what is in the water. It is a pain in the rear end to wait for but that's why I have my reservoir trash bucket. For fish only and the basic coral you might get by fine, or you could end up with a ridiculous never-ending cyano condition. It's the luck of the draw at that point. Does the tank have an overflow box? If there is any way for you to do it, I would go with a sump. It's incredibly convenient, keeps equipment out of the way, and allows you to use an in-sump skimmer which are drastically more efficient than hang on back varieties. The coral will completely depend on your lights. If you get a basic T-5 setup or power compacts, you will be able to keep a lot of basics: zoanthids, mushrooms, GSP, xenia, and most softies in general. It's a hobby that is a lot easier if you start off right rather than going back and fixing mistakes. It's going to cost you money, but if you're going to be keeping a healthy FOWLR, going slightly reef isn't going to make too much more of a dent.
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Dec 9, 2010 09:46
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 4 days after the move. Only thing that died was the coraline algae on the back of the glass. I love that little bay window area. EDIT: Played around with the camera settings a little bit. This is with the same lights running as the pic above. 
revmoo fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Dec 9, 2010 |
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Dec 9, 2010 15:55
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That is a pretty cool tank. I like how minimalist it is. The little clowns are so cute. :3 Picked my tank up today. Got an Aqueon 90g with their MEGAFLOWWWW!!! thing. Hopefully that will work out for me. It does not have the pluming and one thing I see people mentioning is bulkheads vs slips? I understand that a bulkhead is the little thing that will attach the PVC pipe to the aquarium, in my case on the bottom. What is the difference between that and a slip?
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Dec 10, 2010 00:38
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Question about filtration and water changes: - I have a protein skimmer in the back of my tank, but it was designed for the tank to replace the drop in cartridge / charcoal pouch filter. Is this protein skimmer going to be adequate in filtering? I've got 4 fish in there right now (the 2 clowns and 2 firefish gobies that I just picked up) and the live rock stowaways seem to be doing good. I've noticed the ever-present feather dusters are actually doing quite well, and tested my water today after a change. The levels are perfect, I'm just wondering if there's going to be adequate filtration for it. (This does not include the bioballs in the middle chamber and the sponge filter in the chamber with the pump (left most). - My LFS recommended that I change about 3 gallons of water a week. Is this accurate? (my capacity is 14 gallons) I have devised a nice little system to change the water for myself (start to finish it takes 5 minutes to replace a gallon of water), so water changes aren't a problem, just trying to get a good schedule down. - Would a UV sterilizer be overkill for the tank setup? If not, can anyone recommend me a good one? It's worth keeping in mind that I'm going to attempt to build a full reef setup with this tank, so I figure anything to keep water quality drat near perfect will be good. - I wasn't thrilled with the performance of the stock pump, so I swapped it out and put in my old one from the 40 gallon. Moves 800/l/hr vs. the old one at 520/l/hr, is the one pump going to be enough? I follow particles through the tank when I feed, and they seem to move around the tank quite a bit, just want to make sure. Edit: I'm also considering getting a sixline wrasse to round out the fish variety, if that helps. Thanks in advance 
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Dec 10, 2010 01:02
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There's no protein skimmer for that tank size that will be good, but the basic one from the manufacturer is adequate if you tune it and change the wood airstone out regularly. This IS a BC14, right? I think that's about 9-10 gal of display and 1.5 gal or so of back chamber, so 3gal/week water changes should be sufficient for keeping up basic water quality if you want to keep 5 fish in the tank. I would NOT slack on the WCs. I'd actually worry about the 6-line and the clowns together being overly aggressive, because the firefish tend to be a lot more timid in my experience. Also I would never buy something to simply "round out" the tank--at that point you're already overstocked and straws and camels backs and such.
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Dec 10, 2010 01:29
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arioch posted:There's no protein skimmer for that tank size that will be good, but the basic one from the manufacturer is adequate if you tune it and change the wood airstone out regularly. The model is a BioCube Size 14, says its 14 gallons, about 10 gallons up front capacity I'd say. Front floorspace is 11" deep and 12" across, if that helps. I maintain the protein skimmer regularly and make sure the bubbles are lined to the top of the chamber the way they need to be. With that though, is this going to be a better solution than those drop in cartridges? I'm assuming that anything that's actively filtering vs. passively is a good thing, just wasn't sure. Also, that's a good point about the sixline being overly aggressive towards the firefish, those things are scaredy cats! And I suppose I'll just keep up with the 1 gallon changes 2-3 times a week. With that, I have a question about the featherdusters. Some are considerable in size that came with the rock, and I haven't noticed any of them die off at all since I got the rock put in. At time of writing, I can count ten of them throughout the tank that are out in the open. Are they going to get large enough to completely overrun my tank?
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Dec 10, 2010 01:40
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Most hitchhiking feather dusters aren't going to be too big, most I've seen max out at like 0.5" or so. I'd be concerned if there were big tube snails.
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Dec 10, 2010 02:14
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arioch posted:Most hitchhiking feather dusters aren't going to be too big, most I've seen max out at like 0.5" or so. I'd be concerned if there were big tube snails. Okay, that's reassuring. Even still, at 0.5", having a dozen of them will take up considerable space in the tank! I'm considering picking up some corals next week, and I'm looking for something easy that spreads quickly for my first one, but also looks nice. Are mushrooms a safe bet in this regard?
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Dec 10, 2010 02:33
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cculos posted:Okay, that's reassuring. Even still, at 0.5", having a dozen of them will take up considerable space in the tank! Actinodiscus mushrooms spread like the plague if you let them. If you want actinodiscus I'd pick out a couple of good color combinations (i.e. not the plain tan, red, etc. ones) with good contrast (for example, bright red with blue spots--the "Superman") instead of buying them willy nilly. Other mushrooms tend to be slower growers. Actinodiscus are highly tolerant of a wide range of water conditions and reproduce via lateral fission quite easily. What you might consider now is that if you buy a fast grower that spreads quickly ... well from another perspective they're pretty much pests once you want more variety and are probably competitive and aggressive towards your choicer, fancier corals. I'd stay away from xenia and green star polyps at this stage. Another option is to go with zoanthids, which do grow relatively quickly but usually are more desirable than an overpowering amount of GSP/xenia/etc. Pick out some colors you like (but stay away from Japanese tiny polyp varieties for now, and stay away from expensive per-polyp named varieties as well) and plop them down. VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Dec 10, 2010 |
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Dec 10, 2010 02:36
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arioch posted:Actinodiscus mushrooms spread like the plague if you let them. If you want actinodiscus I'd pick out a couple of good color combinations (i.e. not the plain tan, red, etc. ones) with good contrast (for example, bright red with blue spots--the "Superman") instead of buying them willy nilly. Other mushrooms tend to be slower growers. Actinodiscus are highly tolerant of a wide range of water conditions and reproduce via lateral fission quite easily. Overly aggressive growth was a concern of mine as well. On the topic of Zoanthids, would something like this be a good choice? Seems to be more colorful than the others. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfmc=597+1492+2295+2840&pcatid=2840 Edit: Also, what can I do about algae growth on live rock? Will a couple of snails help remedy it? I've noticed it starting to grow on the rock in the tank and would like to keep it to a minimum to help make way for the coralline algae. cculos fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Dec 10, 2010 |
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Dec 10, 2010 02:52
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arioch posted:Actinodiscus mushrooms spread like the plague if you let them. If you want actinodiscus I'd pick out a couple of good color combinations (i.e. not the plain tan, red, etc. ones) with good contrast (for example, bright red with blue spots--the "Superman") instead of buying them willy nilly. Other mushrooms tend to be slower growers. Actinodiscus are highly tolerant of a wide range of water conditions and reproduce via lateral fission quite easily. You seem to know a ton about coral, what would you recommend to someone with a 150 gallon fowlr that wants one or two little pretty coral for show that can't afford to upgrade from fluorescent lighting or buy a new hood? Whats your favorite hearty newbie friendly mushroom/zoanthid of all? Are zoanthids low light tolerant/non photosynthetic? Are they really dangerously toxic? Some sites say they are, others say not. Umph fucked around with this message at 03:49 on Dec 10, 2010 |
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Dec 10, 2010 03:46
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Umph posted:You seem to know a ton about coral, what would you recommend to someone with a 150 gallon fowlr that wants one or two little pretty coral for show that can't afford to upgrade from fluorescent lighting or buy a new hood? Whats your favorite hearty newbie friendly mushroom/zoanthid of all? Are zoanthids low light tolerant/non photosynthetic? Are they really dangerously toxic? Some sites say they are, others say not. What kind of fish do you have currently in your FOWLR tank? You have to be careful with some fish not being reef safe, pecking at corals, etc.
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Dec 10, 2010 05:38
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cculos posted:Overly aggressive growth was a concern of mine as well. On the topic of Zoanthids, would something like this be a good choice? Seems to be more colorful than the others. That link is broken, but LA sells a nice variety of zoanthid combo rocks out of Diver's Den. http://www.liveaquaria.com/DiversDen/CatDisplay.cfm?c=2733+7&s=nlh&start=1&page_num=1&count=24 If you want to go with named varieties for zoanthids which are more known quantities in terms of potential and coloration, "Fire and Ice", "Eagle Eyes", "Whammin' Watermelon", etc., are hardy, good-looking, and cheap. Mind that their aquacultured frags of corals tend to be on the expensive side which is a subject of much derision between fellow local reefers (locally, I can get the same sizes of frags they're offering at $40-$90 for $10-$30, and that's not even including their shipping). If you want to try bluezooaquatics.com, they frequently have combo rocks in the Collector's Corner section that combine some of the hardier yet pretty zoanthids with some of the easier LPS corals like candy canes, and those are frequently actually good buys if you are doing bigger orders (because you still have to pay shipping so you might as well aim for the free shipping mark). Good cheap zoanthid frags can be had from baycorals.com, which offer what are normally some of the pricier varieties at really good prices. But remember that when you shop there you're basically paying per-polyp prices, even if he generally tosses in a few extra. Umph posted:You seem to know a ton about coral, what would you recommend to someone with a 150 gallon fowlr that wants one or two little pretty coral for show that can't afford to upgrade from fluorescent lighting or buy a new hood? Whats your favorite hearty newbie friendly mushroom/zoanthid of all? Are zoanthids low light tolerant/non photosynthetic? Are they really dangerously toxic? Some sites say they are, others say not. Toxicity is a risk for you to determine whether or not you will take. Yes, they can be toxic, but so are a LOT of other things to varying degrees in the average reef and hence the reef tank. Strongly toxic zoanthids or palys can be extremely dangerous, yes, but you should already be taking certain very basic common sense precautions simply because you're running a fish tank. For example, I wouldn't rub my hands all over any coral polyp and get all slimed up and then rub my eyes or eat, I'd scrub down first in hot water, and that's even before we're talking zoos and palys. Zoanthids are almost without exception high-light high-flow loving. And you will not be able to get good coloration or polyp response from them without high powered reef lighting. Another point--corals are colorful because their pigments absorb some and reflect other light, and that generally means reef lighting. Zoanthids have a strong feeding response (turkey baste some colonies or swirl frozen cyclopeeze over/near them and watch those polyps react) but they are also photosynthetic, and without overall strong reef lighting they will still wither away. If your fluorescent lighting is power compacts you may have some hope--with most PC fixtures you can run 50/50 daylight/actinic bulbs and keep softies (leathers, mushrooms) and most LPS reasonably well with good fluorescing coloration, particularly strong (more bulbs) fixtures can keep LPS and some SPS corals. I'm not a fan of most softies that are commonly available. To me they're just big tan blobs and not very interesting, even with good lighting. I like the fluorescent "rare (hint: not)" extinct (hint: not) Palau nepthea as a good basic leather coral that is just bright bright bright green under a good set of lights, and the Tyree toadstools etc. have good fluorescing colors. Going non-photosynthetic may be an option, but consider that they are heavy heavy feeders. If you can guarantee some target-feeding time to them (after all your other fish in the FOWLR are sated) then they can do well in a FOWLR, because they are colorful without need for much reef-powered lighting and can take high nutrient levels in the water without negative effect. Sea fans, spiral corals, etc., can do well with care.
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Dec 10, 2010 05:39
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^^^ Thanks for all the info on coral The guy who is selling me the 120 gallon tank for my FOWLR says he'll include the cartridge filter if I want it. It's pretty nice, is below the tank and pumps the water through and it has a nice power head on it also (it handles all the filtration for the fresh water tank, there's 3 large oscars in the tank atm). I haven't really read much about fowlrs needing a mechanical filter, would I still need to get a large protein skimmer? Could I use a smaller skimmer if I ran both? Or is the mechanical filter no good with salt water and I should just not use it at all and stick to a skimmer? I don't know if the stuff fresh water filters remove from the water is stuff the live rocks eat or whatever. I'm probably going to use a sump, and this filter would be amazing for the re-uptake out of the sump if I could get away with it... On sumps... Can I just use a big tupperware bin (the compartment in the stand is too short for my 50 gallon tank- but a wide bin would fit)? Like can I make my own siphon, have the skimmer/(heater?) in the bin and then pump the water back up via the cartridge filter (if not~ with another pump?)? I don't understand the heating in sump thing though... Wouldn't the sump get too hot for the little buggies if it was having to heat the tank? I kind of wish that reef keepers place had a more robust search engine. It takes a while to find info and then it's conflicting
Umph fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Dec 11, 2010 |
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Dec 11, 2010 04:25
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Pretty much anything saltwater seems to be conflicting. One thing you need to be considerate of is that you can do a FOWLR, but if you ever want to convert it to a full reef setup you may be shooting yourself in the foot by using anything that was freshwater. If it has even traces of copper you'll contaminate the whole tank. So just keep that in mind. If you use the proper amount of live rock I am pretty sure you can skip the filter, but it definitely would not hurt if you get it for free. You'll still need a protein skimmer, I think. I think you can use a tupperware bin for a basic sump, but I would guess you'd need a few bins if you wanted to do a refudge too. Again, I don't really know a whole lot and have just been researching. As far as the heater, I don't know. I have the same question. I am just getting ready to looking into heaters and coolers. Coolers seem ridiculously expensive.
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Dec 11, 2010 05:21
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The heated water is being pumped to the display, for all intents and purposes consider the total amount of water in display and sump the same body of water.
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Dec 11, 2010 09:27
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Internet Explorer posted:Bbut if you ever want to convert it to a full reef setup you may be shooting yourself in the foot by using anything that was freshwater. If it has even traces of copper you'll contaminate the whole tank. I mean I have to break down and clean the tank thoroughly, wouldn't that clean it up enough? I haven't heard about copper before but you might be right. That would definatly put an end to the whole project  arioch posted:The heated water is being pumped to the display, for all intents and purposes consider the total amount of water in display and sump the same body of water. I'm sure you're right, but that just seems... wrong when I imagine it. It seems unless you had a giant volume of water being pumped through the system constantly the sump would be several degrees higher, especially if you had a 40 gallon sump heating a 120 gallon tank.. Any advice about the canister filter from someone with a tank? Should I sell it and trust the LR to do all the work or is both at once optimal?
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Dec 12, 2010 00:35
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I would never run a cartridge filter on a SW tank. Just get a skimmer and that's all you need.
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Dec 12, 2010 01:16
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Yeah, actually I agree with that. I've just been taking aquaculture classes and we always overkill everything.
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Dec 12, 2010 02:15
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revmoo posted:I would never run a cartridge filter on a SW tank. Just get a skimmer and that's all you need. Agreed. Sell the canister and get the best protein skimmer you can afford. The live rock/live sand is going to handle a lot of your filtration and the skimmer picks up the rest. I'm about 4 or 5 months ahead of where you want to be, Umph. I've been slowly switching over from a fish only/live rock setup to reef setup. If you have any sort of skills, building your own sump is pretty easy to do. I'm not sure I'd run some half rear end setup with a bunch of open bins but as long as they're food safe, you should be fine. I have my heaters in my sump and they keep my display tank nice and cozy. It's all the same water and it's moving through the sump a few times an hour. The heater keeps it all warm just as if it were hanging in your tank.
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Dec 12, 2010 03:07
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Emancipator posted:Agreed. Ok.. great~ thanks for the info. My only issue is the stand is only about 18 inches inside, I can't fit my current 55 gallon, but Ill try and be more creative then a bin. Does the skimmer need to be a 3 stage so it will fit in a short sump?
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Dec 12, 2010 03:23
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If space is that much of an issue, you can always get a hang on back skimmer. What are the dimensions in the stand? 18 inches high? Wide? Long? Total?
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Dec 12, 2010 17:44
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I've started to notice some weird growths on one of my astrea snails. It started out as just wispy looking white tendrils, kind of like white hair algae, but now they are forked at the end with like 4-5 tendrils. Are these some kind of hitchhiker anemone? I tried to find something similar looking in the list of common hitchikers like aiptasia, but they don't look like that. I'm trying to get a pic but I can't get to him at the moment. Any possible suggestions? So far it hasn't spread to the rock and i've been noticing the wispy things for a few weeks. Should I brush it off just in case it's bad?
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Dec 13, 2010 00:24
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For a seastar/urchin tank, would sponge filters, powerheads, and a protein skimmer be enough filtration and water motion, or should I look into a canister as well?
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Dec 13, 2010 02:46
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Cowslips Warren posted:For a seastar/urchin tank, would sponge filters, powerheads, and a protein skimmer be enough filtration and water motion, or should I look into a canister as well? That should be fine especially if you're putting them in with live rock. I'll admit that I'm not sure if urchins are messier eaters or add a bunch to your bioload but I'd assume not. A Duck: I've seen white aiptasia before so don't rule it out. Does it move against the current at all or is it firmly clamped onto the snail shell? Emancipator fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Dec 13, 2010 |
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Dec 13, 2010 02:59
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Cowslips Warren posted:For a seastar/urchin tank, would sponge filters, powerheads, and a protein skimmer be enough filtration and water motion, or should I look into a canister as well? Strictly seastars and urchins? You pretty much just need powerheads. It's a grimey looking tank but that's what those guys love. Search some Martin Moe stuff it you're looking at diademas. I've heard him speak a couple times and the man's an urchin master.
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Dec 13, 2010 03:19
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I don't get how you folks put your heaters in your sump. If I did that, I'd have to keep a pretty high water level at all times to keep it from frying, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a sump. I keep mine inside the overflow.
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Dec 13, 2010 05:01
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revmoo posted:I don't get how you folks put your heaters in your sump. If I did that, I'd have to keep a pretty high water level at all times to keep it from frying, which kind of defeats the purpose of having a sump. I keep mine inside the overflow. Uh, that's not the (primary) purpose of having a sump. Also, most sumps designs have multiple chambers so that you can put certain equipment (skimmer, heater, etc) in chambers with steady water levels. Those types of sump designs also allow you to better control your salinity assuming you did regular manual top-off. Also, a lot of regular heaters currently have auto shutoffs for temperature and water level (and for any serious setup you should have a 2-stage heater with a separate temperature sensor and power control).
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Dec 13, 2010 13:23
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You can mount most heaters horizontally across the bottom of the sump. If the water gets low enough to expose the heater, a broken heater will be the least of your worries.
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Dec 13, 2010 14:10
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Ah ok, that does make more sense than what I was thinking.
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Dec 13, 2010 14:19
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May as well get some feedback from here too. Cycling a new 8g tank with live rock and live sand, and it's been about a week. While one piece of live rock has had a few small hitch hikers, the second piece appeared to be devoid of anything. Until tonight when this guy poked out.  Over at nano-reef, the consensus so far seems to be that it's a Eunicid, probably a Bobbit Worm. Bad news. Suggestions for removal? From what I've been reading, pulling him out could just cause him to split in two, even if I was lucky enough to grab him. Reading conflicting solutions: - Specific gravity over 1.030 to drive him out - Fresh water dip to drive him out another loser fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Dec 13, 2010 |
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Dec 13, 2010 19:32
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Again, new to this, etc, etc. What about a turkey baster or whatever full of boiling RO/DI water? Free to try and won't hurt anything if it doesn't work.
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Dec 13, 2010 19:56
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I have somehow managed to avoid getting any hitchhikers on my live rock. I sort of feel cheated. A buddy of mine, however, seems to get every creepy crawly slimy thing in his. His tried and true method is a 1.040 mix in a bucket, dunk the rock for 60 seconds and then take out the good critters and leave the bad ones. Any worms or unknowns that still manage to cling to the rocks get removed with tweezers. He originally used a powerhead to blast them off in the bucket but found that keeping the rock in the bucket for too long was a bad thing.
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Dec 13, 2010 20:22
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Ya, this set of rock is really nice appearance wise, just some annoying hitch hikers. I have a couple of rock crabs I need to deal with as well. The largest one (1.5") died on his own, which was handy.
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Dec 13, 2010 20:32
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another loser posted:hitchhiker Looks like a standard bristle worm to me. I used to constantly fret about hitch hikers, worms, etc., but everything in the tank is part of a cycle. You can get a fish (sixline wrasse possibly) to try to eat it, or you can just starve it out. Your pest populations will wax and wane over time, and sometimes they're indicative of a problem; sometimes not. Only thing I've seen bristle worms indicate is too much food / detritus. Yes, they're ugly but they don't harm anything.
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Dec 13, 2010 23:06
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