SaleenS7Rs

I just did my second water change and all a sudden after 6 weeks of having this rock in the tank I noticed these very small bugs crawling on one of my rocks. They are about the size of a ant but they have a straight body. I fill my tank up with an outside hose could the bugs come from the hose or did they finally show their faces and came out of the hiding places in the rock? They are so small taking a picture wouldnt even help they are about a quarter of an inch long at the most. I just wanted to make sure these bugs arent going to be harmful to fish because Im planning on buying my first fish this week. OH and one question off the topic is a nitrate level at 10ppm ok??

sgould

Most likely copepods, which are normal with live rock and beneficial. Nitrates of 10 are fine...no worries. Are your ammonia and nitrite back to 0 now? What kind of fish are you planning on? So many possibilities...

clinton1621

I agree, sounds like copepods ... a lot of fish will eat them too lol

SaleenS7Rs

well thats great to hear!! the ammonia and nitrites have been at 0 pretty much at all times the first fish I will be getting is the fish my g/f is going to buy me that she wants in the tank its this hot pink fish lol so like if it dies hey I dont lose any money ahahaha ummmm I forget what its exactly called I also was going to try to get a hippo tang and a raccoon butterfly and then I have no idea where to go from there speaking of that I was thinking about getting a seahorse I really had my heart set on one the problem of course is they move very slowly and cant compete for the food so do you guys think if I caught the seahorse twice a day and and fed it in its own "tank" that would be good I saw this one pet store use a hamster ball to keep this eel away from other fish and feed it by itself it seemed like a good idea but I wonder if the seahorse will get to stressed over this plan and end up dieing hook me up with some comments on this one oh and thanx alot with my other problem

sgould

Sounds like you are cycled and ready for fish...yea! What size is your tank?...tangs need lots of space. I would not suggest trying to catch anything, seahorse or otherwise, daily. It's stressful for them to be caught even once, and if you are doing it daily they never have a chance to "de-stress". I think it would compromise their long-term health and end in early death. Also, to my knowledge, it is recommended to keep seahorses in species only tanks...no other fish...although perhaps someone who has kept them can speak to that better than I.

SaleenS7Rs

120 gallons thanx guess the seahorse wont happen then

sgould

Nice...lots of options with a 120. I'm jealous!

Slug

Yup probably pods.

nemo addict

you use a outside tap you dont use RO water ? i would use ro and if possible RO/DI water this will save you losts of money in dead fish and inverts and corals if you planning on keeping them ,, as fresh tap water has a lot ov copper traces and corals and inverts are copper intollerant , also tap water has a lot of phosphate and chemicals in there that fish and inverts dont like and will cause you to have a alege problems to ,
seahorses your right they dont compete for food and would starve and they are very hard to keep and tring to catch them everyday would kill them even quicker ,
as for your first fish i would buy a chromis and keep for a while in a QT tank as if you introduce whitespot in to the tank you will have problems qt all fish before putting in display tank will save you a lot ov money in the end ,,

Redtail_Shark14

The bugs are fine in your tank your fish should have fun catching them lol but I think tap water is fine if you add the chemicals needed to de-chlorine the water just let it cycle and it should be fine and u save $$$.

tango

I started using tab water when I first put my tank together and the water made big green algae blooms water did not look good and I am sure that’s why some of the fish died. the stupid dummy at the fish did not tell me that was going to happen. Well I stick to ro water for sure good luck dude.

Redtail_Shark14

Go with whatever water u like. O and tango I bet the water u got from your tap had high phosphates that makes algea, as for the dummy that told you that would not happen please don't think that all petstore or LFS people don't know what there doin its just some know more than others...(I work at a LPS)

nemo addict

adding chemicals is not a good way to go as it makes the water unstable there are also a lot of disovled metals in tap water read this and make ya own mind up and have fun keepin a stable pH level as a ph crash is one of the biggest wipe out of a tank i really wouldnt chance it for the sake of $80-120 for a ro unit add up the stock your going to loose normally works out alot more happy reading
.....http://fins.actwin.com/killietalk/mo.../msg00426.html

Redtail_Shark14

Go with what you want its your tank

nemo addict

with also the comment of expense you will pay more in corals and fish and chemicals then you would for a ro/di unit and save you hours of scrubbing hair algea from your tank glass , if you wont to keep inverts then i would use as the water supplied to your tap is full of added chemicals ike chlorine, and traces of metals from passing through the pipes lead copper ,
so long term it doesnt save you $$$s it cost you $$$s in time and stock
just a point to consider and also would you like to be locked in a room with poor air quility it ammounts to the same thing

SaleenS7Rs

well I tested for copper after the water change and that all checked out fine. I also tested for phosphate that was all good. I thought I would throw this out there I have Well water not sure if that matters but I also bought this $1,500 ultra violet filtration system.The only problem I feell I have is water hardness but that Bio zorb in my filter takes care of that. Also, all the things you get in a master kit and that tested out fine. I still do have algae growth on this one rock its been there since I bought the stupid thing lol. There are some other spots with algae but its such a small amount it doesnt really bother me. Oh yeah I did buy my first fish I bought a clownfish (Nemo) and he is being QTed I really think Im not ready for corals cuz Im new to this and they cant be easy to care for.

tango

well i see what your saying it was my mistake to put that water but it was the first time i put it together. i learned