St4rving_4rtist
- Thread Starter
- #41
IM BACK!!! With a 2 Month Update + Some Recent Additions...
Hey guys, its been a while but I figured I'd put out another update now that another month has passed, and Ive added a few (3) things.
Overall, not much has really changed in the tank. I've had nothing die, so It's still got the 2 Emerald crabs, 2 blue-legged hermits, 3 Turban snails, and the 6-line, as well as a feather duster worm I added about 2 weeks ago. Hes been doing well, although sometimes the emeralds are a-holes and try to munch down on his feathers. I've also got a pink algae growing on my glass and powerhead that does not come off easy. Is it coralline algae? Whatever it is, ill probably have to go at it with a razor blade soon to get it off the front panel. Other than that showing up, the routine of doing a 2.5g water change, sponge clean, and glass scrape every week has continued and I've had no problems so far. I'm also glad I didn't go in on a surface skimmer, as I have basically no surface oils at all, and the general bio-load seems small as well, as when i test for nitrates at the end of the week they're always trace or barely existent. My CUC does a great job at keeping green algae out, and all that I have right now is the pink stuff, a yellowish diatom algae, and this weird clear hair-like algae on the glass, all of which the crabs eat if they can reach it and the snails help as well.
Now on to the big addition: Corals! I finally bit the bullet and bought two soft corals from Petco of all places for $20 each. Not actually sure what they are, as they were just labeled "Assorted soft corals" but I'm getting them ID'd in another thread right now. I plan on feeding them the Coralife MicroVert invert food I've been feeding my feather duster, and hopefully I'll see them thrive. I had Petco test for phosphates, which they said were "all good", but I'm going to go and get a full test at my LFS tomorrow, and get my Calcium, Phosphate, and maybe Magnesium tested as well as pick up some supplements as needed. I really hope they do well, and if they continue to thrive I might add more in another month. I also talked with the Petco lady, who was actually pretty chill and seemed to actually care about the fish and corals (she grilled me for like 5 minutes about my tank to make sure it was set up adequately for the corals), and after I asked her about cheato algae she offered to order some in for me, so i'll probably be adding some to the main tank when that comes in to add some green to the tank. I know its not exactly a display plant, but I kinda like how it looks, plus the added benefits that come with it. She also said that they are gonna start carrying hard corals, although I know I'm not set up for those, nor do I wanna try doing them in such a small tank.
Anyways, sorry for the long rambling, its been a while since I've got to talk about my tank. Thanks as always, and I hope this was of use to someone (or future me).
Hey guys, its been a while but I figured I'd put out another update now that another month has passed, and Ive added a few (3) things.
Overall, not much has really changed in the tank. I've had nothing die, so It's still got the 2 Emerald crabs, 2 blue-legged hermits, 3 Turban snails, and the 6-line, as well as a feather duster worm I added about 2 weeks ago. Hes been doing well, although sometimes the emeralds are a-holes and try to munch down on his feathers. I've also got a pink algae growing on my glass and powerhead that does not come off easy. Is it coralline algae? Whatever it is, ill probably have to go at it with a razor blade soon to get it off the front panel. Other than that showing up, the routine of doing a 2.5g water change, sponge clean, and glass scrape every week has continued and I've had no problems so far. I'm also glad I didn't go in on a surface skimmer, as I have basically no surface oils at all, and the general bio-load seems small as well, as when i test for nitrates at the end of the week they're always trace or barely existent. My CUC does a great job at keeping green algae out, and all that I have right now is the pink stuff, a yellowish diatom algae, and this weird clear hair-like algae on the glass, all of which the crabs eat if they can reach it and the snails help as well.
Now on to the big addition: Corals! I finally bit the bullet and bought two soft corals from Petco of all places for $20 each. Not actually sure what they are, as they were just labeled "Assorted soft corals" but I'm getting them ID'd in another thread right now. I plan on feeding them the Coralife MicroVert invert food I've been feeding my feather duster, and hopefully I'll see them thrive. I had Petco test for phosphates, which they said were "all good", but I'm going to go and get a full test at my LFS tomorrow, and get my Calcium, Phosphate, and maybe Magnesium tested as well as pick up some supplements as needed. I really hope they do well, and if they continue to thrive I might add more in another month. I also talked with the Petco lady, who was actually pretty chill and seemed to actually care about the fish and corals (she grilled me for like 5 minutes about my tank to make sure it was set up adequately for the corals), and after I asked her about cheato algae she offered to order some in for me, so i'll probably be adding some to the main tank when that comes in to add some green to the tank. I know its not exactly a display plant, but I kinda like how it looks, plus the added benefits that come with it. She also said that they are gonna start carrying hard corals, although I know I'm not set up for those, nor do I wanna try doing them in such a small tank.
Anyways, sorry for the long rambling, its been a while since I've got to talk about my tank. Thanks as always, and I hope this was of use to someone (or future me).
