Marine newb here - first tank

[jshowyin]

N.B. Tried posting this earlier, but it somehow got put in one of Sk8r's threads which I had open in another browser tab - weird.

Hi,

Thanks to all those who contribute to this forum community and share their experiences and wisdom. Sorry for the long post.

One and a half months ago I was a complete marine newbie, albeit one with about 10 years of freshwater experience and a long held desire to one day get a marine tank.

The journey so far. Started a small marine tank early in the new year to keep alive some hermit crabs that my daughters found at the beach. Definitely not the ideal way to do it, I know, but I mistakenly thought the hermit crabs were the land-type ones you get in the pet store (which I had almost all the gear to properly support). Got them home and realised that they were marine hermits. Frantic rush to learn the basics of a marine tank, put a small system together, get them in there and then twice daily partial water changes to do my best to keep the water parameters near where I needed them to be while waiting for the tank to cycle.

So at this stage I had 8 small hermies living in a 12g cube running 1 piece of LR and an Eheim cannister filter with mech filtration and 'noodles'. Had the expected spike and algae bloom. After about 3 weeks the tank appeared to finish its cycle based on the water parameters and we had a tank full of happy, interesting and amusing little friends.

My whole family remained fascinated by the crabs from day one, so decision was made to upgrade their home.

Lots and lots of research. Decision to start with a FOWLR and go from there. After a fair bit of searching, trying to balance desires and budget, came across a local deal for a second hand drilled marine tank with much of the basic equipment already accounted for (sump, LR, etc).

Fast forward a couple of weeks and the tank is up and running, I have attempted my first scape and, long story**, my crabs have already moved into their new digs. So, my tank is currently an IOWLR and will remain that way for a while until I am 100% sure the tank has cycled, all inhabitants remain happy, I continue my marine learning and I feel a little more confident with this whole marine thing.

* LR came from previous owner supposedly fully cured. I have been waiting for a spike, but it has not yet happened.
* All water parameters have essentially tested as zero since the day I started up the tank. Going to take my time though and wait at least another 3 weeks before adding anything else.
* Starting to see some minor algae growth on the rocks, plus the emergence of a few more hitchhikers (saw a bristleworm, some pods, one tiny little snail)
* The previous owner had sold all his coral before selling the tank, but looks like a few tiny corals survived on the live rock. Hopefully they will survive.
* Think I have a small anenome, but becoming more certain that it is of a type that is generally seen as undesirable. Thought it was another coral that I spotted one day on the underside of a piece of LR. The next day it had moved 1.5". Over a few days it moved to the top side of the LR (seeking the light?). It is a pale pink colour, looks a little like a wine glass, with the top half of the "glass" wavy tentacle things.

**Had intended to cycle it for a month without anything alive other than the rock. Then the small 10g tank I had set up for the crabs crashed for no reason that this newb could see (PH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates tested fine, no changes in scape or inhabitants for more than a fortnight - maybe low O2?) and to save the crabs I took the lesser of two evils and introduced them a few weeks early to their new home. They seem to love their new tank, finding lots of new hiding places, doing a fair amount of shell swapping, love climbing all over the LR and picking algae off it etc.

If you see anything in the above story that causes you concern (other than the fact that I moved the crabs earlier than ideal), would love to hear from you so that I can continue my marine education and keep my inverts happy and healthy.



Tank Specs as of 25/02/2014 (pic taken prior to adding WP-40 on right hand wall and removing one of the "rocks" from the right hand cluster).

TANK
* Currently an IOWLR (Inverts Only With Live Rock)

* Tank DOB: 9th Feb 2014 (start cycling)

* Capacity: 400L/105g corner tank with 150L/40g sump

* Sump: 3 chambers - left is water in with protein skimmer and some extra LR (only in there as I had no other ready place to store and I didn't want it to completely die off), middle is a bubble trap, right is the return pump

* Skimmer: AquaOne G220

* Flow: need a bit more, but think OK for current tank inhabitants - Jebao WP-40 wave maker + return pump from sump + 'empty' Eheim 2226 cannister purely for flow (intake/outlet in rear centre of tank, about 3-4" above the sand)

* Lighting: dual T5 - one blue, one white

* Scape: approx 20-25kg LR


CURRENT INHABITANTS (that I know of):
* 8 small hermit crabs

* 1 trochus snail

* 1 purple chiton

* couple of hitchhikers from the LR

[julie180]

Your anemone might be an aptasia. Look into getting rid of it. They can be a real pain.
Have you put any ammonia source into your tank? You need to jump start your cycle. The liverock might be able to handle the extremely low demand that is on an empty tank, but it will not handle any bio-load. A piece of shrimp from the grocery store will work.
Welcome to reefing and best of luck