HELP. new 29g biocube.

[Hurricanes24]

Hello everyone, im new to this site and keeping reef tanks.
Would be much appreciated if you could help me with my questions and your opinions. Here's a few pics so far of my dad and I's Biocube 29.

Don't know what this is. If you do could you tell me and if its good or not.
Have another one of these on the other side of the rocks.
Heres a overall pic of the setup. Just moved everything for a better look.
side view


front view

[fullspeed]

Thats aiptasia and is a pest and can spread fast. Get it out

[tbar]

+1 get it out

[Hurricanes24]

Thanks guy.
It's great to find out right away.
What would be the best way to get this little pest out?

[tbar]

I had one on a rock on a new tank I'm starting up. I took the rock out and knocked off a piece with the Aptasia on it with a hammer. I didn't want to mess around with it. Most people Use Aptasia X or Joe's juice or You can use Lemon juice or perhaps a Peppermint shrimp or there are a couple other creatures that might eat it. A Copper Bandedbutterfly fish works well for larger tanks.

[Hurricanes24]

Alright, thanks for the suggestions.
We dont really want to the hassle of bringing it out and breaking stuff up.
Would it be best to go and pick up a peppermint shrimp now to help with it?
Its only a 29g biocube.

[fullspeed]

from what i hear, pepps are hit and miss

[fullspeed]

take out the rock as tbar suggested and get them off

[tbar]

This would be a good time to try a pep. shrimp since nothing else is in the tank so you won't be feeding it. I heard they are not there 1st choice for food so if you are feeding the tank they are less likely to eat it.

[Hurricanes24]

Yea i see.
In the tank i have 26 pounds of the live rock, 4 snails, 5 hermit crabs,
and we do have a yellow tail damselfish to see the liveability so there is food going in day and night.
Would this offer food for the peppermint shrimp or would it still go after the Aptasia?

[Inklinkerman]

I wouldn't go introducing anything to get rid of two aiptasia. Take the rock out and get rid of it manually with boiling water/lemon juice/aiptasia x. It will be the easyest time to do it now while it's empty. Take two minutes!

[roneil]

Originally Posted by inklinkerman

i wouldn't go introducing anything to get rid of two aiptasia. Take the rock out and get rid of it manually with boiling water/lemon juice/aiptasia x. It will be the easyest time to do it now while it's empty. Take two minutes!

+1

[Hurricanes24]

I guess that will be my solution to just put it into a pot of boiling water.
Would i just boil the water and drop the rocks in it? For how long?
Also would i just put the rocks back in their places in the tank?
Thanks for the feedback.

[Reefmatic]

I heard injecting them with lime water works too.

[2_zoa]

The thing with peppermint shrimp is, you need to know the difference and buy the right ones. All of my LFS can't tell the difference. I even had a conversation with one of them and he was baffled why they weren't eating the Aptasia in a QT tank that wasn't being fed. After searching the stores display tank for 5 mins I found one real peppermint in there to show him the difference.

The markings on the tail is what you look at. Big difference in the two once you look.
Here is a couple of pics.

The fake peppermint shrimp.



The real peppermint shrimp. This is what you want to buy.





Now, having posted all this. I would take the rock out of the tank to deal with it. You are just getting started and your rock can easily be worked on.

[Neonwombat]

2_zoa, thanks for the information on the peppermint shrimp. I had two or three aiptasia anemone's pop up at about the 2-3 week mark as well. I didn't want to resort to a chemical solution, and decided to inject the aiptasia with approximately 1ml of boiling water. This did the trick immediately, and did not hurt anything else in the tank but the anemone. I plan on using that method again if more pop up.

[Inklinkerman]

Don't put the whole rock in boiling water or you will end up with very expensive dead base rock. Just use the boiling water on the aiptasia either by injection or just very locally. Don't be suprised if you have to repeat it. But it's worth the hassle of doing it now.
Ps. Have you been testing your water? Is it fully cycled? How's the damsel doing? What else are you thinking of putting in there, damsels are quite territorial with other small fish.

[Hurricanes24]

So I got a needle with boiling water and squirted those little pests with it.
From watching I think it delt with them pretty good.
That night we went to a petstore and got some shrimp, which we planned on getting this weekend, and we also got a great deal on an anemone.
Heres the new look after rearranging.

[Moonstream]

has the tank cycled yet? I'd be worried about the anemone's health in such a new tank. that said, the nem looks very healthy and the fact that it has attached makes it seem like the water isnt toxic. it also looks to be a condy nem, which are much hardier than the host nems, even BTA's.

keep a close eye on the params, and steel yourself to the flaming you'll most likely get for adding it so soon.

[Inklinkerman]

Shall I start?

Oh dear. You started very well by reading this forum etc. but as you will get sick of hearing. You tank is far far too new for an anenome. Your parameters haven't settled down yet. It would save you alot of time, money and heartache to check all your purchases on this or another forum first.
That said it's really the fault of the shop that sold you the nem. I would think twice about buying from there again. Did they know your tank was so new? They either haven't got the knowledge or just dont care about the animals.

Now what's done Is done and I wish you all the best with it. Ask on the nem forum for advice and keep a check on on those parameters. Do t feel too bad I'm sure 90% of people on here have made a similar mistake. Just don't do it again! If unsure always check here first.

[2_zoa]

Originally Posted by Inklinkerman

Shall I start?

Oh dear. You started very well by reading this forum etc. but as you will get sick of hearing. You tank is far far too new for an anenome. Your parameters haven't settled down yet. It would save you alot of time, money and heartache to check all your purchases on this or another forum first.
That said it's really the fault of the shop that sold you the nem. I would think twice about buying from there again. Did they know your tank was so new? They either haven't got the knowledge or just dont care about the animals.

Now what's done Is done and I wish you all the best with it. Ask on the nem forum for advice and keep a check on on those parameters. Do t feel too bad I'm sure 90% of people on here have made a similar mistake. Just don't do it again! If unsure always check here first.

I was gonna ask about the tank earlier when I posted. I just didn't want to sway things into a scalding thread.

Probably my biggest thing here is, here is a new aquarist and they aren't using a QT setup. Even if the tank is brand new. "IF" a proper QT process was in place, the tank "should" (some tanks take longer) be ready for the damsil after the month long QT session.

IDK, there is a lot of things going on here that's wrong. Going slow and taking your time with this hobby will reward you greatly in the end. The tank is gonna go through some changes and they will not be all that fun. Placing too much in the tank too fast and your gonna magnify the headache. Slow down and get the proper test kits so your not playing the death game with live stock, to see if the tank is livable. Not to mention that the cheap damsil is one of the most hardy fish. Just cause its alive doesn't mean other things will live. You just about have to shoot a damsil to kill it. It was mentioned eairlier in the thread about damsils being territorial. That's no joke. Keep in mind that damsils are the most returned fish in the hobby. Any new fish are gonna have to stand strong against a settled damsil in a 29 gallon tank.

I am not yelling here. I am typing very calmly. Just putting out some warning flags for you to think about. I wish you the best in the hobby.


Edit: Your tank is 2 weeks old? Really?

[Inklinkerman]

Like zoa said no one is getting at you, everyone makes mistakes, I know I have! Just read around the subject and if in doubt ask for advice here, everyone will be happy to help. And test test test!

How's the nem?

[Hurricanes24]

Alright guys, i have been reading, reading, reading, and researching and testing.
You guys have opened my eyes.
I have realized my mistakes. We have dived into this hobby going to fast.
I am slowly learning more and more about this hobby and just lack first hand experience. We have decided to go much much slower and study more and get adequate things and not wanted things, such as the anemone.
I just got through with testing and if I performed all the tests right and read it right, then we are in a good range.
We have an API Reef Master Test Kit.
Our results:
Phosphate in the range of 0.0 ppm to 0.5 ppm. The booklet says zero is the best
Calcium at 440 ppm ( says best between 400 to 500)
Carbonate Hardness (KH) at 10 drops or 10 dKH (says best between 8 to 12.

We are still in the weeks of cycling and have a build up of what I've read is Brown Algae Diatoms.
What do you guys think is the best way to get rid of it. Most say to just continue water changes and that it will go away in time.

If you have any more suggestions please comment
We are open to everything and love your helping hand in this hobby.