Thinking Of Going From Fresh To Marine

[CageUK]

Yep I'll concur that the powerhead and heater to mix the salt is the lazy way of doing it. Suits me down to the ground

I also use Tropic Marin and it says that the water can go into the tank once it is clear. I have never done this though and normally leave it at least 3 or 4 hours before I add it. This is mainly though to allow the water to heat up.
Some times I'll leave it a day or two but that's just down to convenience on my part.

As said previously about the tap water thing, certainly in my area I have nitrates in my tap water. These are not great for corals in general but also serve to promote algae growth so I avoid using it. Sounds like you've been ok though so far.
In my very humble opinion, so many things can go wrong in marine tanks, I just like to think that my water source is unlikely to be one of them if I use RO.

I would be interested to hear what TAC had to say about you buying live rock for your tank!

 

[Jonny967]

They are feather dusters, i have these too they are a range of different colours from purple to light grey. I aslo wondered what they were when i purchased aload of rock (120Kg) so you can imagine how many i have . They have never really grown and are all still in the same tiny holes in the rock. They are quite interesting to watch emerging out and then in a split second can retract.
The blisters you have may be from a bristle worm as they can give blisters and a rash, nothing to worry about though.

 

[CageUK]

I'm not the one knocking mate,i'm getting knocked if you read it....you lot are saying I'm wrong and I'm saying I'm not..so don't knock my method till you try it

Plus no cloudy water here.

*sigh* I'll say something write at some point in this thread

I'll post some pics in a min

Glen, if you are happy with your tank, your fish/livestock is happy and healthy and your stats are what they should be, then whatever you are doing is fine by me

We all know that there is seldom just one way of achieving something in this world. So we shouldn't be negative about alternatives as long as they achieve the same objective. And we ALL make mistakes. I've made a few corkers while learning about fish keeping (and no doubt will continue to do so).

I try to offer opinion and guidance bearing all of this in mind but again don't alway get it right... I just try my best.

Nice to see that you haven't been put off though and I'm looking forward to seeing the development of your tank

 

[GShorty1981]

I like your advice cage,you dont come across like your trying to be better than me/big headed/trying to make me look stupid/arrogant/sarcastic like 1 or 2 around here.

You give me your opinion when you think im wrong and mature enough not to take the p**s out of me over it which i respect you for..thankyou.

Anyway heres some pics of the LR + my 'poor mistreated clowns' and those weird worm/coral thingys

do i remove the green hair like algae on the rock?

And do you think my power head/filter are positioned correctly?

 

[ben1987]

I'm not the one knocking mate,i'm getting knocked if you read it....you lot are saying I'm wrong and I'm saying I'm not..so don't knock my method till you try it

Plus no cloudy water here.

*sigh* I'll say something write at some point in this thread

I'll post some pics in a min

oh i was not saying thats was the wrong way to do it. I have tried it with a big plastic spoon, im just too lazy to sit and stir. It just seemed like you were lauhing at it because it was orange sharks method. whatever works for you, the whole hobby is down to personal preference.
That looks a nice chunck of LR. You can pick up LR a lot cheaper on the net, when reefers break down their tanks its usually had for a fiver a kilo, keep a look out in your area. I bet the shop chared you 10-11 quid for 1kilo didnt they? I will be interested to see how the little softies do in tap water

the worm things look like a zoo of some sort, when opened out they will look like the other head things on the rock. So you now have real coral aswel! like these -

power head looks ok to me, going to get plenty of flow aound that LR, make sure the surface is ajitated aswel to make sure the fish get enough oxygen

looks good though

 

[CageUK]

Well those 'worm like things are Zoanthids (Zoas or button polyps). You are very lucky if you got those as hitchhikers as people pay good money to buy them.

One thing to point out is that if you are handling them you must be sure to wash your hands afterwards as they contain toxins. They are harmless reef livestock but you need to be careful not to rub your eyes/mouth etcetera after touching them. Also avoid touching them if you have skin cuts on your hands.

A brilliant find though!

The power head seems to be pointing in the generally correct direction for flow over the rock but just monitor to see if it is too fierce for the clowns. If they are continually fighting against the current then maybe just steer it away by a few degrees.

 

[shibby]

good to see you've found tac i think theres okay parking out the back, ive only been there a few times though.

looks like zoanthids or button corals.

as most people say there is no "right" way to do a marine tank! i guess as long as it works dont try and fix it !

powerhead looks like its in a good spot, is the filter outlet agitating the surface a little that will help, cant tell from pictures if it is though

 

[GShorty1981]

@Cage#################

I'll try taking a video later so you can see how the flow is..sometimes they are fighting in it a little.

My clowns seem to be flirting and fighting a fair bit with the larger one deffo looking the most dominant

Do i need to take this hairy/furry like algae out?

And is there any special care needed for my Zoas? ,Will they spread more and become brighter colours?

Tac said the samething as you about LR cage,that its not ideal how i did it but just a slower process and if my water params are ok then everythings fine.

I got away with it for 7 days with Clowns and water params are still perfect..now i started my reef with LR should be all good from here

I'm gonna buy a KG or 2 a week till i get to around 10-12kg and make a center stack in the tank...that large fake cup coral i have will prob be taken out cos its huge! or laid down on top of the stack at the top.

The green and orange corals are fake to.

@ Shibby ##############

yeh its pointing at the surface and my bubble bar is agitating it to.

TAC is really good for Marine stuff..i used to use TAC for Discus years ago alot.

@ Ben ##############

yeh they apear to be those but a much duller green colour,the rock cost me £11 for both bits together which worked out as 1.2kg,i did have some ordered off a guy online but it didnt work out,it seems after P+P its not really worth buying it online..even for a fiver a go for the little amount i want...i'll use TAC now or if i go near Weston i'll use Shibbys shop

 

[ben1987]

Zoo dont need special care as far as ive ever heard. They will open out and show their colours when they are ready, the other heads on the rock are open so i dont see why those wont. You must have very good tap water though, ive never heard of a reef with tap water. Just be creful if you ever need to handle the rock.

 

[GShorty1981]

In the last ten minutes they have gone a brilliant scarlet red colour...wow

How much are these things worth? not that i want to sell them but just so i know lol

I found out what stung me...

Theres a Anenome at the bottom of my rock its really small...atleast i think its a Anenome,its got spider like tenticles...sorta see thru to flesh colour and its sat inbetween a gap in my bigger piece of LR.

I'm amazed how much it has brightened up already

 

[ben1987]

the zoo whould probably fetch 15 quid posted with pics showing the colour i reckon. LFS charge more than that but it seems the going rate for one out of someones tank. Big ones fetch a fair bit though. Red maybe quite rare aswel.

Taking the nem out would probably be est, but put pics up for an id first!

 

[seffieuk]

That's a great find for a piece of LR, well done. I love Zoas, plan on getting some more for my tank. Maybe you could think of using RO water now that you are joining the coral brigade Sounds like from your other post you can pick it up fairly cheaply.

How large is your tank, sorry, if you have posted that already - I don't remember, getting old you see Should you be in the Nano forum ( I think anything under about 26 gallons is considered a Nano)?

Seffie x

 

[GShorty1981]

Just tried but its in a dark lil cavey bit and my camera cant make it out zoomed in..i'll try maybe when it shows itself a bit more but knowing my luck its guarenteed to be bad lol! if not my clowns have got a lil nem,that would be cool

Can i pick the green hair algae off with tweezers?

I really want that base rock to go brown/purple now! so it matchs the rest of my stuff..will some of those Zoa's grow over my base rock? theres tons more come out now..looks really good i'm just watching it to see what else comes out lol.

I can't wait to get more now,this is fun

So far i got Loads of Zoas,a feather duster living in a shell my LFS gave me for my Hermits and some crazy looking little Anenome thing

And yeh i will definitely go the RO route now i found out how cheap it is...i may even buy pre mixed salt water as it works out as cheap as doing it myself.

I think that large fake cup coral is definitely gonna have to go tho...i like the two fake bright ones i have tho.

If that Base Rock doesent go a similar colour to the live rock and match up..that will have to go to.

I had some purple algae break off when i put the rock in and ive propped it on top of the Base rock hoping it will spread.

@ Seffie..thanks,my tank size was in my sig all along hehe its 19 gallons. yes i am gonna use RO now.

I did put it here tho cos Cage + Shibby have pretty much guided me from freshwater to Marine from a simple question into a reality,i did post the same thread in the Nano section and it got ignored so please no mods move this!

 

[CageUK]

Yep as Ben says, £15-£20+ I reckon depending where you buy!
I want to get some red ones for my own tank

The nem sounds like it could be an Aiptasia. Generally regarded as a nuisance nem in a reef tank probably not so much so if you are primarily keeping fish. The clowns will stay away from them and you won't be handling them anymore

Either take them out now, using any number of methods which are well documented on these forums (Joe's Juice, lemon juice etc.) or just make sure they don't overtake your tanks, cos getting rid of them then will be a lot more work.
There are a few people who just leave them in the tank as long as they don't go too crazy.

A pic will help id, but googling will bring you loads of pics of them.

 

[ben1987]

your probably looking at 6 months for that base rock to seed and purple up.
Most hitchhiker nems are bad or the lfs would usually take them off and sell them. You tank is probably not mature/ stable enough to have a nem. Would probably need more light too. I mean that nicely - i wouldnt put a nem in my tank because i wouldnt be confident i could take care of it right now. I have actually seen clowns host in a fake nem. Mayeb look at one of those?
If you want the corals to do well i would look at starting to move over to RO water.