# NICK's NANO



## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

Well It's loaded up with rock now that I got from UTC. Looks like a few critters from few pieces from the sump made it into my aquarium. not sure what they are. I saw on tiny tiny little white thing crawling quite quickly actually on the 'Y' shaped rock in front I tried to look at pics to identify it but not sure. Also in the middle of the 'Y' there's a little white something that looks alive. Can't tell from the pic but it's a little white glob that opens up a bit and seems stretch out a tiny bit. Maybe I'm just looking to hard, I've had my eyes glued to the side of the aquarium for like an hour But I think that's something in there that's alive.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

well i can see some tube worms (tiny feather dusters) on that y rock.. you will almost always get these with live rock.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

There's an epoxy you can use in the aquarium right?? I like the way my rock is set up but it's not stable enough I don't think. I'd like to use something to make sure it doesn't topple over.

Is there an epoxy I can use IN the aquarium? or do I have to use it with the rock out????


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

Looks good Nick....  

Make sure your rock is sitting on the base of the aquarium and not just one the sandbed, this will help with avalanches.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

UnderTheSea said:


> Looks good Nick....
> 
> Make sure your rock is sitting on the base of the aquarium and not just one the sandbed, this will help with avalanches.


I pushed it in so it should be pretty much on bottom.. It's just my ledges I made at the top I'm not confident in.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

there are several underwater epoxies you can get.. more fish stores carry them.. big als sells them.. Its a putty and it works awsome.. i use it to glue my corals where i want them.. some corals come on little rocks and fall down if a fish bumps into them but the epoxy makes all stable.. i wouldnt glue all the rocks together, but maybe glue a few together here and there so it holds together like a puzzle.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

cablemike said:


> there are several underwater epoxies you can get.. more fish stores carry them.. big als sells them.. Its a putty and it works awsome.. i use it to glue my corals where i want them.. some corals come on little rocks and fall down if a fish bumps into them but the epoxy makes all stable.. i wouldnt glue all the rocks together, but maybe glue a few together here and there so it holds together like a puzzle.


yup that's all I wanna do, is just lightly hold one or two of the together so I don't accidentally topple anything when I'm cleaning or something.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

That little white thing was all open up this morning when I turned the light on. CLosed up after a minute or two with the light on. Has little clear arms with a white ball on the end. Almost like a little crown when it was open. And I saw the little guy running around this morning too. If I was to guess by looking at pics online I'd guess it was an amphipod.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

I envy you.. your just starting out.. you have so much to learn.. its a very exciting time for you. Ive read so much i cant find anything new to read anymore.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

cablemike said:


> you have so much to learn..


lol.. do I ever.. i still have 3 books I haven't even touched yet.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Wait until you discover the internet.

I'm slowly discovering the scientific literature and I must say it's very interesting. But I'm a big nerd.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Trust me, im a big nerd too.. But im going in a different direction.. lighting.. i now know about pretty much all light technologies.. which emit the coreect colour spectrum that corals would thrive under and im currently experimenting.. each day i buy something, and return it the next day.. the hardware stores are starting to look at me funny.. im sure they think i have a grow op going on.. I have tried about 20 different led products which all failed to over power my flourescents to acheive the shimmering effect. Ive tried mercury vapor only to find it over powered the flourescent and made everthing look green, but wow did it ever shimmer.. another dud. I will find a cheap way to achieve the shimmer without the mh heat and hydro costs. I shall prevail. The one that has me curious is the flourescent spot light replacement bulbs.. they project light unlike standard diffused flourescent light. And from what ive read the reason you get the shimmer is because the light is directional. So in theory the flourescent spot light bulbs should give the shimmer. Off to Home Depot i go..


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

I read that there will be a little algae in the beginning and during the tanks cycling. What's normal to expect?

I can see some small green patches starting on some chunks of the corraline algae I got. Just want to know if there's something I should be doing or if this is normal


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

My PH seems to be around 7.8. Is that acceptable for a new system cycling or is that too low?

I used mostly non live rock, with a few pieces from the sump of UTC and some scrapings of coraline algae.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

I've got lots of little critters around now. lots on that y shaped rock, and a few I think copopods on the glass.. I'm afraid to clean the glass cause I don't wanna kill anything.


But wha'ts this thing in the pic on the glass?? it's only about a 1mm maybe smaller

Also some pics of that thing in the rock when it's opened up a bit. It closes soon as I turn the light on.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

The one on the glass looks like a snail. The one on the rock looks like aptaisia to me.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

cablemike said:


> The one on the glass looks like a snail. The one on the rock looks like aptaisia to me.


uh oh... soo should I try and remove that then?? how would I go about removing it??? looked that up.... glass anenome right?


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

well, if you tear it off with tweezers it will grow back from the base, if you have a soldering iron you can fry it outside of the tank.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

cablemike said:


> well, if you tear it off with tweezers it will grow back from the base, if you have a soldering iron you can fry it outside of the tank.


hmm I was hoping to not have to remove that rock, it's got the most life on it.
I guess I'll have to take it out and do something to it. I was reading about those things, if you don't kill them right they just multiply.


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## Plaid (Nov 10, 2008)

Get a medical syringe. Put 1ml of REALLY hot water in it. Quickly stab the little sneak right in the mouth, while simultaneously pushing down the plunger. This is too little water to change your chemistry. If you are too slow, it will just retract. Be bold, be brave. If you aren't bold/brave, just burn it outside the tank. Be prepared for a strange smell.

-Wes


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

Plaid, i think you got issues.. you make it sound all to pleasurable.


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## Plaid (Nov 10, 2008)

You've gotta make NOISE when you do it. Give it a littly "HAAAA" and a bit of "YAAAYAYAYA".
Like, Roberto, the stabby robot from Futurama. 
Every little creep you HAAAYAAAYAYAYA is a problem you've eliminated.

Case closed.

Nick, if you don't mind me asking, how much has this cost you? I've wanted a little salty tank on my desk. I've done so much research, I just want some ideas on cost from people who've recently done it.

-Wes


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

Plaid said:


> You've gotta make NOISE when you do it. Give it a littly "HAAAA" and a bit of "YAAAYAYAYA".
> Like, Roberto, the stabby robot from Futurama.
> Every little creep you HAAAYAAAYAYAYA is a problem you've eliminated.
> 
> ...


I bought the 12gal nano with a stand from UndertheC with the 70watt metal halide lamp, he throws in a ton of stuff, rock, some food, golden pearls, some coral frags it was $480, only thing I really needed to start up was substrate.


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

nickeleye_rt said:


> hmm I was hoping to not have to remove that rock, it's got the most life on it.
> I guess I'll have to take it out and do something to it. I was reading about those things, if you don't kill them right they just multiply.


If you want to try to preserve the live here are a few options.

Hot water as mentioned
Vinegar in a syringe
Kalk paste

and the only thing that has work for me is Aiptasia-X

If you want to borrow my aiptasia-x Nick, feel free to drop by. One dosing application should work. Sometimes it takes two times. I also have it in stock if you're looking to purchase some.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

UnderTheSea said:


> If you want to try to preserve the live here are a few options.
> 
> Hot water as mentioned
> Vinegar in a syringe
> ...


thanks.. I think I killed it. not sure... it was so small. once I took the rock out I couldn't see it. I think I saw a little glob that coulda been it. But I hit that area with some vinegar and then burnt the glob with a hot wire. so we'll see what happens.. lol... I hope that was ok.
if it comes back in the same spot I'll just ditch the rock, it's small. but I just don't have much in the tank that live so I wanted to preserve it if possible.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

well looks like I now managed to ID it after I've eliminated it....

Pseudocorynactis caribbaeorum or White Ball Corallimorph

sounds like it could be a bit of a pain down the road, similar to aiptasia but it was cool looking..


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

It doesn't look like Aiptasia to me as the tentacles are not pointy toward the tip.

Regardless, if you're in doubt, kill it. Aiptasia-X works well.


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## Plaid (Nov 10, 2008)

conix67 said:


> if you're in doubt, kill it.


No no no, that's the American way. Here in Canada, we don't kill things. We _help them to die._

PETA can't get you for that.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

lol.......


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Plaid said:


> No no no, that's the American way. Here in Canada, we don't kill things. We _help them to die._
> 
> PETA can't get you for that.


Sorry, but what's PETA ??

I don't know if you can call it help if *it* doesn't want to die.

Anyway, I stand corrected. If you're in doubt, just get rid of it.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

I picked up the surface skimmer addon for the cube from Sea U last night... it's GREAT! I love it...

Also grabbed a live rock from Ken to help get my tank cycling. It wasn't really starting to cycle yet just.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

my first frag is in! Green star polyp. It looks like it opened up pretty nicely.
there were two bristle worms living under the frag though, I caught one of them but couldn't get the other.
I think I'll put 2 zoa frags and some mushrooms in next. gonna wait a another day or two make sure everything is still ok but seems to be good so far.

Thanks a lot UTC for the help, I'm sure I've been driving you crazy!! lol I must be the worst customer ever!


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## UnderTheSea (Jun 2, 2008)

hehehehe  I don't consider any of my customers bad or evil hahahaha That is what I'm here for. If you purchase something from me and I don't support you and help you succeed in the hobby, you are going to give up and get out of the hobby, hence one less customer. I don't mind answering the questions.

I was once a newb as well and had lot's of questions, I just wish there was an LFS that would have been there to be able to answer my questions.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

My new frag fragged itself while I was a work..... Somehow a chunk of it separated and attached itself to a rock near by while I was at work today.. is that normal for GSP to do that????? It looked like it was just torn apart and now I got two.


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## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

if they can grab a rock they will and spread.. but that happened fast.. interesting.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Well, you can tear it apart to frag it and they will survive, but it will not do it by itself. So it's odd.

However, I've seen polyps detach and float around then attach itself somewhere else. 

Maybe it was spreading onto a loose piece of rock which fell off while you're away, tearing the part that was on that rock.


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## nickeleye_rt (Dec 16, 2008)

conix67 said:


> Well, you can tear it apart to frag it and they will survive, but it will not do it by itself. So it's odd.
> 
> However, I've seen polyps detach and float around then attach itself somewhere else.
> 
> Maybe it was spreading onto a loose piece of rock which fell off while you're away, tearing the part that was on that rock.


It's just on my sandbed out in front. so that couldn't have happened.

ya it's strange.. it must have been a very loose piece or something on the frag to begin with.. i dunno... oh well I just moved the little piece onto a spot on a rock I'd like it to grow anyways, so hopefully that piece will survive.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Well I wouldn't worry about it. Now you have two frags of it instead of just one. GSPs are one of the hardiest corals I found and they will both survive and grow. Soon you will want it to stop growing.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

I love Gsp's!  Looking great!


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