Cali Kid Corals

Hello! - I'm, Karina. New Here

K1368

K1368

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Hello Everyone.

My name is Karina.

I started my first salt water aquarium in March 2010. Here is a link to the photo album
Karina's Aquarium .

I am completely new to this and I need as much advice as I can get. I have gotten everything in my tank, including premixed salt water from a LFS near my home. I've been monitoring the temperature with an in-tank digital thermometer, testing the water chemistry and salinity to make sure everything remains in proper range. I have noticed a bunch of potentially new things in the tank that I either did not know hitched rides on the live rock or somehow got into the tank by another means.

Red Sea Max 130, 34 gallons (29 after filter media etc)
about 20 pounds of live sand
about 23 pounds of live rock

2 Clown Fish
12 Hermit Crabs of the original 15
5 Turbo Snails
3 Smaller Snails of the original 5

2 Duncan Coral
1 Green Star Polyp
1 Green Candy Cane Coral (?)
1 Green Zoanthid Coral
1 ??? Coral (looks like a small kidney with tentacles)
 
Karina,
WELCOME!

Your tank looks great!
I'm sure some of our members will chime in with a bunch of great links and information.

All I can say is that the next 4-6 months is the most challenging part of reefing.
The key is to...... take it very slowly.
Try to hold off for a while adding more livestock.
Let your tank stabilize and go through it's own natural cycle.
If you choose to join the membership you can participate in the DBTC program and pick up all the advice and corals you will ever need.
This is a great club.
Again welcome!
 
What got you into trying this out? You have planted freshwater tank experience?

Welcome and have fun with the search function on this forum. Most questions you will have have been asked before so put all the new energy you have to read, and read. That said always ask about anything you need help with.

Oh did I say take it slow? You are going to love hair algae :bigsmile:
 
Thank you everyone!

Before I had my son I did a bit of SCUBA diving. I loved it! There's so much life beneath the surface to see! I really miss living near the beach and stuff, but the real reason I like the salt water aquarium is that it is super relaxing to watch. This is like my TV. I can sit there for hours and just relax and watch. I have a fresh water tank also, but there's just something different in the way the fish move and interact. Salt water tank looks more natural and calming to me. Without intent to offend anyone, the freshwater tank kind of bores me...maybe it is because we only have goldfish. One day I'll have a larger salt water tank once I get this one completely established and see it thriving well. I can see patience is a virtue with salt water tanks. That is completely okay for me, I like to see it all come together bit by bit.

I definitely plan to take it slow. I think as it is already I've got more than enough in the tank to last for a few months before I even think of adding more after we got 2 cleaner shrimp in today. I'm now going to wait until at very least June or July before I think of adding anything else. I want to let everything grow out and see what it looks like then.

How often do people do water changes in general? The first time I changed the water was at 3 weeks. Then I changed it again 2 weeks later. Just tested the water today and all the chem levels are at 0, PH is at about 8.3-ish.

I'm starting to read through all the forums now to get more information.

Thank you!
 
with a smaller tank 10% weekly water changes are your best friend. Esp after accounting for sand and live rock taking up volume where water should be, you have less water than you think. If you don't mind the blemish on your display area you can get an in tank ammonia indicator so you can notice the start of a re-cycle.
 
Welcome!
Nice tank. One suggestion, you might want to move the GSP off your main rocks. It will spread like crazy and take over.
 
Rick778 said:
Welcome!
Nice tank. One suggestion, you might want to move the GSP off your main rocks. It will spread like crazy and take over.
Click to expand...

+1 on the GSP spreading like crazy. When I had my biocube up, it did spread like crazy. Zoanthids also will spread like crazy and can be very difficult to remove from your "base" rock as your tank matures. If you look at advanced hobbyist pictures such as Tank of Month threads, you will notice that most all keep their zoanthids, etc. on separate rocks on their sand bed so as to isolate them from their main rock structures.

Oh by the way, welcome!! Try not to get too addicted :)
 
FWIW

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5458976978172937842

That is an astrena starfish. Likely harmless but I would take it out. They tend to multiply very quickly

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5458976360547251474

Guessing this is a majano anenome (a pest) but difficult to tell for sure

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5459802451385433042

Very tough to tell from that shot but it looks like it could be a mantis or pistol shrimp.

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5458976359226318978

Some sort of sponge or tunicate maybe.
 
seminolecpa said:
FWIW

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5458976978172937842

That is an astrena starfish. Likely harmless but I would take it out. They tend to multiply very quickly

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5458976360547251474

Guessing this is a majano anenome (a pest) but difficult to tell for sure

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5459802451385433042

Very tough to tell from that shot but it looks like it could be a mantis or pistol shrimp.

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5458976359226318978

Some sort of sponge or tunicate maybe.
Click to expand...

Woops....
asterina
anemone

http://picasaweb.google.com/yan.karina/KarinaSSaltwaterTank?authkey=Gv1sRgCNzZy4PH9-KZJA&feat=directlink#5459802451385433042
That's just a common bristle worm

Last one is a sponge most likely. If it only has two holes it's a tunicate.
 
Thank you! Your posts have been very helpful! At least now I know what else is growing in my tank (so many things I didn't personally purchase/add knowing so).
 
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