Things are lookin' up
Diatoms started a couple days ago, so the cycle isn't stalled. Nothing out of control to speak of, just some here and there. I wonder if all the snail poo has re-started the cycle - hmm ...
All DT params are great. Nothing to measure except a trace of NO3
Last night we started seeing copepods all over the glass and now they are visible daytime too. This makes me happy. They must have come from the chaeto
We now have 5 astreas, 12 margaritas and 4 red scarlet hermits. All are busy cleaning the rock and giving us something to watch.
I installed the red moonlights today, on a 1 hour timer, so we can watch stuff after the lights go out
Waiting to put the new LR in ... probably this weekend
I won't say the rock is ready by any means, but now is the time to mess the tank up
Today's readings, in 9g of water, are NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 1+ and PO4 1-2 ish
I don't want to wait another month or 3 curing the rock in a tub, so into the system it goes
And something funny to me ...
I turned my back on the DT for about 5 mins, after watching the hermits for awhile. I come back and one of the dudes has gone from the extreme left rock pile to the extreme right one. He's pickin' away at another hermit, they get quite close for a min or two, then he leaves. The other hermit carried on afterwards, so no harm.
He had gone down the tower of rock, across 3 feet of sand, up another tower of rock and straight to another hermit.
Only conclusion I come to is mating