Possibly starting first ever small FOWLR SW tank and looking for info

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

here is a pic.. its just up and to the right of the center of the picture


Here is my setup... anyone have some suggestions on how to arrange the LR better or does it look ok the way it is?

[intarsiabox]

It looks like aitasia, best to get rid of it now before you end up with tons of them. Squirt a kalk paste solution on it with a syringe and it will suck it in and disappear. You have nice looking set up! The foam filters you have in your bubble plates may not be a great idea unless you plan on cleaning them out every few days after you start stocking your tank. Organic material will build up in them and start to rot causing nitrate problems. The plates themselves should be enough to get rid of the bubbles without the foam.

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Thanks for the ID... someone else also confirms that these are indeed the pest anemone. I will need to figure out a way to get rid of this guy... its suggested that peppermint shrimp can help with eating them?

Good to know about the filter foam. I was just under the assumption that its a good idea to have the foam there to help in mechanical filtration like it is in a fresh water tank. Guessing removal of the dish scrubbies is also a good idea for the same reason. Is a skimmer the primary way of eliminating organics from the water?

[Lampshade]

I just inject mine with lime juice out of the firidge. They never come back, they'll spread plague like if you have high nutriants in your tank. I use a needle i had for acrylic glueing, but any syringe would work, i inject lime juice into the mouth, untill they balloon up. I've noticed that if i stab them multiple times and inject it does not work, since the lime juice just spreads out.

[intarsiabox]

Originally Posted by CGY_Betta_Guy

Thanks for the ID... someone else also confirms that these are indeed the pest anemone. I will need to figure out a way to get rid of this guy... its suggested that peppermint shrimp can help with eating them?

Good to know about the filter foam. I was just under the assumption that its a good idea to have the foam there to help in mechanical filtration like it is in a fresh water tank. Guessing removal of the dish scrubbies is also a good idea for the same reason. Is a skimmer the primary way of eliminating organics from the water?

A skimmer is the most common way but with regular water changes it's possible to not even require a skimmer. The bacteria on the live rock will also help to break down organics in the water. There is nothing wrong with filter foam just be aware that it needs to be cleaned very often.

Peppermint shrimp worked for me along with manual kalk paste treatments to get rid of aiptasia. I had some in a tank years ago and haven't seen any since. The shrimp will eat the small ones and you will need to deal with the larger ones manually. After they are gone the shrimp will eat anything you put in the tank, they are very greedy and will even try to clean your hands if you put them in the tank.

[reefwars]

yeah thats aiptasia your lucky you only have some i just wiped out 300 heads in my 33g using a filefish.right now where your still cycling your left with manual removal so injecting them is best either with a kalk paste or lemon juice these methods are only good in small numbers once you hit plaque status like i was theres hundreds of baby heads youll never even see and youll need somthing that eats them like peps,nudis,filefish,copperbands etc.

take a look at my zoa tank and browse through the pics and see what aiptasia can get like if you leave it untreated and take a look now not a head to be found and things are way healthier.

your liverock is your main source of filtration your skimmer takes out the stuff your liverock couldnt process and also areates your tank for oxygen, i dont use a skimmer on my 33 because the bi load is small and my liverock is plenty on the other side if i had more livestock i would need more room thus removing rock and needing something to help keep the balance...a skimmer is the perfect candidate.

lots of liverock and a huge powerful skimmer are a force to be reckoned with and allows people to increase their bio load by a great deal.


remove your foam is a great suggestion i dont think your bubble trap will work properly with it in so tight and no ever cleans them as often as they should plus in my opinion if it aint a filter sock(which gets taken out also and cleaned reguraly) then no fabric should hit your tank.if you do keep anything in the tank that will absorb waste be sure to keep it cleaned or exchanged reguarly.

your getting alot of bubbles in your sump is it from your drains?? or skimmer??

[Kevotron]

One of the most important thing I learned about this hobby is that you cannot cheap out on certain things....
in the end it will cost you more than you would save.. thats how I was taught the lesson lol
judging from the pics it looks like a pretty sweet lil set up !

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Thanks everyone for the advice... Ok... so I gotta go out and get me a real lemon or lime... dont suppose something like hydrogen peroxide would work? Just curious since it can be used in a fresh water tank to kill algae when squirted onto it directly and I have a bottle of it on hand. Since it breaks down to water in light I figure it would not hurt to give it (the aiptasia) a shot?

I figure I will go with the skimmer... put the investment into it I might as well use it. I does add a little bit of noise though. I will also probably remove the scrubbies and foam after I start stocking the tank... right now I hope its picking up some of the junk floating off the LR and will monitor it.

@reefwars actually there are not much bubbles in my sump... the picture above has an acrylic lid on the sump which is getting lots of condensation... kinda looks like bubbles. The white PVC portion at the drains actually sits just under the water level by design since I knew splashing would be annoying. The water level just happens to be perfect height for the skimmer to do its job too. A filter sock sounds like it might be a good idea vs the foam and scrubbies.

@kevotron thanks for the compliment. I hope that I can reduce the costly mistakes by referring to more experienced people on this board. My first mistake already occurred. Someone told me to go with a refractometer vs a hydrometer and I went the cheap route... not even sure this thing is giving me a correct reading. I just ordered a refractometer online since it was on sale, however it is the cheaper one so fingers crossed!

[CGY_Betta_Guy]

Been staring at the tank and found me some critters... here are some pics of what I have spotted so far.... please help me identify and let me know if they are good or bad to have...

1) Copepod? right in the middle of the shot.


2) a couple little white tubey arms/worms sticking out right in the center of the shots



3) a little sponge? translucent cylindrical shaped tube pointing downwards just below the red dot located in the middle of the shot


4)some sort of starfish... right in the middle of the shot.



5) This one kinda spooked me a bit... saw it peak out and duck back in several times... guessing a crab of some kind?

[Kevotron]

Maybe you have urself a Mantis Shrimp