42 Hex Update, Decorator Crab Antics, Nano Algae Battle

[Beverly]

LOL!! Can't believe what I just saw our decorator crab do :-))

The lights had been off in the 42 for about an hour, and the decorator crab was really active. When I first saw him he had one leg on the uppermost piece of live rock and the rest of him had latched onto the 802's prefilter which is about 2" above the rock. I watched to see if he was climbing up or going down. And, yes, he was going up. A few moments later, all of him was on the prefilter. Then he climbed up to the powerhead itself. I'm wondering how the heck he's going to get down, so I keep watching, of course ;-)

He climbs around back, but can't go anywhere that way, so goes toward the front where the water's shooting out like crazy. Oh, he can't be going there, I thought. He'd never be able to hold on. Then suddenly, he's flying through the water, legs all splayed out! Looked like he was going to hit the other side of the tank (ouch!), but luckily he grabs onto a piece of rock before hitting the glass. I almost laughed my a** off!!!

He stayed on the lower rock for a moment or so, then renewed his ascent. All the while I'm wondering if he was looking for his way back up to the water slide :-)) Maybe he's just a wild and crazy guy. Wonder how often he does that while we're sleeping?? LOL!! LOL!!!

On a more serious note, the update on water conditions in the 42 tonight:

ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm

It's been just over a week since we stocked the tank well-cured live rock and tomorrow will be a week since we began adding corals and fish. With all the folks saying we were foolish to go ahead adding livestock so quickly, I consider us very, very lucky that there hasn't been a rise in ammonia or nitrite to date.

Deep inside, though, I thought we were going to be okay with our decision. So far I've been right. I feed lightly twice a day, and I've turkey basted the rock lots and lots and lots of times and cleaned the prefilter foam after each basting, just to make sure to remove any crud that could cause a problem. I've also done the tank's first 5 gallon water change this week. And all is going well, I'm happy to report :-)

That is not to say that others should follow our example of stocking a reef so quickly. I felt quite positive, though, that the tank would be stable enough to withstand the bioload with the rock we chose and with the water testing that was done prior to adding the livestock.

I'm feeling good about the 42's future, and I will continue to baste the tank periodically and keep the prefilters clean to help the tank stay healthy. For the next few weeks it will be important to pay special attention to this newly established reef. And that I will certainly do.

I'm also paying close attention to our almost cycled 2.5 gal nano. It's got this horrible grey stuff growing on the sandbed and on some of the curing rock. I've decided that I'm going to attack this stuff like it was cyano, which is what I think it is, but it's grey, so I can't be sure that it is. Very confusing :-(

Anyway, I've been lightly stirring up the top layer of sand to break up the clumps of grey matter. Then I've turkey basted the crud up into the water column where the AquaClear Mini sucks it into the foam. When the tank clears, I clean the foam in RO water, then begin the process whenever I see the grey stuff forming again. I've defeated red cyano in a 75 with this method a few years back and it worked well. The only problem is that it's got to be done a least once a day, which is a PITA. But it worked before, so here's hoping it works again, PINA or not.

Cheers, all!