Adding Again

We're at it again! ;-) We've added another 10 lbs. of uncured rock, 22 hermit crabs, 2 peppermint shrimp, and 2 blue velvet damsels (all though one didn't make it past the next morning). We also removed the air stones and were VERY surprised by how crystal clear the water became without them!

The tank:

The shrimp (either Jacques or Pierre):

The blue velvet damsel (swimming with our regular blue damsel in the second photo):

And, since we were already at the pet store and it's a free service, we had them check our water while we were there - they said it was perfect! >.< But, that doesn't help us solve our red algae/cyano problem. It's spreading rapidly! We've added a Koralia powerhead to help the current in the tank and we've tried keeping the lights off for several days. No luck reducing the problem yet. The only option we may be left with now is to treat with Chemiclean.

The blue velvet damsels are MUCH less shy than the other blue damsels (and I happen to think they're prettier, too!  ;-)  Goby has become a tad more social and we are seeing him come out more often as well.  He still LOVES to stir up the sand and create his mountains and valleys.  In fact, if the other fish start messing up his art, he chases them away!  LOL

We've also built our own sump! We used a 20 gallon, tall tank and added four panes of pre-cut glass to create baffles and separate the pump and protein skimmer from the live sand and rock we plan to house in the center of the tank. We also plan to move our water heater to the sump and may use one of the HOB filters as a refugium.  These are the pipes that will control the water flow to the tank:

We have also purchased a 75 GPD, 5-stage RO/DI filter to make our own water that can be used to top-off the tank and do water changes. 

Water Readings

Water Readings 4/18/10:
PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0 PPM
Nitrite - 0 PPM
Nitrate - 0 PPM
Temp. - 76° F
Salinity - 1.022

Water Readings

Water Readings 4/11/10:
PH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0 PPM
Nitrite - 0 PPM
Nitrate - 0 PPM
Temp. - 77° F
Salinity - 1.022

Refractometer

Our new refractometer came in yesterday and we tried it out last night. It's quite a bit more complicated than our other testing supplies where you just get 5 ml of water in a test tube and add a few drops of the test solution to it. All though, we are happy to report that the specific gravity of our tank is at 1.022 and since the figure should fall between 1.020 & 1.026 we're doing well! When a little more of the water evaporates then we'll probably have to figure out how to add salt soon!

The blue damsels are also doing well and are starting to come out of their hiding places. Josh & I were mesmerized while watching them chase their food around and eat this morning. ;-) The diamond goby is still hiding whenever we're looking at the tank. But, since there seem to be several more "mountains and valleys" of sand in the tank, we figure he's probably coming out to "stir up the sand" while we're away.

Now, to find a good RO/DI water filter to make our own water to top-off the tank with!

More New Additions!

Today we purchased the remaining 10 lbs. of rock we needed for the aquarium and rearranged the rock so that we could use the new Mag Float that just came in!

We also purchased new marine animals. These are two blue damsels (hiding in their favorite spots in the rock and then one in a close-up) we got:

This is a diamond goby. We think he's the coolest so far because he eats sand and rocks and spits them out his gills. He also likes to dig valleys and collect small rocks, sand, and shells to make mounds out of. We should probably call him our "landscaper!" LOL

We also got a couple of hermit crabs to help goby stir up the sand. We plan to get MANY more of these little guys - they're pretty cheap!

Water Readings 4/3/10:
PH - 8.3 (it's gotten a bit high)
Ammonia - 0 PPM
Nitrite - 0 PPM
Nitrate - 0 PPM
Temp. - 76° F

Supplies

Today we purchased a Mag Float magnetic glass cleaner (we're seeing that nasty green algae growing on the glass!) and a refractometer for measuring the specific gravity/salinity of the water in the tank from Amazon - my favorite place to shop!! ;-)

We are also investigating RO/DI filters so that we can process our own water to add to the tank as needed. We have been getting all of our supplies from Pet Palace in Clarksville, but making the necessary trips for water is going to get tedious and would probably cost us enough in water and gas that we could pay for this kind of filter within about 6 months. But, being newbies to all this, it's going to take a bit more research before we can decide on one of those!