Water test results, as of 15:00...

pH - 8.1
S.G. - 1.026
dKH - 11.6
Calcium - 550ppm (off the scale, but easy to calculate the excess)
Magnesium - 1710ppm
Phosphate - <0.015ppm
Nitrate - 25ppm (thanks to the amount of organic matter floating around, a water change is scheduled for tomorrow)
Ammonia - 0ppm

And today, I found this little b@stard that hitched a ride on the live rock...


Pico Reef - Aiptasia... by Luke 'Chillinator' Williams photography..., on Flickr

Kalkwasser or Joe's Juice with a hypodermic needle should do the trick.

Before resorting to chemical warfare against the Aiptasia, I tried manually pulling it out using a pair of tweezers...

This was, as you would probably expect, completely fruitless. All it did was retreat back into the rock.

This means war!

ahhhh aptasia, how i remember thee :3

i always used Joes Juice when dealing with these little blighters. my dad on the other hand, fed his.... *facepalm*

we have a public aquarium near me called The Deep, and its plagued with them

__________________

Three Aiptasia down...

This morning I found a Cirratulidae Spaghetti worm scaling the glass.

pH - 8.2
dKH - 11.6
S.G. - 1.026
Phosphate - 0.008ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm

Things seem to be stabilizing and I have a fine crop of algae growing on the rocks. So, I'm going to start introducing CUC within the next 2-3 weeks.

pH - 8.1
S.G. - 1.025
dKH - 10.6
Phosphate - <0.008ppm
Calcium - 500ppm (finally dropping, the excess calcium is starting to bleach small patches of my coralline algae)
Magnesium - 1495ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm

can i show mu total ignorance and ask what is Aiptasia and why is is bad

Basically, here's the deal with Aiptasia: they grow and multiply if not controlled. If they aren't kept in check, they can overrun an aquarium, catch and kill small fish and invertebrates, and sting corals to death.

Time for an update...

I've got fine crops of green hair algae and macroalgae growing on the rocks, as well as the usual diatoms.

Aside from topping-up and testing the salinity on a daily basis, I have been deliberately neglecting the tank for the past week or so to give it a chance to mature.

pH - 8.1
S.G. 1.025
dKH - 8.8
PO4 - <0.008 (0ppm?)
Calcium - 480ppm
Magnesium - 1580ppm
NO3 - 2ppm
NH3 - 0ppm

I'm going to carry out one small water change within the next day or so. Given the amount of food that is now available in the tank, I'm going to start introducing CUC within a week.

Taken June 29th...


A Pico Reef that needed cleaning... by Luke 'Chillinator' Williams & Melissa Hersch, on Flickr

The blue LEDs have blown (not surprising, they were from ebay after all) and are now undergoing replacement. You can also see purple coralline algae growing on the glass at the bottom-left of the aquarium.