First Tank! Q&A, Stories and Moments Thread

[EasyAndy]

Hey all, this is my first tank and first post. I have been reading around in the forum for a about a year and a half and finally decided to pull the trigger on setting up my own tank. I would have started earlier but I was waiting for the perfect vessel and I finally found it 7 weeks ago. It came form a company called Earthbound out of Boulder CO, I believe they have an online presence in case you are interested. I'm having what I believe to be some algae growth issues and I'm hoping for a little help, I don't want to order Opae until I'm sure they are going to have an environment to thrive in. I'll explain my set up and how I did it below, any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

1. Bought tank (about 1 gallon) and rinsed with tap water then boiling distilled water
2. Bought the cork and LED tea light from Amazon. I drilled the cork and put the light in myself. I also drilled 8 "air" holes into the cork with a 1/3" drill bit.
2. Bought rocks, a couple of them are lava rock and the others are "limestone" I believe. I bought these from an dedicated stand alone aquarium/fish store and the gentleman stated that the "limestone" rocks are for buffering a tank. Tested an extra piece of the limestone rock with Vinegar and it does bubble. I rinsed these rocks with tap water then boiled for 30 mins in distilled water.
3. Bought Aqua Tera natural white sand, I did not rinse this product.
4. Bought Oceanic Natural Sea Salt Mix, and mixed per mustafa's instructions on the new tank set up page
5. Bought a Seafan and boiled in distilled water for 30 mins
6. Bought 2 Moss balls, Micro Algae and 10 snails from petshrimp.com

I should also note that I followed Mustafa's new tank set instructions up exactly to the tee. No Chemicals throughout the process.

I set up the tank up exactly 6 weeks ago to the day. I let the tank cycle for exactly 2 weeks before ordering the moss balls, micro algae and snails. The tank has been cycling for the remaining 4 weeks and I still do not see any visible signs of algae growth. There may be some biofilm on top the the water, but have doubts, it doesn't really seem as "dense" as other photos I've seen on the forum. It does not photograph well so I did not include a picture. The snails are active, I see them roaming around every day. I have dropped a pin sized sinking piece of fish food for the snails twice and they attacked it immediately, it was gone within 12 hours. The Moss ball and Micro Algae seem just a vibrant as when I received them in the mail. The tanks has been sitting in the southern facing window for more light the last 3 days, it is shaded from direct light 90% of the time. I have not tested the water in any way.

I really want to order my shrimp but am being patient for the algae growth per Mustafa's instructions. From reading almost every post about the subject it appears that sometimes there is no visible signs of growth and the shrimp thrive anyways. I wanted to hear your thoughts before I pull the trigger on the purchase. Thanks so much for all the great information, this forum is top notch. Looking forward to being a part to the community.

Andrew

Edit: Added picture of salt used and tank size

[LittlePenny]

Hi Andrew! Your setup is very beautiful. I like the unique shape of your tank. I am very new myself, hence can’t offer too much insight. However, I did notice you mentioned sea salt. From what I have read in this forum, marine salt or reef salt is what the experience keepers suggested. Maybe it could have something to do with that? Could you post a picture of the salt you used?
Good luck!

[EasyAndy]

LittlePenny,

Thanks for the reply, I added a photo of the salt I used in the original post. I believe it is the correct product to use, it is not aquarium salt or just table salt/sea salt. I could be wrong tho.

Thanks,

Andrew

[i<3Opae]

Hi Andrew, the picture of your salt mix says it buffers KH, that's a characteristic of marine salt. Even tho it doesn't specify on the package, but I believe 100% that's the right salt, not aquarium salt.

[EasyAndy]

Thanks for the reply i<3Opae, I'm glad I got the salt correct. Any insight on my original question about the algae and rest of the environment?

Thanks,

Andrew

[i<3Opae]

Your shrimp home is definitely ready. Even though you don't see abundant algae, it's there. The reasons that make me say such include: there is biofilm, the mossball/snails population in there speeds up cycling, you followed the instructions to the T and it's been a month and half (with snails and mossball for a month). I've had very different experience in algae with my two tanks. My first tank was running for a year without any visible algae and still seems there isn't a lot, but I know it's okay because it has berried females. My second tank got brown algae in 3 days, and green algae in less than a week and continues to grow green algae. So I think it's a bunch of factors (rinsing method, rocks, sunlight etc) that yield different speed on algae.

Btw, what's the room temperature your tank is sitting at?

[EasyAndy]

i<3Opae,

Thanks again for the reply and quick response. The film on the top is maybe a couple microns thick and is somewhat milky, almost looks like oil on water however it is not oily if that makes sense. I can only see it if the light hits the surface of the water just right, but can see little specs of dust from the atmosphere sitting on top of it... maybe.

My tanks is in my office which is open door to the living room, it is pretty consistently in the range of 65-75 degrees. However it may have heated up a tad more over the last couple days when it was sitting in the window. I plan to move it back to it's original spot, where it receives no direct light, once I add shrimp or am comfortable with the tank conditions.

Thanks,

Andrew

[i<3Opae]

Yes it makes perfect sense, the biofilm I had initially had an oily look when viewed from the bottom (with light behind it). Are your snails grazing on the glass?

[EasyAndy]

Yes they are grazing on the glass, however I thought they were just traveling to the next destination. They also spend a lot of time grazing around the rim of the water. I've seen them floating upside down on the surface of the water a couple times too (not dead.)

[i<3Opae]

The reason I ask is because that means there is food (algae) on the glass.

[Nellyville41]

Your tank is ready. Went thru the same stages you described. Both my tanks have hardly and visible signs of algae but the snails and shrimp are feeding. One of my tanks did end up with specks all over the glass and I have baby snails. You can go ahead and order your shrimps. As for your light source if you’re not placing it near a window you can do what I did and buy a lamp, a natural sunlight bulb, and a timer. This way it gives the algae a source too

[EasyAndy]

That is great news Nellyville41 and i<3Opae, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on some shrimp this weekend to get in on Mustafa's next shipping. Hopefully Wednesday I'll have some new mates! Thanks again

[i<3Opae]

Anytime Andrew! Please post updates and photos!

[EasyAndy]

Shrimp ordered, got a easy dozen! Will post pictures once I receive them.

[EasyAndy]

Hey All,

Received my Opae today and I couldn't be happier, it's been a long time in the coming. I put them into the tank about an hour ago. Most of them have regained their color and are swimming around happily, from what I can tell anyways. It appears my easy dozen is now 11 as I had one dead on arrival. I didn't spot it in the bag, I think I was too excited to get them into the tank. The first picture shows it curled up under the other shrimp, it hasn't moved since I first saw it. Is there anything I should to do keep it from contaminating the tank? Again, all of your assistance and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Andrew