Kye's Reef

 Too soon? Too big? Yikes. Did I make a mistake? These questions have been flooding me the last 12 hours.  Yesterday, I had decided to take action on these flatworms and wanted to do so without having to intervene with a baster every day to pull them out.  My tank is too small for fish, 5 gallons. So my next best move was another invertebrate and landed on Banded Coral Shrimp. Their antennae is quite long and has me worried most. My tank does not feel spacious for him. I think I may start my 2nd tank upon getting a new job. I'm thinking upwards of 20 gallons. An urchin is definitely on my list for that setup. And a wrasse and other harmful critter eaters which can be used in the smaller tank. 

 Today before as the light came on and as the corals unfold, I noticed one coral not unfolding one side.  There was this red transparent blob with a dot in the center.  Some quick pictures into social media reef groups pointed that these are infact flat worms. Good bad, no solid answer, but are easily sucked up with a baster. Some wrasse are known to eat these worms. 

 This hobby is not short of "what is that" or "what kind of" questions. From the first moments spending time with your tank as it begins it cycle til you move on from the hobby, there will be moments of awe.  Tonight, 2 small jellyfish with no visible tentacles. Unsure where they came from, but only a few possibilities.  1. They were hitchhikers in some of the water from a frag bought week ago.  2. They were in the "clean" water during a water change. 3. They've been there all along and were hard to spot this whole time. 

Do you remember I mentioned a bought 2 blue legged hermit crabs awhile back? I think these guys do more good than harm. I do say harm, this is a buyer beware post, a great read for beginners. I do wish I had read something like this before buying these guys. First, what was the reasoning behind getting these crabs? The reason was algae control. I heard generally, most crabs are great at algae control and other small preventive measures. I had a spawn of green algae growing and stuff on the sand building up, and these guys in 2 days cleared majority of it all! Molted Bodies - Yes, these crabs molt! Is this bad? No, its a great sign of health, but at first sight with no knowledge, it can be worrisome. So, if you have bought some crabs, and are seeing what looks like a weird spider carcass, its not. Relax, and know your crab is most likely hiding the next 48 hours if you can not find them.  Stab - Got softies or mushrooms? Smaller soft corals and soft corals in general can be subject ...

 At the start of this my idea and commitment was to keep a weekly log of some sort.  I havent. Not in the slightest to detail as I'd like.  My biggest push for logs was to keep an eye of parameters. My most recent test from a few days ago is: PH 8.4 Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0  Nitrate NA Phosphate NA Calcium 500 Alkalinity 7.0 Magnesium 1400 Salinity 1.026 Some recent notables are, bought 2 trochas snails. One only made it 24 hours before it became a snack for the 2 blue leg hermits. A week prior, 4 nassarius snails were also added. 2 spaghetti worms have been identified, one at the top of the rock and front side of the rock as currently positioned. The rock was repositioned a week before and all the coral moved to under the flow. Rock absorbs most of the flow. I also seemingly have some kind of phosphate issue. I bought a phosphate digital test which should be here in a few days. Ill start testing certain parameters myself with additional shop test to find accuracy.  ...

 Oh it has been awhile since I have written in this blog. Its main intent was record keeping for this aquarium salt hobby. And, its going well, the hobby itself.  Top of mind, lets get back on track The past month we bought a handful of ricordea, we nearly have lost track of what we currently have. A list to come, it has doubled since last writing.  Today will be a 40% or so water change. I am also going to rearrange the rock to the far wall to absorb most of the flow as this Aquatop 5Gallon filter pump does not have variable flow speed. I think it is a bit much for the ricordea florida that I have on that far side wall.  Tomorrow I will be checking the newest ricordea to see if its foot attached itself to a rock.  Decided to keep growing green algae on the back wall.  A bunch of media to be uploaded.