Thank you again for your assistance. I sent you an email. On vacation, we found a couple more of the books you recommended. They are a wealth of information.
We decided to go with a JBJ ecu-35 and a HB-100 octopus skimmer. So far we have 34 lbs live rock. 4 lbs of that has great growth on it. the other 30 has very little growth. (purchased at two different LFS here in MA)
The substrate we went with is the Black Tahitian beach sand. Right now things look pretty dull, except for the 4lb chunck…but it time it’s going to look awesome.
Future thoughts:
We’re hoping for a pair of Erectus down the road. Not going to get in to a hurry. With them, we’re thinking of Fox Coral (Nemenzophilia Turbida), Toad Stool, and possibly some Xenia. Could have the names a little off because we’ve found different web sites that named them different…even when the species was listed. So confusing.
We’ll have a couple Pepermint shrimp and blue leg hermit crabs as a cleanup crew.
So far after one week, we haven’t noticed any real movement in the parameters in the tank. I shut off the heater to let the water cool down to 76F. When the water went into the tank, the ammonia read .25. Yesterday, it was .5. Not sure if that means it’s on an upswing, or if I did the test wrong. I’m still so new I don’t know I’m doing it wrong. Great thing about instructions…they’re ME proof. hehehehehe
We’re curious to know what algae is growing on our cured rock, so if anyone wants to take a stab at it, let me know and I’ll email you the pics. We’ve guessed that one of them is a Halimeda. The purple we’re guessing is coralline. The rest…you tell us. If I knew how to put the picture here, I would.
Thank you again to everyone who has been sharing their experiences and advice to us new kids. We really appreciate it.
Wayne and Lisa
Ocean Rider, Inc. is an Organic Hawaiian-Based Seahorse Aqua-Farm & Aquarium that Follows Strict Good Farming Practices in Raising Seahorses and Other Aquatic Life.
