[riff]

Trying this again. My first attempt looks like an empty post for some reason.

Hey everyone -- just starting out in this hobby so feel free to call me a super noob. I got my live rock and other hardware from Jim & Russ (House of Fish) this Saturday. They delivered to my place and helped me set up the tank up for a very reasonable price. The rock is beautiful and came with all kinds of hitchhikers (more on that later). I highly recommend House of Fish!!

Okay, now to the tank. I am running it with stock lighting, the sponge that it came with, and a 50w stealth heater. No thread is complete without pictures so here you go (I need to upgrade my camera so I apologize for the quality of some of the pics)

Here is the tank:


I have counted about five snails. Here are a couple pics I took of them:




And now for some other life - not 100% sure what these are -- but research has given me a couple clues. I'd appreciate any help in identifying these:

Mini Brittle Stars ?? - I have tons of tentacles popping out of the live rock. Here's a pic of one.


Is this a button polyp?


No idea what this is -- is it bad??


A bristle worm, I presume.


I've found some other interesting stuff that I'll post pics of later. I believe there's a mysid shrimp in there, but he likes to hide all the time.

I tested the water today. Here are the results:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 5-10
PH: 7.8
Temp: 80.4

I love the tank so far! I can just sit and watch it all day long. I can't wait to add more stuff to it (don't worry -- I plan on going slowly). Comments and suggestions are most very welcome.

[House of Laughter]

riff, thanks for the props and man that looks nice :-)

yes, button polyp and a small piece of green poccilipora (SPS)

Must have attached awhile ago when I had it in that tank. Sorry for all the hitchhiker the freebies

Enjoy it a good luck.

House

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[marki24]

Yeah that is a bottom polyp

[riff]

Ahh, thanks for the help identifying the green poccilipora (SPS). I was told that I can't have SPS with the tank's stock lighting. The tank came with 2 24W CF lamps. So will it most likely die?

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.

[rookie07]

I dont like sponges in those nanos, b/c, when you try to take the sponge out, youmust squeze it, forcing out all the "crap" that was in it.
I had a 24 gl aquapod for about 5 months(before upgrading) and I had nothing in those back chambers except my heater and skimmer(skimmer is a must).
MH lighting really increases the type of corals you can get, but then you also need a chiller...it just never ends...
Frogspawn and Hammer are cool corals, i think you can get them w/ CF lights.

I think your camera is fine. Personally I'd wait on that till the end.
Im also new in this hobby, since aug 07. So, I might be an idiot, keep that in mind.
Best of luck,
Phil

	MH Metal Halide Lighting, typically used for high intensity light demanding corals such as SPS. Bulbs come in varieties of spectrums (7k, 10k,20k), and intensity (175W, 250W, 400W).

[riff]

I'm not a huge fan of the sponges either. I've heard people use filter floss instead. I'm considering picking up some of that. I moved some of the rocks around today and found something new!!

Any clue what it is:

[DonCisco]

Get rid of the sponge, it is nothing but a bacteria magnet. Get a skimmer ( I have the saphire aquatics), I have the floss and it works fine. you can always get some LR rubble, and put in one of the holes in the back. I've had a 12G Aquapod... for almost 2 yrs and it is great

[House of Laughter]

DON!!! Good to see you man!

Riff, it's a tube worm - forgot that was on the rock- did I bury it when we scaped? and did you rescape?

Lets see the pics.

House

[Bob 1000]

Wow all of the things on your rocks I have as hitch hikers also.. And after 2 years I find out on this thread that the green tentacles that were in my sump for a year are green pocilloporas.. Thanks I have 2 of these

[riff]

Hey there, I did move some rocks around. I wanted to get the polyp and sps more light. I'm not that happy with the new aquascaping. I'll do some readjusting and take more pictures soon.

Is a skimmer really a must? I've read lots of threads that say you don't need a skimmer with this tank (so long as you do regular water changes). Also, I never really noticed the tank cycling. Ammonia and nitrites have stayed at 0. Nitrates are at 5-10. Any ideas on what's happening?

On another note, I found a huge creepy worm today. I think it's over 6 inches. Is it fine to keep or should I get him out?



Keep the advice coming!

	SPS Small Polyped Scleractinians - Sometimes known as Small Polyped Stony corals. These are hard corals that have extremely small polyps. They are typically on the difficult side and require Metal Halide lighting or dense Power Compact or T5 arrays. These corals are prized for their rareness and ability to be easily fragged into multiple colonies.