what am doing?

[jfleabug58]

:help: I am a newbie
how do I know when my tank is cycled?
and I have critters that I don't know what they are.
I have anemones on my live rock they are tan in color semi transparent with stems and of course tentacles on top. They are multiplying. what Kind are they and should I be worried?

next: I Have these nasty looking worm like things they are brownish red with long tentacles that are very small like treads they stay in the substrate. what are they?

[johnfish]

Welcome!

I think it takes three to six months for a reef tank to cycle in. It usually goes through a bunch of nasty stages with hair algae, red slime, brown slime and other gross stuff coming and going. You just have to be patient and let it all balance out.

After these 3 to 6 months are up, your tank should look nice and clean like a proper reef tank. If everything has died, it did not cycle properly.

You will get all kinds of weird critters. Almost all of them will be harmless or benificial. I wouldn't worry about it too much. The more critters the better. They are fun to watch, especially at night with a flashlight.

Those anenomes are definately nasty. They are called Aptasia Anenomes or Glass Anenomes. They will spread like weeds and take over your tank. You need to zap them with a super strong mixture of kalkwasser. You mix it up with very little water so it is a thick liquid and drop it into the anenomes. They will dissolve, especially if they swallow it.

They will probably grow back, but you just have to keep on top of it, like weeding a garden. Try not to get the liquid on anything else or it will kill it. I use one of those disposable bulb syringes you get in additives and test kits with a long piece of rigid airline stuck on the end.

Worms are almost always good. Those ones you have sound like spagetti worms, which are very good. Don't worry about them.

Patience is very important. Nothing good ever happens fast in a reef tank.

Good luck!

John

[Daniel Schubert]

John fish is right. I would suggest you get yourself a good book for reference to help you identify some of the critters in your tank. As for how long it takes a tank to cycle. I think johns estimate of 6 months is pretty good however to properly mature it would take at least two years (IMHO). I hope that you enjoy this hobby. I think the right step is to visit BB such as this one and read as much as you can. You may also consider joining a club within your area. This is another source of info.

Welcome aboard

[afss]

First of all
http://www.aquariumpros.ca/images/welcome2.gif

Secondly, the anemones you speak of sure sound like aptasia. If your tank has been setup long enough and has cycled to a point that you can safely add livestock i would suggest trying some pepermint shrimp. They do best in groups of 3 or more and some people have had them help with the aptasia by eating them. Unfortunately it is hit and miss as to if they will even touch the anemones. The kalk paste will work too. I have also found that vinegar works EXTREMELY well to get rid of unwanted anemones. You need a needle and just inject it directly into the anemone. Advantage to this method is that there is basically no likelyhood that you will get it on another coral that you didn't mean to. The disadvantage is that it is not easy to do on smaller anemones and you have 1 chance to get each one each time you try. If you miss and just brush against it then it will close up and you will likely have to try again the next night. I have found that the vinegar kills aptasia on the first shot, it kills other mojano like anemones on the first or second shot.

Be cautious not to use too much of either vinegar or kalk paste at any given time as they both can affect your systems PH. I have a 90 gallon and i have used up to 50cc of vinegar in one night with no problems. Having said that, each system is different and another tank may not be able to handel such a does.

Scott

[jfleabug58]

I just wanted to thank you all for the replies and Im glad your here
you have been very helpful. Any ideas on books on identifing critters? Thank you again.

[Daniel Schubert]

I personnely have Julian Sprung "Invertebrates A Quick Reference Guide". It has a lot of coloured pictures, relative in-expensive and written for the average person. Unfortueately it does not cover very small critter but does contain slugs, snails, shrimps, crabs, worms, urchins etc.