First time experience with saltwater aquarium.

I have been thinking about getting a salt-water aquarium for a while. I love reef tanks! When I see one I usually end up staring at it for hours. So, I decided earlier this year that I was going to start a reef. I started pricing equipment and decided that the largest reef I could afford would be a 10 gallon nano. Although I wanted a larger reef, this would have to do. I started researching and decided I could set it up for about $150 if I built the stand, sump, and live rock myself. I was looking around craigslist one day and found a 75 gallon setup for reef. It is a drilled tank, with sump, skimmer, powerheads, and most importantly 324 watt lighting. It was cheap, not much more than what I was planning on spending on the nano. I brought it home, set it up, filled it with salt water. No leaks!!! So far so good! I have decided to go really slow on this tank.

I have been doing a lot of research on reef aquariums, most of what I have read recommends filing the tank with all the live rock that you will need. If you do that the ammonia levels would be outrageous and not much would live through it. This combined with the fact that I am going to be making DIY rock has prompted me to do it differently.

I bought a small piece of live rock, the most purple rock I could find. Since my tank is going to be sitting here for months while waiting on the homemade rock to stabilize in ph, I decided I would get a head start on coralline growth. This rock was bought just for the coraline.


Since adding the rock, I have seen hundreds if not thousands of critters. Below is a list of what I have seen so far:

- Amphipods:

The day after adding the rock, I started noticing little shrimp swimming around. At first there was only one, he would swim for a while, then disappear. The next day I noticed a much bigger one, and then I started noticing quite a few small ones. The rock has been in the tank for two weeks now, and amphipods are all over it. From my reading they are mostly a good thing, they can be a nuisance and there are evidently a few bad ones, but for the most part good little critters to have.

- Feather Duster:

I noticed a little fuzzy thing moving on the rock, I moved the rock around a bit so I could get a better view of it. It was definitely alive and moving, any quick movement or sudden change of light would cause him to suck up into the rock. After I moved the rock to get a better view, I realized it was a feather duster. These are actually little worms that live in tubes or holes in the rock. The feather duster from what I understand are there gills and are also used to feed.
They are filter feeders, eating microscopic and almost microscopic critters. I'm not sure if they eat zoo plankton or phyto plankton, I need to do a bit more research on this. He appears to be doing well, constantly out feeding, I do not believe that they ever sleep, he is out any time I look at the tank, morning or night.

- Micro Brittle Star:

A few days after I got the rock I noticed a tiny little arm sticking out from a hole in the rock. The arm would come out and wave back and forth for a while, then it would go back in the hole and come out again later. I watched this for hours trying to figure out what it was. Finally, I saw another arm come out, then another. He came completely out of the hole, it is a starfish. A very tiny, well camouflaged starfish. His body is the size of a pin head. His arms are a little bit thicker than a hair. His arms has little black and white bands on them. From what I have read they are mostly filter feeders also. The waving of the arm is how they feed.

- Diatoms:

When I got home a few days after getting the rock, I noticed a slight rust color on the back of the overflow. I have seen diatoms before, but the ones I have always seen on freshwater tanks were a dark dingy brown color. This was a brighter orange color. Almost exactly like the color of rust. My first thought was that something was rusting in my tank. I got online and did a google search
turns out it is diatoms. People usually call this an algae, but from my understanding it is not really an algae at all. I do know that it grows fast, in less than a week, it turned from a light dusting of orange to a thick coating over everything in the tank. The sand is covered, the back overflow, the powerhead has a lot growing on it as well. The back glass is getting a bit of it
as is the front glass. From my understanding it is normal for a new tank to go through this. It has started branching for lack of a better way to describe it, a really thick mat of this is growing. I am leaving it alone for now to see if it will reach a balance on it's own.

- Green Algae:

I have a bit of green algae growing on some of the diatoms. In the few places where it is growing, it looks almost like a seagrass. Again from my reading this is normal to have green algae in a new tank. I am leaving it alone as well, when my cycle finishes I will add critters that eat it.

- Shelled critter possibly a clam or oyster not sure yet:

I have had this rock for almost two weeks, and it is amazing to me that I am still seeing new critters that hitchhiked. I have a critter that is on the rock. I am wanting to say it is a clam, but I am not sure. It is definitely a bi-valve of some sort. I had stared at it many times, thinking it was a strange pattern on the rock. One day while I was looking at it, an amphipod crawled over it and
that caused it to close. That is when i realized what it was. He opens in the day mostly, and is closed at night. I need to do more research to find out what it is. But for now I call him a clam.

- Bristle Worm:

Shortly after I noticed the clam, I went over to the tank after lights out. I saw a very large "arm" coming out of a hole. I thought at first that it was a much larger version of the starfish arm. The arm was about 2 or 3 inches long, and much wider than the starfish arm. As I stared a bit more I realized that it had little hairs growing out of it. I also noticed that the tip was pink. I started to suspect that this was a bristle worm. I googled it and found a very similar looking critter. Sure enough it is a bristle worm. There is a lot of debate about these critters. Some say they are bad, others say they are for the most part helpful. They also will sting you if you touch them, which probably fuels the debate about them being pests. The general consensus seems to be that
most species are good, and there are only a few pest species. So until I notice issues with him, he is staying.

- Orangish Brown Critter with long tentacle:

Have no clue what this is, he is tiny. Does not look like aiptasia. I can barely see him. He has a very long hair like tentacle. He waves it about, then pulls it back to its mouth(?), it appears to lick this tentacle, I am assuming it is feeding. I am keeping an eye on it will keep you updated on what it is.

My philosophy with this tank is try to keep it as natural as possible. If there is a problem with pests, introduce something that will eat it or compete with it. I plan to have macro algaes, coral, inverts, a few fish, and hopefully I can balance it as a small eco system. We will see how it turns out, it will definitely be a learning experience. It already has been a learning experience.