Complete newbie requesting help with first octopus setup!

[djkaty]

All that stuff is octopus safe, right?

 

[CaptFish]

Ummm....safe for the octopus yes but any crab is subject to being a snack.

 

[djkaty]

Right-o. Well I have $50 to last me til next Tuesday so I'm being Madam Scrooge at the moment, but clean-up crew and a clip-on fan for the sump are top of the agenda for the next trip.

 

[djkaty]

Measurements comparison, please tell me if this is heading in the right direction or not re: cycling:

27th: ammonia 0.05, nitrite 0.05, nitrate 5
30th: ammonia 0.03, nitrite 0.15, nitrate 7.5

 

[Joe-Ceph]

There is one kind of rookie-mistake that can kill you, and you reminded me of it when you mentioned getting a clip on fan. If you don't alerady have one, you need to get a GFCI plug or outlet. "GFCI" stands for "Ground Fault Circut Interrupter" (also called GFI - Ground Fault Interrupter). It is an electrical outlet or adapter that will instantly interrupt the electrical power (turn it off) when one of the electrical components plugged into it gets wet. Without a GFCI plug/adapter, if your hands are in your tank, or your sump, and your plugged in fan or light fixture falls into the water, you will probably be electrocuted, and you're heart could stop (If you die, who will feed your clown fish?). On the other hand, if you have a GFCI installed, and something that is plugged into it falls into the tank, the GFCI will sense the water (ground fault) and immediately turn off the power, before it can hurt you. GET ONE. I'm assuming that you need one in Europe just like you need one in the US, but maybe not, so ask about them at the fish store, and/or the hardware/electrical store. Such plugs are often installed close to kitchen or bathroom sinks, and have "reset" buttons on them, so that you can turn them back on if they trip off.

I replaced the wall outlet near my tank with a GFCI outlet, but they sell some that look like power strips that plug into a regular wall outlet. Either way, be sure that the outlet is properly grounded (three wires, not just two).

 

[djkaty]

In Norway they are called RCDs or PRCDs and I don't need any - their use was mandated in all sockets in all homes as of 2002. So it is all protected already, which is what I suspected - but now I've checked

 

[Lmecher]

Measurements comparison, please tell me if this is heading in the right direction or not re: cycling:

27th: ammonia 0.05, nitrite 0.05, nitrate 5
30th: ammonia 0.03, nitrite 0.15, nitrate 7.5

Yes

 

[cuttlegirl]

Without a GFCI plug/adapter, if your hands are in your tank, or your sump, and your plugged in fan or light fixture falls into the water, you will probably be electrocuted, and you're heart could stop (If you die, who will feed your clown fish?).

What aquarist/hobbiest hasn't been shocked??? I quit counting a long time ago (although I now have a GFI plug). It kind of wakes you up...

 

[cuttlegirl]

I wouldn't worry so much about the anemone, it doesn't need to eat very often and as long as it is opening up every day, it is ok.

 

[DWhatley]

What aquarist/hobbiest hasn't been shocked??? I quit counting a long time ago (although I now have a GFI plug). It kind of wakes you up...

DITTO ... or started a fire

 

[djkaty]

OMG D DON'T SAY THAT!! I am so clumsy and accident-prone... if something can be set on fire, I WILL set it on fire lol.

 

[djkaty]

Anemone.

The reason I'm worried about it is because it seems to be losing colour although my eyes are pretty bad. It is not shrinking up all the time anymore so that's good.

Colouration on the day I got it (Aug 16): Log in to Facebook
Then when I put it in the tank (Aug 24): Log in to Facebook

Looks ok there.

Aug 27: Log in to Facebook
Aug 31 (today): Log in to Facebook

 

[djkaty]

Another from today, showing the discoloration above the root:

Log in to Facebook

 

[Joe-Ceph]

What aquarist/hobbiest hasn't been shocked??? I quit counting a long time ago (although I now have a GFI plug). It kind of wakes you up...

DITTO ... or started a fire

Any near drownings?
You people scare me

 

[CaptFish]

looks fine its just not fully open in that picture.


Here are two of mine. The big one with no fish is in my 125 gallon octopus tank with the lights like yours. the one with the clown fish is in my Anemone aquarium with 'proper' lights. Both of these anemones are old, years old, that spawned from the same anemone. I feed them a half a glass minnow or whole shrimp tail once a week to once every two week, sometimes they dont take food.