My first O. Hummelincki

unfortunately they all cant live together...especially the frogs they absorb h2o through their skin and salt water would kill them immediately..as far as seperateing delicate fish from agressive with an island that can work but not with an octo...you would also need to add an extra overflow on that side...i am still concerned with the amonia spike and dont think this tank should have any live stock in it...it is your tank and you can do what you want with it but you should not put animals in that would surely be met with demise....just my opinion from someone who is trying to absorb as much information from great people who know more than me...take it slow and listen to people on this site that have far more experience than you and me please
 
Well the animals are there to stay. I don't have another tank set up that I could put them in. I under stand about the amonia spike but I have a friend at work that has been working with public aqaroums for almost 20 years and he said althouh there will be a spike it should be fine. I know amphibians absorb water through their skin. I was planning on placing a large rock bowl on the island
filled with fresh water. This is why I was thinking about the local green tree frogs. I've kept them before and then rarely came down to the bottom of the tank. And as I said about the delicate side that I have rocked off, I'm not putting any of those animals in there now. I know the octopus will just climb over and kill them. This space is rocked off for the future. As for an overflow on that side well it's not really needed. The rock is loose enough that water can come and go through it gently. I really aapreciate everyones concern, but the animals that are in there now are the only animals that will be in there for a while. I have no plans of getting more, just setting up my tank for a future design.
 
Ya I know, and I'm not trying to be rude with anyone. I really do appreciate everyone's input. This tank will eventually be a miniture replication of a Texas Gulf estuary. Fully strength salt water though. I don't do brakish. As for the frogs. I have a fog machine on my current vivarium which I plan on placing on this as soon as the island is built and I am ready to move them over. The fogger will help keep the tree frogs from having to go to the ground and all of the drift wood and plants (I'm going to try and get my hands on some plants that grow in salt water) will be adequate climbing space. I'm still going to place a rock bowl in the sand near the back of the island for them to crawl into if they want.
 
Well I've been home for about two hours and so far all verts and inverts are still doing fine. The tank is not as murky but still not clear. I don't have enough sand to finish the island so I'm going to have to wait till I can buy some more. I put a whisper filter intended for a 40 gallon to help clear up the water. I'm hoping the water will clear up in a couple of hours so I can continue construction. The island rock structure and rock jettie structure are both ready to go. Now I just have to arrange the live rock that I have just stacked on the right side.
 
I've moved the jettie closer to the left side of the tank. Originally it was flush with the edge of the island, but I was unhappy with the way it looked and thought it'd look much better further in. So far so good but I'm still waiting on the tank to clear up. I was stupid and forgot to wash the sand before I put it in the tank. It was 60lbs of sand into 150 gallons of water. So ya it's gonna take a bit to clear. I'm just hoping the filter I put in there helps to speed it along.
 
Another day down and still no casualties. The tank is starting to clean up and I was able to rearrange some rocks, though this clouded the water back up so I have to wait another day to work again. But thus far everything is going nicely.
 
Bubbles was spotted today around 11:30AM by my fiance. She was able to feed her two pieces of krill. I've yet to see here since though. Thus far every animal in the tank has been seen and appears to be doing fine. I've structured most of the rocks in the potion that they will stay. Please note that this tank is far from complete and I still have many other tasks to fulfill before this will be perfect. Here are some pictures of what it looks like now. I'll try to find Bubbles and take some pictures of her for this thread.
 

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I know it's hard to see, but that orangish red mass in the back of the third picture above is a miniature oyster reef I constructed of several oyster shells. Here are a few pictures of the island and rock work.
 

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My fiance has just told me that our stingray, who I call "little buddy", that his name is "Stingy Ray". I said no it is "little buddy" and she put her emphisis on "Stingy Ray."
 
Another day and everything looks fine. The water is almost completely crystal clear. Other then the feeding my fiance did yesterday, Bubbles hasn't been seen since we moved everything over. I've tried looking, but with the way the rock is piled on top of one another, and the fact that there is over 100 lbs of rock, and that Bubbles can sit on a quarter and not go over the edges makes it quit difficult to find her if she doesn't wish to be seen. :frown: Never the less I still scan the tank when ever I walk past it in hopes to find her scurrying about the tank.
 
I just found bubbles. She has moved into the rock that jewels used the live in before she out grew it. I would've taken a picture but she squized back into the rock when the light hit her.
 
Ok so these are the result of today's water test.

PO3 - 0.5 ppm
NO3 - 20 ppm
NO2 - 0 ppm
NH3/NH4 - 0 ppm
pH - 7.8

I realize the pH is low. I'm doing a 10% water change as well as adding calcium. I will also be placing 20lbs of lace rock & 30 lbs of sand. Oh and as for your question dwhaltey (sorry if I spelled that wrong), the rock was lace rock. I found out when I bought more today. Anyways hopefully this should finish off the island. Does anyone know if adding wet or dry substrate affects pH of salt water? Should I be adding buffer every time I put rock or substrate in the tank?

P.S.
I saw bubbles this morning. I was able to see more of her, but still not her entire body. She's still in the rock that Jewels used to den up in. I will try to coax her out with some krill later.
 

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