Reef Aquarium Hitchhiker Worms Spawning & Reproducing

[dot4ourty5ive]

under extreme stress many marine inverts will attempt to spawn in a last effort to reproduce before they die...so there's that possible explanation

[newyorksteelo]

@dot4ourty5ive Thanks for sharing that.

[afrankdapimp12]

the reason your nitrates are showing zero is because the algae are using them up, your getting a false 0

[newyorksteelo]

@afrankdapimp12 That and the deep sand bed. Please visit my 3 videos on deep sand beds to learn more on how a deep sand bed can serve as a natural filter that consumes nitrates and recycles them as a form of nitrogen gas.

[saliva911]

hey i just wanted to know if you can watch my video. and tell me if you know what kind of worm is the one i have .cause i dont want to have to take my tank apart if not necessary.

[newyorksteelo]

@saliva911 Check out my video on how to aquascape a reef aquarium, where I have a link in the description box on all live rock hitchhikers with photos and information so that you can easily identify the worm in question. Good luck.

[CORALnFISH]

DONT TOUCH THEM IF THERE BIG THEY STING LIKE HORNET AND IT REALLY HURTS :(

[newyorksteelo]

@CORALnFISH Absolutely. Thanks for sharing that cause you are definitely right on this one. I have been stung before by them and it itched and bothered for like a day. Thanks again :)

[mindciller]

nasty, promote safe reef keeping and put a condom on that thing :P

[newyorksteelo]

@mindciller Haaaaa :)

[newyorksteelo]

@rome3500 I would be more concerned with decaying dead matter than with live sperm. Actually, this sperm can feed your corals and can be beneficial. Good luck and keep up the good work.

[thegoodsoflife]

I've seen 5 mins ago a big 10 cm worm in my reef is it good?.(im scared)

[newyorksteelo]

@thegoodsoflife It depends. Most of the worms that make it into our homes are OK and harmless scavengers. If it looked like the ones in this video, it is OK to have. Consider making a video on it so i can take a look if you see him again.

[elopez350]

are bristle worms bad?

[newyorksteelo]

@elopez350 They are great beneficial critters that eat detritus. Don't believe the hype.

[elopez350]

@newyorksteelo Thanks! I have noticed a few in my tank and wasn't sure. I enjoy watching your videos!

[newyorksteelo]

@elopez350 The only bad bristle type worm that you should look out for is a fire worm but it barely makes it into our tanks. Look up fireworm photos google to see what it looks like. Thanks for watching.

[elopez350]

@newyorksteelo yeah, I definitely have the regular bristle worms. thank god lol Also, one last question and I'm sure which video to comment on but how would i control aptasia's?

[newyorksteelo]

@elopez350 Now that I don't have the answer to because I never had it but there are plenty of sites with instructions on how to eradicate these unwanted pests. Good Luck.

[dm002a8686]

Any type of hermit crabs, and how many do you think I should get,

[newyorksteelo]

@dm002a8686 I would get about 8 to 10 Scarlet Hermit crabs (the red ones). These are reef safe and eat anything dying or decaying. Best of all, these small crabs have respect for life and will never bother corals or other animals. They also eat algae.

[dm002a8686]

niterite back to zero,you have seen my tank on youtube, my tank is 166 uk gal, i have c/mas 1800 skimmer , ozone and uv steriliser

[newyorksteelo]

@dm002a8686 Yes I have seen your tank and remember now. Try and get yourself some hermit crabs so that is something starts to die in your tank, the crabs will rid of it faster than it can decompose and cause a mini ammonia or nitrite spike. Good to hear the mini cycle has ended. keep up the good work.

[dm002a8686]

checked toay niterite back to zero lol went thought circle, you have seen my tank on youtube its 166 uk gallons 150 lbs of live rock approx, c/skimm 1800 skimmer and ozone plus uv steriliser 

[dm002a8686]

Hi I have been having a problem with nitrite for two weeks , it was at 0.25 but now between 0 and 0.25 for two weeks tried water changes but still staying the same, did have ammonia problem about threes weeks ago when one of my big leather corals was dying , what do you think I can do m8

[newyorksteelo]

@dm002a8686 Hmmm, is it possible that you do not have enough of a clean up crew to prevent death and decaying matter from decomposing in the tank, causing ammonia and nitrite spikes? Scarlet Red Hermit Crabs will go a long way in keeping your system clean and prevent this from happening. Also, what size if your system and how many pounds of of rock do you have and what does your filtration consist of?

[Nugburner420]

reefcleaners.o rg/index.php?page=shop.browse&­category_id=18&option=c om_virtuemart&Itemid=34.also nerite snails are great.keep an eye on the macro algae making sure that the hair algae is taking what it needs to live. im sure you knew that.also double the macro algae quantity. wrasse have a chance of eating chintons.Turbograzer Snails are super good but they knock over everything and starve if there is no more algae so a couple is all is needed.

[newyorksteelo]

@Nugburner420 Ever since the release of this video 3 days ago, the hair algae has stopped growing after I cleaned it out. This is a fairly new system (about 7 weeks old) and some hair algae is expected considering that I am using Miracle Mud. My macro algae growth has doubled in size since it's initial introduction to the system and I believe the growth of hair algae has slowed down because of this. Thanks for the info and heads up.

[Nugburner420]

i read something along the lines of you wont be able to read nitrates if you have hair algae. something to do with it feeding off the nitrates at different times of the day. you can try testing the water at different times of the day. but in short you may have nitrates but the hair algae prevents you from reading them when testing for them.theres more to it but that is the just of it. im sure you seen this site reefcleaners.o rg . Chintons can be found there . the clean up hair algae in no time!

[newyorksteelo]

@Nugburner420 Your statement about false readings of nitrates due the growth of hair algae is totally true, and if you have lots of it, your test kits will read zero. In my case, the hair algae growth has been minimal and I usually clean it out right away. One thing that is important to understand is that hair algae does not only rely on nitrates to grow, but also on major and minor trace elements as well as excess nutrients. I have many small chiton's living in and around the live rock.

[abaneyone]

I see that often in my 5 gallon nano. Is it some type of sperm reproduction or wast elimination? I just don't know. Yeah, live rock is the best! Your system looks great! How do you deal with hair algae? Don't fish do more grazing on it then snails?

[newyorksteelo]

@abaneyone Yes about the fish eating the hair algae, but this is a nano system with no tangs so it is up to the snails to devour the algae. Not much hair algae is growing at this time but with the new addition of the miracle mud, I have seen a bit more than usual. As you probably already know from watching my previous videos, this is a new system so some hair algae is expected. If your system is showing similar signs as you see in this video, most likely it means your critters are reproducing.

[girotube]

Hey I saw the chupacabra doing the same thing hehe!

Awesome Alph!

Well man the blue light is a pain! you need filters for your lens ...!

[newyorksteelo]

@girotube es man, I don't know if I have to either buy a new camera or what do not allow the blue light to wash out the colors. The tank looks way more colorful in person.

[girotube]

@newyorksteelo

Simple B... lens filter or use the white balance setting on the camera.. try them all.. outdoors I think should do something.. If not you need a Blue filter (to block blue) from B&H 34st..

[newyorksteelo]

@girotube I only wish I knew how lol. I am going to be looking to buy a new camera next week. How much did you pay for your 1080p?

[girotube]

@newyorksteelo

My camera is $4,000.00 Panasonic AG-HMC150

The other one is a Canon $800

You can get a nice one for $300 or $400 like this one Canon VIXIA HF R10 Dual Flash Memory Camcorder. Perfect for youtube.

[crookedballer]

yea steelo its cumming in your tank. lol

[newyorksteelo]

@crookedballer Yep, and probably loving it too.

[jwalker43081]

why only daytime skimming?

[newyorksteelo]

@jwalker43081 Have you watched my 2 most recent videos on Ecosystem Miracle Mud? The answers to your question is on those 2 videos.

[dougnight44]

lol.if you see one look for more cause they all do it at the same time in mine.send me your camera when you get that new one and you can see my tank better.my camera sucks.cya

[newyorksteelo]

@dougnight44 I have seen your videos and your camera does a decent job in the video quality lol. The only reason I am upgrading is because of the full screen feature of HD and the sharper video quality.

[dougnight44]

well yes you are right.I seem to get that in my 28 just about every week.if you watch it close you can see that they will strech out and then move back leaving a membrain behind and then squirting some type of semin and the female will squirt eggs out.it cool to see them both together.lol.7 yrs and never seen it.i sit in front of mine to long.

[newyorksteelo]

@dougnight44 I am sure they spawn all the time on my tanks only I never really caught it on camera or seen it first hand. I have witnessed snails spawning, clowns breeding and probably never caught the bristle worms reproducing since most of my tanks were in the living room. This particular nano tank is different because it is in my room ,and I have been spending lots of time in front of it and was fortunate enough to catch it on camera in action.

[newyorksteelo]

@taedom Have you been following my videos on this 30 gallon system, and the addition of the refugium, and miracle mud experiments? The updates are intended to show if it really works and if something bad goes wrong, I will continue to report it on my videos for a 6 month period without water changes as well.

[taedom]

@newyorksteelo I think you need to get a hold of Leng Sy.(inventor of Miracle Mud) He has been instructing me from day 1 of my build on what to buy to keep the algae at bay and its working. I also dont see anywhere in the instructions that not doing water changes is a good idea. Perhaps a video further explaining what you are testing and or your plan on how you are trying to prove if the mud works would be helpful for thoes who are using this mud as well.

[newyorksteelo]

@taedom I have contacted him several times via e-mail and he is pleased to hear that I was doing this experiment. The only recommendation he stressed was to make sure I keep running the skimmer to a minimal, but even he said that the use of a skimmer would do more good than harm considering no water changes will be done for 6 months. On my videos, I explain what maintenance I will use & some of the tests performed on a weekly basis. What exactly were his recommendations to you?

[taedom]

@newyorksteelo I agree with more skim if you are not doing water changes. I think we have different set ups here and the advise that is being given is different based on 30 gal to 185 gal.(maybe) Leng has told me not to buy a skimmer and i just started to add fish and corals this past weekend.(video to follow) fish/corals are ok so far. However I 2 have worries about bio load come full tank with the wish list of fish I have. Maybe we together can come up with the best option.

[newyorksteelo]

@taedom I am starting to believe that it is possible to run a marine system without a skimmer but I believe that in order to do this, the refugium must be packed with algae from the get go and well established. I have really started to begin seeing more polyp extension as advertised. During this 6 month experiment in which a month and a half has already passed, the only thing I want to ensure is that Calcium, Alkalinity, and PH stay intact with a 2 part additive. We shall wait and see.

[newyorksteelo]

@taedom Great advice, only I do not have a phosphate problem lol. The slight growth of green hair algae is due to the excess nutrients found in the MIracle Mud which is intended to feed algae in order to grow it in large quantities for your refugium. Also, getting a phosphate reactor will defeat the purpose of my experiments with the Miracle Mud where as I stated in my earlier videos, was added to find out if it really works without a skimmer, although the skimmer is ran 4 to 6 hours a day.

[vanhalenman60]

you gut buble algea on ur rock

[newyorksteelo]

@vanhalenman60 Yes. that rock has always had it. They are harmless and consume nitrates from the water column. I would not worry about them unless they spread like wild fire and then you can simply manually remove them and or use some emerald crabs that gobble them right up.

[ReptiCon725]

just get a few shrim to take care of the algae, or turbo snails!

[newyorksteelo]

@ReptiCon725 Not aware of any shrimp that eat algae, but yeah for the turbo snails. As I stated in the video, I am not too worried about it cause I rectify the problem before the hair algae can take a foot hold. Thanks for the suggestion.

[ReptiCon725]

@newyorksteelo i think i've seen peppermint shrimp eat hair algae before.however, turbo snails do the best job!

[newyorksteelo]

@ReptiCon725 I have yet to discover this. I know that peppermint shrimps are better known to consume aptasia but green hair algae hmmm? More snails will be added if it worsens.

[sputnik790]

Great system Steel, so far i counted 7 bristle worms in my tank, i still feel a little weird about having them, but if you're OK with them, then me too! Yesterday my nitrites were 2.0, this morning they were 1.0 and i just tested the water and it's 0.50 :) i think Friday is the day for my clean up crew!?

[newyorksteelo]

@sputnik790 Bristle worms are the best scavengers you can have on a marine aquarium. They only live according to the amount of waste and detritus in the system, so the less waste and detritus you have, the less bristle worms you will see. The saying the bristle worms are bad critters is a myth and out of the thousands of species, only a hand full are bad predators such as the famous fire worm, but the chances of you getting a bad one are remotely impossible.

[foodterminal]

Great video. I need to ask you a question. In the video I heard you said that you leave the protein skimmer on only during the day. I have mine on all the time in my 14 gallon biocube. Is this wrong,should I turn it off at night, and why if so. Thanks.

[newyorksteelo]

@foodterminal Have you watched my recently released videos on "Ecosystems Miracle Mud" I clearly state in those videos that using this mud requires you to not even have a protein skimmer and if you are going to run a skimmer, it should only be a few hours a day. Disregard my statements on this as I am conducting an experiment to see if Miracle Mud does that they say it can do.

[kevinrsp]

Try to get a Canon HD

[newyorksteelo]

@kevinrsp Sounds good, although I have been a loyal fan of Sony Cybershot cameras for years, and will very likely get one sometime next week. I will check out the Canon before the purchase though. Thanks for the advice though.

[kevinrsp]

@newyorksteelo You probably already know, but Sony cameras do not use SD cards which can be somewhat limiting. Check out these CNet.com reviews for best HD camcorders. There is one Sony in there however. I hope to pick up one of the Canons in the future, myself.

cnet.com/best-hd-camcorders

[newyorksteelo]

@kevinrsp I will surely check it out. Sony cameras use DUO Pro memory cards but my laptop also takes these cards so it should not be a problem. I will look into pricing and features before I buy though so thanks again and for the link.

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo i beg to differ kevin. I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-H55 and it does both SD and Pro Duo. It has an optical 10x Zoom G lens, 14.1 Mega Pixels and does 720P video. got it at best buy. AWESOME camera. However, i havent been able to figure out how to keep the blue from overtaking the image... Steelo, you might want to get one of those "real" camcorders although, i bet you'll have a hard time finding one that maintains true lighting... Maybe its just my settings though...

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex Yeah, but the question is, can a camcorder really prevent the blues from washing the color out? I agree with you that Sony Cybershots are awesome man. Had 3 different kinds over the years and the photo quality and flash are superb. I would not want to spend so much on a camcorder only to find out that the blue still washes the colors. Guess it's time to research.

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex I also want a camera that is going to give me at least 1080i or better yet 1080p. We will see what I can come up with.

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo If you get another cybershot, get the DSC-H55 man, incredible camera for the price. Like i said earlier, it'll do everything you want but the damn blue lights is what kills...

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex don't want to spend more than $300 and now and days, with that kind of money, I think I can get something with 1080p HD. I will reseach the DSC-H55 as well.

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo i got my cybershot for like $250 from best buy this past July. You might be able to find it cheaper, especially in NY... I dont know if you'll be able to find a 1080 camera for that amount man...

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex I just finished checking out your camera and yes it is $250 however, i am curious as to how well the optical zoom works. Some cameras lose lots of focus when you use the optical zoon. Was also looking at the WX1 for $279.

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo the zoom works as good as any other zoom. I have had problems with the focus though. It seems i have to go in and out to stimulate it to focus on rare occasions. I think with some practice though, as far as distance to stand from your object as you zoom, you could get it to focus on your zoomed object without a problem. I have to warn you though, and i've had this problem with other cameras, as you zoom, the audio gets low for some reason until you stop manipulating the zoom.

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo in this hobby (cameras) you get what you pay for LOL who do i sound like? hahahahahaha

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex Haaa haa haaaaa lol. trying to be a smart ass lol. But yeah I guess it applies to cameras too lol.

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo lol yeah it really does... sorry to say man, your price range is kinda low :(

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo Hey man, go to B&H on 33rd and 9th ave. Huge camera store in NYC. That was the only place i could find a charger for my old cybershot when i lost it last time i was in NYC... Its weird though, the whole crew that runs that store are jewish o_O

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex I'll check it out. Thanks.

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex ALso, how long does it take you to upload a 720p video on youtube?

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo it takes forever man... i forget what i have as far as upload speeds for my cable modem connection but it takes a good half hour to upload about 7 minutes lol. I just let it upload and go do something else. No big deal though...

[newyorksteelo]

@siloex I figured that. One last question though, h9ow much memory will the camera come with off the factory and how long of a video can I record with the internal memory?

[siloex]

@newyorksteelo it came with 1GB pro duo (yuk) and i get about 10-12 minutes of 720 video. It seems all cameras come with minimum memory so i would count on spending money on more memory. The good news is that you can get a bad ass SD card that has a ton of memory for cheap.

[mofoglenn333]

hey good job!!! whats up w the 90 gallon? how is it? update on it?

[newyorksteelo]

@mofoglenn333 Thanks. The 90 is doing exceptionally well as usual, only there has not been any changes to it since my last update video 2 weeks ago. Once I am done with this 30 gallon system, stocking it and all, I will move on to the upgrades of the 90 and the additions of corals. Lot's of work and videos to do, so little time lol.

[huzzygam]

WOW, Thats amazing! Thats all i need to know,im getting me some mircle mud. my new sump will be done in a few days and i have room for a 24x12x14 inch refugium.

Great vid,keep up the good work.

[newyorksteelo]

@huzzygam Thanks. Sounds like you will have a nice sized refugium. I do not necessarily owe the spawning to the mud, although I am sure it does help. It's all about understanding sea water chemistry and maintaining it as close and stable to that of natural sea water.

[punkrules45]

would the same happen with good water conditions if your occelaris clowns have spawned? mine spawned and the eggs NEARLY made it but our urchin got them so next time im going isolate them.

[newyorksteelo]

@punkrules45 Definitely. If your clowns spawned it is an indication that they are happy and that the water parameters are good. Good job. If you maintain these good water parameters it may encourage them to spawn every week or every other week. Keep up the good work.

[punkrules45]

@newyorksteelo that is awesome to hear thanks! wish I would have made a video of the eggs only took pictures have some vids of the clowns though and my anemone spawning as well on my page (would that indicate good water conditions as well?) it is about 10 maybe 12 inches across. I am amazed to see those bristleworms spawn I have some in my tank as well so now I know

[newyorksteelo]

@punkrules45 Make sure and capture it on video. It is always interesting to see animals mate in nature. Once gain, keep up the good work.

[punkrules45]

@newyorksteelo next time I shall. Thanks a lot I will this is a great hobby! you too your vids are very informative

[newyorksteelo]

@punkrules45 Good to hear don't forget to rate my videos lol.

[ryjack26]

"i dont want to leave just in case one of thoes bristle worms stick out their reproductive organs and start spittin out sperm" lol

[newyorksteelo]

@ryjack26 lol, even I was laughing in the video, and then again when i saw the video before I uploaded it lol.

[gprime22]

would it hurt the HOB refugion if you stuck like a koralia nano on the end of it just go add some surface movement?

[newyorksteelo]

@gprime22 It wont hurt, but it is not needed, unless surface scum accumulate in the surface and this has not happened.