Saltwater Fish Keeping and Help.

[jetmechG550]

Try cutting back on your lights a little, at least until the tank matures a little and don't do it all at once. Cut back to say eight hours but cut those two hours off over about a week. If not for the plants I'd say go shorter yet but I don't do live plants so I don't know how it would effect them. After a couple weeks at 7-8 hours gradually increase the photo-period if'n your algea problem is getting better.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

The algea isnt a problem, its looking good to me. The snails and the tang make meals of it, so it isnt getting out of control. That giant Tiger Crowie ate like 1/4 of the back of the tank (algea) and finally pooped today... Let me say, that is a pile like a small dog would make... WOW. Should i net it up and toss it?

 

[jetmechG550]

Get a couple Nassarius snails, they eat detritus (fish poop), and a couple blue leg hermits or baja hermits. You running a protein skimmer? I thought I would make a go of it without one and then decided to try it after reading about them. After I saw the thing in action (I couldn't believe the poop, literally, it was pulling out) I was convinced I would never go skimmerless again. Something you may want to consider if your pushing max on your bioload and with juvenile fish, they are especially messy.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

I do have a protien skimmer, and it is pulling some nasty lookin stuff out... I have 5 nassarius snails... i think i spoiled them with pieces of shrimp, because they dont touch the poop... The big crowie snail is awesome though... I thought my abalone was big... this thing is a monster... Its bigger than all of my fish!!! I have a blood red scarlet shrimp... I guess he just eats meat. I heard the hermits like to eat snails, so i think i will stay clear of those... I want to keep my snails alive!

 

[jetmechG550]

I have had about 20 hermits and 25 snails at one time in my tank. They all get along. The skimmer will help for sure. I always offer up a cup of pond scum to anyone whose around when I clean mine.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

I have had about 20 hermits and 25 snails at one time in my tank. They all get along. The skimmer will help for sure. I always offer up a cup of pond scum to anyone whose around when I clean mine.

Yeah man, that nasty brown liquid that it pulls out of "clear" water is amazing... I didnt know i had so much crap in there untill i opened the stand and saw the protien skimmer half way full in less than 2 weeks... Just nasty stuff, and the smell isnt great either.

I guess i will try out a couple hermits, and I'm hoping they wont attack and kill my snails... I will get a couple when i get my next fish... Anything else i should consider?

By the way, how big is your tank???

 

[vgibbens]

FWIW, Scarlet reef hermits are safer around snails, IME. Damn blue legs ate 10 out of 12 snails I had in my former 20g nano. RC10, you said that your skimmer was half full in two weeks. Try cleaning the collection cup and foam tower at least once a week. Also, what kind of skimmer is it?

 

[jetmechG550]

I have 55gal right now, and I'm running an Aqua C Remora skimmer. I dump and clean the cup and tower every 4 days or so, unless I'm on a trip and then my wife only dumps it out for me. I was having luck with all my little critters until I picked up a mantis in some rock I bought. I've tried several things to get the little bastard without luck.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

OK, well i got some new additions... I let my mom pick the fish (she picked a bi-color dwarf angel). He is a little guy, but seems to be fitting in well. He is already eating algea off of the rocks, so i think he will be fine. I also got some small zebra hermit crabs. They are supposedly herbivores, so they shouldnt eat my snails. I got another shrimp and i got a small tiger tall sea cuke. Also got a couple Trochus snails... I think that may be the end of the animals... My other occellaris clown is dieing... i think its just a bad batch of clowns... Yellow tang and the tomato clowns are happy and eating a lot. I think if i do another order i may get a sand sifting sea star... I dunno...

Oh, I also just noticed a huge bristle worm... I guess he was living in the rock, and finially poked out... are these things dangerous to anything?

 

[jetmechG550]

They could be, check it out on reef central. RC also has a specific clownfish forum, might be able to find something out there to help your clown before it's too late. They also have an emergency forum. Don't give up, one of my true percs wasn't looking too good about 3 weeks after I got him (you know they are all hims right, until the find someone to pair with and then one changes sexes to female), it was on it's head and gasping bad. Very unstable in the water. It was late in the evening and nothing I could do since I figured it was clownfish syndrome and he would die that evening. I went to bed and left him in the tank to ride it out, he still looked bad the next day but was still alive. 2 days later his color was very milky looking but he was swimming better. A week later he looked normal except for the color. 1 year later, he's still swimming around in my tank happy as a lark.
With all his color back I might add.

 

[Bouzouki]

Most of the time, bristle worms are fine.

They're probably 100's in my tank.

They are scavengers and eat detruis, waste, etc.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Anyone ever try the "giant" clams? I think i'm going to try em out... since they only get 6 inches long, and i have the lighting to support them, I'm gonna give it a shot. I have all of the reef-essential elements and add them weekly. I think i am also going to try a bulb anenome... Anything special i should know about any of these?

 

[jetmechG550]

You have metal halides? I thought you said VHO's for lighting. I wouldn't even think about a clam unless you have halides. It's not the wattage so much as it's the par value (depth pentration of the light). Clams are not cheap and you don't want to buy something and have it die because it didn't get what it needed to live. Anemone's need a lot of light too, if you have high wattage lights you can pull it off if he's placed higher in the tank. They are neat though, my tomato clown never leaves except to eat!

 

[RushRC]

Check out this tank!!:OMG::OMG:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-10/totm/index.php
Oh and he has clams and according to him dont put your finger in it lol...

 

[.21Rc10GT]

I dont have halides, but Live Aquaria said i could pull it off with the VHOs with the 15k lights. I'm gonna pick up a set next time i go to the fish shop... According to them also, the clams can be put in the mid to upper section and be ok. The lighting is the thing they use to keep the color, so i will need stronger bulbs... I think i will get some halides with my tank upgrade... They seem to be the cats-meow...

BTW rush, i was looking at that a few days ago... looks awesome to me!! Yeah, i dont think i would stick my finger in a clam to test its reflexes... that could hurt

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Well, i ordered a couple clams and an anenome, and they should be here tomorrow... I ordered some food, salt mix, and light bulbs from em too, and those should be here later this week. The thing i like about Live aquaria.com is the 14 day garuntee on all aquatic life...

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Well, the clowns love their anenome!!! They beat it all to hell (although there are no signs of injury) and they jump in it like a feather bed... its actually fun to watch. The clams are really bright and seem to be happy. The bi-color angel died a while ago, but i cannot find his body!!! All of the chemical readings are fine (he has been dead/missing for over 2 weeks now...)... I think he died because he didnt eat... He jsut wouldnt eat... i tried everything hoping he would, but he didnt, so i think that did him in and something ate him (hence the body missing?). I put in his place a blue tang (Dori from Finding Nemo lol). He is about an inch and a half long, and is the brightest blue i have ever seen!!! He started eating right away, and seems to fit in nicely! He is however a little shy. I know that he will need a lot bigger tank, and i am going to upgrade in 1-2 years. My brother's friend is also giving me his reef setup (not any animals)... He has the live rock (my brother calls them corals.. lol), and filters and stuff... i still dont have the demensions, but i will get em up soon. I plan to go to a 200+ gallon in a while. Actually, the demensions i have measured out for the tank make it around 450 gallons... lol... I am thinking either a rectangle or a corner (quarter circle).

 

[jetmechG550]

Pac blue's are like that, they will hide, especially when they are juvi's. With crab's, snails, and shrimp in the tank, they will make quick work out of anything that dies. I have a tomato clown that moves from anemone to anemone, or at least he did until I sold my condi and then my lta got into a fight with one of the powerheads and lost when I was on vacation. Now he resides in the bta, but it's funny cause he's bigger than it. My wife wants to get new floors in the house, if we do, I will have to move my tank, I'm working on just getting a new larger tank, moving everything to it. I'd like to stick around 180-200. Too bad about the bi-color, mine (Pacer as my daughter named him since he's the same color as the teams colors and I work for the team owners) has been with us for about 1 year, he's always picking but has yet to touch any of my corals.

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Well, i got another new tank... Its a 50-gallon long style... made of acrylic and scratched to hell on the inside (doesn't really show with water on it). My brother's friend gave it to me. He said it was going to go to the dump if i didnt take it, so i went and got it. It has all of the filters and pumps and the skimmer and lights... But, i dont really wanna use those things... I ordered a trickle filter, like i have in my 46 gal... it has a canister filter that hadnt been cleaned in years... The tank looked like it sat outside untill all the water evaporated, because there was still salt all over the sides of it, and the sand was in the bottom (crushed coral)... The top with the canopy and the lights is all ghetto rigged together...
I think I'm going to use Power Compacts... My question is, what is a good setup? I was looking on ebay to try to find a cheaper price, but i really dont know what they go for... I would think they would be upwards of $200...

http://cgi.ebay.com/48-POWER-COMPAC...7721855271QQcategoryZ3212QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I think that would be a good one... Maybe i only need 4 lights, instead of 6? is that a good brand? I'm not doing anemones or coral... just live rock and whatever algea grows... I think I'm gonna try some butterflyfish, which pick at everything, so i dont need tons of light, but if i wanted to change, i want something that would be able to handle it... I dont want to spend over $300 shipped...

 

[.21Rc10GT]

Well. I went ahead and got that 6-PC setup... I talked to the guy, and he said it should be perfect for my setup, and if i ever wanted some anemones or somethin, i could get some...