russ nano reef build!

[carey]

Yep, theres a direct link between phosphates and algae so as the readings drop so should your algae.

What do you mean put back the firefish? lol

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

Ohhh was meant to post this earlier had a play with my macro settings on my phone and have the camera setup sweet, like my lil hermit?

 

[all4wheels2]

Funny ... I have two firefish (the red one and the helfrichi) and neither have ever jumped out. As long as they have a bolt hole, they will go there first. When they have no where to hide, then they will jump.

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

Yep, theres a direct link between phosphates and algae so as the readings drop so should your algae.

What do you mean put back the firefish? lol

Sorry carey slightly lame of me lol. I meant put back when I picked him up as i was planning on picking him up on friday?

 

[carey]

Nope. I don't see any problem with adding him. Your parameters are good and they've been stable right?

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

Yup since monday that's why I wanted to leave it till friday to be certain, also hoping the phosphate will fully clear by then??

 

[carey]

The reading you have isn't going to affect anything really, in larger amounts in can be bad for corals adn cause algae. Just keep doing water changes, maybe even a few larger ones until you can get it down to 0.

I had a HUGE phosphate issue with my first tank and it took months and months to clear up, meanwhile my corals and fish thrived.

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

I haven't actually done a water change yet just top offs through the cycling process, should i do a pwc this week to get rid of the last trace of phosphate before firefish friday?!

 

[tlkng1]

Firefish are skittish critters but as all4 pointed out, they will hide first then jump if they don't have a choice. They will also jump if suddenly startled. I move around mine very slowly and carefully when the lid is up like during a water change. So far he has stayed put.

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

Ill make sure im very careful on this as im planning on having two. There is plenty of hidey holes as well.

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

Also does any one keep pom pom crabs as id like some as a cuc and would like to know if they can be kept as a group?

 

[carey]

I had a single pom pom but I also had a emerald crab and a procelain crab and had no problems. I would get as many as you like, I didn't get more than one cause they were a bit $$ for my liking. lol

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

That's cool id like to have 4 of these guys as ive heard they are quite shy so hopefully in numbers i should see a bit more of them. Are they pretty easy to care for carey?

 

[carey]

I had mine for a few months but then the crab lost one pom pom and then shortly after lost the other. :-( They get their food from their pompoms so mine may have starved. They eat leftover food so they are pretty easy to keep. Mine was also very secretive and didnt' come out very much. He liked to hang out in my candycane coral.

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

Ahh cool im planning on keeping a candy cane! I've heard if they lose a nem they can propogate from the one on their other claw or another pom pom crab so hopefully keeping the four may help.
Another one for you carey i would like to keep a nem but understand that they can get quite big for a nano, could i keep on fragging it to keep it at a nano reasonable size??

 

[carey]

i really would stay away from nems in a nano. In general, really...They require established tanks and pristine water and very high lighting. The only nem that might be ok is a mini maxi one, they don't get to more than 6 inches I think. Very colorful too, I'm interested in getting one for my 20g maybe...

 

[Russ_gibbo1985]

So how big do the other nems get then carey as i reeeally want one for my clowns??

 

[carey]

Well, I had a small condy and it eventually took over the left isde of my 29g tank. Mine never moved but they can and will go wherever they want. If they get big enough they have been known to eat fish!

In the long run you aren't doing a dis-service to your clowns by not getting one, they only have a chance at hosting it anyway. they ahve been known to host ANYTHING, powerheads, rocks, corals, anything. LOL

I had a beautiful australian elegance that my four clowns decided they wanted to host and it nearly killed the coral. I had to actually give the coral away to save it. :-(

 

[joy13]

I was going to suggest a mini anemone but clowns don't host them. The look pretty neat some of them. A maxi mine gets to big for anything less than a 24 I would say mine are about 8 inches across, they host sexy shrimp and porcelain crabs.

 

[carey]

Hmm, Joy do you think one would be ok in a 20g 24" tank? I was told previously they could go in a tank as small as 4g...