Full of Questions

[JoshsReef]

Well it looks like we are going to catch a break in the weather and hit highs in the fifties early next week so I am going to go ahead and place an order with saltwaterfish.com for a cleenup crew and a couple other different things.

My first question is has anyone dealt with Saltwaterfish.com? have good experiences? did they allow you to change anything about there prebuilt reef packages?

MY second question is what is the best Goby to stir up sand and that is the most interesting to watch? They currently have small neon gobies for 2 dollars which look pretty interesting, if I add a neon goby would I still be able to add another goby along with him?

My third question is about starfish, if they cant be exposed to air how do you add them to your tank without geting the water from there bag into your system? Also which would be best for what will be a reef and easiest to care for, a brittle or a serpent or a different one?

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/value_menu.php
On there value menu they have both a mushroom polyp umbrella and Green Ricordea for 7.99. obviously it prob will not look like the picture as it is only one polyp. How big will it be? will it even be similar to there picture?

They also have cleaner clams on there value menu. Anyone have any of these? Do they really make a difference with nitrates? Will they need filter feeding liquid food?

I know there are a bunch of questions here. But any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Innovator]

Originally Posted by JoshsReef

Well it looks like we are going to catch a break in the weather and hit highs in the fifties early next week so I am going to go ahead and place an order with saltwaterfish.com for a cleenup crew and a couple other different things.

Originally Posted by JoshsReef

My first question is has anyone dealt with Saltwaterfish.com? have good experiences? did they allow you to change anything about there prebuilt reef packages?

They have always had a reasonable reputation in the past, friendly staff, etc. Most companies allow you to substitute within their "cleanup crews."

MY second question is what is the best Goby to stir up sand and that is the most interesting to watch? They currently have small neon gobies for 2 dollars which look pretty interesting, if I add a neon goby would I still be able to add another goby along with him?

Most gobies that stir sandbeds are feeding upon the fauna within it. How desireable or undesireable that is, is up to preference. Sleeper, watchman, and engineer gobies seem to be most popular as long as they receive prepared food in addition to their sifting. I wouldn't add more than a pair in case of future mating/breeding possibilities.

My third question is about starfish, if they cant be exposed to air how do you add them to your tank without geting the water from there bag into your system? Also which would be best for what will be a reef and easiest to care for, a brittle or a serpent or a different one?

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/value_menu.php
On there value menu they have both a mushroom polyp umbrella and Green Ricordea for 7.99. obviously it prob will not look like the picture as it is only one polyp. How big will it be? will it even be similar to there picture?

I disbelieve the notion of not being able to expose echinoderms to air. Prolonged exposure can have negative impact; however, the quick seconds we use to transfer the animals do not cause mortality. If anything, majority of mortalities come from shipping stress and acclimation shock. These beautiful creatures do not tolerate changes in salinity, temperature, and pH very well which is why at least 3hrs should be dedicated towards acclimation, if not 4hrs+. If anything I would purchase a serpent star and stay clear from brittles.

They also have cleaner clams on there value menu. Anyone have any of these? Do they really make a difference with nitrates? Will they need filter feeding liquid food?

I know there are a bunch of questions here. But any advice would be greatly appreciated

I would not bother with cleaner clams just for the sole purpose of nitrate reduction. You'd be better off with a proven cleaning workhorse.

[amkelly]

MY second question is what is the best Goby to stir up sand and that is the most interesting to watch? They currently have small neon gobies for 2 dollars which look pretty interesting, if I add a neon goby would I still be able to add another goby along with him?

i would go with a bullet goby.. they do an amazing job as stirring up the sand and they are fun to watch. you should be fine with the small neon gobys and the bullet goby.


My third question is about starfish, if they cant be exposed to air how do you add them to your tank without geting the water from there bag into your system? Also which would be best for what will be a reef and easiest to care for, a brittle or a serpent or a different one?

Linkia star fish are the only starfish that cant be exposed to air so i would avoid them. i would stay away from a serpent star.. i have one in my tank and it doesnt seem to do anything.. if your looking for something to clean i would go with a sand sifting star to clean sand.. and honestly, an urchin to clean rock/ algae... sand sifting stars can be bad in a system that is to small because they eat organisms in the sand and can crash a tank so be careful

[melosu58]

As far as the goby is concerned the Bullet goby is the best sifter out there. They sift all the time and are pretty personable. As far as the stars I do believe that the linknia stars can not be exposed to air. I dont think it is as important for the other stars but better safe than sorry. I have these two linknias and the orange one I gave to someone else as I could not house three in my 125 gallon tank.

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As far as acclimating I let the bag sit in the tank about 20 mins then I add about a half cup of tank water every 20 minutes. if the bag gets full then pour about half down the sink and continue adding every 20 minutes. After about 3 hours you take the bag and drop it quickly under and grab the star and pull him out under the water and quickly pull the bag back out and discard the water. There wont be much LFS water in the bag from the times you added your water and discarded some during the acclimation process. But still when you put the bag under do it quickly so just in case there is any LFS water in there. HTH.