fun with hermits

[Ayesha97]

I got my hermit crabs some new shells and watched 3 fight over the same shell! I think I have a new pastime! During the moving, I noticed that I have quite a few hermits with eggs. Anyone have any experience with raising hermits? I have an underground filter with a reverse flow hooked up in the tank (its a 29 gal) with crushed coral over it. Anything I could do to help encourage the babies and their survival? :? I don't have much in the tank. Just some hermits, snails and an emerald crab (supposed to have a peppermint shrimp too, but its MIA!)- waiting on cash before I can add some fish.

 

[BillyZ]

well I can't offer much in the way of the hermits but reading your post raises a question. How long has your system been set up? I'm only asking because of the UGF and CC. Do you have additional filtration set up for your tank? Your profile suggests this is a new system. A UGF with CC and no other filtration may cause some water quality problems in the future.

 

[Ayesha97]

in addition to the UGF and the CC, I have a powerhead attached to the UGF, along with a large hang on the back filter and 10lbs of live rock (planning on getting more when the checkbook allows). So far my water levels have been good.

 

[Guest]

Yes but inverts create little to no waste... So theres no way your water levels could be bad assuming you don't over feed. As far as fish, then you may have a problem,

 

[Ayesha97]

What kind of suggestions do you have to improve my filtration? I received a sump from a coworker, the only thing is that the case is cracked. I haven't gotten around to fixing it or trying to come up with a replacement for it. I'd also like to get a skimmer, but agian, with time...

 

[sacramentofish]

Some things to improve your filtration:

1) yank the UGF (or at least cap it and remove the PH)

2) add some aragonite sand (or southdown from home depot if it's available in your area) on top of the CC is fine - for a total of about 3 inches of substrait

3) order some base rock from- http://www.hirocks.com/ they have a 30LB box for $35 shipping included- arrainge with the existing LR - it will grow coraline and bio filtration in about a month

4) get at least 1 (2 is better) more PH's - you can remove the mechanical filtration from the HOP and just run it for circulation

6) wait, wait, wait about 2 - 3 months till the bilogical filtration is established on the base rock (it will be seeded by the existing LR you have)

7) optional- set up the sump as a sump/fuge - basicly partition it so one part is seperate from the other and put the return pump in one side and fill the other with 3 inches of fine aragonite (or southdown) and let it build up an infauna population- it will seed with the LR you allready have in time.