I got new stuff!!!

[kingman8610]

So, I went to the LFS and here is what I got for my tank (and hermies)
I will be putting up before and after pics when I get the after pics and the cycling is done which I'm just waiting 3 days for b/c tomorrow (day 3) I'm changing water and putting the Hermits back in... I just wanted to give all the snails and Starfish time to get to safety

But until the pics, here's what I got!
I got another pound of live rock that is two separate peices and they look different from each other.. One is like velvet red and purple and has splotches of an almost neon green... the other looks like brown and white castle spires and there are some browninsh almost see through things sticking out of it and IDK what they are but they are alive and cool... then I got (IDR if its nefarious or nessarius<< maybe that one) anyway I got a snail that is supposed to live in the sand bed and eat all the waste so its cool now for my 3-4 inch sand bed lol and he gave me a free snail too just some random one that was in the tank he took it out of...

Then on top of that he gave me about 1-200 astrea starfish and a couple non-astrea IDK what they are but they are small right now and white, I think they will get big but IDk, and a couple of small blask starfish came out of the LR as well... plus the guy gave me a free .5 lb of LR too!!! But I'm not so sure its LR b/c it looks like coral.. its all kinds of purple and red and green and white and it has a flat bottom almost like a foundation... IDK but its cool.

So I got home from the LFS and put it all in and arranged it like I want it and topped it off with Filtered Tap, which btw, I got tested and my tank water too, for free! and the salinity is a little high he said and the FT water is just a bit dirty but not enough to damage my tank or hurt my live stuff for now at least til I start doing fish or reef... so all is good!!!

Oh yeah, one more thing, the store grows coral and there was some the guy said was dead and knocked it off the plug he had it growing on, IDK but to me it looked alive so idk if he did that b/c he knew I would pick it up or if it really was dead, but the guy was super hooking me up and so he may have done that on purpose I'm guessing.

Thanks for any or all advice or suggestions or opinions or comments!!!!

 

[melosu58]

You`ll need to cycle a whole lot more than three days. We have an excellent article about cycling in our Sw articles section. Please read it as it will help you to understand what`s going on during the cycle. You might want to go through all our SW articles for some Sw research.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Even if the tank was originally cycled, the addition of new live rock will most likely prompt a new mini cycle, as stuff dies off on the new rock. How big is your tank? 200 asteria starfish is a very large population.

 

[kingman8610]

Yes the tank is origionally cycled I've had it now for about 1 1/2 months, and idk how many astrea truly but there has to be at least 75-100 (more literally) but it looks like a lot more than that but its prolly b/c I have a 10g tank that has all I posted above plus another .6 lb of LR and a descent size piece of reg. rock for my hermits to get out of the water on. I have 3 Hermit crabs... the only coral I have is the piece(sp) I mentioned above and it's verrrry small prolly a size a little less than half of the tip of your pinky.

Other than that it's all I have... Oh btw, there are some brownish see-throughish little things coming out of one of my LR and they look like thin little tubes. anyone know what these are?

 

[kingman8610]

Oh yeah, the guy at the LFS told me to wait about 3 days before doing a water change and then everything else should be ok by then. Is that right? b/c I dont have any fish, the only things living in my tank I've already mentioned, so knowing that, is it ok?

 

[spoonman]

Here is a good link to identify hitchers.... LR hitchers

 

[kingman8610]

Hey thanks spoon yeah I think I know what they are now... but that was for corals or reefs... I dont have that, just LR, or is that the same thing?

 

[spoonman]

That is just a basic list of things that tend to hitch a ride on live rock. Not particular to coral or reefs...

 

[kingman8610]

So LR and Coral are not the same thing? Not related in any way? Oh! and are LR and Coral compatible? <<Prolly a dumb question, but I'll ask anyway

 

[kingman8610]

Melosu58-- Hey thanks Mel for the mention of the articles, but I couldn't find anything there relating to what I have or the type of tank I have, but it was interesting though!!!

 

[Wy Renegade]

Hhhhmmmm . . . ok kingman, how about you tell us a little bit more about your set-up. Not really enough information here to be able to help out.

You said you had a 10gal tank that had cycled for 1 1/2 months, but you just added new LR. You have not fish, nor do you have corals. What type of light system are you running on the tank?

LR and corals are not the same thing, but they are fully compatible. However, without the proper lights, the coral will not survive, nor will the color stay on the LR. Without proper lighting the "life" on your LR will begin to die off and in breaking down it will have an impact on your bioload - hence your tank will most likely cycle again, and no three days time is not likely to be enough. As for changing the water, you need to invest in some test kits so you can test ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels at a minimum. Without the kits you will have no way of knowing when levels of ammonia or nitrate are getting too high, nor will you be able to plot the cycle.

FYI without a food source those asteria starfish will turn and begin eating the coralline algae and the coral and whatever else they can find to consume. That number is way too high for a 10gal tank IMO.

 

[kingman8610]

Well I WAS using a 75watt bulb and a lamp, not really for lighting but mainly for heat. But now I got a 15watt bulb in the same lamp and the bulb is fine and all but not very bright, is that enough for now? b/c i will be getting a light strip to go over the back half of my tank and if i can get one that holds 2 light bulbs i would like to have one of them be blue. but for now just the 15watt.

About the astrea.... I'm expecting my hermits to eat quite a number of them between meal times. And as far as a food source, I keep my blinds open during the day and the sunlight stimulates growth of the algae in my tank.

(Don't be afraid to correct me when I'm wrong!! I'm just relaying the things I've been told and researched) -thanks!

 

[melosu58]

I just thought you said it was only cycling 3 days. If it`s already cycled then you should be good to go. Hitchikers can come on in by corals or LR. They already gave you the link that is a pretty good identifier. Good luck on the tank.

 

[kingman8610]

Thanks I'll need it, the guy at the LFS told me I dont have to worry as much about the water just getting it tested every 1-2 months he said would be ok unless visual concerns pop up, just because all I have are hermits and no fish or coral, but now like i said I have that small piece of coral, I just wanna see if it lives, its very small less than half the size of your pinky... it has some kind of thin moss growing on it, is that good or bad? and what do I need to do to ensure its survival, if in fact, it IS still alive?

 

[Wy Renegade]

Well I WAS using a 75watt bulb and a lamp, not really for lighting but mainly for heat. But now I got a 15watt bulb in the same lamp and the bulb is fine and all but not very bright, is that enough for now? b/c i will be getting a light strip to go over the back half of my tank and if i can get one that holds 2 light bulbs i would like to have one of them be blue. but for now just the 15watt.

About the astrea.... I'm expecting my hermits to eat quite a number of them between meal times. And as far as a food source, I keep my blinds open during the day and the sunlight stimulates growth of the algae in my tank.

(Don't be afraid to correct me when I'm wrong!! I'm just relaying the things I've been told and researched) -thanks!

Adequate lighting or not depends on what your goal for the tank is - if its fish only with LR, you should be fine. If its a reef system, its not enough light.

Hermits will not eat asteria stars. As for the algae growth with the blinds, generally the goal in a saltwater tank is to minimize nuscience algae growth as much as possible - but to each their own.

As Mike said, good luck on the tank.

 

[kingman8610]

Thanks Wy! What specific goals exist for a tank? gimme a few examples please??

And no I'm not trying for a reef system right now, especially in a tank that small, I'm waiting til I get my own place before I upgrade but I will keep that tank prolly for breeding or quarintine. I've been trying to get all the info I can on SW tanks, but I'm finding it difficult since I dont know alot of websites, and when I google or search I NEVER get exactly what I'm asking for/about.

Will Fish-Eater Hermits eat snails?

Also, how do I tell if any of my astrea's are dead? and if they are is it ok to leave them in the tank?

 

[Wy Renegade]

Thanks Wy! What specific goals exist for a tank? gimme a few examples please??

And no I'm not trying for a reef system right now, especially in a tank that small, I'm waiting til I get my own place before I upgrade but I will keep that tank prolly for breeding or quarintine. I've been trying to get all the info I can on SW tanks, but I'm finding it difficult since I dont know alot of websites, and when I google or search I NEVER get exactly what I'm asking for/about.

Will Fish-Eater Hermits eat snails?

Also, how do I tell if any of my astrea's are dead? and if they are is it ok to leave them in the tank?

kingman, when I mentioned goals for the tank, I meant whether you planned to go with a nanoreef or fish only with LR or what your overall intentions for the tank were. You pretty much clarified that with this last post.

As far as finding good info, this link to the articles here on A.A. will take you to tons of good information on setting up, cycling and properly stocking your saltwater tank.

Articles

If you have specific questions beyond that, be sure and ask, there are lots of very knowledgable people here at A.A.

I'm afraid that I know nothing about fish-eater hermits; the only ones I'm familar with are the red-legs, blue-legs, scarlet, and the white.

As far as the asteria stars, I personally would remove them whenever you see them, dead or not (you will never get everyone and they reproduce like rabbits). As far as telling if they are dead, I think once they die they disintigrate fairly rapidly, but if you are seeing dead creatures in your tank, always remove them as they add to the bioload of the tank as they decompose.

 

[kingman8610]

Oh ok cool, Well idk if they are dead but i was just checking since there are a few dozen who are choosing to stay on the sand-bed...

and as far as removing them goes, idk if i wanna do that... is it really that bad to have so many? what else do they do besides eat algae off the glass?? b/c thats what i got so many for, until I get better lighting and heating for the tank. But when I DO start removing them, what should I do with them? I don't wanna kill them or anything like that. and I dont know any other ppl in my area with SW fish tanks... is there somewhere I can go to like a website to find ppl in my area?

also, where can I find ppl who know a lot about hermit crabs (esp. of the variety that i have) everyone I ask seems to know nothing of the kind I'm talking about

-Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming!

 

[Wy Renegade]

Oh ok cool, Well idk if they are dead but i was just checking since there are a few dozen who are choosing to stay on the sand-bed...

and as far as removing them goes, idk if i wanna do that... is it really that bad to have so many? what else do they do besides eat algae off the glass?? b/c thats what i got so many for, until I get better lighting and heating for the tank. But when I DO start removing them, what should I do with them? I don't wanna kill them or anything like that. and I dont know any other ppl in my area with SW fish tanks... is there somewhere I can go to like a website to find ppl in my area?

also, where can I find ppl who know a lot about hermit crabs (esp. of the variety that i have) everyone I ask seems to know nothing of the kind I'm talking about

-Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming!

If you got them for algae control and you aren't really adding anything else to the tank right now, you can certainly leave them be. But its generally safest to not include them in a reef tank (lots of debate about them consuming various types corals) - in a fish only I don't think I would worry about them too much. Most likely they will consume their food source and begin to die off on their own.

You might want to simply post up a picture of your hermit crab in the ID section of this forum and ask to see if anybody can ID it for you and tell you anything about it. Personally I've never heard of a fish-killer hermit.

 

[kingman8610]

Wy-- It's dubbed "fish killer" but one name I found for it is "Stripped legged hermit crab" and apparently there are lots of names for them, EVEN the scientific names are different!!! all for one species of hermit crab... sheesh, but i still pose the question because, when I go to look these up, it's not showing a picture of the type of hermit crab that I have... so your right, apparently I suck at online research and I need to post pics... thanks for the advice!!!!