What is that rusty looking algae?

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MT79 said:
All crabs, including hermits, are opportunistic predators. They will cause issues w/ snails sooner or later, usually sooner regardless of size (sorry Roka Razz). Many people, including myself, choose not to house hermits w/ snails for this reason.
No problem and I agree. I should have been more specific. Getting the smaller snails will somewhat keep the hermits from attacking them for their shells. I also agree about larger crabs going after other critters. I am also not a big fan of hermits and only have 3 or 4 in my 55. I am planning on only adding 1 or 2 to my 125...maybe.
 
perhaps a couple more hermit crabs then to sift thru the sand

They will pickup food on the sand surface, not sift thru it. Nassarius or fighting (or small queen) conch snails are my favorite for that chore. And of course the pistol shrimp is gonna work the sand also, but only in select places.
 
That's right Ray, I knew I was forgetting something, the conchs....I love them to!
 
ok then thanks. so ill get a couple of the small snails then to sand sift :D thanks again :) looks like it could be a long weekend for me hehe

Hi

i just told my lfs i was thinking about changing the crushed coral to live sand.
he told me not to as because the tank has been set up for quite a while now that the crushed coral would have a lot of benefitial bacteria in it. and also that it would be assisting with my ph and kh

Thoughts??
 
My thoughts - ignore the lfs on keeping the crushed coral. Beneficial bacteria lives in sand, rocks, pre-filters, etc. It's just that CC will accumulate excess detritus, food waste, etc and nitrates will most likely get out of hand after time. Deep sand beds also help with Ph. I'm not sure about kh - just 'cause I don't know.

My thoughts. 8)
 
I agree with Ray, ditch the CC, you will be happier in the long run. I liked mine at first but it just got ugly. Some folks like it, just not me. You can keep it in there and change it out at a later date. Your rock and sand have the beneficial bacteria and should be able to keep up with your bioload if you switch it out a little bit at a time. Switching it out slowly will also let your sand living critters (bristleworms, for example) have time to migrat to the new sand. Also, I wouldn't worry about the LIVE sand, save some money and use the dry aragonite sand.
 
ok cheers. thanks for the tip. i tried taking some pictures but none of them would come out right. ill keep trying though different angles and so forth to get some nice ones.
 
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