grimlock3000
Aquarium Advice Addict
My tank is going on three weeks old. It was setup with cured live rock and Arag Alive "live sand". The tank has been coming along OK and the cycle seems to have already happened. I am in the algae phase now. A few water test in a row turned out OK, but I was planning to wait another couple weeks before picking up my clean up crew. The only sizable invert in the tank is a hitchhiker crab that eats stuff off the rocks.
I had two problems with this plan. The clean up crew is going to be pricey at the LFS I want to buy it, so if they all died for some reason, I would be screwed. Also, I was not sure if the crab would be OK with the clean up crew. My wife LOVES the crab, but it is not safe with fish. She wants to keep the crab right up until the day we get fish. I decided the best plan would be to get a few test inverts and see how it went.
Last night I picked up two Astrea Conehead Snails, and two Blue Leg Hermits on the cheap at another LFS. I dripped acclimated them and put them in the tank. The crabs when right to work eatting stuff off the live rock. The snails... Well they just kind of sat there. Mine are moving about .25 inches an hour and eating as they go. This morning they were still alive. The crabs had been all around the tank, and the snails made it to the other side of the rock.
Having 4 out of 4 inverts still alive is a good indication that I did something right. And it is cool to have something to watch in the tank
I had two problems with this plan. The clean up crew is going to be pricey at the LFS I want to buy it, so if they all died for some reason, I would be screwed. Also, I was not sure if the crab would be OK with the clean up crew. My wife LOVES the crab, but it is not safe with fish. She wants to keep the crab right up until the day we get fish. I decided the best plan would be to get a few test inverts and see how it went.
Last night I picked up two Astrea Conehead Snails, and two Blue Leg Hermits on the cheap at another LFS. I dripped acclimated them and put them in the tank. The crabs when right to work eatting stuff off the live rock. The snails... Well they just kind of sat there. Mine are moving about .25 inches an hour and eating as they go. This morning they were still alive. The crabs had been all around the tank, and the snails made it to the other side of the rock.
Having 4 out of 4 inverts still alive is a good indication that I did something right. And it is cool to have something to watch in the tank