What's Next?

[FishEggs]

I now have a 10g tank with a few pieces of live rock (about fist size. well my fist anyways) aragonite sub, hob filter, protein skimmer, and ph. the LR is mostly covered with green hair algae and the only thing in the tank is a fighting conch (my wife named him snuffaluppagus) i wanted to add more inverts snails and shrimp and some more LR. maybe some day a fish or 2 if there are some that would be comfortable in a 10g. the tank has been running for 5 years before it was moved to my place and there is some purple coraline algae on the LR.

by the way i'm totally new to the SW side of the glass so here are my questions.

what is the process for adding new LR? do i just put it in or do i have to rinse it? i should already be cured if itr's LR right?

what other inverts would be good for keeping in a 10g? and how many?

i plan on putting LR rubble in the hob filter but wanted things to stabalize after the move.

anything else i should do?

thanks

 

[jessicasmarine]

LR can have die off on it even if it looks good. If you got it from LFS or established tank and took it straight home probably not.

 

[jessicasmarine]

what would be nice is a shrimp goby/ shrimp combo. Ive always wanted to do one of those

 

[thominil]

Just get the live rock from your lfs as the rock they have is usually fully cured. Get about 10-15lbs. more and just stick it in there. As for fish maybe a clownfish or a clown goby, your options are limited since the tank is small. As for inverts, Do you want coral? Try some nasarius for the sand and a few astrea to keep the rock clean. You could also get a few shrimp, like sexy shrimp or peppermint shrimp. Hope this helps.

 

[FishEggs]

i wont be doing corals in this tank since it's so small and i'm just starting with SW.

 

[roka64]

Sexy shrimp, you can probably get about 4-5 in there and the wife will love them! Go for a few nassarius snails (they stay small), ceriths, maybe even a fire shrimp (if you go this route, try maybe 2-3 sexy shrimp).

 

[melosu58]

I agree with the others. Buy some already cured LR and you can add it straight in.

 

[FishEggs]

how long should i acclimate snails and shrimp? are they more sensitive to water changes?

 

[jessicasmarine]

I float the bag for 30 min then drip for an hour, had no problems yet

 

[thominil]

+1

 

[roka64]

Ehhh, I acclimate for about 2 hours...gives me time to move stuff around in the tank.

 

[neilanh]

If the LR is really covered as bad as you say it is, consider taking the opportunity to trash it and start fresh with clean rock. Since it's only a 10g, you don't need a ton of rock, it's something to consider since you have nothing in the tank yet except the Conch.

For acclimation I float for 20min and then drip until I've at least quadrupled the amount of water provided by the LFS.

 

[thincat]

The only problem I see for you is evaporation of water. This will make it hard to keep the salinity stable. Other then that all the above information is great stuff.
PS: always top off with RO water, not with saltwater.

 

[FishEggs]

yes i add a little fw every other day to keep the water lvl up and the salinity the same. i know is tuff with the smaller tanks to keep water params stable but if i can do it on this tank i can do it on a bigger tank like maybe the empty 75g i have sitting under the 10g.

 

[thominil]

Off topic lol, 75g sitting under 10g?

 

[FishEggs]

yes i have a 10 gal sw with a 75g sump lol

not really. i have an empty 75 on the bottom shelf of the stand with a fw 40g breeder and a sw 10g on the top. i dont have the equipment to set up the 75 yet. thats why its empty.

 

[thominil]

Oh much better, just sounded a bit odd the first time around.

 

[thincat]

yes i add a little fw every other day to keep the water lvl up and the salinity the same. i know is tuff with the smaller tanks to keep water params stable but if i can do it on this tank i can do it on a bigger tank like maybe the empty 75g i have sitting under the 10g.

Wow.....that's a hugh sump for a 10gal Display tank..

 

[FishEggs]

Wow.....that's a hugh sump for a 10gal Display tank..

well the 10g was too small for a sump so i just switched them lol

 

[FishEggs]

some pictures with questions

full tank shot after getting it home and set up exactly as it was originally.

here are some pics of what i suspect to be aptasias. please verify

they are only about 5mm tall.

this is a feather duster right? it dissapears into the rock now and then.