Questions abou my nano

[lerch]

Hey guys, i am running a 34gal Red Sea Max 130D tank with 50lbs of live sand and 38lbs of live rock. thank has been up for about 1.5 month now and is doing well but i have one problem. it is a fully enclosed system with the sump and skimmer and all built into the back of the tank and a fully enclosed lighting hood, 2 55w T5 lights.

my problem is my tank normally runs right at 80deg and i know this is to warm. i have looked at some different chillers but they aint cheap and i really dont know where i would install one on this enclosed system.

any ideas????

oh and here is another question, right now i have 5 magarite snails, one boxer (pom pom) crab, 5 red hermit crabs, and one sand sifting starfish. how much more and what kind of cleaning crew do i need????

and what would be the best kind of sand critters should i get to keep my DSB stirred up good enough?? i cant imagine one sand sifting star can do the job all by himself. should i get a horse shoe crab (which i dont really want cause i hear the can get to big) or are there some kind of burrowing snails that would do better???

thanks
steve

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

to keep the sand stirred up i have some Nassarius snails and a sand sifting goby in my tank. The snails helped some but it is the goby that really cleans my sand nicely. To keep the tank cooler try sticking something in the crack of the lid so it stays open about an inch or so, this worked very well with my tank. You could also try using a frozen water bottle and just put it in the back of the tank...i haven't tried this but i read it online and it seemed like a good idea.

 

[pat8you]

80 isn't terrible as long as it doesn't get much higher then that.

As far as the sand bed goes the sand sifting star will be more then enough. In fact i would say it will probably run out of food because they eat so much and sift so well. If you start to see it out of the sand bed very often you know it is running out of food.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that 80 is not that bad. I know some folks that let their`s get to 82 or 83. You stay at 80 you are good to go.

 

[lerch]

thanks guys.

i was thinking that 80 would be to hot but thanks for the info. is it gonna be too hot for margarite snails?? i thought they needed it cooler.


I had one guy tell me that my sifting star would kill my sand bed off, like eat it dry of bad and good things, is this true?? should i get rid of him and just use the nassarius snails???

thanks
steve

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Agree that your tank is probably too small for a sand sifting star - think you got good advice there. It would probably wipe out anything beneficial in it, then die from starvation.

It might be too hot for margarite snails - but it all depends on what you're trying to keep healthy... snails or coral! All those snails from Mexico tend to want cooler water and in my opinion don't do well in warmer tanks. Great algae eaters, but probably not the best match to a warmer tank.