Invertebrate tank

[Pseudomugil]

What temperature and ph should this tank be kept at? The tiger cowrie would not be included.

[ImACoolguy]

Originally Posted by Pseudomugil

What temperature and ph should this tank be kept at? The tiger cowrie would not be included.

With aragonite sand mine sits right at 8.0. Ideally 8.0-8-4 range


Caleb

[Istrom]

Yeah I live smack in the middle of the USA, so pom pom crabs are expensive for me as well.

90 G Reef
55 G Discus
24 G Reef

[Pseudomugil]

And how do I test for copper in my water? The nearest store that has ro/di water is more than 45 minutes away so I'd rather just use my own.

[Istrom]

It would just be best to get a RO/DI filter. I'm lucky enough to live somewhere where the tap water is extremely clean, I don't use RO/DI water at all. All my fish and corals are just fine

90 G Reef
55 G Discus
24 G Reef

[Pseudomugil]

How much do those filters cost?

[ImACoolguy]

Originally Posted by Pseudomugil

How much do those filters cost?

$50+ depending on how many GPD you want.

With a 10 gallon I change 2 gallons a week. That's pretty easy to accomplish with most RODI units so it's up to you.


Caleb

[Istrom]

Yeah. For a 10 gallon you can go pretty small

90 G Reef
55 G Discus
24 G Reef

[Pseudomugil]

I have more inverts I'd like to ask about.

1. Feather duster- I would not get it right away so the tank has time to mature, but would I need to feed it or will it feed itself? Are they easy to keep?

2. Curlycue anemone- Again, I would wait for the tank to mature, but supposedly this anemone does not require special lighting because it does not have zooxanthallae and is non-photosynthetic. Does anyone know anything about it or has anyone kept it before?

[Istrom]

I don't know about the nem, but as for the feather duster, they're pretty easy to care for. They filter the water, and you should feed them phytoplankton and zooplankton multiple times a week.

90 G Reef
55 G Discus
24 G Reef

[Sniperhank]

Feather dusters in a mature system won't need fed at all. This is a good thing because liquid foods easily foul up the water column and is very easy to do even in larger systems.
As for non-photosynthetic anemone, one can feed them the same frozen foods that you would feed your fish. You can simply just feed it with your hand, tweezers, a turkey baster...whatever weapon of destruction you wish.

[BigRedsReefs10]

Curley cue nems will kill anything they touch/catch so I'd be careful adding one of them to a tank like this. Most inverts aren't fast enough to avoid a Curley cue if they get to close, and it will eat whatever fish you add if it gets a chance. And considering they get up to about a foot in diameter with 5-6" tentacles, probably not the best option for a 10g


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[Pseudomugil]

Originally Posted by BigRedsReefs10

Curley cue nems will kill anything they touch/catch so I'd be careful adding one of them to a tank like this. Most inverts aren't fast enough to avoid a Curley cue if they get to close, and it will eat whatever fish you add if it gets a chance. And considering they get up to about a foot in diameter with 5-6" tentacles, probably not the best option for a 10g


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Oh I didn't know the anemone would get that big. I guess I've decided on a FINAL final stock:

2 blue leg hermits
2 zebra hermits
1 scarlet hermit
1 astrea snail
1 nassarius snail
1 emerald crab
1 porcelain crab
1 peppermint shrimp
2 sexy shrimp
1 brittle star
1 blue tuxedo urchin
1 feather duster worm

[BigRedsReefs10]

Originally Posted by Pseudomugil

Oh I didn't know the anemone would get that big. I guess I've decided on a FINAL final stock:



2 blue leg hermits

2 zebra hermits

1 scarlet hermit

1 astrea snail

1 nassarius snail

1 emerald crab

1 porcelain crab

1 peppermint shrimp

2 sexy shrimp

1 brittle star

1 blue tuxedo urchin

1 feather duster worm

I swear I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I'd strongly recommend skipping the star too. Another animal that will get a little to big for a 10. Also sexys do better in odd number groups, and IME they are bolder and out and about more in groups of 5 or more.


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[gboduszek]

Cool tank idea with just inverts.. mixing crabs and snails though just be prepared to replace a few snails here and there. As far as the brittle goes it would be fine in a 10g. Just might look odd when it extends its long arms here and there. I keep a big serpent and about 8" brittle in my 20L. They do a great job of grabbing any mysis that finds the sand bed as I tend to over feed for my mandarin.

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[Pseudomugil]

Originally Posted by BigRedsReefs10

I swear I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but I'd strongly recommend skipping the star too. Another animal that will get a little to big for a 10. Also sexys do better in odd number groups, and IME they are bolder and out and about more in groups of 5 or more.


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I just REALLY want a star. It's one of the main reasons I want to do this tank.

Could I keep the sexy shrimp in a group of 3 and just build up the group slowly so I don't have to buy them all at once?

[Pseudomugil]

A new option has opened up for me to convert my 20g freshwater to salt, so could I stock it with:

4 blue leg hermit crabs
4 scarlet reef hermit crabs
2 dwarf zebra hermit crabs
1 astrea snail
1 cerith snail
2 nassarius snails
1 emerald crab
1 porcelain crab
1 peppermint shrimp
1 camel shrimp
1 lettuce nudibranch
1 feather duster worm
1 brittle star
1 blue tuxedo urchin
1 blue damselfish

[bribo12]

Should be fine other than the nudi branch which will starve out eventually. Why not just make this a reef? The interesting inverts on your list mostly hide and some have symbiotic relationships with certain cnidarians. Plus corals are inverts


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[54seaweed]

Originally Posted by Istrom

It would just be best to get a RO/DI filter. I'm lucky enough to live somewhere where the tap water is extremely clean, I don't use RO/DI water at all. All my fish and corals are just fine

90 G Reef
55 G Discus
24 G Reef

Are you on a well or city water
Every city tap I've tested the chlorine content was intense , along with all the other chemicals they use to purify the water , I've tested like 4 or 5 taps around the metro area and I wouldn't give that water to my dog yet alone my fish , My well pumps out pure mountain spring water but I still filter it , it's not worth the risk to not filter , You also need to be careful with some of the minerals coming out of some of our mountain wells ,

[Pseudomugil]

I'm on city water. I'd prefer to not do a reef due to the cost and care needed.