Need advice BEFORE I set up!

[Dylan M.]

Originally Posted by carey

i absolutely LOVE nassarius snails! I had like 30 in my biocube when I first had it set up. I love how they emerge from the sand as soon as you feed the tank, so cool to watch. But since they dont eat algae you have to actually feed them.

I have two of these snails, what am I suppose to feed them?

[Masoniac]

Read this.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...sh-made-simple

[Greenstreet.1]

Originally Posted by Masoniac

Read this.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...sh-made-simple

Very good guide. Same one I used for my QT.

[Masoniac]

The only change I made to that guide is I use t5 lighting because I quarantine my corals as well.

[Greenstreet.1]

I used my old maxspect led.

[Gregcoyote]

Originally Posted by Callen

I couldn't help myself! I took the trip to Houston to the semi-local fish store all prepared to buy 2 black and white clowns. When I got there they were all in separate tanks so I only bought one. All of the posts I read people always talk about having 2. Now I'm second guessing myself and wondering if I should run down to the local Petco and get another clown ( or two?). They don't have black and white but they do have black n white saddlebacks and the "regular" orange and white clowns.

I also got a teeny- tiny yellow watchman goby, already named Paul Blart , 2 turbo snails and a cleaner shrimp.

They are all acclimating right now. Do I need to make a run to town for another clown?

Not exactly sure what to do here! Help!

I don't recommend mixing different morphs (color) of clowns.

[Callen]

Thanks Greg! My original clown jumped tank along with my yellow watchman. I replaced him with another just like him then found a little bitty one to go with. I now have the 2 clowns and a bicolor blenny.

Most of the other fish I like are angels but the guidelines say to add them last. If everything says to add them last, I'm not really sure what I can add next!

[Callen]

Please share your thoughts about buying fish online vs at a LFS. Any vendors you trust and use?

[Greenstreet.1]

Originally Posted by Callen

Please share your thoughts about buying fish online vs at a LFS. Any vendors you trust and use?

I only ordered fish from live when i was ordering online but now I get them from distributor. Live was on the spot never lost from them almost forget this spot I had also used Nyaquatic they are good also they had some good prices. The big difference to me was you can't see you fish before you by man made me remember one more spot clownaquatic got some custom clowns from them for my first setup with them you see the same fish you are paying for they have videos of them.

[Callen]

Maintenance day question: should I use a gravel vac like I use in fresh water to stir things up a bit and get the waste up off the sand?

[Greenstreet.1]

Originally Posted by Callen

Maintenance day question: should I use a gravel vac like I use in fresh water to stir things up a bit and get the waste up off the sand?

I would say no it's not a good idea to play with sand in DT can cause problems with nitrate and others.

[Callen]

I'm not talking about going deep and stirring it all up. I'm reading that siphon cleaning is a regular maintenance task. Shouldn't that pull up the debris and detritus that is sitting on top of the sand?

[Gregcoyote]

I think having a crew of sand sifters like gobies will keep the substrate in good condition without siphoning much if any.

[carey]

I don't siphon my sand at all and my sandbed is uber clean thanks to my large hermit crab. I never have any matter accumulate either as I have sufficient flow in the tank.

[Callen]

Ok then my hermit crabs are lazy! They don't move around much at all. They mostly just stay put, half- buried in the sand. Their little hands are busy putting something in their mouths but I don't know how they can be catching anything if they never move!

I'm 2 for 2 on gobies leaping to their death. Guess i need to get a smaller mesh screen before i attempt any more of those guys.

I'm starting to second guess having the olive snails. I read that they primarily eat the micro flora that is beneficial to the rest of the tank. What do y'all think?

I just used the gravel vac to do my water change and pulled up some junk. Then when adding my water back in all sorts if "dust" got stirred up off the live rock. Die off I guess. I'm thinking I should have agitated that a bit before I took the water out?

[carey]

I usually take a powerhead or a turkey baster and blast off the accumulated matter from the rocks before I drain the water that way I suck up alot of it.

[Grizz]

Id get rid of the olive snails bad news IMO. You might want to look into reefcleaners They have a package that will give you a great deal of good snails/hermits I got mine from them last year and havent had to touch my sandbed at all.
One thing though is order next smaller package. John loads them so you get way more than you ordered

[Greenstreet.1]

+1 for reefcleaners.com that's the only guys I use since day one and they call me every six months to re-up if needed great spot. John is a great guy to deal with.

[carey]

+2 Yep, John is the greatest. He carries only reef safe cuc as well so you know youre not going to get anything that can harm your corals or fish. he also has a great algae reference guide on the site, very very helpful.

Like mentioned though, if you order the pack for your size tank it will be too too many critters. i generally order half what is recommended and even then it's more than enough.

[Greenstreet.1]

Originally Posted by Greenstreet.1

+1 for reefcleaners.com that's the only guys I use since day one and they call me every six months to re-up if needed great spot. John is a great guy to deal with.

Sorry .org not com.