yeah I knew you could feed them shrimp and stuff, but just through going through different threads I heard about them eating clowns that tried to host it.
As for the tank, yesterday I had a fun day... (Sarcastic) I took my canister filter which was being used on my cichlid tank, showered it so that anything on it died, and they put in filter floss, fluval clearmax, that is supposed to remove phosphate. Also I put in the foam that comes with it. I figure that I can use it to do the water changes and at the same time clean the filter weekly.
This morning that tank is still pretty gunky, but I don't want to turn on the canister full, because it is rated at a pretty high flow rate for larger tanks (Fluval 304) so I figure at between 50-75% everything is moving around nice without blowing stuff around, however if I turn it at full, no sand moves, so if you guys think it would be ok to have it at full, I might put it up there and see how it goes. What would be the warning signs for having too much flow?
also I had some more free time yesterday so I thought I would try my hand at a kind of DIY thing. I picked up an aquaclear 70 from the LFS, (On sale for 29.99CAD!!!) and also the biocube protein skimmer. I know you aren't supposed to need a skimmer for tanks this small but I figure it can't hurt. I took the motor off of the aquaclear 70 and switched it with the motor and impeller of my aquaclear 20. This way the flow rate is down to managable levels. Next I put the skimmer inside of the aquaclear chamber and began adjusting. I have never used a skimmer before so I am not sure if it is working ok, but I set it up where the foam coming up is just below the collection cup.
When I woke up this morning the foam had risen into the collection cup, however it was white, not green and brown like I think I am supposed to get. Anyways I emptied the cup and I am just going to let it go for a little bit and see how it goes.
Also I am contemplating doing a little bit more mods to the aquaclear to make it more of a refugium. I figure if I divide it into chambers using baffles I could potentially have a DSB with pods, and still enough room for the skimmer. I will post some picks in a few minutes of what I have gotten so far to see if you guys have any suggestions, but for now I am going to wait on the DSB addition.
Once again comments are more than welcome, and thanks for everybody that has already posted in my thread, truly this site is the best aquarium forum out there!