live rock acclimation?

[pph_2ppr]

what do you mean by it will be the former?
my shoulder or aquarium. i think im gonna have fun doing my pwc, its already pretty difficult to type but do many of u have any knowledge of a cleaner shrimp in a nano?

 

[cmor1701d]

OUCH! Sorry to hear about yor shoulder. It's tough to do much one-handed in this hobby. Hope you can get some help with your PWCs.

 

[pph_2ppr]

yea i no im mixing the water now, but not quite sure how im going to switch it.....could get interesting, I hope to add a cleaner shrimp this weekend still, should not be a big deal? what do they like to be fed?

 

[cmor1701d]

The shrimp will eat pretty much anything you feed your tank. They will pick parasites off other fish and eat whatever is left over from tank feedings.

Drip acclimate for an hour or longer. Inverts are very sensitive to changes in SG.

 

[pph_2ppr]

Once acclimated to the aquarium are they relatively hardy? It should not have any problems with damsels harrassing it correct? Would a clown or yellow watchman goby get along with the shrimp better? Any tips on catching 2 damsels??

 

[Sadielynn]

Oh catching 2 damsels not something for some one with a shoulder injury However I would say lights out let them get comfy and try to net them Other wise it may be a tear down
As for the shrimp they are fairly hardy ... And will munch on what ever they can ... As for the partial water changes try to get some tubing that will fit a power head (404- 606 mini jets take I believe 1/2 OD ) take and drop it into your tank plug in and drain what ever you change out , and then take your your pump and drop in to the fresh water and pump back in to your tank what ever you took out . You may need to do smaller removals so that you are limmiting your weight lifting use perhaps a one gallon jug and when you siphion back in your fresh made h20 you may need to lift it up a bit to get it to max head then let it do the work for you ... I do mine that way and it makes a world of diffrence on trying to get them done in about 10 minutes , I did it this way after the surgery I had yes I needed lift assist to empty or to raise the jugs but I was able to control having a sand storm and just got it in with out much issue

 

[pph_2ppr]

I'm tempted to add crushed coral on my sand because it is always drifting with the flow, drives me crazy, but I have heard bad storied about crushed coral. Won't these problems be avoided since the hermits and shrimp can clean it up pretty nice, I then can siphon what they miss with water changes. Any pros and cons to this idea?

do NOT need sergury (thank God), just have to take a long period of recovery

 

[Sadielynn]

IMHHO I would say the risk outweighs the benifit .While hermits may get some they will not get it all since it is a loose pack some will get where you and the hermits can not get to causing it to decay and add dramaticlly to your bioload.This will cause a rise in your Ammonia ,NitrIte,(Possibly) NitrAte are likely to increase , as will your phosphates inturn this can cause more algea and bacterial blooms such as cyano ... Both of which can be an absolute bear to gain control over once a foot hold is gotten . I say just keep up with the sand you will be more happy in the long run with it I think ..
Glad your shoulder doesnt need surgery Just remember to ask for help when you need it so that you dont stress it and further injure it or end up in the OR with more damage than you started with , it takes time (lots of it ) to heal a shoulder injury ....

 

[pph_2ppr]

I'm pretty good at babying injuries, just dissapointed my career ended the way it did. BUT I have some salt mixed up and I'm going to remove some of the sand now. In the end I plan on leaving 1/2 to 1 inch. My ammonia is back up to about .25 after reaching 0 again. Does this constant up and down cycle mean the two damsels are creating too much of a bioload for this small aquarium? Since the hermits and feather dusters are still "thriving" would it be ok to add the shrimp still? I can take the fish back tomorrow possibly, but I would not be able to get another fish.

 

[cmor1701d]

Just take it easy on the Vicoden <g>.

I just went through your posts trying to determine:
Size of tank (10 gallon)?
Filtration (20# of LR) and what else?
How long the tank has been set up? (2 months?)
How was the tank cycled?
When did the cycle complete?
1/27/08 you dumped LR into the tank. How many pounds did you put in and was it fully cured?

Let's get the tank in shape and complete cycled before adding any additional livestock. Can you take the damsels back to the lfs for store credit?

I think you get the sand bed down to an inch. The problem is that the beneficial bacteria are in the top inch or so of sand. With one arm and nothing better to do, you could use a turkey baster to suck up sand from the bottom (just an idea).

You should take about a week to get the sand bed reduced, doing a section a day.

Then you should do a 20%-30% water change (get a family member, teammate, someome to come over and help). At this time I would pull the rock and capture the damsels, then complete the water change. You could also try other means of capturing the fish (search on the forums for ideas).

At this point you can work on getting the parameters stable, then you can add A (single) clownfish.

Does this sound like a workable plan to you?

 

[pph_2ppr]

sounds almost perfect, will reply about the other things later, gotta get goin to omaha

 

[cmor1701d]

Going to a meet? Have fun!

 

[pph_2ppr]

I'm down here at state and found time to go to a place called "Petlend." Awesome frag tank (I mean awesome) and have a cleaner shrimp for $20. I re-did my water tests before I left and found that ammonia and nitrite were both at 0, but I am not sure about nitrate (last time was around 10 ppm). I forgot to ask if they will give me a discount on a clown if I give them two damsels. I heard of shrimp dying due to a large change in Ph, will this be prevented by a SLOW drip/float acclimation?

How can I put all this information into my profile? I have an acrylic 10 gallon with I'd say 15 # of live rock (can't be for sure). I removed some of the sand, but have plenty more to go. The tank was started 1-2-08 and the cycle ended roughly 3 weeks later. I do a once a week 20% water change which I try to mix at least 24 hours before adding to the main tank. Besides the rock it has no other filtration and was cycled with the 2 damsels (didn't know any better). Lol I did trythe turkey baster method, but I was getting water exerywhere...a little clumsy mabye.

What type of clown would be the best for such a small space?

Instead of the shrimp would it be a good idea to just get more rock?

 

[cmor1701d]

ALL inverts should be drip acclimated for an hour or two. It's not pH, it's SG sensitivity that will get them. After the drip, temp acclimate and then add them to the tank.

You should get some snails (nassarius are good) for the sand bed and just about any type of shrimp you like (coral banded are ok if they are the only shrimp in the tank).

More rock is always nice, but you already have 1½ x water volume in LR so you really don't much more. You do need something to eat detritus, sails a/o a shrimp. Preferably both.

 

[pph_2ppr]

I have three red tipped reef hermits, they should be able to take care of the detritus correct? Won't the hermits kill the snails if they aren't getting enough to eat?(There isn't much for them to munch on. The hermits should get along fine with the shrimp as well as damsels?

 

[Sadielynn]

Yes they can kill for food or larger shells if they out grow the ones they have , this can be negated by providing extra shells for them to use as they grow .... I have yet to see them go after mine in my tank unless they are dead/dying but not from hunger , I have about 6 -8 in my 10 gallon tank ...

 

[pph_2ppr]

Sounds pretty good and I already have 5 larger shells for them to use. A couple snails will be added this weekend. How do you identify nassarious snails, theres even people working that don't know.

 

[cmor1701d]

Check the photos at Aquarium Fish: Tropical Freshwater Fish and Saltwater Fish for Home Aquariums or other sites for the vairous snails available.

I had plenty of shells laying around for my hermits. They still went after each other and the snails. Guess I didn't overfeed the tank enough.

Here's what LiveAquaria recommends for a 30 gallon tank. You probably want about ½ of what they call for.


Trochus Snail or
Turban Snail 8
Super Tongan
Nassarius Snail 6
Cerith Snail 12
Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab 10

 

[pph_2ppr]

If you had a choice which shrimp would be your pick, a cleaner or coral banded? Taken into effect hardiness and compatability

 

[Sadielynn]

Hands down a cleaner shrimp , they have a good temprament and are easy going , you can house any thing with them that wont eat them ...
coral banded have a bit of an attitude and can be nasty to inhabitants