Updates and advice please

[lauriemae]

Hi there...I'm baaaacckkk!

Reminder:
I'm still working on some issues in my large nano tank (went from 12 gallon to the 28) and I ordered the 20,000 K light online but they sent a 250 watt so I'm waiting on the right one. Still have screen up. Have put in a heater set to 78 degrees but I have to turn out the MH light early in the evening as it is already up to 82 degrees. In the morning it is 76 or so, and I think that's a large fluctuation but Florida has been having cool weather.

Still have quite a few small coral frags that haven't opened much and aren't nearly the colors they were at the place we purchased them and my torch and frogspawn aren't doing nearly as well they did in the smaller tank. One looked as if it had died totally (fried from light probably) so we put it in my son's 55 gallon tank and it's coming back a tad.

My question(s) for today: All red bubble algae was removed by taking the rocks totally out because I couldn't get rid of it otherwise. I still have quite a few small groups of green bubble algae and I hear good/bad about emerald crabs. I have used them in the past but eventually as they got too big for my 12 gallon tank they ate my snails. I have quite a few zoa frags...what are your thoughts? If kept fed, should getting a small one be OK?

Second question, the fish that came from my 12 gallon tank are all healthy & well. 1 small maroon clown, 1 small yellow watchman & a small six line wrasse. In the last month I have tried to put three others in there (all at different times!) and this is the result:

1. pygmy angel - saw for one day and never reappeared. Water never showed ammonia or nitrate spike. Have NO clue what happened to it.
2. yellow head goby (not sure official name) - he went in and within two hours was gasping for breath. I put him in my 12 gallon tank which was still up at the time to try to save him, but he passed within another hour.
3. Orange spotted (or orange striped) goby - Put him in and never saw him again. Once again, no ammonia or nitrate spike. Checked floor, sump, etc., gone!!

I have a small - medium sand sifting starfish and some small blue hermits and small snails. Nothing that I think could eat those two fish. I also have three small peppermint shrimps that I hope are eating the aptasia.

Thoughts? Advice?

Laurie Mae

 

[mr_X]

1 small emerald crab isn't going to do enough to notice, even if he decides to eat the bubble algae and nothing else, which is a long shot in itself. by "keeping it fed" you are taking bubble algae right off of the menu.
that said, i've always kept them because i like to watch them, and never had any trouble from them.

how did you acclimate those fish exactly?

i would return the sand sifting star. you don't have enough food in the tank to sustain him. it will eat everything in the sand bed and then starve to death. they need a large, established tank with a deep sand bed.

 

[lauriemae]

hi Doug, Great to see you again! As always, thanks for your quick reply and your page full of answers you don't feel like typing, hahahaha

I never thought of the sand sifting star, in a 3 month tank that does make sense, guess I'll send him to my son's tank. Could he really ingest a pygmy angel and a 2.5" goby that quickly? Why not any of the "older" fish he's been around for years? I guess all I can do is try by removing him, but then again, I'll never know he was the culprit!

OK on the emerald crab. I always thought they were amusing so I'll be glad to have one. I trust he attacks the algae bubbles since that is why I'll be getting him. Won't over feed...

My son acclimates the fish and we've never had trouble in either of our tanks until this one so I don't know if the lighting would make a difference? He floats the bag in the tank and after about 15 minutes or so he adds about 1/2-3/4 cup of water from tank into bag every 20 minutes or so until the water in the bag is at least as much "tank" water as water from the LFS. After he sees the fish happily moving around he will then introduce it into the tank. Thoughts?

 

[mr_X]

lol... thanks!
...in the winter i end up sitting at the pc a lot.

no..i didn't mean to imply that the sand sifting star ate the fish. i meant that they are better left in the ocean, because it's very difficult to sustain them.

i think the drip method is better than doing it the floating bag way. just put the fish in a bucket with the bag water in it and then use a knotted piece of airline tubing to slowly siphon out tank water into the bucket. the knot slows the drip down pretty good. some fish can fare pretty well with short acclimations, but others require 2 and 3 hour drip acclimations.