Beginner questions

[Travelgal]

Hi - I just wondered if:

The little bugs in our tank are the ---pods (can't remember what they're called) that are good or something that we don't want. They are really small, maybe only a few milimeters in length and grayish, brownish in color. They came with the live sand in our inherited tank.

Also - we got 7 peppermint shrimp for our 60 gal tank which apparently has an aiptasia (sp?) problem. Is this enough? We also got 5 algae-eater hermit crabs, but the guy at AW recommended 1 per gallon. 60 hermit crabs seems like a lot, but maybe we need to add 55 more? :confused:

[Jessy]

Hi - I just wondered if:

The little bugs in our tank are the ---pods (can't remember what they're called) that are good or something that we don't want. They are really small, maybe only a few milimeters in length and grayish, brownish in color. They came with the live sand in our inherited tank.

Also - we got 7 peppermint shrimp for our 60 gal tank which apparently has an aiptasia (sp?) problem. Is this enough? We also got 5 algae-eater hermit crabs, but the guy at AW recommended 1 per gallon. 60 hermit crabs seems like a lot, but maybe we need to add 55 more? :confused:

Pods are great and you actually will end up wanting to grow more and more of them.

7 peps may or may not take care of your aiptasia problem depending on how bad it is and how picky the shrimp are. Your best bet is shirmp and killing with chemicals like aiptasia x. OR better yet, while your reef is still mostly empty take the rocks out and scrub off the little bastards with a tooth brush.

Or you can always resort to this (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...5&pagenumber=1) ;)

And don't get any more hermits they just knock stuff over and end up going on a killing spree of your snails. Keep the 5 in there if you don't have any issues with them, but do stock up on snails. 50 or more is great. I really do suggest lots of snails in a tank. Ron at Octopuss Garden has a decent price on snails. I'd get two big turbos, a bunch of margarita, astrea, and nassarius and you'll be set. But don't add too much too fast... you just got your tank on saturday. Make sure that it isn't going to cycle before you go putting more livestock in there. I think you mentioned that Jess (treylane) is going to be stopping by this weekend. She should be able to tell you what is safe for now.

[nahtanoj]

what she said, 1 hermit per gallon is ridiculous, unless you want a crab tank that is.

[99sf]

i have some pulsing xenia elongata I could frag for free, if you'd like some. It looks like the xenia on the left hand side of the tank, only slightly bigger! Good beginner coral, and visitors love it.
Christina
619-446-8399

[Travelgal]

Very cool, but I think our tank isn't quite ready for any new introductions just yet - maybe I could take you up on the offer in a week or so?

[Travelgal]

We need to get rid of our bio-balls and were thinking about putting a micron sock instead. Then Ron at OG told us that they needed to be changed every 2 days and that we really didn't need them at all and that our protein skimmer could take care of it. My questions are: Do you guys use micron sock filters? If so, how often do you change them? Could we not put in a filter? For those of you who graciously came to our house to help us with our set-up - would our puny protein skimmer be sufficient?

[h20poloman2]

My experience with filter socks is that they can be a pain for lazy reefers like me. :) Quite a few of the folks on this board do use them however, and they are effective. I'm not up to date on your tank stats or skimmer/sump size. If you tank is in the initial cycle process I would say it's definitely not a bad idea to use the filter sock in addition to the skimmer. It will help put out more waste.

I personally do not use one as my system as it was not designed well for easy maintenance where my return line hits my sump. To compare, I currently have a 240g tank which I cycled with about 250lbs of live rock for a month. That is just running the water through the tank with the skimmer on,etc. No fish, snails,etc. I then added snails and continued to test for another week before adding a few corals and my first fish which came from an established tank.

Removing the bio balls and just relying on the skimmer will work. By adding the filter sock it could decrease your cycle time needed IMO.

[Shells]

I do use them but I feed a lot in my tank and I believe it helps.

I only changed them twice per week (if I am being a good little reefer) and often once a week (with water changes)), again this will depend on your system.

If you wait too long the sock will get all brown, water wont flow through them and thats when you know you should of change them.

All you have to do is pull them out, turn them inside out, toss in washing machine with a little bleach.

[nahtanoj]

i will throw them on my tank when i notice a lot of particulate in the water, other wise i rarely have them on. after 3 days they don't let water flow through them, as stated above. it's a personal choice.

[Travelgal]

When you guys go away on vacation for a few days, who watches your tank? Any suggestions?

[h20poloman2]

depends on how automated your system is. When I go away for a weekend I usually just have my g/f or roommate feed my fish. If it's going to be extended, I would ask a fellow reefer that is capable of topping off and knowing if something is out of whack (i.e. pump not working, coral flipped over,etc)

[99sf]

I use a filter sock, and change it once a week (during a water change). I have a nori-eating tang, and am glad the junk that my filter sock catches does not end up going through my return pump or chiller. My sump system is pretty basic; the people with really large tanks and sophisticated sumps with tons of baffles probably don't need socks too much. I bought my quality filter socks from Tom619 on sdreefs... his mother makes them! I let the used socks dry on the balcony and wash them on the extra rinse cycle with two tablespoons of bleach.

[Travelgal]

We bought a green feather duster who crawled out of his tube and died the night we added him to our tank. Now, a few days later, 2 of our established FDs have also crawled out of their tubes. No movement around the established ones and no one dropped their crown. No sign of spots, critters, wounds, etc on the 2 that crawled out. We checked our water parameters and calcium was a little low (started to add B-Ionic), but all else looked okay (still working on lowering nitrate levels - constant battle). Corals look okay. Did the evil green one give our others a bug? Was it the calcium? I read that stress might cause them to crawl out and find a "better" spot, but they've been in the same spot and have been happy for awhile now. We still have some tiny FDs in a rock, a koko worm, and another smaller FD doing fine. I'm so sad!!! They were my favorites!!What else can we do? How long should we wait before we replace them? Help please!

[h20poloman2]

I'm not sure what the acclimation period is on feather dusters but did you acclimate them for a period of time or just place them right into the tank? Considering the results I would probably hold off for a bit before adding more to the tank. I would think flow could be a potential issue if they were irritated. I'm not that familiar with their care but would suggest some reading on wetwebmedia.net as I'm sure there will be plenty of info on that site. Keep us posted.

[Travelgal]

We are thinking we'll need tank heaters pretty soon. What kind do you guys recommend? Our tank is 60 gal - should we get one for the whole tank or 2 for more even heating? Would you suggest we put them in the tank or the sump? Any brands you'd recommend that aren't too expensive? What strength/power would be best? We've heard conflicting info from our LFSs.

[99sf]

I recommend Visitherm Stealth heaters. I like them because they are plastic--not glass-- and shatterproof. They also automatically shut off when removed from the water. I have followed the advice of my aquarium books and placed one heater in the sump and one in the display tank. That way, there is less of a chance of a heater catastrophe (if one fails, the other can still function). For my 60 gallon + 29 gallon sump system, I use two Stealth 300-watt heaters. You could definitely have two 200-watt heaters.

[Jessy]

I recommend Visitherm Stealth heaters. I like them because they are plastic--not glass-- and shatterproof. They also automatically shut off when removed from the water. I have followed the advice of my aquarium books and placed one heater in the sump and one in the display tank. That way, there is less of a chance of a heater catastrophe (if one fails, the other can still function). For my 60 gallon + 29 gallon sump system, I use two Stealth 300-watt heaters. You could definitely have two 200-watt heaters.

Ditto on the stealth. I've got one in my tank. But don't follow my example. I only have one 100w heater in a 150gal tank... I don't know why I even have it... it doesn't do much. :)