30l Hermit Crab Tank

[techen]

So overall what does it mean? Shall I wait till the ammonia drops to zero? I'll get some water out of my bottle to compare as well.

Yep, make sure the ammonia and nitrite are zeroed out for a few days just to be safe and then check nitrate again to make sure it's still low. Once that happens, you are ready for a couple critters.

So a mushroom coral is worth a try? My LFS sell those and they look pretty cool.

Missed this earlier, sorry. Mushrooms are pretty hardy, at least the ones that are mostly reddish or brown. I would avoid things like metallic green and blue mushrooms since they tend to be more finicky (not to mention that they tend to cost an arm and a leg). Putting a shroom in to watch for a while would be a good first test with the light after the tank has been running for a few weeks.

Thanks donya, I'll wait for my light to come before I look at a cheap mushroom.

Heres the results of the tank and barrel

Hard to make out but I believe the one in the barrel is a ligher colour.

But after waiting they both look the same?

 

[techen]

Would that work out better than a air pump?

 

[Donya]

Would that work out better than a air pump?

Yep! The air pump was just a precaution I recommended to avoid exposing a pump to lots of silty stuff. It looks well settled now so you can go pump-only and even close the valve at the top (assuming that's for venturi?) if the surface is jumping around nicely.

 

[#1 Fish Fan]

Your tank is being set up nicely techen. Those crabs will love it!

 

[techen]

I got a new tank for my marine tank today. It came with a heater so a quick question, what temp should I be at?#

I'll post pics soon.

 

[techen]

I also have 11w light inside it, would blue be the best colour for the likes of corals?

 

[techen]

Updated photo, stacking is a pain.

 

[techen]

So I changed tanks and am happy with the one I have. Am getting a blue light and hoping at looking at soft corals.

A few days later the water seemed even and so I thought I'd have a go at hermits.

I was going to order them off ebay but my LFS had tons of blue legged hermits in so I got 3 of them.

And yes I did do it right, I put my tank water into the back slowly and then emptyed it to half once full. Did this a few times until it was just my tank water inside and pulled them in. They seem fine and rather active.

 

[Donya]

Just be aware that these are Clibnarius tricolor, not the same blues you were looking at before, which were Calcinus elegans. The Clibanarius tricolor don't grow as big so you could have more of them than would be the case for Calcinus elegans, and it would also still be risky to mix the two in such a small space if you still want the Calcinus elegans at some point.

 

[techen]

Just be aware that these are Clibnarius tricolor, not the same blues you were looking at before, which were Calcinus elegans. The Clibanarius tricolor don't grow as big so you could have more of them than would be the case for Calcinus elegans, and it would also still be risky to mix the two in such a small space if you still want the Calcinus elegans at some point.

Baaah, The guy at the LFS said they were blue legged hermits. They look the same but there tiny, Are the blue legs much bigger then??

 

[Donya]

Baaah, The guy at the LFS said they were blue legged hermits. They look the same but there tiny, Are the blue legs much bigger then??

They are blue-legged hermits; that's the common name for Clibanarius tricolor. Calcinus elegans is usually sold as one of the following: electric blue, blue-knuckle, blue-striped, and Hawaiian blue.

If you look closely, they don't look the same at all aside from having some blue on them. Going back to that document of mine I linked you at one point before in chat or wherever it was (the first link in my sig for anyone else wondering what I'm talking about), compare the diagrams on pages 41 and 51.

 

[techen]

Baaah, The guy at the LFS said they were blue legged hermits. They look the same but there tiny, Are the blue legs much bigger then??

They are blue-legged hermits; that's the common name for Clibanarius tricolor. Calcinus elegans is usually sold as one of the following: electric blue, blue-knuckle, blue-striped, and Hawaiian blue.

If you look closely, they don't look the same at all aside from having some blue on them. Going back to that document of mine I linked you at one point before in chat or wherever it was (the first link in my sig for anyone else wondering what I'm talking about), compare the diagrams on pages 41 and 51.

I see now, I failed to notice there's different blue legged hermits. That's a pain, Am not enitrely sure what to do with these guys then while I wait to see if I can get the others.

 

[Donya]

No reason you can't hang onto them for a while. After all, they will being helping with keeping the rock and sand clean. If you really want Calcinus elgans and didn't want these, then I'd just suggest taking the current ones back to the store when you finally find a source of the Calcinus hermits.

 

[techen]

No reason you can't hang onto them for a while. After all, they will being helping with keeping the rock and sand clean. If you really want Calcinus elgans and didn't want these, then I'd just suggest taking the current ones back to the store when you finally find a source of the Calcinus hermits.

Thank you Doyna, I'll let them keep the tank clean and mess about for awhile. I need to work out where to get the others from.

The ones on ebay are the same, blue and orange I'll need to call my LFS 2mro and ask if they can get them in.

 

[techen]

Crabs are doing fine it seems, Added LEDs for now.