A Few Qs

[weezawoo]

Got my LR yesterday, only 30kg another 20kg to come soon.

I don't think I am going to test the water until I know when the other LR is coming and its in there. TBH its unlikely I have a cycle as he transported it in water (I didn't use it in my tank tho) So I could add some CUC in a week but think I will wait to have all the LR.

Although if I took some water to the lfs at the weekend and all was good, do you think it would be worthwhile getting a couple hermits to start with until the rest of the LR?

Couple other Q's, should I add my sand now or wait until I have all the LR for my (hopefully) final scape? Just I see people saying add rock first so no sand is under it but then people rescape a lot so they must disturb the sand and have some under the rock? I have put 3kg in from a bag that came with the LR just to get a little life into it.

I think I have asterina stars, and quite a few of them, couple are going up my glass some still on the rock, are these ok to have so many and there are tons of brittle stars in there, all smaller ones, is it bad to have too many?

Also I want corals in there in the future but what is the recommended time to wait before adding any corals? I want to try something different with this tank and will buy mainly frags, I really like the idea of seeing it all evolve into something spectacular rather than buying lovely full corals and there being hardly any room for development. The only thing I will buy is a nem somewhere down the line! What do I need to wait for before thinking of adding any frags?

P.S if anyone has some frags they would like to sell me to start me off Or maybe someone could start a little frag going now for when I am ready I would very much appreciate it

 

[sorgan]

get your sand in

your tank will go through a few stages after your cycle when all your algae/cyano starts dying off you can start gettibg some frags in.

you want frags? NPS frags?

 

[weezawoo]

You sure its ok to put it all in? oooo its a bit scary! lol!

So if I have algae stuff appear it means I am having a cycle? Or will I def get some algae? I havn't even looked up the stages of a marine cycle purely because it was coming from an established tank and transported well I was hoping for no cycle I can get a test done tomorrow at the lfs if you think it is worth knowing the results now? Would there already be readings in there?

Now I have heard of lps sps etc but I have no idea the difference between them... these aren't your hiding in the dark ones are they

Oh sorry going to throw aother question in here, my CUC stocking, I have been advised something like this is suitable for my size tank:

100-120 hermits (you can mix species but it's a bit hit and miss, you'll have much more luck just keeping the same)
20 brittle starfish
15-20 Shrimps
5 Pink and brown sea cucumbers
4 Sea urchins of whatever your favourite species is

Does this seem way to many hermits?

OK I lied another Q I expect they won't all get answered!
When do I need to get some Chaeto to add to the sump?

 

[MrLiam]

Sorgan do you have any sun coral frags I think there NPS

 

[fishy55599]

far too much

for starts you would need some snails-turbo, nass, cerith, ect..
too many stars i would guess.
2 cucumbers as they grow.
id say about 50 hermits max

 

[sorgan]

you will get all sorts of slime and algae growth, its best to wait untill after the explosion before you add coral.

corals are
softies - like zoa's, star polyps, mushrooms etc
LPS - large polyp stony - euphyllia's, favia's, trachyphyllia etc
SPS - small polyp stony - acropora, millipora, stylopora etc
NPS - non photosynthetic or azoox corals (the funny ones i keep yes) sun corals, chillis, various sponges, many gorgonians ) ) etc

yeah i have sun corals and they are NPS in fact i wrote a care guide for them, its somewhere in seffies idea thread.

 

[MrLiam]

Ok ill have a read of it.

 

[weezawoo]

Thank you for the quick run down on them! I need a good place to research a few!

I thought it sounded too many Fishy! All I would see is hermits everywhere! But I do believe you don't have to have snails as they aren't essential! I hate the things, don't like the 2 that hitchhiked on my LR! haha!

Thats cool I will wait a good while to get corals then! Thank you Maybe people can prepare some for me to buy haha plenty of time!

 

[fishy55599]

you dont need hermits but.....

 

[sorgan]

snails are an important CUC member, a varied CuC is a good CuC

 

[fishy55599]

but you will be cleaning lots more algae also

also need some for your sand

 

[TheHolding]

When picking CUC bare in mind your desired fish stock for example if you plan on having a puffer cross off snails, starfish, shrimp and sponges (anything small or slow) because they will pick them to death!

I have hermits in my tank and my GSP doesn't even notice them and trust me he is a greedy little so and so that would eat anything he could fit in to his mouth - this is the only thing you can get away with regarding puffers.

Just something to think about!

 

[weezawoo]

Thank you! I don't think I would venture the puffer route, although I love some of them I am trying to have a peaceful tank with as little problems as possible (yeah right I hear you say)

I can cope with a few snails but the one in my tank atm has this weird pokey thing out the front of his shell, I guess his eye or something, and I sudder everytime I see him! Just yuk! I would hate to put my hand in and touch one!

I would get some as I know they are good for the glass but generally I heard I could cope without! I guess some people think their system works but maybe it doesn't!

Also I kind of think I have my final stocking list but there is room for change but I think most are ok with snails and the like! But every fish is different!

 

[TheHolding]

Not all puffers are aggressive.

Only problem is they are unpredictable and they all have different personailities - Wilson my Green Spotted Puffer is fine until you add new fish or add food to the tank he can get very nasty!

How big is the tank? If I had a bigger tank I would def have a dog faced puffer they are adorable!

 

[Uriel]

It's funny i want to do exactly the same thing weezawoo and grow all my corals on from frags rather than starting with big corals.