A Few Start Up Questions

[Jake Jackson]

Okay all, so I finally got the 55gal tank, and about 40 lbs of white sand. Guy who I talked to said I should get a bag of crushed corals to go along w/ the sand .... is that accurate?

Also, guy who I brought the tank from gave me some "grass" as he calls it, and says I should set some of it up the 55 gal because the cichlids will love to munch on it. Also says I should set some of it up in a 10 gal tank so I can "grow" my own food and casually restock the 55gal w/ more grass if need be. Is that good advice?

Also, he gave me some snails... real little guys he says to put the snails directly into the sand and then put more sand on top and then add water. He says these kind of snails burrow through the substrate and eat the left over food and stuff that ends up in there... Anyone know anything about this?

Also... got the tank and sand, but should I wait till I get the coral before I start the cycle process? Or will I still be able to add the sand/coral later after its full w/ water?

 

[Murray]

only thing i can comment on is that grass it may be java moss its healthy for cichlids to eat it as vegetables. it als is attractive fun times

 

[Jake Jackson]

Alright, I'll look up some info on the java.

What should be my next couple of steps?

 

[CichlidAddict]

I don't know about the snail thing. If this is an Mbuna tank the snails will be dead before long anyways.. Cichlids like to much on snails too!

 

[Boids-n-more]

The snails won't make it very long and if you want you can toss some duck weed in there too. The crushed coral will help keep your ph buffered. I have natural rock in mine so i put the crush coral where the carbon would normaly be.

 

[Jake Jackson]

The guy said these snails rarely come above the substrate, unless there is something going on with the water properties.

I forget what they were called, also...

How about the coral, can I add that after I have it full w/ water?

 

[CichlidAddict]

You can add the coral anytime.. i thought it looked cool after it "snowed" in the tank and had fun with it adding it over a period of time rather than all at once... I did this because i didn't want my ph changing quickly.. though i doubt it would have been a problem..

 

[paul-discus]

I hazard a guess that the snails may be those Malaysian things. What happens if sand does not get disturbed it collects poisonous gasses, all the snails do is distub it thus preventing any gases building up but you can just as easy give the sand a weekly stir up.

 

[dthoffsett]

Mbunas are pretty good about moving your sand around, never had a problem in my tank. More than likely he was talking about Malaysian Trumpet Snails. They do burrow in the sand, but will also come to the surface. They are thriving in all of my tanks, but the mbuna. They get eaten too quickly to reproduce, however, when my other tanks get too many, I throw the extras in the mbuna tank, the mbuna think this is a wonderful treat, especially the labs.

You can add the crushed coral any time you like, however, if you are wanting to use it to buffer your tank, you are better off putting some into a filter bag, and putting it in your filter where it will get constant water flow. If you have a cannister filter, there should be extra compartments you can put it in.

 

[Jake Jackson]

so then go far the sand only, and just use the crushed coral in the filters? I have a simple setup has about 4 walmart filters in it now, haven't started anything yet... still getting info.