Guidedbyechoes' Nano Reef Journal

[guidedbyechoes]

I cleaned the floval for the first time today and I don't think its going to stay in the system right now its microbubble city in there. Not too great for coral growth I take it.

 

[seffieuk]

Not too great for coral growth I take it.

Not too easy on the eyes

Seffie x

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I finally found the cable to take a pic of my poor tank.

Thats the algea that grew on a rock I just put there last week. Just diatoms and ugly algae no coralline so far.

I was about to do a water change but a friend I haven't seen in months called me up. Nitrates are still way to high for any creatures to move in. Nitrates have almost halved themselves since last week. Will the diatoms kill themselves off?

 

[seffieuk]

When your cycle is finished the cuc will take care of them for you

 

[guidedbyechoes]

my water has gone cloudy. I think its time to do a serious water change.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

for my cleanup crew I'm thinking

1 skunk cleaner (Lysmata amboinensis)
5 turbo snails (Turbo fluctuosa)
2 banded trochus (Trochus sp.)
2 redleg yellow faced hermits (Paguristes cadenati)

 

[seffieuk]

for my cleanup crew I'm thinking

1 skunk cleaner (Lysmata amboinensis)
5 turbo snails (Turbo fluctuosa)
2 banded trochus (Trochus sp.)
2 redleg yellow faced hermits (Paguristes cadenati)

I would suggest cutting back on the snails you mentioned, start off with a couple and add as required. Also consider a few Nass vibex or dove snails to sift the sand

 

[guidedbyechoes]

for my cleanup crew I'm thinking

1 skunk cleaner (Lysmata amboinensis)
5 turbo snails (Turbo fluctuosa)
2 banded trochus (Trochus sp.)
2 redleg yellow faced hermits (Paguristes cadenati)

I would suggest cutting back on the snails you mentioned, start off with a couple and add as required. Also consider a few Nass vibex or dove snails to sift the sand

Will do. I was going by a site called live aqauria and it has 35 inverts in its premade pack 10 being turbos? I must have read incorrectly I thought the trochus were sifters.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

It has dropped my nitrates to 0. Now I have a tank full of diatoms and algae. I will probably have to wait two more week to have any spare money to spend because of that stupid car. Will update when I begin adding cleanup crew.

 

[seffieuk]

Ah, thats a shame, why not just buy one snail and a hermit

Seffie x

 

[guidedbyechoes]

Ah, thats a shame, why not just buy one snail and a hermit

Seffie x

So there wont be territorial disputes when I add more? I thought with hermits you had to add them all at once?

 

[seffieuk]

As long as they are the same species and about the same size should be fine, just dont buy a big boy and then stick in a teeny one! To be honest, imo people often have too many hermits in a nano tank

Seffie x

 

[guidedbyechoes]

As long as they are the same species and about the same size should be fine, just dont buy a big boy and then stick in a teeny one! To be honest, imo people often have too many hermits in a nano tank

Seffie x

Yeah I was thinking only two. Less and its not enough more and they you have to worry about them fighting over mates.

 

[Donya]

I thought with hermits you had to add them all at once?

There can be some social upset when you add more if the existing individuals have been in for a long time and have their pecking order sorted out. More aggressive species are sometimes exceptions, but usually sorting out who's the boss is just a bit of slapping/kicking and shell banging for show rather than fights to the death. The same will happen anyway if you put them all in at once and even periodically later on as they grow, you just run the risk of it turning nastier than it would otherwise due to overstocking.

 

[guidedbyechoes]

I plan on picking up one hermit, a turbo snail and a sand sifter snail this weekend. I will post pics. After doing the drip method do I net the inverts and place them in or carefully pick them up by hand? Also I decided to remove the court jester goby from my list. I watched videos of it and just not enough flash or movement to keep me interested. So it will be 3 fish giving them basically a foot each. I've been pondering getting rid of my cichlids and upgrading but that would require me buying a whole of of new stuff. Just not ready for that step just yet.