Help For A Newb

[SkiFletch]

Scarlet hermits which are often called red legs (the whole crab's body is red) are cool by me. Bluelegs I dont put in my tank cause they just run over corals and tend to play king of the hill on my acros... I'm not a fan of that behavior And beware the "electric blue" hermits, cause some of those species get HUGE.

 

[JJ1234567]

My 2 cents...I have found that hermits play hob with snails. Im both of my nanos the hermits (only had 2) killed all the snails at some point. It went from being cute and just taking the shell cause they were going, to killing for fun and eating. I even tried feeding them and they still went after the snails. Personally, I avoid hermits. I have one still and when he dies thats it!

 

[fishheaded]

Well I guess hermits have a notorious reputation...thanks guys. When adding fish, should I just put them in the tank as soon as I get home?
-FishHeaded

 

[JJ1234567]

no, proper aclimentation is critical for making sure your fish survive the first few days. Take the bag or bucket the LFS gave you and set it below the level of the tank. Then take some airline tubing and tie a small knot in it. Either submerge the whole tube below the surfice of the water and get all the air out of it -OR- just suck on it til water is almost to the end. Then let the water drip from your tank to the bag until the level of water in the bag is more than doubled. Then scoop the fish out and let him go in the tank. Do Not Mix water from the LFS in with your water. Throw the water from the bag out!

 

[fishheaded]

Thnx JJ, did a little research and found your information on liveaquaria. Got another question, please give me some feedback everyone, I live in Arizona now and it is really hot (100-115 degrees). Would a heater be necessary for my 10g? I mean the house temp is usually around 78-80 degrees but sometimes when no one is home it gets to 85-90. I was thinking I might need a chiller instead of the heater? What do you guys think?

-FishHeaded

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, you might be able to get away without a heater in AZ. Whats the house temp like in the "winter" down there? If its still 75 you should be fine. You might want to consider fans on that setup. The one thing you guys do have going for you in AZ is that the air is so dry. Dry air helps aid evaporative cooling

 

[fishheaded]

Thanks Ski, I probably am going to need it during the summer, gets a littttle chilly. I was thinking about getting the Jäger heater with the temperature sensor. Does this sound good?

Also I finally recieved my 10g in the mail yesterday! Im hoping to go to my LFS and get all my supplies today.

-FishHeaded

 

[SkiFletch]

Cool, not familiar with the Jager heater. General rule of thumb, go with a higher quality heater for 2 reasons. #1 its really only a few $$ cheaper than the low-quality ones. #2 you dont want everything in your tank dead from a faulty el-cheapo

 

[fishheaded]

Thanks Ski, I definitely don't want my tank to crash, especially since it's my first one.

Also my aquarium came with a little mini stick on outside the tank thermometer. Are these accurate?

-FishHeaded

 

[SkiFletch]

Sort of... They usually read low though... It might be wise to "calibrate" it by sticking a more relaible alcohol or mercury/glass thermometer in the water and comparing it to your stick-on. So if your reliable thermometer reads sy 82 and your stick on reads 79, remember to add 3 degrees to your stick-on when taking the temp like that

 

[fishheaded]

Ahhh good idea, thanks Ski. Here are some pics of the new tank:

Sorry for the HORRIBLE pictures, good camera is w/sister-in-law, so I used my camera phone.
Whole package:
Only going to use the aquarium, filter, net, and thermometer.

Thermometer:

Top of Aquarium:

Canopy (kind of hard to see)

I will get much better pics as soon as possible.

-FishHeaded

 

[JJ1234567]

interesting tank. Word of Advice, Id ditch the whisper and get an AquaClear. Much better filters.

 

[fishheaded]

I actually was thinking of upgrading the filter, just thought I would use it since it came with the tank, but eventually I will upgrade.

Got some more questions...
-How should I take out the water from the tank?? since I will have to do so in about a month or so.
-And it is possible to install a lighting fixture on this kind of canopy ^, correct?

Sorry for such newbness...

-FishHeaded

 

[SkiFletch]

The hood appears as though it could be either modded or replaced. Could you take a picture of the underside of the hood for us? And what are its dimensions (having some trouble finding them on the web)?

 

[fishheaded]

Sure thing, here ya go:

Full Aquarium shot, (filled with tap water, testing for any leaks)

Top of Canopy

Underneath Canopy with light screwed on

Underneath Canopy without light screwed on

Also got a couple of questions:

-When taking out water out of a tank, how do I do this? Just simply scoop the water out??? (Reason for being, is because I need to take tap water out of the aquarium)

-I also put the stick on thermometer and it reads 83-84 degrees, is the temp to high to run a FOWLR? If it is too high, how could I lower the temp without using a chiller? (note. I have a canopy)

Thanks for all the help

-FishHeaded