Idlefingers' Salty Journal

[idlefingers]

no, I've not tried yet and won't until it's good and settled..

 

[littleme1969]

You should never remove the shed!! They eat it to gain back nutrients if you leave it , it will be gone within 24hrs. What he does not eat the CUC will finish off for him

 

[idlefingers]

Doh! I've already taken it out, stared at it a bit then threw it in the bin. Well I now know not to next time! I assume it's the same when crabs molt?

 

[littleme1969]

No.. crabs rarely eat there exo.. non of mine ever did, the just unzip the back and climb out and walk away..lol

 

[idlefingers]

Well the shrimp seems to be doing really well now.. It's really active and is constantly trying to clean the clown who is having none of it! I put my hand in expecting it to just have a little feel but it ended up jumping onto my hand and giving it a good cleaning! He's really come out of his shell now!

What would an update be without the obligatory full tank shot? (even though nothing's really changed except algae growing!)

Considering the small number of crabs in there currently and no snails yet, they're doing a grand job of cleaning the algae.. but there's still plenty more to go around! I'm thinking of going to the lfs after work tomorrow (I wish every night was a late opening night for them ) and getting a few snails and some more hermits.. Would 4 more hermits to make the grand total 10 be good?

I've also been working up a list of fish which I like the looks of and from a small amount of research seem appropriate so now I need your guys help in deciding what's good together and what would make a nice, peaceful, interesting and not overstocked tank.

• Percula Clown - Already got
• Banggai Cardinal
• Fireball Dwarf Angel
• Coral Beauty
• Flame Angel - Not sure about this, I read they can be belligerent towards peaceful fish
• Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse - I'm a bit worried about what I've read about wrasses and jumping..
• Royal Gramma
• Midas Blenny
• Yellow Prawn Goby

This is [a refined] list of some fish which have caught my eye and by no means do I plan on keeping all of these.. I'm looking for appropriate combinations and other suggestions.

When would be a good time to think about adding the first coral? I'm wanting to keep it easy and like what I've read about mushroom leather corals. Does that sound like a good first choice?

Thanks for any help!

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, you mention corals and 3 dwarf angels in the same post, a recepie for disaster Not only will 3 dwarf angels likely squabble amongst themselves, but also I'm sure at least one of them will turn coral hungry. If you're worried about jumping wrasses, just throw some egg crate over the top of the wate

As for corals, leathers are really hardy and decent first choices. Just beware attempting to grow stony corals and leathery corals at the same time. The leathers can/will release alleopathic toxins to stunt the growth of or damage stony corals if/when competition ensues

 

[idlefingers]

Well, you mention corals and 3 dwarf angels in the same post, a recepie for disaster Not only will 3 dwarf angels likely squabble amongst themselves, but also I'm sure at least one of them will turn coral hungry. If you're worried about jumping wrasses, just throw some egg crate over the top of the wate

Are all three likely to nip at corals? Are they just particular types of corals or are they not fussy? I'm not wanting to stock the entire list and definitely wouldn't try three angels together, that was just a short list of fish I like and looking for suggestions for combos.

As for corals, leathers are really hardy and decent first choices. Just beware attempting to grow stony corals and leathery corals at the same time. The leathers can/will release alleopathic toxins to stunt the growth of or damage stony corals if/when competition ensues

Okay, thanks for that How matured should my tank be before I should consider looking into getting one?

 

[SkiFletch]

A month or so before adding the coral.

The CB is probably the least likely to coral nip, but its really a crapshoot on which ones will nip corals. Some individuals of the same species nip, while others don't care...

 

[idlefingers]

A month from now or a month since the live rock was in? *prepares for the former but prays for the latter!*

Sorry to be a pain in the backside with my questions and cheers again for all the help ski!

 

[SkiFletch]

The latter

 

[idlefingers]

woohoo!

 

[idlefingers]

I got a UV unit earlier this week and spent a lot of time pondering where was the best position to mount it. In the end, I decided to mount it onto a piece of wood and then slide that behind the tank. I figured that would be best to hide it but still keep it accessible.

There were a few different types of algae which came on the LR but there's a lot more starting to come out now..

Algae mountain.. It looks kind of similar to hair algae but it's leafy..

And finally, I just noticed a couple of these little things..

I need to decide what to leave in and what to start battling against so if anyone could help with some IDs, that'd be greatly appreciated.

 

[Matthew5664]

leave it all in and get yourself a bristle tooth tang of some sort. Gold rush, or a Keyhole?? They'll soon have it all out

 

[littleme1969]

Leave it..I think it looks really natural with a good variety of different algae. I wish I could grow some but my clean up crew just nosh the lot

 

[sophos9]

I leave the seaweed, those green stalk things and the feather looking green algae, the other type (second from last photo) gets pulled out at water change....

Nice UV fella, what made you buy one?