Need Help Setting Up Marine.. Found New Crabs Now?

[demonmagus]

you could leave it empty and use it for carbon and stuff (when you need it) and the rest of the time it could just be a 'powerhead'. Do you know how many litres per hour it shifts?

 

[kniesh]

Sorry had it for ages I cant remember, it is classed as oversized for my 40 gal tropical tho if that helps.

 

[demonmagus]

hmmmmm, not being harsh but that doesn't help

are you sure there is no model number/brand

 

[kniesh]

Lol there is on the top which i couldnt see from in the tank.. Its a fluval4 plus.

 

[SkiFletch]

I'm gonna have to go ahead and say nuts to the live sand. Its a big fat waste of money. Sandbeds seed very fast and become live quickly when live rock is used in the tank. Live sand is just a marketing gimmick and not worth the nearly double price of plain old aragonite sand.

The canister can be re-used WITHOUT the physical media in there. You can either leave it empty and use carbon when required, or you could fill part of it with crushed up LR and leave room for carbon at a later date. I have no idea how that filter is constructed so I cant really comment on how easy it would be to modify that way.

Remember, 20 times tank volume in powerhead gallons per hour. So if your tank is 50gallons you want 1000 gallons per hour worth of powerheads in your tank ultimately. This CAN be added at a later date, but its MUCH easier to fit all your hardware in the tank while empty then after when theres rock and sand and all that. Also, if you're going to use a sump, plumb that in FIRST. Dont wait till theres water in there. Again, a giant pain in the tail to do when the tanks got water in it.

 

[kniesh]

Funny u should say that about the sand. My LFS owner today called it magic sand and said pretty much what u said. I have actually gone with the plain marine sand now and got a fair bit of stuff ordered to start a cycle and start adding live rock etc to wake the tank up. Thx alot for all ur help and I will keep u posted on how things go.

P.S I also found out I have to build my own lid now as mine is aluminium (not good apparently). Glad I mentioned it to him. I have bought the equipment, just need to order the glass now

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, aluminum + salt water = corrosion

 

[kniesh]

Hi, I have now set up the salt levels perfect and have had some live rock in the tank for a while now. I bought some more live rock today and put it in an this makes quite a lot. However it seems I have picked up a couple of hitchikers on the rock. One is just a red legged hermit crab which I am going to leave in now to see how he goes, there seems to be algae on a fair bit of the rock so should be ok. My concern is another crab I spotted after lights out. He is about a 3rd the size of the hermit, but is a conventional shape crab (like what u see at the sea when ur young). He also seems to have what looked like padded bage claws. Does anyone know what this could be? I havent had a chance to get a picture but if i can i will try an post one.. thx...

 

[crazyelece]

there is one good thing about live sand (at least the caribsea agri-live). You don't have to wash it and you don't have to deal with all the crap coming out of new sand. Cause lets face it, you can never wash it enough to get it all out.

 

[kniesh]

there is one good thing about live sand (at least the caribsea agri-live). You don't have to wash it and you don't have to deal with all the crap coming out of new sand. Cause lets face it, you can never wash it enough to get it all out.

Sorry u have lost me there..

 

[SkiFletch]

well there's lots of crabs in the sae . Could be a coral crab, gorilla crab, or some other. Are its rear legs furry or not?

 

[kniesh]

well there's lots of crabs in the sae . Could be a coral crab, gorilla crab, or some other. Are its rear legs furry or not?

It didnt look fury. Just its front pinces/claws looked padded an bage in colour, never really seen him for long enough before he shot off back in between the rock.

I dont suppose he's going to do much harm at that size tho so I will just keep an eye out for him, I will try and get some pictures for a better I.D thx.

 

[kniesh]

Ok I said I would post pics so here goes. Not gonna be great quality as I still cant work this camera properly sorry. This is a work in progress remember and I still havent changed the filter over for some powerheads so thats what is stuck on the right hand side.

http/i89.photobucket.com/albums/k223/kniesh/Picture.jpg

http/i89.photobucket.com/albums/k223/kniesh/Picture010.jpg

http/i89.photobucket.com/albums/k223/kniesh/Picture011.jpg

sorry if they r too big

P.S. the lid is also a work in progress as I explained earlier in post.

 

[Chac]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but .....

Filter - A Fluval 4 + This is way to small to give you enought flow, they are rated (at MAX) 1000 lph*, IMO you need to be turning your water over at the very least 15x which is 15 x 180ltr = 2700 lph

Live Rock - You relly need to up your LR ASAP - a 40G (UK) should have around the 20 - 30g Mark

Biological Filtration - Is the Fluval 4+ Taken care of this ??

Live Stock - The Female Lyretail Anthias isnt really suitabel for a 40g, they are at there best in long, large tanks

I would keep an eye on all you paremeters (ie Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitarte Sg, pH & Temp- make sure they are all as they should be)

* If you have Bio Filter Media in the 4+ this will cut down the overall flow as well

Are you using RO or Tap Water

 

[kniesh]

Thx chac. I know the flow isnt as high as it should be yet, I have the fluval 4 and a powerhead at the other end at the min, I know this is short but it is next on the list. I apoligise if the lyretail isnt suitable, the shop told me it would be fine and it is 1 of only 2 shops I trust. Is this a big concern?

The live rock is coming along about £20 worth a week. But this will be suitably full soon.

Apoligies. I am trying to sort these things out as I go along and it shouldnt be too long before I have it all done. The pics were just for update purposes really. Thx for th reply tho constructive criticism is most welcome.