New Tank Orca Tl-450 - Help Pls

[Sapphire15]

I am needing to 'top up' my tank with water, as I didn't completly fill it to allow for putting in rock & fish although I now realise that I don't gain any water when I add the fish!! What is the best way to do this, as I know the salt levels etc have to be right and maybe temp? Presumbly I will have to use this method each time I do a water change as well?

 

[BigC]

Need some buckets, spare heater and spare powerhead.
Mix salt to sg and temp allow to mix for 24hrs. then do your waterchange,

 

[Sapphire15]

Great thanks - Sorry think I've asked before!! all very stressful & confusing, luckily the LFS if 2 mins up the road so have just dashed and got the heater, have bucket and everything else - so all ok now, suppose it will all come easily soon once I am doing it on a regular basis!

 

[CageUK]

A good tip here is to make a note of how much water you are putting in your bucket. Measure it out with measuring jugs if you have to then mark the level on the outside with a permanent marker.
Then weigh the salt as you add it and make a note of the total weight you have put in to reach the correct sg. After that you will know to a reasonable degree of accuracy how much salt to put in for that amount of water.

For instance I make up 25 ltrs at a time and for this I need 850g of salt. I may need to tweak it a little but it is fairly close and often spot on.

Also allow the water to heat up for a couple of hours before adding salt as this helps the salt to dissolve...not essential but saves you having to keep stirring it. However if you have a powerhead in there it will eventually mix on it's own.

Going well so far though

Cheers

 

[Sapphire15]

Thanks CageUk, it took quite a while the first time, but luckily I made a note of how much salt I added so I will hopefully know where to begin next time which should make it a bit easier.

Strange goings on with one of the blue legged crabs, thought one had died as I found remains yesterday morning so removed this before going out, when I got home there were still 3 crabs wondering around (only started with 3), yesterday evening even more bits of crab were lying around (including leg stuck in filter!) and I legless and shell-less body of crab still moving around!! Any ideas what is going on? There are plenty of spare shells, but surely legs etc wouldn't come off?? He is still moving around but with no shell or blue legs.

thanks

 

[CageUK]

Is the legless crab actually moving or just being blown around by the current?

And have you got 3 crabs PLUS the legless one?

The first thing that sprang to mind was that one or more of your hermits had shed it's shell which is part of its growing cycle and you see little empty replicas lying around the tank. This often causes you to think that the crab has died.

I know that crabs can shed limbs as a defence mechanism but I cant imagine a scenario that would cause a crab to lose all of it's limbs unless it got caught in a powerhead or something.


Cheers

 

[Sapphire15]

It was moving earlier, but not looking great now, yesterday it was almost like a complete set of legs and then looked as if though the body had broken off, they can't get near to the powerhead so don't think that is the cause, had 3 in total, now have 2 which are doing fine and 1/2 of a crab which doesn't look like it will last much longer

thanks

 

[seffieuk]

good tip Cage, thanks

Seffie x

 

[Sapphire15]

Anyone have any advice about a Yellow Goby, saw a little one at LFS today have tried to look it up but can't find out much about them, looking for something with a bit of colour.

thanks

 

[CageUK]

If it's one of the bottom dwelling fish then it's possibly a Yellow Watchman Goby. They are good fish for smaller tanks as they don't normally stray very far. In fact mine hasn't strayed from behind the rocks since we got him. I have to keep shining a flashlight behind the rocks to verify that he's still alive.

One day I may re aquascape and get rid of the space behind the rocks to force him to the front a bit more, but for the moment we'll just leave him be.

If you are lucky and he makes home in the front of the tank then they can be quite a cute and colourful addition.

They can also form a symbiotic relationship with certain shrimp... namely the pistol shrimp.

Cheers

 

[Sapphire15]

Don't think it was a Watchman Goby as that looks quite different - maybe a yellow clown goby?? Although the Watchman Goby looks great as well.

Thanks

 

[Sapphire15]

I have a spotted a strange little creature living in thank tank, which I think maybe is a bristle worm, is he ok to keep in the tank, I have read that it can be a bit of a problem?

 

[CageUK]

If it is a bristle worm then they are for all intents and purpose, the good guys. They are scavengers and also help to stir the sand to a small extent (I sometime see one popping out from the sand under the live rock).

The problems can stem from overpopulation. They can breed quite readily and can grow quite large. I certainly wouldn't worry about them at this stage. They aren't the prettiest of guys but add interest and it's all part of nature!

You can get bristleworm traps as and when you do want to cut down the population and they are often for sale on ebay.

Don't touch them though as the spines on larger specimens (can't remember the posh name for them) can penetrate skin and I also seem to remember hearing/reading that they can bite!

 

[Sapphire15]

Great - thanks very much. I will leave him alone for now, it's was definately very exciting to see this strange little thing suddenly appearing - I could sit and watch for hours!!

 

[CageUK]

That's one of the best things about marine unlike freshwater there is always something new appearing... even on a mature tank.
Another thing with the Bristle worms... you won't only have the one, there will be quite a few in there almost certainly. You'll see them mainly when the lights go out or under a red light!