Tank Progress Phase 2

jemwhitman

jemwhitman

New Member
:strip First let me thank everyone who contributed their advice - It really made all the difference.
Day 11 - Yesterday's water test results gave me the go-ahead to add the cleanup crew. I wasn't able to get everything I wanted but I did get: 6 Margarita snails, 6 Red Leg Hermit crabs, 1 Sally Light Foot. I also wanted 4 Nassarius Snails to work my sand bed - but all the LFS say they can't get them from their suppliers right now (what's up with that?). Any way within 5 minutes of their being in the tank they were off and running. I mean you would think they hadn't eaten in a month. (Looks like the lights go back to a 12hr. cycle starting tomorrow) It's been three hours now and they haven't stopped. And I am absolutely amazed at how much the Sally Light Foot can eat - Hope it doesn't burst. Also here are some pics. Didn't have time for too many:
 
Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia

New Member
Great looking tank Jem! Just a heads up about the SL crab. (Speaking from personal experince here) They grow quickly, and get more aggresive the bigger they get. They will also, once they get big, become much more omnivorous and will take to trying to catch your fish. I finally had to evict mine from my old minibow because it kept staking out my yellow watchman's hole trying to grab it when it poked it's head out. It got the point that the watchman never came out anymore. When I finally got it out (after removing ALL the LR in the tank to get it) I was amazed at how big it had gotten. Easily 3 1/2-4" leg tip to leg tip.

Excellent macro grazers and detritus eaters, but after my experience and reading many, many other stories about their aggresion, I've decided that a nano is no place for a Sally. There are of course, exceptions to every rule, and some have had no problems with them, but more often than not, those are the ones that have them in much larger systems.

Be sure to offer some sinking pellets occaionally, to supplement it's diet.
 
jemwhitman

jemwhitman

New Member
Pardon my ignorance - what are sinking pellets.

So I guess the SL would also be a problem for fire shrimp? :shock:
 
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incysor

New Member
pellets are just another type of food, they tend to sink to the rocks/sandbed. Sometimes they're called shrimp pellets.

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jemwhitman

jemwhitman

New Member
Well - Day 17 has come and gone. After all the probems with the JBJ Nano-Cubes I've been coming home every afternoon and doing a thorough inspection of the class that I can see. The Black in the back can only be visualled for water :roll: Then of course it's too late.

Back to the description at hand. My cleanup crew is doing such a great job I'm beginning to wonder if they are getting enough to eat. There is no brown algae on any of the rock, and almost none on the sand, and nothing on the glass - even running the lights for 12hrs. The coraline macro algae is starting to bleed through (so to speak) on most of the rock. I'm starting to see some other things growing in the tank. I have two which I suspect to be sponges. They look like a small gray ball with tiny tips sticking out all over. When I get my pics working again, I'll attach the pic I took.

Looks like I'll be ready for my first Coral this weekend. I have placed one of the live rocks with a flat surface that's about 9 inches from the top in the center front of the tank where it should get the most water flow at the moment. I was thinking a Starburst Polyp Green (Pachyclavularia sp) would look great here.

This brings me to my next question about nano tanks. Since we are relying on 10% water changes per week do we need to add a calcium supplement for the corals??
 
Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia

New Member
Alot of people use a 2 part additive - B-Ionic is a good one. If you haven't done so yet, pick up test kits for calcium and alkilinity, you'll need to monitor those levels once you start keeping corals. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

Keep in mind that GSP (green star polyps - pachyclavularia), while being a very easy coral to keep also can become a bit of a nuisance when it starts to grow and spread. If you don't mind it growing all over your rocks, then place it in the rockwork. Otherwise, confine it to it's own area away from the main rock structure. Xenia and anthelia will do the same thing.

THose probably are sponges or tunicates that you're seeing.
 
jemwhitman

jemwhitman

New Member
Good advice - I have seen it growing on the glass in the back of tanks at the LFS. Is there a trick to get it to grow up the glass?
 
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incysor

New Member
jemwhitman said:
Good advice - I have seen it growing on the glass in the back of tanks at the LFS. Is there a trick to get it to grow up the glass?
Click to expand...
Super glue it onto the glass. The gel is easier to use than the liquid.

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Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia

New Member
Agreed. I have some grwoing on the back glass of my 2.5.

Loctite and Duro brands of superglue gel seem to be the thickest I've beeen able to find.
 
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incysor

New Member
Not at all.
Take the GSP out of the tank. Pat the back of it dry with a towel, and squeeze a bunch of gel onto it, then quickly press it against the area you want it to be glued to. You may have to hold it there for 2-3 mins, but that should do it.

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drty811

New Member
isn't super glue kind of toxic? i have some small pieces of plastic i have to glue, i thought about super glue but thought it has toxic shit to it! well i guess if you guys are using it then ill try it. thanks for the info.
 
jemwhitman

jemwhitman

New Member
I've been thinking of picking up some of the epoxy bond - which is stated as being non tox.

Day 19 - I'm seeing more and more coraline (bleeding through) Noticed today that there is some green showing up on some of the rock. Neither the snails nor the crabs seem to want to eat it. But they aren't touching the purpe chraline either. Is this also a macro algae?

PS - I don't know if I will have other issues with it BUT my Sally Lightfoot is keeping my sand free and clear of algae. I mean it picks up the sand grain by grain strips off the algae off and spits it back out. I'm totally impressed by this creature!!!
 
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incysor

New Member
drty811 said:
isn't super glue kind of toxic? i have some small pieces of plastic i have to glue, i thought about super glue but thought it has toxic shit to it! well i guess if you guys are using it then ill try it. thanks for the info.
Click to expand...
No it's not toxic. It was orginally developed as a surgical glue. It's safe for aquarium use. I have heard that if you use a lot of the liquid in a small tank with a skimmer that it can make the skimmer go crazy for a bit, but other than that it's as safe as can be.

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