Help make the best of my first purchase

travis32 · 02/26/2010, 09:10 PM

So, my 55g is up and running with 2 year old cured live rock. Some soft corals, (mushrooms, polyps, and xenia...)

All are doing healthy and fine. I replaced the bulbs on the compact light. (was used so better to be safe than sorry).

I retested ph, nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia..

All are still zero!! Well, Ph is at 8.2 still.

Everything else is zero.

So, I would like to make my first purchase tomorrow or Sunday. What is a good idea that's not too much too soon?

I'm debating between a few crabs and snails (some snails already, but, need some sand snails..Nessarious? or should I be getting at least a couple small fish to increase the bio load slowly?

I'm leaning towards crabs and snails at the most at this point? Not too exciting, but a safer route to go.

mark54321 · 02/26/2010, 09:20 PM

You can get snails (nassarius are great I have 6 ) and couple of small fish if you have decent amount of LR no problem. After this give about 30-45 days between introducing another fish.

carpas · 02/26/2010, 09:28 PM

Just to clarify, you have a newly assembled tank that you acquired the cured live rock for? How long has this been running? You'll get more benefit from just having a diverse mix of snails. If you really want crabs I'd stick to no more than a couple scarlets.

travis32 · 02/26/2010, 10:22 PM

yeah the rock was in an established tank for 2 years. I don't know the exact weight, but, I know it'as at least around 70 pounds. Most likely closer to 80 pounds.

The rock had corals attached and some turbo snails, and other shelled critters, and some miniature starfish. The corals survived quite well. In fact the xenia and the purple mushrooms seem to have reproduced in the last 3 weeks.

The 55g tank and 14g sump has been running for 3 weeks now. I tested it last Thursday, and tonight. And the results were the same. No nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia whatsoever.

I just need to purchase the ATO. to alleviate the manual fill proccess for a few days a week. But other than that, everything's doing better than I expected.

carpas · 02/26/2010, 11:01 PM

If it's been 3 weeks and your water test are good I agree you can start proceeding slowly.

bertoni · 02/27/2010, 04:20 PM

The Nassarius eat mostly leftover food, so I'd limit it to 2-3 of them. More and you might have to target feed them, which is fine. Crabs can be predatory, so I don't trust them anymore, even the hermits, but a few might be fine.

travis32 · 02/27/2010, 05:03 PM

I got some Nessarious (sp?) snails, (around 5 or 6 or so), some astrea, and Cerinth snails, and some red leg and blue leg crabs ( very tiniy, smaller than the turbo snails).
and 1 sally lightfoot.

The pet store said to throw in algae pellets if I start to run out of algae since I'm not feeding fish yet, otherwise some of them would eat fish food left overs.

So, hopefully it's o.k. I'll see how it goes over the next few days. I already don't know where the light foot went. We'll see how it all goes. with this. If these servive for the next 3 weeks or so with no damage to the corals, would you reccomend proceeding with more corals or adding a small fish or two to increase the bioload before adding any more corals?) There's a coule types I wouldn't mind adding to get more color. Some orange, and maybe some type of "Bubble" corals. I'm not sure if I should get fish going first or additional corals.

If I wait another 3 weeks that will put it at 6 weeks. I'm thinking around the first week or two of April before adding anything else. That would put total tank time at 8 weeks.

(I'll be testing parameters weekly)

Thoughts?

jenjen · 02/27/2010, 05:19 PM

It would be safe to add a small fish or two any time now, but also fine if you prefer not to. Most soft corals are photosynthetic so don't require feedings. With PC lighting I'd recommend doing your research and select corals with lower light requirements.

travis32 · 02/27/2010, 05:44 PM

Thanks JenJen. I agree. I prefer to maintain a slow but steady pace for additions. One for tank health, and 2 for my pocket book health.

Next purchase is going to be the ATO. Tired of dumping water everyday in the sump. LOL.

02/26/2010, 09:10 PM	#1
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	Help make the best of my first purchase So, my 55g is up and running with 2 year old cured live rock. Some soft corals, (mushrooms, polyps, and xenia...) All are doing healthy and fine. I replaced the bulbs on the compact light. (was used so better to be safe than sorry). I retested ph, nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia.. All are still zero!! Well, Ph is at 8.2 still. Everything else is zero. So, I would like to make my first purchase tomorrow or Sunday. What is a good idea that's not too much too soon? I'm debating between a few crabs and snails (some snails already, but, need some sand snails..Nessarious? or should I be getting at least a couple small fish to increase the bio load slowly? I'm leaning towards crabs and snails at the most at this point? Not too exciting, but a safer route to go.

02/27/2010, 04:20 PM	#6
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	The Nassarius eat mostly leftover food, so I'd limit it to 2-3 of them. More and you might have to target feed them, which is fine. Crabs can be predatory, so I don't trust them anymore, even the hermits, but a few might be fine. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

02/27/2010, 05:19 PM	#8
jenjen Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Langley BC, Canada Posts: 1,710	It would be safe to add a small fish or two any time now, but also fine if you prefer not to. Most soft corals are photosynthetic so don't require feedings. With PC lighting I'd recommend doing your research and select corals with lower light requirements. __________________ "Challenges forge the greatness in you" Current Tank Info: 180gal softy reef (Apr '09)

02/26/2010, 09:20 PM	#2
mark54321 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: chicago Posts: 2,040	You can get snails (nassarius are great I have 6 ) and couple of small fish if you have decent amount of LR no problem. After this give about 30-45 days between introducing another fish.

02/26/2010, 09:28 PM	#3
carpas Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 95	Just to clarify, you have a newly assembled tank that you acquired the cured live rock for? How long has this been running? You'll get more benefit from just having a diverse mix of snails. If you really want crabs I'd stick to no more than a couple scarlets.

02/26/2010, 10:22 PM	#4
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	yeah the rock was in an established tank for 2 years. I don't know the exact weight, but, I know it'as at least around 70 pounds. Most likely closer to 80 pounds. The rock had corals attached and some turbo snails, and other shelled critters, and some miniature starfish. The corals survived quite well. In fact the xenia and the purple mushrooms seem to have reproduced in the last 3 weeks. The 55g tank and 14g sump has been running for 3 weeks now. I tested it last Thursday, and tonight. And the results were the same. No nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia whatsoever. I just need to purchase the ATO. to alleviate the manual fill proccess for a few days a week. But other than that, everything's doing better than I expected.

02/26/2010, 11:01 PM	#5
carpas Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 95	If it's been 3 weeks and your water test are good I agree you can start proceeding slowly.

02/27/2010, 05:03 PM	#7
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	I got some Nessarious (sp?) snails, (around 5 or 6 or so), some astrea, and Cerinth snails, and some red leg and blue leg crabs ( very tiniy, smaller than the turbo snails). and 1 sally lightfoot. The pet store said to throw in algae pellets if I start to run out of algae since I'm not feeding fish yet, otherwise some of them would eat fish food left overs. So, hopefully it's o.k. I'll see how it goes over the next few days. I already don't know where the light foot went. We'll see how it all goes. with this. If these servive for the next 3 weeks or so with no damage to the corals, would you reccomend proceeding with more corals or adding a small fish or two to increase the bioload before adding any more corals?) There's a coule types I wouldn't mind adding to get more color. Some orange, and maybe some type of "Bubble" corals. I'm not sure if I should get fish going first or additional corals. If I wait another 3 weeks that will put it at 6 weeks. I'm thinking around the first week or two of April before adding anything else. That would put total tank time at 8 weeks. (I'll be testing parameters weekly) Thoughts?

02/27/2010, 05:44 PM	#9
travis32 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: West Fargo, ND Posts: 2,161	Thanks JenJen. I agree. I prefer to maintain a slow but steady pace for additions. One for tank health, and 2 for my pocket book health. Next purchase is going to be the ATO. Tired of dumping water everyday in the sump. LOL.