I need to stock my tank some advice.

[lalo809]

Im new about 4-6 months now i have a 46g bowfront
some mushrooms,gsp,zoas and more but nothing fancy
6 nassarius snails
1 britle starfish
1 sand sifting starfish
1 cleaner shrimp
1 firefish
2 clowns
live rock
sand
2koralia #3
sump with refugium
t5ho lightning
macro algae in refugium

i need help with some crabs and other small animals for my tank reef.because when you go to the store they tell you is easy or yes this animal will eat any food you give him but some people just want to sell not help

[thegrun]

I would add more snails, get a variety of types. I would add 5 Cerith and 5 Nertite to the mix. I have reservation about the sand sifting star; it will decimate everything living in your sand bed and then starve. I like hermit crabs (blue leg or red leg) but many here hate them. I think they are great scavengers and only bother corals if they are in the process of dying, others disagree. An emerald crab would be another option.

[jenjen]

To Reef Central

I agree, add a variety of snails. I personally love hermits, but agree that many don't. Personally I think they're funny to watch.

[plateboy3293]

To Reef Central

i have had a sand sifting star for two years and it is still living but i agree that they decimate your sand bed

[Frogmanx82]

Snails might be safer, but hermits are pretty hardy. The more important thing is that the hermit crabs are fun to watch. The emeralds are very cool as well. No one ever says ooh what a cool snail. I take that back, watching a nassarius snail emerge from the sand is cool. You could add a dozen or two hermits and see how you like them. The other good thing about hermits is they are easy to catch.

Put in an algae wafer and watch them swarm all over it. I swear I could collect all 20 of mine in one or two swoops with a net after I put a wafer in.

[lalo809]

thanks to all of you,another q? how much food should i feed them,ive been feeding frozen food but what other food is good,should i feed my fishes everyday. i feed them every other day

[Frogmanx82]

I feed every day but not an issue if I miss one.

You need to play around with the food quantity. You need to see how much they eat eagerly and make sure very little is uneaten. Underfeeding is healthier than overfeeding. If the fish are starting to look skinny, you need to up the amount. If they are fat, they are getting too much. It takes a long time to starve a fish thats eating. You'll know if they aren't getting enough.

I like the freeze dried mysis. I soak them in garlic and vitamins before I feed. Way easier than frozen. I feed some frozen mysis, but not often. The frozen food I like is the cyclop-ease. Very clean, good for fish and coral, easy to squirt feed. Grocery store shrimp cut in small pieces is good to for larger fish and starfish.

For bottom feeders you need some pellets. New Life Spectrum is pretty much considered the best of the pellet foods. They have a variety of sizes but the 1mm is most popular and works the best across a wide variety of fish. To get pellets to the bottom or target feed, I like to use some hard air line tubing. I can drop the pellets anywhere in the tank, works good for corals and shrimp.

NLS makes a wafer too, but I'm not happy with it. Its too soft and the critters don't seem to go after it with gusto. Ocean Nutrition makes an algae wafer that my hermits and nassarius snails love. Its a once a week treat for them. They pack around that wafer like they are playing rugby with it.