A little advice please

Jacquot · 07/17/2014, 02:17 AM

I have a 15 gallon salt water tank with 2 clownfish and a bit of live rock. My sisters boyfriend bought it for her, they broke up and my sister didnt have time for it so it got pretty bad. I decided to take it not having a clue what i was getting into. I want to add a shrimp or crab im thinking a peppermint shrimp or an electric blue hermit crab. Good idea or no?

Reefer54 · 07/17/2014, 02:22 AM

first things first, you should get in the habit of good routine maintenance and get your water quality to satisfactory parameters. a 15 gallon tank is a lot of attention to keep in check....the smaller a tank-the faster it goes out of whack.

research the srhrimp, crabs, hermits you would be interested in . I personally think peps are a great shrimp, others not so much. get a couple good books and read them. learn about husbandry, bioload, water chemistry, etc. after no time you will know whether or not you can keep a shrimp with what you have and how you do it.

good luck, have fun.

SwampyBill · 07/17/2014, 02:29 AM

A blood shrimp might be a good addition. But stay away from coral banded shrimp. They get aggressive. Is there any CUC in there yet? You might go with a few different kinda of snails--cerithes, a turbo, a few nassarius snails for sandbed. Or do about 10 hermits crabs.

Jacquot · 07/18/2014, 01:00 AM

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go ahead and buy a peppermint shrimp and a blue legged hermit crab. Which probably wasnt the best idea cause i also grabed a api saltwater test kit and im a little concered about the results

High range ph 8.0
Ammonia between .25 and .50ppm
Nitrite (no2-) 5.0!!!ppm
Nitrate (no3-) 40ppm

Plan on doing a 10% water change this weekend
Any other ideas will the shrimp and crab start to bringing the lvls down? Over time of course. The tank had been setup for months but the filter died so had to buy new one, is it starting the recycle or something?

07/17/2014, 02:17 AM	#1
Jacquot Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 11	A little advice please I have a 15 gallon salt water tank with 2 clownfish and a bit of live rock. My sisters boyfriend bought it for her, they broke up and my sister didnt have time for it so it got pretty bad. I decided to take it not having a clue what i was getting into. I want to add a shrimp or crab im thinking a peppermint shrimp or an electric blue hermit crab. Good idea or no?

07/17/2014, 02:22 AM	#2
Reefer54 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Avon Posts: 1,087	first things first, you should get in the habit of good routine maintenance and get your water quality to satisfactory parameters. a 15 gallon tank is a lot of attention to keep in check....the smaller a tank-the faster it goes out of whack. research the srhrimp, crabs, hermits you would be interested in . I personally think peps are a great shrimp, others not so much. get a couple good books and read them. learn about husbandry, bioload, water chemistry, etc. after no time you will know whether or not you can keep a shrimp with what you have and how you do it. good luck, have fun. __________________ R54 Current Tank Info: 36 x 36 x 25 Cube, mixed reef, A360WE x 3, A350N x 1, 40GB sump, RDSB, Remote LR Cryptic, 2 WP-40's, ummm....

07/17/2014, 02:29 AM	#3
SwampyBill Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: St. Pete, FL. Posts: 2,369	A blood shrimp might be a good addition. But stay away from coral banded shrimp. They get aggressive. Is there any CUC in there yet? You might go with a few different kinda of snails--cerithes, a turbo, a few nassarius snails for sandbed. Or do about 10 hermits crabs. __________________ I love me some wrasse... & laissez les bon temps rouler! Current Tank Info: 120 gal Vizio

07/18/2014, 01:00 AM	#4
Jacquot Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 11	Thanks Thanks for the advice. I decided to go ahead and buy a peppermint shrimp and a blue legged hermit crab. Which probably wasnt the best idea cause i also grabed a api saltwater test kit and im a little concered about the results High range ph 8.0 Ammonia between .25 and .50ppm Nitrite (no2-) 5.0!!!ppm Nitrate (no3-) 40ppm Plan on doing a 10% water change this weekend Any other ideas will the shrimp and crab start to bringing the lvls down? Over time of course. The tank had been setup for months but the filter died so had to buy new one, is it starting the recycle or something?