Up and running :)

[FroggyFox]

Well...so I figured I'd post an update and a couple of questions since I hadn't posted anything salty for awhile...maybe add a picture tonight.

I'm actually going to have to move the SW tank tonight for reasons beyond my control...trust me I dont want to.

I have a 16G hex...and since I set it up I have added two hermit crabs, two nassarius snails, a yellow clown goby and a firefish. (I think I lost one of my hermit crabs...but have not confirmed it yet. Lordroad was telling me about how crabs molt and it kinda looks like a real crab...well I saw something like that last week and panicked briefly before I remembered he told me that. BUT I hadn't seen one of my hermits since then...so last night while moving bookcases etc I finally got a chance to look at the backside of my tank and I saw his shell. Its up at the top of a rock in the back and doesn't LOOK like its stuck or anything (like a rock fell and trapped him etc) but he also wasn't moving. SO tonight when I move things I'll know for sure.)

The guy at the store told me that the firefish like to have pals of their own kind...if thats the case I may get another one at my next paycheck...but him and the goby seem to be getting along and I definitely dont want to overstock the tank. Think I should get another one in a few weeks?

When you guys feed...how do you feed? Like the hermit crabs...I got some sheets of dried seaweed because I read that hermit crabs like seaweed...but I dont know how to feed it to them? Should I get one of those clippy things to give it to them...or maybe rubberband it to a seashell to weight it down (thats what I do with cucumber in my FW tanks lol) I'm having a hard time judging how much to feed them and how often. I have been feeding the fish freshly hatched bbs about every other day or a small meal every day and they love it...I can see them eating so I'm hoping they're getting enough. I bought some frozen formula one cubes...so I'm wondering if I should give them a whole cube or half a cube or how you'd feed it to them?

At the store I got these guys from they put some formula one, formula two, mysis and like 4 or 5 different things into a bowl and just mix it up and feed their stock tanks with that. The nassarius snails are a HOOT to watch them do their "day of the dead" thing coming up out of the sand when they smell food!

So the HOB filter I had on there kinda crapped out (I think the impeller needs to be replaced) I have a powerhead in there that is supposed to do like 220 gph so i'm hoping thats enough for now until I can get another one...and then I'll have to find a way to cover up the holes in the lid where the filter was so my firefish doesn't go flyin out.

Roommate situation and moving these tanks has put me back on my plans for another tank...so those are just going to get shelved until I can find some more space in my house for a tank

 

[tammielynz9881]

i personally put the seaweed salad sheets in a clippy thing and they seem to find it just fine

 

[OCCFan023]

Id be carefull adding a third fish to the tank, but it can be done if you stay diligent with water changes once a week and top offs.

Feeding the dried seaweed is best done by using a clip on the bottom of the tank.

How big are the cubes? I have frozen mysis shrimp and if its the same size as what I have it would be way too much for the two fish in the tank. Are they like normal cubes that frozen foods come in?

 

[TLM4x4]

Awwwwww you gonna be busy tonight huh Froggy?? Wish I could help ya...

 

[FroggyFox]

I only got the cichlid tank moved...lol I can't decide where to move the SW to and I DONT want to have to move it more than once. That hermit crab still hasn't moved so I'm doubting its alive -=pout=-

So do you just like fold up one sheet??

All the darn cubes are different sizes. lol I think I'll just do a cube every other day kind of thing...and if there's a ton leftover then I wont do it as often or I'll switch to half a cube. they seem to be smaller cubes than the bloodworms I feed to my other fish.

I've been pretty diligent about doing my 2 gallon water change every week. (this week I forgot to dechlorinate the water!! gasp...but then I realized I left it overnight and no one died so I think it was ok lol)

 

[dbacksrat]

a whole cube of frozen food is A LOT of food--try feeding a very very tiny chunk for starters, then adjust the amount accordingly
put the food in a brine shrimp net and then rinse it out with water (RO for best results)...this will eliminate most of the juice, which otherwise helps fuel algal growth

 

[wayne]

For a 15 gallon 2 gals a week is a bit little....
If you have nitrates at 20, and change that much water, they'll drop to about 17 - not much of a drop. For an unskimmed tank with no real route for nutrient export , expect to change more.

 

[FroggyFox]

Well I was told to shoot for water changes of about 10% a week? So 2 gallons is more than 10% of 15. Also...the nitrates haven't been above 5 in that tank...maybe I've just been lucky so far?? After the ammonia went down to 0 when I added the LR, I haven't seen any spikes and the nitrates went up from closer to 0 to closer to 5 on the color chart...but havent been above that. Its only been what...5 days? since I added the two snails and the firefish so maybe I haven't seen the effects of adding them yet?

I will try breaking up the cubes. I'm wondering what the best method of doing that is? lol I suppose I could partially thaw a cube in a shot glass until it was soft enough to break and then put the rest back in the freezer for next time?

 

[aresgod]

mmmmmm remind me not to ever do shots with you.

 

[lordroad]

lol ares, so you don't like mysis in your bloody mary?

What I do froggy with my cubes is take one out, flip over the package, and slice off an end with a sharp knife. Then I put it in a small measuring 1/4 cup of tank water and let dissolve. Turkey baste or just drop into the tank.

I think once the cube touches water it would be kind of tough getting it back in the freezer. My cubes come apart pretty fast.

I've done ten percent on my ten gallon once a week every week and my nitrates have stayed under five. I also have gobs of macro scroll algae, so that's contributing a small amount to nitrate reduction too.

I fished out a crab molt today. They look like the full dead crab, but if you look at the abdominal part, you'll see it's a slimy white transculent sheath, as opposed to a dead intact crab, which will be a rather large nasty glob curled up (their abdomen, which is a lot bigger than it would seem to look by viewing them with their shells on).

 

[FroggyFox]

yeah I didn't fish it out...lol and now I dont know where it is...-=sigh=-

LOL aresgod...roomie and I keep the fish cups/shot glasses etc completely seperate from the ones we actually use lol Trust me I dont want to try eating worms of any kind...let alone bloodworms. gag

 

[tammielynz9881]

in the clippy,,, i use a 2-3 layer of sheet approx. 2 x 2 in