Hi Silver,
here's what I think of your list:
6 Baby Bristle Worms - Can't have enough of these scavenging polychaetes, though you likely already have some of them 'em reproducing right now in your LR and old sand.
WonderMud - this seems to be sediment that
ought to be rich in across-the-board sandbed microfauna, from bacteria on up to very small worms, molluscs, echinoderms and crustaceans. I'd highly recommend it.
N-Reducer (what is this????) - Bacterial cultures of the widely cited
Nitrosomonas and
Nitrobacter bacteria that supposely handle the bulk of nitrogenous waste processing. You should keep in mind though that recent work points to
Nitrosococcus and
Nitrospira-like bacteria as the true workhorses (Hovanec, 1998). In any case your LR probably has all of 'em on board. I imagine the cultures are intended to kickstart a new tank (helping the initial cycle along).
6 Baby Trocus Grazers - These herbivorous gastropods of Genus
Trochus are fantastic all-around lawnmowers. The dowside is the surprising size some of them can eventually attain --make sure your rockwork and corals are stable then. They prefer hard surfaces to crawl on, and likely will avoid fine sand.
6 Nerite Grazers - While I'm offhand not too fond of
Nerita spp. gastropods because too many of them are littorally (and therefore literally) prone to climbing out of the tank, the good Dr. Heslinga obviously would've thought of that:
The fact that the snails seek above-water roosts daily means they are likely to travel and graze the aquarium glass regularly to reach the waterline. Indeed, they target the algal films associated with tank glass, complementing the heavy-duty
Trochus grazers which may stick to just the rockwork.
6 Adult Strombus Grazers - These tiny conchs (
Strombus maculatus), like the
Nerita sp. grazer earlier mentioned, chow on algal-films including diatoms, but address a more varied set of substrate conditions (sand, etc.). They can move funny too, so there's entertainment value as well
6 MicroHermits - Dunno about these
Calcinus sp. crabs. While many in the Genus are described as 'herbivores', I've always resented that ALL crabs are omnivorous, and these 'microhermits' may potentially exert some pressure on the smallish
Strombus conchs as well as other smallish inverts (worms, sponges, anemones both good and bad, etc..) in the rocks
Reef Amphipods - 'Pods have been discussed thoroughly on the net already. They're to be sought/encouraged, as they provide quite a bit of food for fishes and inverts, while serving as a vital cog in the breaking-down/processing of tank waste.
Live Sand Activator - Apparently this already includes the aforementioned "N-reducer", hermits, amphipods, plus so-called "WonderMud". (Hehe, am I the only one grinning at all these pedestrian labels Gerald picked for IPSF's merchandise? Sure makes 'em easier to remember though...)
What about these Mama mia worms 19.95 (GOOD OR BAD) -Terrebellid worms are simply the bomb! Talk about thorough scavenging for leftovers. The tentacles of these cryptic tube-worms can stretch surprising distances in search of morsels that might otherwise decompose. Their downside is how those very same tentacles can gross us out --though you can think of it positively, in terms of horror-flick entertainment value. (Mama Mia! The true horror is in having to think about Terrebellids the next time you dig into some Spaghetti marinara...)
On top of these products' individual merits, there is the fact that biodiversity is good for a reeftank. Few other factors will go as far towards moderating your reef tank's existence with respect to food generation, waste processing, and disease prevention.
hth,
horge
..sorry for the re-edits, but I hate typos
[ 05-14-2001: Message edited by: dark horge ]