[ldmk]

I have a fairly recently cycled 190 gallon tank (the A, N, N readings have been zero for just over two weeks now) with eight green chromis, seven peppermint shrimp, approximately 50 snails, and 12 micro-hermit crabs (from www.ipsf.com). The tank has 130 pounds of Marshall Island rock and a 5" pure Caribbean aragonite DSB. All the inhabitants are doing well - and a couple of the shrimp have already molted. The snails appear to be reproducing like proverbial bunnies because I keep coming across tiny little snails on the glass and sides of the tank.

The one concern I have is that as others have noted green chromis will only take food from the water column. So when I feed them (I feed them approximately half a cube of blender mush every other day) they eat everything in the water column (in about three-four minutes) but anything that hits the substrata becomes invisible to them The snails restrict themselves to the rock and sides of the tank, the shrimp don't get too far from the rocks, and the micro-hermits are getting overwhelmed by the amount of space they have to cover. So the substrata, which started out sparkling white, is now yellow (bacterial growth) and a little greenish (algae) - reminds me of a Sonicare advertisement in reverse :funny:

Are there any good, hardy, fish that will eat the stuff of the substrata? I know I don't have enough pods to get gobies or blennies, but was wondering what I could do about the substrata :idea: Or would it be safe to get a brittle star at this point?

Thanks.

K.M.

 

[Mrs Smith]

Since the tank is fully cycled, you can put in still more of a cleaning crew. One of my faves are nassarius snails. They are really good at cleaning up the sand after a meal. They bury themselves and pop out when dinner is ready. You could also try a brittle star, although I've got several huge ones and my sand isn't sparkly white either. (Just be sure to acclimate the star!)

HTH,
Danielle

 

[thefatman]

yup, my thoughts too. more hermits, more snails, and a few small brittles.

i would tend to agree that it may be too soon for a goby or blenny

 

[Doug1]

Definatly on the nassarius snails, as well as some other varieties, all seem to have there prefered niches. Also you might consider a Queen or Fighting conch, they seem to be good foor sand coving algae

 

[StellaMN]

Ditto on the nassarius snails and conchs.....they go a long way to keep the sandbed sparkling clean....also scarlet hermits.

I have an emerald crab that helps the scarlets keep the rocks clean.

Jodi

 

[ldmk]

Thanks, as always, for the suggestions.

I'll definitely get some of the nassarius snails and a couple of small brittle stars. I wanted to stay away from emerald crabs after having read some horror stories on this board about having to take apart entire tanks to get emerald crabs out . Are scarlet hermits considered safer than emeralds?

K.M.

 

[Prismaco]

You guys have any pictures of what the stars look like ? or the "Queen or Fighting conch" ? Im lost on what they look like.


-Paul

 

[digital_dragon]

I agree with Danielle and Doug. The Nassarius snails are awesome sand stirrers and great detrivores. The fighting conch is good to and don't be disturbed if you don't see you conch for a couple of weeks on end. My two hide in the sand and occasionally I catch a glimpse of the two eye stalks popping out of the sand with the elephant trunk scouring the sandbed. The conchs are my favorite snail. www.etropicals.com has the best deals for cleaner crew. The prices are good and any order over $60 gets free overnight shipping. I have dealt with them on all my clean up crew and they have good quality critters. I have did not lose a one. Just my $.02.

Earl

 

[ldmk]

www.etropicals.com has the best deals for cleaner crew. The prices are good and any order over $60 gets free overnight shipping. I have dealt with them on all my clean up crew and they have good quality critters. I have did not lose a one. Just my $.02.

Earl

Boy, do great minds think alike or what? I just ordered $65 worth of deteritus eaters from www.etropicals.com before reading this post :funny: :funny: :funny:

Paul - if you go to www.etropicals.com they actually do have pictures of most of their stock. Another good source for pictures is www.liveaquaria.com (both are owned by Drs. Foster & Smith and they have pretty nice descriptions of their livestock).

HTH
K.M.