Whew, finally started the tank...

[balakba]

Hey all, it's been great reading everyone's advice, and my tank has started to take off. Have had a couple of issues though...My blue leg hermits killed my cucumber, then pinned down my coral-banded shrimp and ate him alive (it was horrible to watch-but I caught the end of it...too late for the poor bugger). Is this normal?

I read some posts about CC being bad for the tank. I set mine up with a 1/2 inch of CC on the bottom, 3/4 inches of live sand on top of that, then 1/2 inch of white sand on top of the live sand in some areas. My lighting situation is ok, but a friend of mine gave me a 400W ballast and a 400W single MH. I think it would be too much for the tank, and would like to trade for a less powerful setup if anyone is interested. I live in the Omaha area but could travel a bit.

Also have small round hard bumps on the sides of my tank that appear to be snail eggs(?), but i'm not sure. There's hundreds of the suckers...all over my live rock too. Any way to keep those things offa the walls, or reduce the count? I've got 3 turbos in there and that's it.

[ryuku32]

What size tank?

[Germanman]

i doubt the things on the glass are turbo eggs...can u get a pic?

as for the hermit...well all crabs are opportunistic feeders...so if gone un properly feed they will eat what they can...but some can go rampant and kill as well.
sorry for ur loss!

[5xevy]

Those are some aggressive crabs!

The small white things are most likely pods which are harmless. But yes, a picture would really help out.

I'm also sorry about your losses.

[balakba]

Wow...forgot to put tank size. 55g, Ryuku. 48" long for the MH light fixture, but I'd really love to trade it for something a little less powerful. It almost melted my center brace.

I'll try to have some pics up tonight Germanman...they are very small (about the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen) and flat. All of them are white/cream in color. They also appear to have a spiral pattern on them (some are in different colors, although very faint). My nitrates and nitrites are getting to some ridiculous levels...hope they go down soon! Any suggestions for a less violent cleanup crew? Mine like to go on strike and protest by eating my other pets.

[Reefscape]

Sorry i missed you in chat mate...how high above the tank is the metal halide lights?

Niko

[balakba]

The MHs were about a foot above the tank and still melting the brace...400W bulb...I didn't know it was that strong. No prob about the chat thing...I think I'm gonna go with a 4x65 W flourescent setup (2x65w actin, 2x65w 10k)...think it should do the trick since I'm not trying to do hard corals. I'll try to get some pics 2nite.

[balakba]

Here's the latest pics...

[Reefscape]

The MHs were about a foot above the tank and still melting the brace...400W bulb...I didn't know it was that strong. No prob about the chat thing...I think I'm gonna go with a 4x65 W flourescent setup (2x65w actin, 2x65w 10k)...think it should do the trick since I'm not trying to do hard corals. I'll try to get some pics 2nite.

Yes, a good T5 setup as you have mentioned will be good...

Niko

[Debra Mark]

nice pics, B!

[balakba]

Tx Deb and Niko. Was looking closer at my tomato and noticed his tail fin has a nice tear in it. I dunno what it's from. It also has a little bit of black and white next to his body where the tail connects at. Is this a disease? The picture named "tomato" will give a visual of what it actually is. Any ideas where to find a good price on that lighting setup I mentioned. I've been looking and the cheapest I can get so far is 319 bucks after taxes. Thanks.

[Reefscape]

as i am in the UK, i shall let the US people chime in on suggesting lighting fixtures..Can you just let people know your budget for spending on the light...

Niko

[balakba]

As always, the cheaper the better, as long as it's good quality. I'm lookin to spend around 250-350...got a mortgage to pay too ya know? Or if there's anyone interested in the midwest, I've got a 400W MH setup ready to go...would let go of it cheap to put towards some new lights for me.

[Germanman]

for lighting , Hamelton, Corallife, and Current USA are the best in my opinion. the pics were very nice! but i didnt see of of the things u wanted us to ID did i just miss the pic?

[balakba]

On the pic named tomato...the tomato clown's tail fin has a tear running through it. There's some funky stuff on it too. I'll check on him when I get home, I just hope it isn't some kind of disease.