A few questions for the experienced

[Dewey115]

I have a few questions about my tank, if you can help answer any part of it I would be greatly appreciative. Sorry in advance if any of this is confusing or badly worded, I have been working for the past 19 hours and I am quite tired and not thinking clearly.

1) I was wondering your thoughts on hermit crabs to use. At this point the 30 gallon tank is FOWLR and in a few months or so I plan on adding an annenome for the clown fish (need better lighting). Eventually (say in a year or so) I will be getting a larger tank and adding coral after I move out of my apartment, but until that time it will stay FOWLR. I have been getting blue legged hermits but they do little other than fight each other and every day or two I see another dead one out of a shell. My thinking is that with very little extra shells around they cant find one they can reinhabit and then end up dying. Is there a better type I can get to keep down on their fighting or will it decrease natually after I replace enough of them to have a nice supply of extra shells laying around? Also is there a generally better hermit to use?

2) Since I have no coral my LR is basically placed in the tank to make it look best and to offer nice places for the fish to hide. The problem I have is that I just placed the rock in there and buried it about 2 inches into the sand (3-4 inch sand bed). The fish all move around alot and especially the yellow-tail damsels like to make temporary hiding spots, so they will push away alot of the sand around the rock to hide, then wander off and do it somewhere else. I end up having to either move the sand to fill in the spots each night (pain because I always have to move hermits and sometimes fish out of the way and get into the spots to refill them). I am worried more that they will at some point dig out so much sand that rock will fall over and break the glass or kill something. Is there a good effective way to either secure the rock so that it wont fall over (and let them dig away) or to lift the rock up a little so that they cant really dig anymore.

3) I have a red striped pistol shrimp (his real name escapes me, he is white with red stripes) and was wondering on how to best take care of him. He is paired with a Yashia Haze Goby (Stonogobiops yashia) and the two seem to be doing VERY well together, but the goby doesn't let me near the shrimp so I dont know if I need to do anything for the shrimp like supplimental (or general) feeding of him. Also they have currently taken one of the smaller rocks in the tank and dug out the underneath part of the rock to make their home. The rock is circular shaped and about the size of a softball but flattened on top. Depending on how I solve the digging problem above, what should I do with this rock? Leave it like it is to preserve the Goby/Pistol home? Also does anyone know the name of this pistol or anything about it. Also anyone experience with this type goby, I haven't seen or read too much about either, it was an impulse purchase :-/ but so far it is going great, extremely fun to watch them.

4) A 1 inch thing about the size of a pencil came out of one of the peices of LR. It at first appeared to be dead, but it SLOWLY moves around. I dont have a way to take a picture of it, but it is a cream like color with lighter stripes running longways on it. One end is just black the other had a smaller wormlike thing coming out of it (half the width and about the same length, similar in appearance but slightly darker). I have no clue what this is and dont know if it is good or bad or neither. It does move (against the current) but very slowly. Any ideas what it is or how I can find out more about it?

5) I have heard many people really like peppermint shrimp so I was wondering your opinions on them. I also was wondering how many for certain sized tanks. I am assuming 1 is enough for only a 30 gallon, but how many for a 55 or a 125 (have a 55 I can use, 125 is for when I move in a year). I dont NEED to know, but I am curious as I have a good general idea of how many snails and hermits, etc for them, just not shrimp and stars. Also does my pistol count against this total or are the two different enough to not compete?

Thanks for the time and effort to just read this, let alone respond.

Rick

[OrionGirl]

1) Hermits: I'd probably not worry about replacing them, and instead focus on adding a variety of snails. Hermits can be destructive, and I found that my 10 was much dirtier with them than without. Fighting over shells is common of most all of them, and no matter how many empty shells you provide, will continue to happen.

2) Using PVC and eggcrate, you can make a raised platfrom that sits just above the sand, and stack all the rock on there. They can dig under if they want. For the shrimp/goby pair, you'll want to provide some rockwork on the sand, but this is easily done--just put shunks of rock clear down to the glass, fill with sand, and cap with live rock. THey'll tunnel out the sand, and be happy.

3) Sounds like he has a good care provider already. The fish will share it's food with the shrimp in return for room in the burrow. Give the goby a bit of extra food, maybe, but otherwise, don't worry about it too much.

4) Search on spaghetti worm--sounds pretty similar to your mystery critter. They can move very fast if startled, but usually just slowly sweep through looking for food. Good things.

5) Can't comment on peppermints from experience, but many people here don't like them. They tend to be ravenous, and consume a lot of the beneficial life that comes in with good rock. If you are looking for additional shrimps that will be reef friendly, I'd look at the skink cleaners. Bit pricier, but model citicens (in both my 10 gallon and the 120 reef) and much more social and active than many inverts.

[Dewey115]

Thank you very much to my reply. Guess I will respond to each of them again to keep some order to my rambling.

1) I am going to get some snails later this week, any specific types people like? I have very limited experience with snails so far. I may pick up a few more hermits in the future, but like you said they dont seem to be doing much but eating a small amount (that is noticeable) and slightly stirring up some areas of the sand, but otherwise they just fight all the time.

2) Thanks for the idea with the Goby/Pistol, I hadn't thought of it but I think they will really like that alot. As for the PVC and eggcrate, I was leaning towards that general idea anyway, so this just gives me the go ahead to try it, but is there anything I should know or it is pretty much as easy as it seems to be?

3) I have seen the Pistol coming out much more often the past
two days and I have seen him run out to grab a piece of food and drag it back under the rock, then come back out later for more. Even if he isn't eating it all I know that he has some available to him so I am not too worried about him anymore.

4) I looked at all pictures and it isn't a spaghetti worm. It is lighter in color and it looks quite a bit different. It is kinda hard to explain, but I am going to try to get my friends digital camera to get a picture of it. I also watched it last night with a red light and it moves MUCH more then. During the day it stay pretty still, only slightly moving against the current, at night though it was moving around much like an earthworm does.

5) Still deciding on the shrimp but I have been thinking today that I will just get a Skunk Cleaner because I dont have an effective way to order online (I am not home much during the day so I wont be around to pick them up) and the local places dont order peppermints much.

6) NEW - I got a good deal on another 55 gallon and was thinking about picking it up, has anyone compared the 30 and 55. Would there be much of a difference between the two. I know obviously it is going to be almost twice the size, but I am asking if there is much personal difference between the two.

I had another questions but cant think of it at the moment... guess it will have to wait. Thanks again

Rick

[skippy2]

The only thing I can think of with the 55 is that it is too narrow to aquascape nicely. I have a 55 and no matter how I arrange the rocks, it looks like a 'wall of rocks.' I should probably stop buying rocks and try to arrange again. I can't resist a nice looking piece of lr even if I don't know where I am going to put it, I buy it.

[OrionGirl]

I like cerith and nasarrius snails best. They spend lots of time going through the sand, but will also clean glass, and eat a variety of algaes and detritus. Turbo snails are best for green algaes, but seldom get off the glass, IME. They can get very large, too--I have 2 in with a medium sized trigger that are big enough to put up with some abuses from the fish.


The eggcrate is really easy. Hardest part is taking everything out of the tank to put the eggcrate inside. You can trim the eggcrate down and shape it to fit just where the rock will cover, instead of filling the entire tank up. Be careful--while it's easy to cut, you can get some sharp edges that you'll want to smooth down so the fish don't get cuts (and to protect your fingers!).

I really do like the skunks. They are the friendliest and most active shrimp I've seen. They will come up and 'clean' your hands when you have to work in the tank, and will also clean your fish--I have a trio in the 120 that are currently following a yellow tang around, hoping to be allowed to clean him! :laugh:

Have you checked the HitchHiker's FAQ? Don't have the link with me right now, but it is listed in the Archives--or under the thread for Useful Links. Great list of common things that come out of rock. This critter doesn't sound like a threat, so rest easy. :)

A 55 is a bit narrow--I have 2 that are FW, and am constantly trying to wrangle the rock and wood around to provide better areas for the fish and plants. But, they are decent tanks, and the increased water volume will be a benefit to stability. If it's a good price, I'd go for it.