Have a few questions. Need help

[masterkaw]

I'm new in the marine/reef world and I have a few questions.

Let me give you guys a little bit more info. I have a 72 gallon tank and a 29 gallon sump. A little over 2 months ago I bought about 140 lbs of live rock. With it there was some fish. Also some soft coral, mostly mushrooms, and two other kind that I have to find the name for those.

I bought two emerald crabs and they lived for almost two month and died. I seen one was hanging on one of the corals and it kind of died there. It was paralized there for about a days or so, and then it just fell from where it was hanging. The other one I never found its body, but I'm assuming it died because I moved all the live rock and could not find it.
My water parameters:
0 Nitrite
0 Nitrate
0 Ammonia
8.0 PH - I think it is a bit low on the PH

Here are my questions;
1. Is there a supplement that I have to feed the crabs?
2. Is there a specific water parameter that I need to have to be able to keep invertebrates?

Other questions;

3. What tests do I need to test for in a reef? For example, magnesium, phosphate, etc.
4. What supplements do I need to put in the water to keep the corals happy?
5. What do I feed the corals?
6. What do I need to do to keep the PH stable? Some kind of buffer?
7. Do I have to dose with Iodine?

Any help would be sooooooooo much appreciated.

Thank you!


1. What tests do I have to buy? I mean, what exactly do I test for

 

[BadRoma1]

you did really good as far as only loosing crabs during cycle and your parameters are all at 0, which is good but a little strange. how many fish do you have?

 

[vteel]

1.) Hermit crabs usually eat left over food from fish, other inverts, etc. that's why their usually used as part of the 'clean up crew.' However, if there isn't a sufficient amount of food remains for the hermit crab(s) then you can feed them krill, silversides, etc. anything meaty they will chow down.

2.) As far as water perameters for inverts - they should be just as good for inverts as for corals, as for fish, etc. PH should be around 8.2-8.4, SG 1.023-1.025, Temp 75-78, adequate water movement, good lighting, etc. others can add more to this.........

3.) You should be testing Calcium, PH, Phosphate, Nitrate, Nitrite, there are probably some others......I'll let others chime in on that.

4.) Supplements for corals? I add reef phytoplankton for food, Essential Elements every water change to replace some of the beneficial things removed by the protein skimmer (do you have one of these?), other than that, I don't think adding to many things to the tank are good. Other members here may have some other advice but as long as corals are fed, have really good lighting, and have the proper water movement, that should be enough to keep them happy.

5.) I feed my corals DT's Live Marine Phytoplankton - Premium Reef Blend. There are plenty of options as far as food for corals, check your LFS.

6.) Consistent water changes should help keep the PH balanced as well as adequate filter media and live rock. You shouldn't have to add PH buffer if the water perameters are good and your doing consistent water changes (at least once a month). One rule of thumb in this hobby is to 'let nature do what it's supposed to do' in other words - it's best to replicate a natural reef as much as possible without the use of chemicals, buffers, any liquid element used to alter things. There are some cases where these things may be necessary but for the most part, use natural things like Live Rock to create a healthy reef.

7.) As far as dosing with Iodine, I honestly don't know the answer to this question.

I hope I have been of some help to you. Good luck!

 

[masterkaw]

you did really good as far as only loosing crabs during cycle and your parameters are all at 0, which is good but a little strange. how many fish do you have?

I bought a whole setup that was running for over five years. I bought a 75 gallon tank, the liverock, the gravel, 3 fish(clown, tang(dory), and a cardinal), snails, protein skimmer, powerheads, equipment, etc. When I made the move, I kept over half of the water from the tank. Once I brought it home I put everything together and finished filling it up. I put the liverock back in and then the fish. It was over two weeks when I bought the crabs. In those first two weeks I checked the water parameters everyday to make sure everything was good. Actually something strange happen when I was testing the water. Everything was at 0 except for the Nitrates, they were at 20. Little by little the nitrates starting to drop without me doing any major water changes. Now everything is good. All three fish have been fine. None of them got sick or died. The mushrooms and polyps look good. There is one coral that doesn't look too good. I don't know what kind of coral that is. I will take pictures and post them.

Anyway, I don't feed the fish much. I never fed the crabs. Do you think they died from hunger?

Sorry for all the information, I want you guys to know more about the whole situation.

 

[masterkaw]

1.) Hermit crabs usually eat left over food from fish, other inverts, etc. that's why their usually used as part of the 'clean up crew.' However, if there isn't a sufficient amount of food remains for the hermit crab(s) then you can feed them krill, silversides, etc. anything meaty they will chow down.

2.) As far as water perameters for inverts - they should be just as good for inverts as for corals, as for fish, etc. PH should be around 8.2-8.4, SG 1.023-1.025, Temp 75-78, adequate water movement, good lighting, etc. others can add more to this.........

3.) You should be testing Calcium, PH, Phosphate, Nitrate, Nitrite, there are probably some others......I'll let others chime in on that.

4.) Supplements for corals? I add reef phytoplankton for food, Essential Elements every water change to replace some of the beneficial things removed by the protein skimmer (do you have one of these?), other than that, I don't think adding to many things to the tank are good. Other members here may have some other advice but as long as corals are fed, have really good lighting, and have the proper water movement, that should be enough to keep them happy.

5.) I feed my corals DT's Live Marine Phytoplankton - Premium Reef Blend. There are plenty of options as far as food for corals, check your LFS.

6.) Consistent water changes should help keep the PH balanced as well as adequate filter media and live rock. You shouldn't have to add PH buffer if the water perameters are good and your doing consistent water changes (at least once a month). One rule of thumb in this hobby is to 'let nature do what it's supposed to do' in other words - it's best to replicate a natural reef as much as possible without the use of chemicals, buffers, any liquid element used to alter things. There are some cases where these things may be necessary but for the most part, use natural things like Live Rock to create a healthy reef.

7.) As far as dosing with Iodine, I honestly don't know the answer to this question.

I hope I have been of some help to you. Good luck!

Is doing a five gallon water change every week ok? Or no?

Do you think the crabs died because of hunger? I never fed them. I thought they would feed from the liverock. I feed the fish once everyday and I feed them very little.

The other day I seen a bristle work in the tank. It was about 8 inches long. Do you think that could kill a crab?

 

[masterkaw]

Ok, here is two pictures of the coral that doesn't seem as happy as the others. I tried taking a good picture, but my camera is not the greatest.

What should I feed this coral?

 

[Amphiprion]

It looks fine, actually. It is admittedly taking on an odd morphology, but is far from unhappy. I can tell that much just by seeing the polyps extended.

 

[BadRoma1]

I love your live rock. i don't feed 3 of my crabs but i have algae problems because i need to set my skimmer up and running, so they have plenty to eat. are you sure your crabs are dead and didn't molt? they come out at night and in a day light can look like they dead just sitting there and not moving. i don't see why they would die. if there would be a problem with your system, it would show in other ways and also the crabs would die within like 24 hours or something of being first introduced, unless something new happened. i think changing 5g a week is a bit on a low side, but probably fine. i wouldn't worry about adding iodine if you do water changes every week. i don't add or test for iodine and it doesn't stop my softies from spreading and overtaking my tank