Ok folks. I need some help setting up the biological aspect here. The tank is a 30 gallon, and when I'm through with it, in about a week, it'll have 30 pounds of live rock, alotta that "bacteria sand" they sell prepackaged in stores, a 36" coral full spectrum light, and a 24" blue actinic light. I was hoping to get a perc clown, just because it's my first saltwater tank and I'd like one, a fire goby, and a bangaii cardinal. I also was hoping to get a few hermit crabs (red legged?), a cleaner shrimp of some sort (species?), and any other suggestions, recommendations, or comments would be great. Thanks alot for any help. I'm really pumped about this. Oh yeah, I'm using a Millenium 200 to filter, but I'll probably just put some floss or a sponge in there and let the live rock do its stuff.
Inhabitants
- Thread starter VoodooChild
- Start date
Sounds pretty good. I'm not really familiar with the fire goby, but your other choices are fine for your tank.
You might want to look into the fire, or blood shrimp. Very pretty, brightly colored, and take readily to any foods. In groups, they are social and will clean fish as well.
I wouldn't put anything in the filter--just use it for water flow. If you have a sponge or floss in there, you'll need to clean it all the time. Really a pain, not helpful.
You might want to look into the fire, or blood shrimp. Very pretty, brightly colored, and take readily to any foods. In groups, they are social and will clean fish as well.
I wouldn't put anything in the filter--just use it for water flow. If you have a sponge or floss in there, you'll need to clean it all the time. Really a pain, not helpful.
Thanks alot, I'll heed that advice. Do you think I would have any luck with urchins or any other kind of shrimp? Before I was only limited to crayfish and apple snails, so I'd like to explore my invert options.
Urchins can be a pain. They're bulldozers, moving around at night knocking things around. We have a couple in different tanks, and both came in as hitch hikers. If you don't mind the occassional re-arranging, you can get one, but they aren't really that exciting. During the day, they tend to hide (and can fit in much smaller holes than expected), and then scrounge around in the day. They can be a threat to some corals (reportedly, they can poke them and damage them), but we never had that problem.
You could look into crabs. Sally light foot crabs are a favorite of mine--they are a bit shy, but pretty, and very hardy IME. We have 2 in our 65. They fun to watch, especially during feeding time, when they going jumping around after food. Peaceful, get along with most other inverts.
Also, check out the variety of snails. Nassarius, cerith, turbo...Bunches out there. Be careful though--I've seen more and more coldwater snails being offered up. They don't do well in a tropical tank, lasting maybe 2-3 weeks.
Conch are also an option. The fighting conch is readily available and stays fairly small--one would be okay in a 30.
Scallops are fun--we really enjoyed our flame scallop. He wasn't ahppy with us, and moved around too much--got too close to a coral that stung it to death. But, they are neat to have. I'd stay away from clams-you don't have enough light to support one. Filter feeders require special attention to thrive, so getting one for a new tank that needs high light as well is asking for trouble.
Just to make sure, have you planned on doing a fishless cycle of the tank? Inverts tend to be sensitive to water conditions, more so that fish. You won't want to add the inverts until the tank has cycled, and I recommend cycling fishlessly--throw in a chunk of cocktail shrimp from the deli to kick start your ammonia, and then test. Ammonia and nitrites should be zero before adding any inverts.
You could look into crabs. Sally light foot crabs are a favorite of mine--they are a bit shy, but pretty, and very hardy IME. We have 2 in our 65. They fun to watch, especially during feeding time, when they going jumping around after food. Peaceful, get along with most other inverts.
Also, check out the variety of snails. Nassarius, cerith, turbo...Bunches out there. Be careful though--I've seen more and more coldwater snails being offered up. They don't do well in a tropical tank, lasting maybe 2-3 weeks.
Conch are also an option. The fighting conch is readily available and stays fairly small--one would be okay in a 30.
Scallops are fun--we really enjoyed our flame scallop. He wasn't ahppy with us, and moved around too much--got too close to a coral that stung it to death. But, they are neat to have. I'd stay away from clams-you don't have enough light to support one. Filter feeders require special attention to thrive, so getting one for a new tank that needs high light as well is asking for trouble.
Just to make sure, have you planned on doing a fishless cycle of the tank? Inverts tend to be sensitive to water conditions, more so that fish. You won't want to add the inverts until the tank has cycled, and I recommend cycling fishlessly--throw in a chunk of cocktail shrimp from the deli to kick start your ammonia, and then test. Ammonia and nitrites should be zero before adding any inverts.
If you want an urchin I would suggest a tuxedo urchin. Very colorful, doesn't get too large and stays in the open.
Brian
Brian
I was actually planning to add the live rock and let that cycle through, and then add fish. Bad idea?
Kevin,
Yes, I have a tuxedo urchin. I think it may eat some coraline, but it hasn't made too much difference. Some people say they actually help it to spread by flaking some of it off. The only problem with the tuxedo is that it knocks over some frags. It doesn't seem to bother the larger corals, only frags.
By the way, how is your new tank doing?
Brian
Yes, I have a tuxedo urchin. I think it may eat some coraline, but it hasn't made too much difference. Some people say they actually help it to spread by flaking some of it off. The only problem with the tuxedo is that it knocks over some frags. It doesn't seem to bother the larger corals, only frags.
By the way, how is your new tank doing?
Brian
Good to hear. I think I'll try one when this next tank is ready. Had an offer for a free long-spine, but they just get too big and bulldozer-like.
New tank's going well, thanks. Cycle's just about over and I'll be able to throw a crew in there and seed the DSB soon. Just in time too, the algae growth is getting to me. I must have rearranged the rocks three dozen times by now. But I think we finally have a winning aquascape.
New tank's going well, thanks. Cycle's just about over and I'll be able to throw a crew in there and seed the DSB soon. Just in time too, the algae growth is getting to me. I must have rearranged the rocks three dozen times by now. But I think we finally have a winning aquascape.