Marine Scavengers

Tommy Gun

Tommy Gun

Fish Fanatic
Aug 1, 2006
302
0
0
49
Wisconsin, USA
Hey everyone!

So, I just did a little bit of rearranging of my tank, mostly with the getting the sand to look more natural and not so 'flat, and noticed that I actually do have a few pockets of food, mostly brine, collecting where the flow of my tank must eventually deposit it. It is nothing really bad or not a big amount by any means, but it is in a place where it would be hard to get at with my python and/or little scooper tool I have.

What I am wondering is, for a reef tank, what would be a good, helpful type fish or invert that could possible take care of this for me? Most, well all, of my fish are more mid to top dwellers and I have yet to see any of them go after food on the substrate, other than the seaweed/algea that I just sink to the bottom of the tank with a clip.

The fish I have are:

2 Green Chromis
1 Bicolored Angel
1 Six-line Wrasse
1 Flame Angel
1 Fire (blood) Shrimp
2 Turbo snails
4 Trochus snails
1 Scarlet Reef Hermit


I do not have any hermits, other than one right now because they bunch that I bought when I first started out were pretty big and from what I understand, could pose a threat to the shrimp and the snails at the size they were. My plans are, on friday due to travel issues and the holidays, to pick up 25 small hermits of what I assume are a genaric type (not scarlet reef or blue legged) but are small. I couldnt get them earlier because of an intake 'strainer' for my powerheads that had holes in it that were large enough to possibly suck a smaller hermit into the pump. I have since fixed this but the LFS that has enough of these hermits at the size I want is about 45 minutes to an hour away and I cannot make it there after work due to closing times. (I know this sounds like a bunch of excuses, but it is real)

So, anyways, I would like to find a bottom dwelling type fish so that I am not left with a whole pile of hermit crabs in this one spot once I do get them. Any recomendations for me on something that will fit into a very peaceful (hopefully, the angels are ok together, by the way), soon to be reef tank?
 
Yea, I should have said that I have been trying to change the flow around a bit to get the best coverage, but since the powerheads are plumbed up through drilled holes in the bottom of the tank, I cannot move them anywhere I want. I dont know if I should be adding anymore powerheads or not. Right now I am pumping about 1200 gallons per hour through three of them and even if I did get one more, I think the rock is going to be the main issue for me as far as creating a dead spot in the water. I dont want to go too overboard just yet in case I want to look into an anemone or some coral that is not going to want that much water movement. Right now, I can create high flow areas and low flow ones as well which I figure will be good as far as being able to keep both type of corals. That is off into the future somewhat, but I still dont want to close any doors on myself just yet.

This isnt really the smallest tank in the world, but not the biggest either. It is set up in one particular way to maximize the options of the tank, from what I have been told by the guy I bought it from. He had two others of the exact same set up (he does this type of custom work, like drilling and putting overflow chambers/systems into tanks for extra cash and is a marine biologist student), one fish-only and one reef(ish) with some limited amounts of corals when I saw it anyways. I am trying to get the same type of reef as his was (in general) and that is why I bought the tank this way.
 
I will look into the small powerheads. Will I have a good way of hiding all of the cords and what not in my tank? I know that sounds vain, but I really like having a sump in order to make things look completely self sufficient, or at least as far as an aquarium goes. This is a MAJOR focal point in my living room.

Yea, that sounds even dumber the second time I read it...sorry, it is in my nature to be picky like this :cool:
 
This doesn't directly adress one of your questions, but right now you have only one fire shrimp. By all means, get another one! Fire shrimp tend to act recluse and "depressed" when they're alone, but in pairs its much different. After I got a second fs, they are now out in the open much more, and its great to watch them interact!

I would suggest this for anyone with only one fire shrimp. Also, any two will form a pair.

(fire shrimp scavenge as well ;) ）
 
Thanks for those hints. I had read that I should have two to three of these shrimp in my tank but didnt know that this would help them become a more visable part of the tank as I was told that having two or three would help me out with their tendancy to clean fish of parasites and what not. I actually do have two more ordered at my LFS but because of their limited tank space for the SW section, I have ordered them one at a time to come next week and the one after. (I do this so that they can stay at the LFS for a couple of days before I bring them home since I am not able to be at the store when their shipment comes in)

I really do like the looks of this shrimp, from what I saw of it while it was still in the bag from the store. I have also found where it has been hiding and I can see its antenae, but that is it. I can tell that its still alive and well though since it is hanging to a rock upside down.

I am also just slowly working my way into a reef tank from my origonal FOWLR idea that left me with a porcupine puffer, a lionfish and a snowflake moray eel. At that time, I bought the biggest crabs and snails that I could in the hopes that none of my fish could fit them in their mouths for a snack. They all survived but when I traded those fish in, I was left with some really big hermits and so I traded them in. I am not sure if I can just put in 25 crabs at one time (this is a bulk price type deal) or if I can, how long I should wait since the last time I put a fish in. The shrimp has been in since last thursday or friday so it is still wishy washy as to how it will do. I could put in half to my display tank and half to my Q-tank though I suppose.

So my real question I guess is if there is a reef safe fish that will be apt to look for food on the substrate (live sand). Right now it seems as if my fish dont even look at anything once it gets 3/4 of the way to the bottom of the tank.
 
25 small hermits wouldn't be too many for a 90g reef tank. You should look into purchasing a whole cleaner crew from someplace like liveaquaria.com . They have packages for specific tank sizes that has the proper number of crabs, snails and starfish and will save you money in the long run.
 
I will look into the small powerheads. Will I have a good way of hiding all of the cords and what not in my tank? I know that sounds vain, but I really like having a sump in order to make things look completely self sufficient, or at least as far as an aquarium goes. This is a MAJOR focal point in my living room.
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Doesn't sound vain at all. Obviously, you could hide it behind the LR, and eventually it would get covered in coralline and other algae so you wouldn't be able to tell it was a cord.

If I think of another way I'll post.
 
Dont get me wrong, it is not the number of hermit crabs I care about in my tank, it is the potential size they will get. I also believe that if I do not offer bigger shells for them to move into, then they will die and so I am sort of stuck buying hermits all the time...this has to be a common concern right? What is the best way to deal with that sort of thing?

I am going to have, by friday, the equivalent of one of the 'reef packages' but it just took me a bit longer to get it all in my tank since around here, most stores do not stock enough of each crab or snail that I need for my tank. I do have the snails I need, and I can get 25 hermits and 15 emerald crabs for about 50 bucks from a store that I will be conviently passing on my way to my parents and in-laws during all of this Thanksgiving holiday parties and junk I am getting dragged to. :joke:
 
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