acclimation for crustaceans
 

hey guys, how long do you acclimate your crabs, shrimp and snails for your reef tanks?

Re: acclimation for crustaceans
 

I put my new animals (crustaceans, fish, etc.) into a rubbermaid container, then get out my pH probe and turkey baster. I determine the pH in the tank the animals are going into, then put the pH probe in the container. Using the baster, I remove water from the container and replace it with water from the tank every few minutes. When pH in the container is the same as that of the tank, the animals go into the tank.

How long that takes depends on the difference in pH between the container and the tank. Sometimes it's an hour, sometimes less.

A note on snails. Lately I've bought snails from the LFS and bagged them without water. When I get home, I just throw them in the tank. I've had no losses doing this.
Shrimp have always just had the temp adjusted, a couple of 1/4 cup swaps of water, and in they go. Only things I give special treament to are stars, cucumbers, and things well known to be sensitive.

I thought shrimp, at least Lysmata shrimp (cleaners, peppermints, etc.), are particularly senstive to SG. I've found just throwing them into water that's different by 0.002 (i.e. 1.023 vs. 1.025) to be disastrous. I always drip acclimate them now over 1/2 hour to an hour (depending on how different the SG's are. If they're identical SG's I'll still do the drip but maybe not as long). For stars and urchins I'd consider a really slow drip acclimation. When I acclimated my linckia, I set up a container in the sump (for temperature control), then slowly dripped into the container over 16 hours before releasing him into the tank. It seemed to work OK, but even so I noted that the star did not really move much for the first 3 weeks or so. Then he climbed to the top and circumnavigated the tank a few times (seemed like he was exploring his new environment, discover the limits/extents of the "tide pool"). It was weeks yet before he would wander the rocks. Now I find him zooming (by comparison) all over the tank. Makes me think that even with the 16 hour acclimation, it was still a hard hit for him to get over. What was the original question? I've forgotten. Oh, I see it had nothing to do with stars. Crud. I've gone off on another tangent. Sorry, my bad.

what about hermits? do they need an acclimation period or can they , like snails be just tossed in if they come in dry?

I've NEVER, EVER seen a dead hermit.

so is that a yes or no ? i am just curious , i am picking up an bunch this week for a cleaner crew and do want them to all die off obviously.

For me, shrimps have always been harder to acclimate. If not acclimated properly, they will shake back and forth and are basically paralyzed and vulnerable to getting eatened.

I'm always reading about messages where people threw their shrimp into their tanks only to have them eaten by a fish and then they say things like you can't keep sexy shrimp with clownfish or whatever. To me, I have 3 sexy shrimps and 1 tiny anemone shrimp living with a Leopard Wrasse, Hippo Tang, Clowns, Flame Angel, Lg Fireshrimps and Peppermint shrimps, and Serpent Star. Yet, my tiny sexy shrimps and anemone shrimp are all alive after months (some over a year). There's no problem at all but others will swear that these little shrimps are not compatible with even a clownfish, when the real problem was that they didn't acclimate the shrimps.

Honestly, if there is any question at all, it's best to err on the side of caution. Nothing bad can happen from acclimating anything for an hour, and what's an hour? If you're unsure, drip acclimate for an hour or more to be safe.

Hermits I wouldn't worry about so much. A lot of them are found in intertidal areas, tidal pools, river estuaries, so one could speculate that they are perhaps adapted to varying salinities/temperatures/etc. Just speculation though. If it's a species collected from deeper water this may not hold true.

That said, I think it's "nicer" to them to acclimate rather than throw them straight in. If that helps you any...

thanks, i think i will at least give them an hr and then let them play, secondary topic , what do you guys(girls) think about cleaner shrimp , worth getting or is there another shrimp that will do the job just as well?

I have some, and the job I want them to do is look cool. They're quite good at it. My fish don't need cleaning, so the shrimp are decorative only.

ok, on the subject of cleaning , what else is a good cleaner for a sand bed and other detrius other then hermit crabs and snails, i have a 10 gallon tank dont forget

are you using a sand bed, or just putting sand on the bottom? If the latter, a gravel siphon works wonders. If the former, maybe a small star or something.

i have a 3 inch sand bed , ive noticed a fair bit of algae in the middle of the sand bed as well, are there any crabs ( non hermit ) that could deal with this and what size star would work , i dont want it to attack my coral or anything

hermits won't do much for algae under the surface. Maybe reducing nutrients is a better path than trying to remove algae. If you go the star route, a 2 inch sand sifting star might work.

how large will they get , or do they max out at that size?

I've seen them get too big for a 10g. You'd have to trade it in at some point.

is there a star that could remain in my tank , or a crab or something , i want to stay away from the nudibranchs i have heard to many horror stories about them but i want a really good clean up crew

snails will be your primary crew. Get some astrea and some cerith. You shouldn't need more than that. Oh ya, a turkey baster. You're all set. You won't get a bunch of critters to keep things clean for you, you're gonna have to help :razz:
Ina 10g, you're limited, such that you can't really keep conches, brittle stars and other common cleaners. Even urchins will move things around too much in a smaller tank.

good to know... now onto a mangrove question , do i need to trim the leaves and if so , how much ?

sorry, I get off here. Never had a mangrove. :razz:

lol, well thanks anyway , alright , i have a toadstool coral that just wont open up , is there a reason for this , i got him on sat and he just wont seem to bloom and does a cleaner wrasse always secrete that pouch when it sleeps?

You're just gonna go on all night, aren't you?? :razz:

Leather corals can often stay "waxed" over for a couple of days, nothing to worry about.

Many wrasses wrap themselves in cacoons at night (every night), it's normal!

lol, i am at work all night long so i need something to pass the time. alright , i wont worry about the coral for now , should i remove the coccon in the mornings or will it just break down ?

it'll just break down. Are you running a skimmer? It will help remove the dissolved organics from these.

the guy i bought my tank off of turned the skimmer into a 'fuge off the back but i do have a fiter the is side mounted that i use to skim crap out of the water with , it gets cleaned on or twice a day

On a tank that size, you can buy small air driven skimmers that work quite well for a reasonalbe price. Something to look into.

good to know . how well does a yellow watchman goby do in a tank that size , he would have the company of a cleaner wrasse , a false perc, and a tomato clown

Haha you're gonna love this. "It depends" !! Basically there are two schools of thought (from what I can tell). One that says yes prune the leaves, you'll get better nutrient export. The other one says "leave it be and let it grow into a cool plant." I've never picked the leaves off mine unless they turn yellow. They are so amazingly slow growing that I can't imagine they're really effective at nutrient export. They look cool though. :biggrin:

i love those answers! thats good to know, i will try leaving it of awhile , its already an good ft tall and it have about 6-10 leaves on it. in a reef tank , does adding garlic and vit.c cause any damage to crals or anything? obviously i add based on water volume and using specifically zoned stuff , not generic , but do they hurt anything , i have read about all the great things they do in disease prevention

I believe you're suggesting adding these supplements to the food as you soak it, right. School is out on this topic. Many people swear by one or the other or both. Many others believe it doesn't really do alot because we often forget the inherent ability of fish to fight off ick or other problems if its healthy & the infestation is light. Personally, I use a UV sterilizer.

What was said about mangroves is true. They are very slow growing, unlike my caulerpa & red halimenia, so their presence is more aesthetics than as active nutrient exporters.

Crabs - don't trust 'em in your tank. Even the ones that are "reef-safe" may not be if you get a rogue :evil: I had a tiny orange one in my LR that I thought was harmless. 8 months later it snipped my pulsing xenias & that was that. Unfortunately, I haven't seen it in months but I think he might still be in there somewhere. Previously, it only ate algae & detritus.

I'm also a late-nighter, since I'm editing papers. Got to get back to work now. :rolleyes:

so crabs are evil doers hey? good to know. ill stick to my hermits and snails then