Help with 1 week old 10g nano
 

Hey guys, I'm really new to this hobby so I was wondering if i could get any help with signs of an unhealthy tank as well as common pests or things I should look out for. Here are somet things that concerned me but I'm not even sure if I should be worried. If you guys could ID these things and let me know if they're good/bad/ok and if they're bad, what I could get to help it.

I'm currently running a 10g with a rio nano skimmer, maxijet900 powerhead, 50W heater, about 15-20 lbs of live rock, 2 hitch hiker snails (no idea what kind), 2 small starfish (also hitchikers off the LR) and a mystery hermit crab. I also have these little shrimp looking things (very small maybe 2-3mm in lengh some red some clear) that I couldn't get pics of but here are some pics of the others.

http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00105.jpg
Crabby
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00101.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00108.jpg
Starfish
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00110.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00125.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00123.jpg
Wierd clump of sand or something with sand stuck on it...
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00122.jpg
http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u...k/DSC00121.jpg
What are those yellow tubes with the 2 "anntenas"?

I really appreciate the help guys and gals!

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Nixon

The hermit crabs should be fine. The organisms in the last few pictures look like some sort of worm (like a Spionid worm) and are reef-safe. The "shrimp looking things" sound like amphipods and/or copepods, though hard to say without a photo. They are also reef-safe.

Hitchhiker starfish can be bothersome, but I'm no expert on starfish, so I'll leave that to someone else who actually knows something :wink:

Try these two websites for hitch-hiker info...


http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

http://melevsreef.com/id/

I can not see the pic (at work server would not allow me) but sounds like this could be a misyd sfrimp, It is reef safe however if you planning to have a mandarin your concern is that mysid shrimp will eat copipods.

wow thanks x-treme. I was able to identify most of the things in my tank off that site. glad that everything i see in my tank has a little green thumbs up next to it on the site. such a relief haha. Also does anybody know where i can get a cheap ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph testers from? I'm in calgary. Thanks so much for your input guys!

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Nixon

from the sites that xtreme sent me, i've ided them to be misyd shrimp. i'm only planning to have soft corals, 2 clowns and a shrimp in there. are they going to be a problem? and if they do become one, what eats them?

Golds
 

Go to Golds and talk to Albert or Dennis, they will hook u up. Look at the Vendors section of Canreef.

Fish and shrimp will eat them very quickly. Mysids are only threat to smaller pods.They are very cool to watch!

Anyone see that, the 4th picture from the top.. the one with title Starfish.. is that Aiptasia in the middle of the Rock there.. kind of transparent...

Uh-huh, that's an aiptasia.