CUC dieing, some advice please, newbie on board

[Marlin65]

Crabs are opportunistic feed them enough they will be fine starve them they will eat your LPS, Zoe's what ever they need to stay alive. I think you got way to many clean up crew to start with. They staved to death. just cut it back to a few and maybe dump in a bit more food. It is a matter of finding a balance. I only have one crab and two snails in my 75.

[no_bs]

Originally Posted by Marlin65

I only have one crab and two snails in my 75.

We have only 2 hermi's and 3 snails and 2 cucumbers(formaly 1) in a 110g.
The promotion of heavy clueanup crews are overstated, thats what usually ends up in heart ach and frutrations. Plus an empty wallet.

[horteco]

Originally Posted by no_bs

We have only 2 hermi's and 3 snails and 2 cucumbers(formaly 1) in a 110g.
The promotion of heavy clueanup crews are overstated, thats what usually ends up in heart ach and frutrations. Plus an empty wallet.

Yes, definately hurts the wallet.
I saw all that algae and thought how will those little things eat all that stuff. Well now I know how much the snails can pack away.

[don.ald]

i wouldd say hermits are reefsafe, with caution. if you have a heavy feed tank they do well most times and leave corals alone. they do cause trouble, turning everything over and make a mess.

your doing great. wait until you find the hitchhikers. i bet you will have crabs in your system--wait and see

[fishytime]

you posted that you were getting nitrite readings?.....what test kits are you using?

[Myka]

Hey Doug...nitrite isn't toxic in a marine environment even at super high levels. unless you're onto something else??

[horteco]

Originally Posted by Myka

Hey Doug...nitrite isn't toxic in a marine environment even at super high levels. unless you're onto something else??

Myka

Back to the books for me. I thought NH3, NO2, and NO3 were all toxic. I thought short term memory was all I had left. Guess not. Oh well I'll keep reading and hopefully something will stick.

[horteco]

Originally Posted by fishytime

you posted that you were getting nitrite readings?.....what test kits are you using?

fishytime

sorry it took so long to reply. I'm kind of scrambling to get as much advice as I can and neglected to look here.

I bought the hagen master test kit. I have never liked the color charts on these things it seems that you ask two people what color match they see and more often than not you get two different answers.

I have been picking up some better testers like Aqua Test KH and Hanna phosphate checker.

What do you think about the hagen test kit? I just took some more tests
with the hagen kit.
NH3 = 0
NO2 = less than 0.1
NO3= less than 5
pH = 8.6 Yikes That seems high

The pH has been fluctuating alot between 8.1 and 8.6 everything looks happy.

I better get a better ph tester. any suggestions?

[horteco]

Originally Posted by don.ald

i wouldd say hermits are reefsafe, with caution. if you have a heavy feed tank they do well most times and leave corals alone. they do cause trouble, turning everything over and make a mess.

your doing great. wait until you find the hitchhikers. i bet you will have crabs in your system--wait and see

donald

thanks for the encouragement. Hitchhikers!!! Hope their friendly.

[horteco]

Originally Posted by Marlin65

Crabs are opportunistic feed them enough they will be fine starve them they will eat your LPS, Zoe's what ever they need to stay alive. I think you got way to many clean up crew to start with. They staved to death. just cut it back to a few and maybe dump in a bit more food. It is a matter of finding a balance. I only have one crab and two snails in my 75.

Marlin

this may sound, well like, newwwwbie but at this stage I can take it. What kind of food should I use, the LFS didn't say I should feed them, and I didn't ask. I have no fish so there is no excess food should I throw in some flake food, if I do throw in food won't that cause an ammonia spike?

thanks