My Rushed Nano - 10 gal

[Myka]

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

thanks, Myka. you're right, inverts are more sensitive to poor water...

so why does everyone start with a CUC? especially as there's not a lot for them to eat yet, IMO.

Ya your tank is too small for a shrimp....unless you spot feed often. I've had trouble keeping them in my 33g, but I don't spot feed.

People start with a CUC for a couple main reasons; they are cheap and "disposable" (I disagree on the second part) which makes them good for kamikaze work, and they get on top of the algae before it becomes a problem. A big mistake many people make is that they pick out a HUUUUUGE CUC and slam it into a mostly barren tank, and 3/4 of them die from starvation. Wow, that was a good waste of money. Websites suggest 1 snail and 1 hermit per gallon. That's ridiculous. Some people may require a CUC of that size, but not until the tank has matured. Be aware that hermits are predacious and will often kill snails when they are hungry or just to steal their shells. Many people (myself included) dont' keep hermits just because of this. Scarlet hermits are the lesser of the evils, with Mini Blue legs next. Start off with a small CUC (like 2 or 3 like you intended), and add more as you see fit and as your tank matures.

I find Astreas (my fav), Trochus, and Turbos live the longest. Nassarius die left, right, and center (in my tank anyway, they rarely last over a year in my tank) but are good for eating detritus, and cerith aren't far behind (|and pretty useless imo). Margaritas are a temperate species and shouldn't be kept in tropical tanks (unbeknownst to way too many people) which is too bad because they are one of the best algae eaters. What am I missing? Bumble Bee snails are not always reef-safe. Oh Ring Cowries are pretty cool, but aren't very hardy and don't do much imo, wait until your tank matures, and even then you will probably lose half of them within the first 6 months, but the remainder will be hardy.

[raisemyrent]

I see I see..

I couldn't wait, so I.... took a trip to the LFS... they have lots of little snails and lots of little crabs, but I won't give in, crabs are evil, mine used to fight all the time...

They do have very very small cleaner shrimps, like an inch long, but they grow, right?
I'll have a cleaner shrimp later on in my 33gal... for now, I will buy a snail or two and go from there...

are pruple firefish hardy fish?

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

I see I see..
crabs are evil, mine used to fight all the time...

Where they Blue Legged Hermits? I read they can be kinda aggressive. My red legged hermits are docile until a pellet lands nearby but then its more of a clutch and hold rather than fight. Never seen injuries. I credit my army of hermits for keeping my sand clean.

[raisemyrent]

no, they were red legged as far as I remember, i had one, and he always gointo fights with the hitchhiker crab that came with my rock, he looked like an emerald, but in the typical opaque red colour...

anywyas, my tanks will be crab free from now on...

I just bought 2 astrea snails, a cerith snail, a clown fish (not percula), and 3 ricordea florida frags, about the size of a quarter or loonie...
pale pruple, glowy green, and orange...

can you say rushing?

now I am happy.. I am just waiting for my jlawuatics order toc ome in the mail so that I can move a couple of big pieces of live rock into my bigger tank (33gal) and redo the aquascaping in my 10gal once and for all

[Binare]

I had a skunk shrimp in my 10 gallon along with 3 sexy shrimp, and 3 sexy shrimp by themselves in my 3 gallon. The skunk now lives in my 12 gallon prop. I feed the skunk 1 pellet every 2 days and the sexy's get a 3rd of a pellet each every 2-3 days, depending how fast they eat.

I feed em gold shrimp pellets, cant get enough of em.

[raisemyrent]

thanks, I am debating gettnig some sexy shrimp to put in there, but the tank is full of rock right now because there are some pieces that are supposed to go into the 33gal, but I am still waiting on jl/canada post to deliver my order so that I can get that tank going.

In the meantime, there is the o. clown and I got a yellow watchman goby that I quite like (Hank), but he has way too many places right now where to hide, so I don't see him very often. I think it's also because he is failry new to my 10 gal ocean.

As soon as the rock clears I will start buying corals slowly and hoping that the clown hosts any; if he doesn't they can always move up to the 33gal.

Oh, the tank has officially started growing coralline on the rocks and the glass, it took 5 weeks! It probably started a bit befor but I didn't notice it.

I am also getting a bit of astro turf looking algae growing on the glass too. I am either going to buy a scraper or make one (back when I was 14 I made on with a razor blade and part of a coat hanger... I was so proud).

[Snaz]

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

thanks, I am debating gettnig some sexy shrimp to put in there,

I have three sexies and they are very cool. The host anemones, softies etc. My three each have there own ricordia home, it looks very cool.