hey, my tank is just over two months old... there are no fish in it... just live rock, live sand, and a torch coral and a toadstool mushroom coral... there is a bit of brown algae growing on the rocks, and i have been advised to get a hermit crab (of some kind) and snails/shrimp... my tank holds 48l and the water parameters are almost perfect... i keep doing water changes and it is coming down very quickly. i was just wondering what you would advise me getting, providing i am going to get 2 tank bred clownfish that'll be the only fish i have in the tank... i have read they are compatible with inverts, but are the inverts ok with the corals i have... i love the torch and dont really want it being mangled by a crab!

thanks

D

scarlet hermits and blue legs are reef safe and wont eat you corals or bother your fish ... they may wak on the coral but noting that will have a long term effect .. as for the algae what are you phosphate levels and what kind of water are you using? other than that some astrea sails should help clean it up

ok, i will look at getting some of them then would two be enough for a 48l tank? and phospshate levels, im not quite sure because i need to get a test kit, which i am doing at the weekend, or possibly to tonight because i have read several things about it. and i am using tap water, using a dechlorinator made by interpet called tapsafe or aqausafe. i know i should be using R/O water really... if i was to start using R/O water would micing it with the water i have at the moment be a problem? everything in my tank seems to be flourishing especially the torch, which has grown quite a bit since purchase... you can slap me on the wrist for using tap water if you want... i do know its not ideal thanks though!

some tap water is fine theres no need for a slap on the wrist i used tap water the entire time when i had my tank and many people on here still do .. it all depends on where you live and if your tank is 48L its about 12 gallons ? i would go with maybe 3 or 4 scarlet reef hermits and a few astrea snails maybe 2 ... depends really how much algae you have in the tank... you dont want to add to many and have them die. IMO scarlets are the way to go ... and as for switching over to ro/di that can be done just through regular water changes

ok thanks the only reason why i went with tap is cost... so maybe i shall save up and switch over to R/O or D/I slowly... is DI water from say tesco's ok? or does it have to be done the same way as R/O? yeah it is about 12g and ok i'll look at getting some a the weekend, maybe start with 2 and then see what happens! will i need to feed them? and if so anything in particular? thanks for your help it's very much appreciated!

scarlet hermits will eat algae and leftover detritus and as for the snails as long as there is algae there's no need for suplemental feeding. As for the RO/DI im not sure about tesco's best thing to do would be to get a tds meter and measure the source. Best thing to do might be to save up and buy your own RO/DI unit but if cost is a factor most LFS or grocery stores also sell water

ok cool... i will probably save up, itll be worth it in the long run, and for now i will jsut get some from a LFS! quick question, i am guessing you're from the UK? you know anywhere online that is good, so i can get some phytoplankton/zooplankton i asked someone the other day about feeding/supplementing the torch as i have read they need them. but i dont know where to get it from, online would be easier.... if not i will wait for the weekend.
thanks again!

im not from the UK but nice guess and for the torch you should be able to supplement feeding with a syringe or turkey baster (a small one) and some mysis or brine shrimp and as for online stores im not really sure but if you search the forum you should be able to bring up some older thread where that same topic has been brought up

ok thanks for your help, its really helped me i will probably call on you again sometime as you definately know what you're on about! haha speak soon!
Dan

your welcome always happy to help out a fellow nano-reef member