GrandLotus Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Hello all, I have recently upgraded to a 29G reef tank and was thinking of getting a detris eater for my tank. I have a DSB at about 4.5 inches. I have some snails, 2 blue leg hermits, a cleaner shrimp and a pep shrimp. What would be the best thing I could add to clean up the detris? I do not want this detris eater to also eat the benefical 'infauna or microfauna' thats currently in my DSB. Thanks!! Link to comment
uglyfish Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Hello all, I have recently upgraded to a 29G reef tank and was thinking of getting a detris eater for my tank. I have a DSB at about 4.5 inches. I have some snails, 2 blue leg hermits, a cleaner shrimp and a pep shrimp. What would be the best thing I could add to clean up the detris? I do not want this detris eater to also eat the benefical 'infauna or microfauna' thats currently in my DSB. Thanks!! You need an animal that doesn't poop. An animal that just eats without expelling waste. Link to comment
najluni15 Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Nassarius snails or a small Fighting conch Link to comment
GrandLotus Posted August 2, 2012 Author Share Posted August 2, 2012 Nassarius snails or a small Fighting conch Awsome idea on the Nassarius Snails!! Learned something new today from liveaquaria and you of course! <3 Link to comment
GokesReef Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Just for the record.. a 29g tank should have 40+ varied snails and 15+ hermits (shrimp don't count). And it's spelled detritus. edit: here - http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?page...t&Itemid=34 Link to comment
flampton Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Just for the record.. a 29g tank should have 40+ varied snails and 15+ hermits (shrimp don't count). And it's spelled detritus. edit: here - http://www.reefcleaners.org/index.php?page...t&Itemid=34 A tank 'should' have whatever the OP wants. In your opinion he needs the above. Hermit crabs IMO are certainly not needed. Why 40 snails? For example Reef Cleaners has 59 snails in their 29 gallon pack. Should they not have this amount? What about taking account the displacement of a 4.5 in bed which will drop water volume? What happens then? OP if anyone tells you should have this or that, take it with a grain of salt until you can do your own research on what you want in YOUR aquarium. Link to comment
patback Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 +1 flampton. Hermits are completely optional, as they generally don't clean as much as given credit for and often topple stuff or eat things they shouldn't. Nassarius is great for cleaning existing detritus and mini brittles (if you can find them!) are awesome for eating food that lands in the sand bed. Link to comment
flampton Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 Though wildly overpriced Indo-Pacific Sea Farms sells mini stars in sets of six. If you can find someone with an established colony then grab theirs. When I had my tank I bought a bunch of stuff from IPSF (and I don't remember them being this much when I bought but maybe?) but those six turned into around a few hundred by the time the tank was drained. Plus every time I pruned the chaetomorpha I probably loss 10-20 or so. They were everywhere. Link to comment
ReefGazer Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 +1 for the Nassarius There are many ways to run a successful reef. Absolutes and conclusions on internet forums without justification or logical reasoning are suspect and should be taken with a grain of salt. What works for one may not work for another. In my humble opinion, I would suggest adding some Nassarius and see if they take care of it. If you need more, add more. What you don't want to do is add more than you need and then watch your livestock starve. Good luck! Link to comment
flampton Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I might be of the minority viewpoint but I believe bristle-worms are hghly beneficial to the sandbed and never gave me a problem with my other live stock. I specifically had the species from IPSF (No I do not work for them, but like I said I bought a bunch of stuff from them) so maybe they were 'nicer' than standard live rock bristles? btw I would also likely start with nassarius too. Plus they are definitely entertaining to watch pop out of the sand bed when food is detected. Link to comment
patback Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I might be of the minority viewpoint but I believe bristle-worms are hghly beneficial to the sandbed and never gave me a problem with my other live stock. I specifically had the species from IPSF (No I do not work for them, but like I said I bought a bunch of stuff from them) so maybe they were 'nicer' than standard live rock bristles? btw I would also likely start with nassarius too. Plus they are definitely entertaining to watch pop out of the sand bed when food is detected. I have lots of bristles but Ime they go after meaty foods or whenever I feed filter feeder food. They seem completely un interested in pellets and actual detritus. Just my experience. Link to comment
jan_16hk Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 A tank 'should' have whatever the OP wants. In your opinion he needs the above. Hermit crabs IMO are certainly not needed. Why 40 snails? For example Reef Cleaners has 59 snails in their 29 gallon pack. Should they not have this amount? What about taking account the displacement of a 4.5 in bed which will drop water volume? What happens then? OP if anyone tells you should have this or that, take it with a grain of salt until you can do your own research on what you want in YOUR aquarium. +1 flampton, and shouldn't the CUC be proportional to the amount of detritus being produced in the tank at a particular stage of the tank? i'm not a big fan of hermit crabs, i find snails and shrimps more efficient,... Link to comment
flampton Posted August 2, 2012 Share Posted August 2, 2012 I have lots of bristles but Ime they go after meaty foods or whenever I feed filter feeder food. They seem completely un interested in pellets and actual detritus. Just my experience. I bought them specifically for sifting the bed as mine was a 5in DSB. I don't remember if they cleaned up or not. As this is a detritus specific thread, I have to say IDK for bristles. Link to comment
GrandLotus Posted August 3, 2012 Author Share Posted August 3, 2012 The mini bristle stars are great and I do have them from my older tank. I had placed these into my new tank and hopefully they will spawn as much as they did in my old tank. I agree that hermits are not needed and I only have two blue legs to add to the diversity slightly. I actually have under 29 snails (not going to look at my sheet because im ready for bed) with 1 cleaner shrimp and 1 pep shrimp. The bristle worms would be great to get my hands on but I have no found anywhere local that sells them and I have heard that hermits and shrimps will eat them if they get the chance to. Thanks for the ideas. Link to comment
21093r53 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 airline tubing during water changes Link to comment
Amphiprion1 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I have lots of bristles but Ime they go after meaty foods or whenever I feed filter feeder food. They seem completely un interested in pellets and actual detritus. Just my experience. But they eat algae and.... and... It's not too surprising that they'd want nutritious, meaty bits over detritus. Odd that they ignore pellets, though. Link to comment
najluni15 Posted August 3, 2012 Share Posted August 3, 2012 I find that having the most biodiversity in the tank helps the most. I have a fuge a try to get macro algae from as many people as possible to get the most amount of random cleaners. That and many many nassarius and Cerriths keeps my tank clean And I'm always willing to help. No heart needed Link to comment
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