Where can I find a good mentor

[ECLS Reefer]

46 minutes ago, vegasgundog said:

I left out the parts about using a toothpick or something to scrape out books and crannies, using syringe to squirt in all the holes and crevices, soft brush to brush baddies and their eggs away... @Tamberav reminded me I need to start using bayer.

Oh god my tank is doomed

[Tamberav]

1 hour ago, Nursecop818 said:

Wow I got some revive will that work? I didn’t realize there was so much involved! 

Yes...revive is a Coral dip 🙂

 

After the dip always rinse your frags in saltwater/tank water before placing them in the tank. Many dips work for coral but can be harsh in crabs/shrimp so you want to minimize the amount getting into your tank. I rinse Bayer off twice.

[ECLS Reefer]

6 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Yes...revive is a Coral dip 🙂

 

After the dip always rinse your frags in saltwater/tank water before placing them in the tank. Many dips work for coral but can be harsh in crabs/shrimp so you want to minimize the amount getting into your tank. I rinse Bayer off twice.

Lol 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️😭 Hope the little crab that cleaned up the coral doesn’t die. Dip said to just put the coral in the tank so I put. So far he’s alive. Adventures in salt ownership 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

[ECLS Reefer]

Hey by the way- I’ve been told to get nassarius snails and saw these bumble bee snails do the same on LiveAquarium. First- are these okay to buy and ship from there? They gonna make it to my house? Second- will they all get along? It says they’re all peaceful. Third- if I’ve got four trochus snails already, 10 hermits, how many more snails can I add without that being an issue? This sounds like one of those crazy new common core math problems. “If I’ve got 4 trochus snails and want to add 2 bumble bees and 2 nassarius how many times will that make my dog sneeze?” 

 

Anyway. What would y’all recommend as a good number to get for sand sifters? I thought I’d get two and two. 

[Tamberav]

1 hour ago, Nursecop818 said:

Hey by the way- I’ve been told to get nassarius snails and saw these bumble bee snails do the same on LiveAquarium. First- are these okay to buy and ship from there? They gonna make it to my house? Second- will they all get along? It says they’re all peaceful. Third- if I’ve got four trochus snails already, 10 hermits, how many more snails can I add without that being an issue? This sounds like one of those crazy new common core math problems. “If I’ve got 4 trochus snails and want to add 2 bumble bees and 2 nassarius how many times will that make my dog sneeze?” 

 

Anyway. What would y’all recommend as a good number to get for sand sifters? I thought I’d get two and two. 

Nass snails and bumblebee snails don't eat algae...they eat left over fish food. Although bumblebee snails also prey on the microfauna in your sand that makes it live. So some consider them a bad snail. I do not believe nass snails do this.

 

LA is fine to order from and they refund anything that dies in 2 weeks with pics. 

[ECLS Reefer]

14 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Nass snails and bumblebee snails don't eat algae...they eat left over fish food. Although bumblebee snails also prey on the microfauna in your sand that makes it live. So some consider them a bad snail. I do not believe nass snails do this.

 

LA is fine to order from and they refund anything that dies in 2 weeks with pics. 

What about cerith snails? Will they do the same to the live fauna in the sand since they burrow in it?

[Coinee]

23 minutes ago, Nursecop818 said:

What about cerith snails? Will they do the same to the live fauna in the sand since they burrow in it?

Cerith snails kind of eat a bit of everything but they shouldn't kill anything. They eat detritus, any uneaten food, algae etc. Usually some of this stuff settles in the sand bed, hence the burrowing.

[Polarcollision]

Nassarius are great for aerating old, deep sand that would otherwise become a suphur nightmare down the road. They prevent sand cyano. The zombie thing is great when you feed. Best snails IMO.

 

Conch do a similar job and are also funny to watch. They're the best when/if your tank goes through the sand cyano phase.

 

Nerite Astrea snails will eat algae on the glass. but never saw them on rocks. Mostly useless after tank is broken in.

 

Cerith snails will never go in my tank again.

 

Those bristleworms you see at night? They're flippin creepy, but they are fabulous cleanup crew for uneaten food and dead snails.

 

Chiton and limpets are 1K times better than snails or hermits for algae on glass and rocks.

 

Emerald crabs are the only thing that eats bubble algae.

 

tuxedo urchin solved my red turf algae problem several years ago.

 

Have you hit the phase of tank cycling where a brown film forms on all the rock? If not there's no food for anything but bristleworms and nassarius snails yet.

[Tamberav]

To add above: Mexican turbos destroy GHA but get big

 

Margarita snails are amazing for algae but from cooler waters so their survivability isn't always the greatest.

 

Trochus snails are amazing algae eaters and can flip themselves over so no more rescuing snails. Will readily breed in our tanks. 

 

2 hours ago, Polarcollision said:

Nassarius are great for aerating old, deep sand that would otherwise become a suphur nightmare down the road. They prevent sand cyano. The zombie thing is great when you feed. Best snails IMO.

 

Conch do a similar job and are also funny to watch. They're the best when/if your tank goes through the sand cyano phase.

 

Nerite Astrea snails will eat algae on the glass. but never saw them on rocks. Mostly useless after tank is broken in.

 

Cerith snails will never go in my tank again.

 

Those bristleworms you see at night? They're flippin creepy, but they are fabulous cleanup crew for uneaten food and dead snails.

 

Chiton and limpets are 1K times better than snails or hermits for algae on glass and rocks.

 

Emerald crabs are the only thing that eats bubble algae.

 

tuxedo urchin solved my red turf algae problem several years ago.

 

Have you hit the phase of tank cycling where a brown film forms on all the rock? If not there's no food for anything but bristleworms and nassarius snails yet.

Why no cerith?

[deetu]

On 2/18/2019 at 5:12 PM, Nursecop818 said:

I mean- the little hammer doesn’t look too insulted to be in my tank does it? It opened up almost immediately and spread back out. 

Aww... look at the itty bitty... I'm gonna call him Squishy

I gotta tell you, I was always a macro and fish only tank but listening to the advice being given and that little hammer is making me think of adding something for my clowns.

Distilled water from Walmart is 60 cents a gallon and bag of salt for 50 gallons is $12 (make sure to put in airtight container...$4 from Walmart).  You don't need her aggravation to get water. 

[ECLS Reefer]

43 minutes ago, deetu said:

Aww... look at the itty bitty... I'm gonna call him Squishy

I gotta tell you, I was always a macro and fish only tank but listening to the advice being given and that little hammer is making me think of adding something for my clowns.

Distilled water from Walmart is 60 cents a gallon and bag of salt for 50 gallons is $12 (make sure to put in airtight container...$4 from Walmart).  You don't need her aggravation to get water. 

I have two full 5 gallon jugs ready for now if needed. Did my water test today and the levels were all PERFECT, so that water will hold a bit longer, thank goodness. Also decided that since I'm upping the snails and crabs in the tank for sand sifters and dont want them eating anything they shouldn't, I bought some macro algae for feeding. Been waiting on some coralline to get here from god knows where for over a week, for color and further happy nitrates. Squishy is a cute name! He got a brother last night-we tried out a different store and bought a wee little torch that's next to him waving away. My current herd of crabs tore a Paly in half and I thought I was going to lose one part of it, but it seems to be trying to peek back open today. So, still going strong with a happy tank and no deaths yet. 

 

I plan to work extra shifts and buy a box of salt, a pump, a new heater and a spectrometer and start making our salt water. Then eventually an RODI filter. But for now, my husband can make the water runs if we need them. I don't know if they remember him that well, and she seems to like men better than women. I've only ever seen her be rude to girls.

[ECLS Reefer]

Anybody have any tips or tricks or two cents?