my new ten gallon reef

is this a good start you guys or not? any comments or advice is greatly appreciated!!

i`d say keep them in.. i`m sure there will always be more algae present as your tank ages

I agree I had a hair algae problem in my 14g biocube and the emerald crab worked miracles. Now that its gone he is still happily eating away at whatever he finds with those pinchers.

I'd say keep them too. What lighting do you have?

well ive since changed from then to now, but nothing fancy, i have two CFL half actnic blue half full spectrum, im low budget, but this seems to work really well for color, and ive been growing more purple coral algae so i like the lighting so far, med zoo makes them i think, but yeah sooner or later ill start to upgrade more as the tank matures.

Oh boy, the classic PETCO noob. I started out like this too. I have a few suggestions for you...

1. Remove the starfish. Unless kept well fed with silversides and other food, large sperpent stars can and will consume fish.

2. If you still have the biowheels in those filters remove them. They will be nitrate factories

3. Don't buy things from PETCO- except dry goods, which will still be severly overpriced, so check online first

4. This is not necessary, but is just a suggestion- switch the petco powerhead for a koralia nano. I have a petco powerhead just like yours, but I use it for mixing saltwater, as it has a very direct flow path, and is not dispersed like you want. The koralia is smaller, and has a wide area of flow which is good, and is more reliable. Mine worked perfect for me in my 10 gallon reef. They are fairly cheap too, I think I paid like $20 for mine.

Otherwise, good start. Also the crab and snail can stay, they will consume algae as it grows and will be fine. Nice Tank!

ok good thanks for the tips man, yeah i just love these things but i cant let the cost get out of control, but yeah no bio wheels in there i just keep up with my water changes and the water has been perfect so far. but no i buy all of my fish and coral and such from my LFS they have them for alot longer and i know they have been there long enough for me not to worry about them.