Hi, a couple of questions from a beginner.
Firstly Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll describe my set up, sorry no pictures, my camera is broken. My tank is 50 imperial gallons which I think works out at about 60 us gallons and I have 22 pounds of live rock so far. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m using an external filter and a protein skimmer. All my water parameter are fine. The tanks been up and running about 5 weeks now since I cycled it.
Livestock consists of 2 false clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 flame angel, 1 sand shifting star fish and 1 cleaner shrimp as well as a few turbo snails and hermit crabs. I eventually plan to start keeping corals as well, but Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to wait about 6 months.
Although Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve not posted on here that much Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been reading the forums a lot over the last few weeks and have got some valuable insight on what is already turning out to be a rewarding, but unfortunately very expensive, hobby.
My first question is regarding turbo snails. If I want to shift a snail say from the glass onto the rock, how do I go about this. I scared of hurting them as they have a pretty strong grip. I say this because yesterday one of my snails climbed down the glass and onto the back of one of the crabs. So the crab was parading around the tank with a snail attached! I tried to separate the two but feared killing the snail. So, I put them both on the rock in the hope the snail would crawl off. It eventually did after half an hour of the crab instantly leaping to the sand. Is there an easy way do detach snails??
Secondly, as Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve mentioned before all my water parameter are very good and have remained stable, the protein skimmer is definitely a god send. The thing is, the girlfriend hates it and thinks it is really ugly. My plan is to make a very basic sump, just to house the skimmer and the heater, to hopefully put a lid on her nagging. My cabinet is in two halves with the filter in one so Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to put the sump In the other. It could measure approx 20ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ x 20ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â. I was thinking of sitting my skimmer in the sump and pump the water from the tank directly into the skimmer, then out into the sump. In the sump I plan just to put live sand, live rock and to grow a couple of sponges. It will all be housed In the one chamber and sent back to the tank via a return pump. Can anyone see any problems with this plan. As Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve mentioned the water parameters are all very stable so this isnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t essential itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s just to hide some equipment. The extra filtration is just a bonus.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Firstly Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ll describe my set up, sorry no pictures, my camera is broken. My tank is 50 imperial gallons which I think works out at about 60 us gallons and I have 22 pounds of live rock so far. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m using an external filter and a protein skimmer. All my water parameter are fine. The tanks been up and running about 5 weeks now since I cycled it.
Livestock consists of 2 false clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 flame angel, 1 sand shifting star fish and 1 cleaner shrimp as well as a few turbo snails and hermit crabs. I eventually plan to start keeping corals as well, but Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to wait about 6 months.
Although Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve not posted on here that much Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve been reading the forums a lot over the last few weeks and have got some valuable insight on what is already turning out to be a rewarding, but unfortunately very expensive, hobby.
My first question is regarding turbo snails. If I want to shift a snail say from the glass onto the rock, how do I go about this. I scared of hurting them as they have a pretty strong grip. I say this because yesterday one of my snails climbed down the glass and onto the back of one of the crabs. So the crab was parading around the tank with a snail attached! I tried to separate the two but feared killing the snail. So, I put them both on the rock in the hope the snail would crawl off. It eventually did after half an hour of the crab instantly leaping to the sand. Is there an easy way do detach snails??
Secondly, as Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve mentioned before all my water parameter are very good and have remained stable, the protein skimmer is definitely a god send. The thing is, the girlfriend hates it and thinks it is really ugly. My plan is to make a very basic sump, just to house the skimmer and the heater, to hopefully put a lid on her nagging. My cabinet is in two halves with the filter in one so Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m going to put the sump In the other. It could measure approx 20ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ x 20ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â. I was thinking of sitting my skimmer in the sump and pump the water from the tank directly into the skimmer, then out into the sump. In the sump I plan just to put live sand, live rock and to grow a couple of sponges. It will all be housed In the one chamber and sent back to the tank via a return pump. Can anyone see any problems with this plan. As Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve mentioned the water parameters are all very stable so this isnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t essential itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s just to hide some equipment. The extra filtration is just a bonus.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
