Do I have a Detritus Problem?

[sshapero]

Hello!
I recently started a 5 gallon tank with 4 dwarf seahorses. I cycled the tank for a month with live sand prior to aquiring the little gems. They have been here fo about 10 days and are doing well.

The question I have is there seems to be a lot of pink material on top of the live sand. I am assuming it is dead baby brine shrimp that were not eaten. Or could it be something else?

Should I siphon it up?

I have a very tiny hermit crab and a very small horseshoe crab sharing the tank.

This is my first marine aquarium. I have 3 freshwater tanks, the largest is 30 gallons so I have some aquarium experience but marine is new to me.

Your advice would be appreciated!!

 

[panmanmatt]

The pink sounds like dwarf seahorse poop. Definitely syphon it out.

 

[JennyL]

This is most likely a combination of sh waste and artemia(bbs). It should be siphoned out regularly.

I would also suggest you remove the horseshoe crab. They are not appropriate tank mates for your little horses and they grow quite large.
Their erratic behavior can be quite stressful to the horses.

HTH

 

[sshapero]

Thank you for the great advice. I will move the Horseshoe crab. What critters do make good tank mates? Are the hermits OK? The one I have is less than an inch in size.

 

[panmanmatt]

Basically no crabs of any kind for a dwarf tank. Best tankmates for them are snails.

 

[seas_inside]

Yep, the best tankmates for dwarves are snails...such as: nassarius vibex, trochus, keyhole limpets, etc.

Where did you get your live sand from?

Where'd you order the horses?

 

[sshapero]

I got the seahorses from Seahorsesource.com. Great Service!
The live sand was purchased from my local aquarium store.
Thanks for the advice on snails.

 

[seas_inside]

Yep, seahorsesource is wonderful!

I'm a little concerned about the live sand. Unless you treated it, it's not dwarf safe. Live sand from a LFS can carry nasty hitchhikers and the like (such as hydroids). The only dwarf safe live sand, live rock, etc. that I know of comes from seawaterexpress.com. Did you treat the live sand?

 

[panmanmatt]

If you buy the packaged LS from CaribSea it is fine to use with dwarfs. I ahve used it in all my tanks and never had a hydroid outbreak from it.

 

[seas_inside]

Oh, thanks panmanmatt, didn't catch that. I was thinking only of live sand from lfs established tanks or something. In that case, like you said, CaribSea would be fine.

 

[sshapero]

Thanks. I wish I knew about the live sand before. I think I got lucky this time. I will check out seawaterexpress.

 

[seas_inside]

Sshapero, did you get CaribSea live sand?

 

[sshapero]

No I did not get caribsea live sand. But I will next time.

 

[RichardS]

You can go to ipsf.com and get some safe clean up critters such as spaghetti worms (they call mama mia worms) and microstars. They will reproduce and help clean up the detritus.

 

[sshapero]

Wow! I just visited the ipsf.com site. I will look into making a purchase based on your recommendations.
Thanks!!

 

[seas_inside]

I know that microstars are safe with dsh, but I'm not sure about spaghetti worms. Someone correct me if I'm wrong....

If I were you, sshapero, I would get: nassarius vibex, keyhole limpets, and microstars. Check out floridapets.com, they have all of these I mentioned.

And remember, whatever you get, remember to QT them!!! And in QT, remember to panacur the nassarius vibex and keyhole limpets half dosage. (I don't think microstars can survive panacur)

 

[sshapero]

Thanks. I was wondering about the worms, but the stars sound like a good and safe choice.