starting a seahorse tank?

Fishymann, I'd start with 5 nassarius snails and 5 Astrea snails. The last thing you want is dead snails rotting up your aquarium b/c they starved to death. You can add more if the original bunch don't do the job. I avoid hermits b/c of their potential to grab a SH tail, and also b/c I like my nassarius and they'll kill them for the shells, but thats up to you.
 
ohh i like those scarlet reef hermits. wow that sems like a ton of speciments. thats about 35 or so snails and 5-10 hermits.

What should i do about stocking them (all at once.. a few at a time..) Which should be added while the tank is cycling.

Thanks for the list whatnot
 
I say get scarlet reef hermits for that exact reason ann, they do not attack eachother or snails. And even if they did, Nassarius snails have a defence mechanism where they flip themselves over and burrow back into the sand, so I really would not worry abou that. I keep them with nassarius snails in my tank.

Also about the seahorses, I have never IME had one bold enough to attack a seahorse... Scarlet reef hermits are the most docile of all hermits, and they are 99 percent herbivorous. The only problem I have had w/ scarlets and seahorses is the seahorses eating the hermit crabs... My female erectus got bold, and actually snicked two of them right out of their shells and ate them... but its only happened twice, and its not a big problem.
 
I would recommend starting with around 10 cleaners. I would not add anything until the ammonia is gone.

Nuissance alage during the cycling period is normal.
 
i understand its normal but it seems as though this is a normal time to start adding a clean up crew? opinions on whether to get them or not would help because if i do it'll be tomorrow. also i would defintly like to keep a scarlet reef hermit they look awesome and i think it would add some variety to the tank.I just hope my LFS has them or can get them.
 
alright thanks. I guess ill just keep doing water changes and cleaning the glass. Its also growing on the sand should i just leave it on the sand
 
Probably wouldn't hurt to wait until amonia is 0 before adding cleanup crew.

Out of curiosity, have you noticed any small snails on your rock at all?

Comments on cleanup crew:

I strongly agree with pledosophy, start small.

Hermits are not the greatest cleaners IME. I agree that they are cool animals and I kept a couple in my reef, but I always target fed them.

Nasarius are carrion eaters. Their purpose is to clean up on the extra mysis the seahorses don't eat. You only need a few, say 4 or 5, and they should be added when you add your horses. If you add them before that, you will need to feed them.

Astrea snails do not have the best survival rates. My understanding is because the species that most often shows up in the hobby are from the Baja. They are a cool water species. They live only on hard substraits and do not do well in tanks with a lot of sand/gravel (cant right themselves on sand).

Trochus sp. would be a better choice. The mexican turbos are very good cleaners, but survival in this species is low for some reason. In a tank your size, a couple would probably be more than enough.

Unless you absolutely have to, I wouldn't add all your cleanup crew at once. Start with a few, see how they do and then add more.

Fred
 
alright so i'll hold off on a cleanup crew. So it seems like fredfish you disagree with whatnots list, what would be a cleanup crew you would due for my tank?
 
damnit, the magnet on the QO 4000 cracked this morning. MY lfs doesn't sell the replacement impeller\magnet but he told me to bring it in since its only a week old. Should i continue to do daily water changes?
 
I dont see the point of doing water changes personally in a cycling tank.... You are trying to build up a large enough colony of bacteria to take care of all your amonia problems, yet in doing water changes you are removing the amonia yourself.... I'd wait, and let the bacteria do their thing. Just deal with the ugly algea for now. Just MO
 
Don't exactly dissagree with whatnot except the astreas and hermits. Its more a question of quantity and when you put things in.

Mexican turbos 1 or 2
Trochus maybe 6
Hermits maybe two 'cause they are cool to watch
Nasarius 4-6

Dialy water changes seem a bit much to me. Let the bacteria do their thing.

Fred
 
alright thanks :). I'll let the tank do its thing (hehe im starting to get a lil excited and impatient but its time to slow down i realize that). I'll keep feeding the tank and let it due its thing
 
I have a slightly different take than whatnot, but not that much.

1-2 mexican turbos if you want to try them
6 trochus
4-6 nasarius
1 or 2 hermits 'cause you think they are cool. Just make sure you terget feed them so they don't start going after the snails.

I agree with whatnot on water changes, but then I am not a water change person. At least reduce it to weekly.

Fred
 
the guy at my lfs was so puzzled he couldn't figure out how in the world the magnet could have cracked in a matter of one week. I do love having such a great place though when it comes to this kind of thing, he went over grabbed a new one and i was outa there in no time. Anyone know what type of macro this is?

b1640c59f6c4a947c48f4fe15e108508.image.400x400.jpg
 
Anyone know what type of macro this is?
Nope, got some in my tank though. :D

Do an RC google search on red algae and you will come up with a couple of threads on this algae including a name. The threads were in tha marine plant/algae forum.

Fred
 
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