What to do with a 55gal?

[jenjen]

Yellow watchman and a tiger pistol shrimp dont forget to target feed the shrimpy

Good call, and these guys seem to show up at the LFS pretty regularly so this might work. Do they pair up with the pistol shrimp fairly reliably?

I also like the Randall's shrimp goby. Anyone have experience with them?

I like the look of most of the shrimp goby's, so really I'm picking more based on personality than anything I think. I'd really like something that doesn't just hide all the time. And something that stays in the 3-4 inch range will fit my tank best I think.

 

[iceman79]

Mine paired up in a day its funny they seem to find each other pretty fast its pretty much a sure thing they just have to meet each other first then there buds for life i added my goby first then bought a pistol i dont think it matters you can add both at the same time my goby hid in the sandbed for 3 days when i put him in thought he died looked everywhere but then he popped up out of no where and was fine so look out for that if you get a goby even more so if you have a real fine sandbed

 

[sltloser]

have you checked for nitrites or nitrates?

 

[jenjen]

Mine paired up in a day its funny they seem to find each other pretty fast its pretty much a sure thing they just have to meet each other first then there buds for life i added my goby first then bought a pistol i dont think it matters you can add both at the same time my goby hid in the sandbed for 3 days when i put him in thought he died looked everywhere but then he popped up out of no where and was fine so look out for that if you get a goby even more so if you have a real fine sandbed

Excellent, thanks for the tips! I'm really excited to get to add these guys to the system... I have been considering them for my larger tank but am nervous about the rockwork.

 

[jenjen]

have you checked for nitrites or nitrates?

Nitrate only, I don't have a nitrite test kit. Nothing so far, but I'll be testing daily.

 

[sltloser]

If you just added the shrimp yesterday it may take a few days for the bacteria to really bloom and start to decompose. Or i could be totally wrong and you'll have an undetectable cycle . A suggestion though is to add a good sized ball of cheto into the tank, this should help to jumpstart your pod population along with all the other microscopic organisms that are within the cheto.

 

[jenjen]

Alright, well I won't be doing anything before the weekend anyway so we'll just wait and see what happens. And I'll definitely be picking up some chaeto on Saturday regardless - I'll be figuring out the fuge setup this weekend as well. Darn this working in between tank days!!!

 

[jenjen]

From dictionary.com:

patience...
a) an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay
b) quiet, steady perseverance; even-tempered care; diligence

Yikes, not sure I've mastered either of these yet! Something to strive for. But hey, the Clarkii's are still in QT, so that's something.

 

[sltloser]

haha, i know exactly how you feel it's so hard to not just dump somthing in so it doesn't look so bare ...but just go along the sand line and look for pods, that should keep you occupied for a couple days

 

[jenjen]

Well we're up to nearly 48 hours with a rotting shrimp in the tank. No ammonia but... WE HAVE NITRATES! Exciting eh??? Nitrates are currently 5 - yesterday they were zero.

Still can't get a pic of the clowns. I sure hope they don't dive for shelter every time they see a person once they're in the new tank. It is rather amusing trying to sneak up on them though.

In the meantime, here's a pick of the squamosa, currently living happily in my 180gal:

 

[sltloser]

good sign!! the cycle has started. The lack of ammonia is probobly due to the nirifiying and denytrifying bacteria that came in with the sand and rock you had. ammonia is broken down into nitrite, and from there nitrate so that means you have a good bacteria population right now. (if i remember biology class right haha) I would suspect by early next week you'll get some algae! yay the squamosa looks great i love clams i currently have a deresa in my system and it's doing great. Keep us posted on how the fuge setup goes this weekend, and good luck!

 

[jenjen]

Ahhhh biology class. The memories! I didn't actually attend all my bio classes ... do I leave the shrimp in there at this point, or take it out?

 

[sltloser]

is it a cube of brine shrimp, or like an actual shrimp?

 

[jenjen]

Actually it's a prawn, shell on. Go big or go home, right???

 

[iceman79]

I would take it out i think your ready to add some marine life to your tank IMO I have three tanks and only one had a detectable cycle and i think its because a used liverock that had a lot of die off on it. They say two days is when your supposed to remove any meat your fish didnt eat when your feeding the aggresive fishy s

 

[jenjen]

Cool, thanks. Shrimp is out - took it out late last night. I'm going to do a water change and some tests tomorrow and hopefully get the chaeto in there. I'm on the fence as to whether to pick up a shrimp or some hermits or something to add to the tank this weekend. I feel like I'm being impatient which is not my intention, but I can't put my finger on what I'm waiting for at this point.

Update and pics coming tomorrow. If anyone has ideas for fun & interesting livestock for this tank please chime in! Not fish, my fish list is full. But I'm looking for ideas on interesting inverts.

 

[jenjen]

On my way to the LFS to pick up a heater (darn temp is staying around 76... so close, but I think I'd better add a heater) and a couple of other things. Couple of questions before I go.

1. does it matter what order, or time between when I add Pistol Shrimp & YWG
2. can I QT either or both with the Clarkii's

Both Pistol Shrimp & YWG are hard to come by at my LFS, so when I see one I want to grab it but need to make sure I'm ok to do that.

Oh also, is sand a must-have in QT for either of these guys? (QT is currently BB)

 

[sltloser]

good idea on the heater. personally i don't think i would add any hermits, i've always had problems with them eating my snails once they get bigger, and they seem to become a nusince more than they help. Just my opinion though. As far as QT for the pistol and goby i think the goby will be fine w/o a sandbed (i know a few ppl who have kept them in BB aquairums) but the pistol really should have one. You could add the pistol shrimp directly to your tank because being an invert he isn't going to have any diseases that he could pass on to the fish. As long as the clarkiis aren't huge you should be able to QT the YWG with them. For some cool inverts i like pepermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp, clams, emrald crab, sexy shrimp, porcelain crab, a variety of snails (bumble bee, turbo, margarita, astrea, etc.) feather dusters, pom pom crabs all i can think of right now lol. Tank sounds like it's doing great, can't wait to see pictures!

 

[jenjen]

Well, I ended up with a Pistol Shrimp today, and I added him to the DT. He's dug out 3 caves so far. Busy!!! He's been in there since around 3pm and is still hard at it, so I think things are ok in the tank.

Question RE the inverts... is there anything that specifically preys on sexy shrimp? I love them, and would like to add some. But want to be careful about what else I add if I do.

Thanks!

 

[jenjen]

Well, here's the tank as of right now. You can see a mound of sand on the right, in front of the Pistol Shrimp cave.

And here's the little excavator himself:

Remarkable the amount of sand he's moving! He's been digging so much the water is a little cloudy. I'm really glad I didn't add one of these guys to my other tank... but he's going to be perfect in this one. Incredibly entertaining.

As you can see, I picked up a giant ball of chaeto yesterday too. I am waiting for my husband to get the big saw out of his truck so I can cut the plexi to build the fuge, but for now I just decided to toss the chaeto right in the tank. 1/2 of it will end up downstairs in the fuge for the other tank. Fingers crossed that the fuge will get built today.

Tank temp is now up to 80 degrees, thanks to the new heater. I got a shatter proof black one and I think it blends in quite well.