Fish, crabs, prawns and softies?

[robski]

Hi everyone..


I starting out in this, and just put water and some LR into my tank today!

I have a 128 l BOYU nano (i think), like Quinton's old tank.

So i am looking for some softies, fish, crab, prawns for my tank..

what do you guys recommend for a tank of my size..


oh, im a student, so please dont rip me off, lol..



thanks

[Quinton]

Good tank choice dude! ;-)

Start slow with the livestock. Clean-up crew is a good place to start. A couple of cleaner shrimps (these really are great!), a few hermit crabs, and a few snails. Most LFS will sell you these (including Sam). The shrimps typically go for around R70 ea, crabs and snails around R20 ea. Come to think of it, shrimps should perhaps wait until a bit later - not too sure. Mine have been with me since the beginning, but I may just be lucky.

Then follow the guidelines at the link provided above. You should wait a good 4-6 weeks, and until the nitrogen cycles have completed, before adding any fish or corals - read up lots about this, and be patient. Get test kits to measure amonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH as a bare minimum intially. And a refractometer to measure salinity. Later on you'll need test kits for phosphates, alkalinity/KH, calcium, and perhaps magnesium.

Keep us posted!

Q

[Quinton]

Oh! And you should try to come to the Cape Town Reef Club meeting next weekend. See this thread for details:

CTRC meeting 2 - Local Reefing Clubs and Associations

Please ignore the silly argument towards the end of the thread - some people don't realize that life to short for that sort of rubbish ;-)

[Quinton]

Oh, and here's the CTRC web site:

CTRC :: Index

Q

[robski]

thanks Quinton, i will definately be at the meeting is possible.

Did you buy a extra pump for your tank, i see there is one in your tank photos, and i saw on one of your threads that you want to cover up the holes or something, but you couldnt, cause you would have to remove the water.. what was that for?? just curious about things to know about the tank.

thanks for your help

[Reef Maniac]

Originally Posted by robski

I starting out in this, and just put water and some LR into my tank today!

That's great - now do yourself a favor and TAKE IT SLOW - a tank only really becomes stable after 6-12 months, and during this time you should be VERY careful not to overstock the tank.

I have a 128 l BOYU nano

So i am looking for some softies, fish, crab, prawns for my tank..

what do you guys recommend for a tank of my size..

Be selective, especially in such a small tank - don't add any tangs, and try to only add 'invertebrate friendly' fish, especially if you are relying on a deep live sand bed for filtration (I don't know how many times I've read about people paying hundreds of rand for live sand and live rock, and then they add wrasses who eat up all the small critters they've just bought

Stay away from crabs (except some types of hermit crabs...).

Good luck, and enjoy the experience

Hennie

[robski]

thanks hennie..

could you name some of the 'invertebrate friendly' fish that you can recommend.

and i would really like a hermit in my tank, could you tell me what kind would have the best temprement.

thanks

[viper357]

You should contact Liaquat from aQuality in Cape Town, he stocks awesome dwarf hermit crabs.

[Quinton]

Originally Posted by robski

thanks Quinton, i will definately be at the meeting is possible.

Koel!

Did you buy a extra pump for your tank, i see there is one in your tank photos,

Yup, it's a Seio M820 powerhead. You should definitely get one or other powerhead for your nano. Seio seem to have become a very respected brand in the "cheap chinese" range. The M820 is verging on being too powerful for this tank. You may want to consider one down (M620). The model numbers refer to flow rates in gallon's per hour. Definitely don't get anything bigger than the M820.
[/quote]

and i saw on one of your threads that you want to cover up the holes or something, but you couldn't, cause you would have to remove the water.. what was that for??

Yeah, there's a row of water inlets down the front of the right-most chamber - the topmost of which is at the water surface, to provide surface skimming. These are where the water is drawn in from the tank to flow through the filter chambers and back out of the return tube on the right. Unfortunately, with the gates on all these inlets open (there are about 6 of them), you will find that the inflow through the surface inlet is not sufficient to prevent a buildup of film on your water surface. In theory, if you close all but the surface gate, all your inlet should come off the surface, but alas, the gates leak, so they simply don't work, and nead to be sealed up somehow. I don't know of a good sealer that can be applied underwater, so you'd have to drain the tank to do the sealing, unless you have a more cunning plan.

just curious about things to know about the tank.

thanks for your help

No prob - keep us posted on your progress!