dweyant Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Ok, The 75 gallon seems to be doing well. All of the parameters are good. We put our first live stock in it last weekend. One small clown that is doing well. Screaming all over the tank. we also added 6 bumble bee snails, 18 (?) snails, and one nassarius snail. I think one of the snails isn't doing well/is dead, but everyone else seems happy. We are having a bit of a problem with algae, but from what I understand that is probably normal/to be expected at this stage. So, what should we look at adding next? I "think" I need some more CUC stuff, it seems like the algae is getting a bit better, but there is still a lot of it. Suggestions? -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaJohn Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I would say a few hermit crabs and an emerald crab or 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 I wouldn't add any more non CUC members until your algae problem is taken care of. It does sound normal but just a sign to wait. I personally like a lot of Nassarius for detritus cleanup. You may want some emerald crabs. They can get mean but they eat algae noone else will. I also like cucumbers but you want to make sure your tank is established for that. My serpent star has been a trustworthy member of my CUC for a long time with only one incident that was my own stupid fault. Maybe some peppermint shrimpies or similar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 5, 2010 Author Share Posted February 5, 2010 Do/will the Nassiruis eat copepods? I would like to get a mandarin somewhere down the road, so I want to be careful about adding anything that might make that more difficult. The wife and I are thinking about going down to the RCA sale tonight to look at some stuff. Just want to have some idea of what is appropriate before we show up. Try to minimize the chances of an impulse buy . What about adding an urchin and maybe a few emerald crabs? BTW, the tank is cycled and seems stable, but is still a new tank. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rgwiz11 Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Nassarius may eat a few copepods here and there, but nothing that would affect the overall population of the tank. In my experience, they are more on the omnivore side rather than carnivore and stick to eating leftover food / detritus in my tank. Bumblebees on the other hand...I try to avoid, as I've read they are very carnivorous and if they can't find the fauna to eat in the sand bed, they go hunting on your rocks for pods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Your clown is much worse than just about any snail you could have. I think the Emeralds are a good idea. Make sure to research the particular urchin you are buying before getting it as they can be either good or bad depending on species (much like a sea star.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KeeperOfTheZoo Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 Are you saying the clown is bad as far as eating pods? I have an ocellaris clown and I've never seen her cruising the tank hunting for food. She spends the majority of the day hosting her hairy mushrooms. When I had damsels they would actively cruise around hunting pods. It was interesting to watch. The Sgt majors were very agressive hunters. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GKarshens Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 I would recommend against a Mandarin in a 75 regardless of other livestock. Unless you get lucky and get one that will eat prepared food it is highly likely that a 75 and the rock that will fit in it will not support one in the long run. I had one starve to death in a 125. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteorflower Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I've seen my clowns eating pods, though they're not the best pod hunters in the world... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rgwiz11 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 I think a mandarin depends more on the amount of liverock you have, rather than the size of your tank. I've seen mandarins kept in a 75g do just fine. The guy keeping it had 125lbs of live rock in there, and the mandarin was in the tank for 1 year, happy, plump, healthy, and didn't eat frozen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dweyant Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 So we went down to Fish Business Friday evening (also went to RCA but didn't buy anything). Talked with Shane for a while and wound up with... six more nasarius snails six more margarita snails Skunk cleaner shrimp - This guy is wild. He mostly hangs out behind a piece of rock, but will occasionally just start shooting all over the tank. At one point yesterday he was actually walking upside down just below the water surface. He has also tried to clean the Clown and Blennie with limited success. Bi-Colored Blennie - Was a little worried about him at first, did not seem happy by the time we got him acclimated and ready to put in the tank, but he was swimming around eating algae yesterday and seemed pretty happy. Thinking about maybe a Hippo Tang next, but I'll probably wait a week or two for that. -Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Make sure you buy the smallest hippo you can find, they grow really fast and you are right at the limit of being able to keep one. I have a 75 as well and it took about six months to find a hippo small enough for me. I got one smaller than a quarter. I've had him about a year and he's about three to four inches long. I would also wait to add more fish after what you just put in. Patience is hard to practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 If you are wanting a tang, I would suggest either a Scopas or a bristletooth tangs. These stay smaller than a lot of other tangs. I have both a scopas and a twinspot bristletooth tang in my 75g. While the scopas is not very colorful (moth cream/brown color), he is very entertaining to watch cruising the tank. He has fins like a sailfin tang that he can flare out when surprised. The twinspot is a blusish color with blue dots along his top. Also very active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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