critter question

[tuchon35]

I am fairly new to reef tanks, and i have a newbie question. Recently my tank seems to be infested by little bugs (pods?). I am not sure what they are, and some are upto a 1/4 inch long, while the norm is much smaller.

I can't provide a picture because they are so small and fast. Some leave behind tiny white snail looking things on the rocks, glass,snails, and everything else. Are they any danger or are they beneficial? Or is there no way of telling without pictures?

Thanks

 

[NeO]

Is hard to say without a picture, but sounds like isopods and copepods.
I dont have any pics here, but you can do a google search and compare the images with whatever you have in you tank.

Gustavo

 

[Moe_K]

Hmm, tough to call. Sounds like they may just be copepods.
If the lights are out, try using a flashlight to look into the tank. Are the little white flea-looking things attracted to the light? Do they form a little cloud and follow the light?
Here's a link to good reading material:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-10/rs/

 

[tuchon35]

Thanks,
It looks like i have both of them, unless the smaller ones are just immature copepods, but it sounds like they mature quickly. Also sounds like there are so many, is because i do not have any fish.

While i have your attention, Are there any fish suitable for a 55 gallon tank? I ruled most of them out, because they either get too large, or the tank is to small to support pods and such that would replenish quick enough, as a sole food source (if that makes any sense). Plus, i do not have a DSB, and do not have the funds for refugium.

I always heard overstocking was bad for the bioload, so my logic was no fish would almost eliminate the bioload. But.... I think its about time to get something

 

[~Flighty~]

I'm not sure I understand your question about the fish. Most will take prepared foods, so you don't need to wory about having enough pods to support them. You can get several fish for a 55 without having to many.

Before I had this tank I had a royal gramma, two clowns, a damsel and three bar gobies in a 58 gallon with no fuge, no skimmer and some macroalge right in the main tank.

 

[NateHanson]

A good resource for considering fish is the book "Marine Fishes" by Scott Michael. It briefly describes temperment, diet, care, and min. tank size for 500 or so SW fish.

I'd consider it a must-have for anyone stocking a SW tank.

There are too many possible fish that are suitable for your 55g tank to even start mentioning any.

 

[tuchon35]

sorry, that did not make too much sense. I guess my questions are. Is there any benefit to not have fish ? and the group of fish i liked were gobies. Is there anyway i could have gobies without a DSB and will they eat prepared food?

 

[~Flighty~]

Gobies are a huge group of fish and there are many different kinds. There are some gobies who need a dsb for food. They are usually called "sand sifters". some of these do fine with prepaired food, some don't.

 

[~Flighty~]

Here is a place to look
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/gobioidmars.htm

 

[tuchon35]

Thank you

 

[Moe_K]

I second the recommendation for Scott Michael's pocket sized book.
Easily one of the most useful books for the hobby that I own.

I finally got my copy autographed this past weekend.
Hopefully we can host the author later this year.

 

[NateHanson]

Stay away from the sleeper gobies. They can be difficult to keep fed. The prawn or shrimp gobies make very easy aquarium species, and can be easily paired with an appropriate pistol shrimp for a neat symbiosis.

 

[aha24]

http://216.235.242.50/forums/showthread.php?t=9806

 

[tuchon35]

I "googled" the shrimp gobies a bit. They sound pretty interesting. Does anyone have any experience with them? I only have an 1/2 to 3/4inch of CC on the bottom. I am not sure if that would be good enough, for them.

 

[~Flighty~]

You might want to rethink your substraight. Thin layer of CC is the only substraight that got a thumbs down in recent testing, but that is for another thread.

What are you looking for in a fish? Different goals will lead to different suggestions
color
movement
inexpensiveness
personality
controlling pods
controlling alge
eating the leftovers?

 

[tuchon35]

Something for a little more activity in the tank, Then anything that would be easy to care for, low bioload, and if helps clean up some that would be a plus.

Just a quicky on the CC, at this point it would be just as easy to remove it and put a DSB in or add more CC.

 

[NateHanson]

Take out the CC while it's still easy to do so. It'll be a nitrate factory in no time with all those nice detritus collecting spaces.

Either a shallow sand bed or a deep sand bed would be a fine choice, IMO.

Nate

 

[~Flighty~]

I would recomend a very well washed shallow sand bed seeded with a cup of sand from an established tank with no pests in it, but you'll get a zilion opinions.

I like a royal gramma as an easy pretty fish. I caught this pic of mine completely by accident last night. I was trying to get flash pics of my corals eating and she was sleeping between the plates of the cap. Can't beat the color.

 

[~Flighty~]

clowns are very hearty and do not need an anemone to be healthy and happy. They have the added benifit of being captive breed so they are usually not plucked from the ocean

 

[tuchon35]

First, thank you for the pics

I have a dumb question, but... there is no way i could just put the sand on top of the cc is there? If not, i would feel bad throwing out all of the baby snails and other things out. It does not seem like i could get everything to transfer if i wanted to. My family is pretty attached to the baby "sand sifting" snails