Simple Tank Life Facts

[pamelahaley]

When we do research on the aquatic environments we are creating; we often come across conflicting information from sources such as LFS, Wiki, and other members.

I thought it would be cool for the more experienced to just post odd facts or experiences about creatures and their behavior in our tanks for the newbs.

If you have experienced something different from what one poster has mentioned, post it too.

For example:

I read on a FS site, that sand sifting sea stars are reef safe. LFS said the same. Came across some forum thread (sareefkeeping.com) where 7 people think they aren't reef safe and 2 posted sources believing they are.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sndsftstrfaqs.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/sndsftstrfaqs.htm</a>

In my experience, Sifting Stars are reef safe.

Two LFS, one's employee didn't know. One says the owner told him Serpent stars are not reef safe (They had Harlequins and Green the employee thought it was ALL stars not safe. I questioned him because he steered people away from buying one.)

In my experience, harlequin serpent stars (Brittle Stars) are reef safe

[IMG]http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brittlestars.htm">http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brittlestars.htm</a>

 

[rolo65]

IME brittle stars are more hit or miss....yes they are usually scanvengers much like thier counterparts....but they are also quite capable of hunting and killing small fish....they are in hunting mode when they lift their body off the substrate with their legs and wait for a fish to swin under them...then come down on it and begin to eat it....doesn't happen often but is always possible...the serpent stars with the smoother legs are usually from what I know simply detritus eaters and scavengers...

 

[rolo65]

Nevermind.....maybe it's just this one.....* "One species in common use warrants a statutory warning. This is the Green Brittle Star of the genus Ophiarachna. This animal is a predatory fish eater, that does indeed do a spiffy janitorial job when small... but grows quickly, and under darkness of night can/does learn to eat aquarium fishes. This species has been documented to arch up in "sleeping caves" of captive fishes and drop down on unsuspecting meals. If you use this species, keep an eye on it, and a count on your piscine livestock."....from wetwebmedia.com

 

[cr500_af]

I know this is not exactly what you are going for, but I was in one LFS (not a sponsor), and a couple was buying a linkia starfish. They asked the employee if they should do like fish, and float the bag before putting it in the tank.
The correct answer, of course, is to drip acclimate because stars are sensitive to changes in parameters.

The employee said, "You don't even need to float it. Just throw it in".

I did catch the couple and tell them about the rotten advice they had gotten, so that they still had a chance to change their decision.

 

[jennm]

Well, Barry - Jeremy said the other day that dripping linckias may not be necessary. (We still drip 'em and don't plan to discontinue that practice, BTW)

Instead of "simple facts" it should be "simple anecdotes or observations".

You will inevitably get differences of opinion, so to label them as "fact" will only lead to trouble

IME, brittle stars are NOT reef safe, in fact they can and will prey on your fish, especially the larger they get. Serpent stars (smooth legs) seem less likely to do this.

I've heard people say that sand stars will eat all your sand fauna. Ever see how fast a pod can move? Ever see how slowly a sand star moves? (I'd put more money on a serpent or brittle being fast enough to eat sand fauna...)

I even disagree with the notion posted earlier (respectfully, of course) that clowns "need" an anemone. Sometimes they can be provided with one and take months to take up residence in it - if ever. Tank raised clowns typically never saw one before so they are no worse off without one, and they can host just as well in an empty flowerpot. But that's just my *opinion* based on my own experiences over the years.

I've seen folks "break all the rules" (of thumb) and be successful - not all critters read the textbooks we use as guides

Jenn

 

[hackman72]

I've always been told that you can only keep one Dwarf Angelfish. I debunked that myself and kept 4 in a 120 for a while. I also know of someone that had 6 in a 56 gallon. Best results are that they are introduced at the same time and kept in groups of 3 or more...never only 2.

 

[hackman72]

JennM;574747 wrote: I even disagree with the notion posted earlier (respectfully, of course) that clowns "need" an anemone. Sometimes they can be provided with one and take months to take up residence in it - if ever. Tank raised clowns typically never saw one before so they are no worse off without one, and they can host just as well in an empty flowerpot. But that's just my *opinion* based on my own experiences over the years.

I've had a clown fish w/out an anenome for years. I like clowns but don't care for the anenome.

 

[cr500_af]

JennM;574747 wrote: Well, Barry - Jeremy said the other day that dripping linckias may not be necessary. (We still drip 'em and don't plan to discontinue that practice, BTW)

I remember that thread, and I almost posted a disclaimer... so I'll say where my "evidence" comes from.

1. Word of mouth (worth what it cost I suppose)
2. The only time I ever witnessed a starfish go into a new tank, it was not acclimated at all (just like the customer was advised). Literally, within 20 minutes it had lost all its legs and the body's center was pretty gross. Nothing physically touched it; it went into a sump.

That's all I got!

 

[ralph atl]

I've had this baby for 4-5 years now, never touched anything! However, I had another brittle star (not green), that I removed within' 24 hours as it was trying to eat my fish.

 

[jennm]

As with a lot of reef related stuff... YMMV. (Your mileage may vary!)

Jenn

 

[nanonano]

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for but a guy on nano-reef.com just cycled his <span style="color: Red">14 gallon tank</span> with 3 damsels over a one month period (no LR, just bioballs) and took them out and replaced them with 2 False Percs, an Emerald Crab, a Cleaner Shrimp, a Frogspawn, and a <span style="color: Blue">NIGER TRIGGER</span>.

I'm assuming based on what he wrote that he got everything (information included from the LFS).

 

[nanonano]

mysterybox;574768 wrote: I've had this baby for 4-5 years now, never touched anything! However, I had another brittle star (not green), that I removed within' 24 hours as it was trying to eat my fish.

That is really cool.

 

[rolo65]

And there's always the whole you can only keep 1 species of tang in a tank but you may have more than one tang in a tank....and it must be a 6' tank.....personally I think yes tangs do enjoy alot of swimming room....but the size of the tank solely depends on the size of the tang.....and having only one of a species or genus for that matter is also one that can be hit or miss....tangs are naturally a schooling fish....can't say that I've been diving and only saw one tang by itself....it's best not to keep them in groups of less than 2 of you're going to do it....and I would suggest to have a large enough tank for the highly increased bioload tangs put into a tank....if yhey are the same species....it IS probably best to introduce them simultaneously...I mean ask Dave(groupertherapy) how many tangs can go in a tank.....

 

[ralph atl]

NanoNano;574809 wrote: That is really cool.

thanks!

 

[pamelahaley]

I want one of those but... I was waiting on getting like a 100gal FO... Let us know if the Trigger is all that's left

NanoNano;574808 wrote: I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for but a guy on nano-reef.com just cycled his <span style="color: Red">14 gallon tank</span> with 3 damsels over a one month period (no LR, just bioballs) and took them out and replaced them with 2 False Percs, an Emerald Crab, a Cleaner Shrimp, a Frogspawn, and a <span style="color: Blue">NIGER TRIGGER</span>.

I'm assuming based on what he wrote that he got everything (information included from the LFS).

 

[nanonano]

Pamelahaley;574825 wrote: I want one of those but... I was waiting on getting like a 100gal FO... Let us know if the Trigger is all that's left

Everyone told him to give it so someone with a huge tank or take it back to the LFS.

I had one in my first SW tank ever FO and it was one of my favorite fish. Very very cool. And much less hostile than my Picasso trigger which wanted to kill every living thing ever made.

 

[pamelahaley]

I've had yellow and Hippo Tangs in a 54 gal. They did fine. I got a much smaller hippo tang for my 24 gal at one point and, there were times he seemed stressed so, I resold him within a couple of months.

 

[smoothie]

My green brittle just ate my 5yr old male clown. He's a monster and I plan to bring him to anyone with a tank with larger fish. Anyone game?

 

[fish scales2]

Brittles can still be great for sumps and fuges. Ralph, yours is amazing!!!


You know one of the things that confuses me a bit still is temperature swings.
I have heard many different schools of thought on this.

My experience is this:
I have seen many tanks (SPS dominated as well) with 7-8 degree swings. Great color and growth. 2 of these tanks hit 83 everyday as well with no ill effects (that I am aware of at least). I personally have not found a tank that I could not keep below 81 degrees with just the use of fans except for my display tank at the store. I never tried a fan just hooked up a chiller when the tank hit 90

What are the main reasons that temps should be controlled to such low swings?

 

[cr500_af]

Fish Scales2;575006 wrote: I have seen many tanks (SPS dominated as well) with 7-8 degree swings. Great color and growth. 2 of these tanks hit 83 everyday as well with no ill effects (that I am aware of at least). I personally have not found a tank that I could not keep below 81 degrees with just the use of fans except for my display tank at the store. I never tried a fan just hooked up a chiller when the tank hit 90

What are the main reasons that temps should be controlled to such low swings?

I don't profess to know the answer, but I can relate one story. Ansley (in his 120) could not keep any SPS alive. None. Frag after frag died. His water chemistry was in the "normal" zone. CA, alk, and MG were kept in line dosing BRS products. 2x250w Radiums, so light was fine. The only thing that was abnormal to me was his daily temp swing (around 4-7 degrees depending on the ambient temp, maxing around 84). I talked him into letting me build a small "riser" for the canopy as an experiment that was mostly open, and adding a couple of small fans (these plus his heaters were run off of an RK2, by the way).

Doing this dropped his daily temp swing to around 1.5-2 degrees most of the time, and all of a sudden he could keep SPS alive.

Anecdotal, I know, but that was the only change made to the system, and the end result was SPS lived.