Cleaning up left over pellets

[DEL 707]

I've been trying to change my goby over to TBO Chroma Boost (x-small) for his morning feedings. But so far he's being stubborn.

I bought a hermit crab yesterday, thinking he would help clean up, but so far he's gone everywhere around the tank except where the pellets are. This morning, I even put him right in the middle of it all. He just did a u-turn and headed to the front of the tank.

Is there a way I can clean up these pellets without sucking up a load of sand?

 

[Doctorgori]

have you tried tilting the siphon ?
How many pellets we talking about?
Auto feeder or are you feeding by hand? (maybe dump in a few/fewer at a time)
Added: just looking at that tank, it’s a lil trickier to operate with nothing in it,….might be time to find more “eaters” or stuff to suck up the extra food/nutrients

what size is it? will a cucumber fit? first tank?

 

[DEL 707]

Not tried a siphon yet.
Couldn't really tell how many pellets, I mean I can see 20+ just in the middle of the tank.
I've been feeding him by hand, trying to get him to switch over to pellets in the morning so I don't need to bother defrosting brine shimp.

Tanks been cycled for just about a week now, I've got no algae or had my ugly stage yet. It's why I've only added 1 red leg hermit crab.
Only other inhabitant in the tank is my yellow clown goby.

Tanks a 56l and it's my 1st reef tank in 20 years. So I'm a little rusty.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I feel there is definitely a learning curve to feeding fish, it takes time to learn to feed them without wasting so much food, at the same time, they are training us as to their habits and what kind of food they like.

Are those the pellets on the sand between the rocks? Is that just one feeding? That will foul the water and turn into a major algae problem very soon. Seeing the pellets close together like that also tells me there's no flow in the tank (unless you turn off the flow to feed?). Low flow is something that algae loves.

That little fish can only eat 2 or 3 pellets in one sitting. Anything more than that is a waste.

 

[Doctorgori]

you might try thawing out some frozen and using a turkey baster (or specialty feeding thingy)
Excess food in a new tank might spell trouble (or not believe it or not)
… after the inevitable ugly stage, stock slowly (but there are some who advocate different strategies here)
…maybe 3 or 4 narcissus snails or 1 babylon snail might help

 

[DEL 707]

Yeah, those are the pellets between the rocks.
Those have accumulated over 3 days.

When it comes to feeding time, I leave my canister filter on but turn my AI nero off.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Agree that nass snails will probably do a better job of cleaning those pellets than hermits do

 

[DEL 707]

I'm worried about there not being enough food for nass snails since the tank is so new.

Do you think 1 would be o.k?

 

[DEL 707]

I took a chance and added a nass snail.

Dropped her in, right on top of the pellets.
Her speed amazed me.
As she ran away to the front of the tank then dug down.
Here's hoping she comes out after lights out to have a nose around.

Say hello to Kendra.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

I put a nassarius in my new tank and it ended up dying after a few weeks. I'm pretty sure it starved to death without any mess to clean up.

 

[phillyb614]

Have you considered getting a cleaner shrimp? I will occasionally feed pellets (usually mysis or brine shrimp though) and and my shrimp goes bonkers for pellets that don't get eaten by the fish. My emerald crab eats them as well. As do my peppermint shrimp. Suggesting the cleaner because they are a bit more "reef safe" IMO.

 

[DEL 707]

I would love a cleaner shrimp, but I'm pretty sure my tanks too new for one.

 

[phillyb614]

Ah, my bad. I missed the part about how new the tank is. I would be surprised if the zombie snail doesn't go after them tonight.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Not sure how old your tank is, but I got my cleaner shrimp 1 month after cycling, and it did fine. It can be a little crazy and take food away from others, but one thing that definitely NEVER happens anymore is leftover food laying around in the tank. It seems literally impossible to overfeed. Actually, I usually drop a piece of algae wafer to distract him before I feed the fish so they have a chance, haha.

 

[DEL 707]

Pellets are still there.
I feed brine shrimp this morning and no sign of the nass snail.
Should I be worried?

 

[phillyb614]

After the lights go off tonight, wait about an hour, go over to the tank with a flashlight and see if you see the snail poking around. If you don’t see it, may need to siphon out the pellets and start checking your sand bed for the snail.