My 15 gallons of the ocean!

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Weren't they really small though lol? I'd say get some larger ones. And there's no rush, especially just for snails lol. Next time you're there would be a good time to get some! A cleaner shrimp sounds good!

They are really small, but they are slowly getting bigger. I can notice a difference now!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Here's todays update,  2/29/24.

 happy leap year, and TGIF tomorrow!!

Again, nothing much happened, the fish ate a lot again, the corals are looking great as well.

More of what I believe is diatoms, showed up. It's growing on the glass now... I am going to have to look in to getting something to eat it. I read trochus snails eat it... Any thought would be appreciated!

Also, in case you are wondering, I didn't lose power last night!

 

[ralquist]

Hey! Happy leap year back at ya lol. Great your fish sound like they are happy! Not getting updates again and missed a day! Would def get what @Ollie67 suggested snail wise. Even if it’s a petco, as long as you clean anything bad off the shells. Sometimes they have a wider selection of CUC. Your hitchhikers can’t go it alone! Pods pods pods!

Dang that’s a scary thought , I don’t have a great plan for that besides a battery powered bubbler and hope lol.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Hey! Happy leap year back at ya lol. Great your fish sound like they are happy! Not getting updates again and missed a day! Would def get what @Ollie67 suggested snail wise. Even if it’s a petco, as long as you clean anything bad off the shells. Sometimes they have a wider selection of CUC. Your hitchhikers can’t go it alone! Pods pods pods!

Dang that’s a scary thought , I don’t have a great plan for that besides a battery powered bubbler and hope lol.

Going to Petco will be much easier... They still have that stuff, and will I be ok if I get a few hermits and a few trochus from them?

 

[ralquist]

Here's todays update,  2/26/24.

 I tested all of my water parameters, and everything is good. Still no phosphates.

I use AquaticLog to track my parameters, so I can see graphs, and stuff like that. Its cool to see that my corals are using some magnesium and calcium, because on the graph I can see that it's going down! If you are looking for a easy to use parameter tracking app, go check out AquaticLog!

I got the Seachem patch today, installed it, and now I am always aware of my ammonia level, which makes me feel more comfortable, because I can easily and quickly tell if there ammonia in the water.

Both the fish are, the firefish are a lot, and the clown goby ate a little today, which I am very happy to see.

One piece of mysis shrimp fell on the mushroom coral... It was one of the coolest things I have seen, because it ate it... So cool! How often should I do that, once a week? It's really cool so I would like to see it again... Lol.

The fish are healthy, active, and eating which are all great signs in my book, and hopefully it stays that way!

Thanks again for the tip on the AquatcLog app! I just started the tracking and I'm excited, was testing last night and went to find my note pad that I never keep in the same place..... pull out the phone and bam so easy. Now if I can keep from losing my phone too I'll be in good shape!
Happy Friday!

 

[ralquist]

Going to Petco will be much easier... They still have that stuff, and will I be ok if I get a few hermits and a few trochus from them?

Let me start out by saying "This is only my opinion" lol

I have 3 petco stores within 20 min of me, 2 are hot garbage and 1 is nicer than some LFS. I would highly recommend looking closely at the displays for all the uglies and sick fish. Like if its full of cyano and hair algae you know what kind of cleaning job you have in store. Make them get the ones you want "ones with the cleanest shells." When I have gotten them there, I really clean the shells very well then I drip acclimate like you would a fish. Once you have them acclimated, I keep them in a little tank water just in case they are holding any water from inside the shell you would want to keep out. 30 min and should be good to go!
Fish on the other hand is a little more dicey, that really depends on the individual store and the employees that care for those tanks.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Let me start out by saying "This is only my opinion" lol

I have 3 petco stores within 20 min of me, 2 are hot garbage and 1 is nicer than some LFS. I would highly recommend looking closely at the displays for all the uglies and sick fish. Like if its full of cyano and hair algae you know what kind of cleaning job you have in store. Make them get the ones you want "ones with the cleanest shells." When I have gotten them there, I really clean the shells very well then I drip acclimate like you would a fish. Once you have them acclimated, I keep them in a little tank water just in case they are holding any water from inside the shell you would want to keep out. 30 min and should be good to go!
Fish on the other hand is a little more dicey, that really depends on the individual store and the employees that care for those tanks.

Thanks! I was only planning to get some snails, and a few hermits.

That is a good point to keep them out of the water for awhile... I definitely don't want their water in my tank... Lol.

 

[ralquist]

Thanks! I was only planning to get some snails, and a few hermits.

That is a good point to keep them out of the water for awhile... I definitely don't want their water in my tank... Lol.

Load up, its so fun watching those little guys crawling around. Gives you a little more action in the tank! I would recommend a variety depending on what they have snail wise. You can always see what what seems to work better and go back for more! Def get a few herms, scarlet and blue legs are great! Would recommend getting different sized ones as smaller get in places better but don't need to be tiny! Can't wait to see the photo shoot!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I just got home, and the tank looks so bad... Lol. I believe it is diatoms, but if it's something else please correct me. Any CUC that will eat this?

It's all the brown stuff you see on the sand.

 

[Dipi]

My hermits ate those pretty quickly when I added them

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

My hermits ate those pretty quickly when I added them

Good to know!

I have one question for you. Do you feed your hermits, and if you do, what do you feed?

 

[Dipi]

I don't feed them intentionally, but they get to eat all the food that reaches the sandbed. They get to the food very fast to be honest

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I don't feed them intentionally, but they get to eat all the food that reaches the sandbed. They get to the food very fast to be honest

Oh ok. I was just worried because I don't have any GHA at the moment, but I will just feed extra then. Thanks for the help!

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I think I am going to go with 2-3 scarlet hermits... Any thoughts? I read that they actually are from reefs, so they won't bother coral as much... They also seem to be less aggressive to snails, and I also read that blue legged hermits will kill their own kind.

 

[Dipi]

I read that they actually are from reefs, so they won't bother coral as much...

I think they bother corals at the reefs just as they do at our tanks. I have assorted hermits so I can't say anything about different species, but mine just bother the coral walking over zoas and climbing sps. Nothing that actually harms my corals

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I think they bother corals at the reefs just as they do at our tanks. I have assorted hermits so I can't say anything about different species, but mine just bother the coral walking over zoas and climbing sps. Nothing that actually harms my corals

I just read that they live in reefs, while blue leggeds don't, so the Scarlet's know what coral is already... I don't know though lol.

 

[ralquist]

I just got home, and the tank looks so bad... Lol. I believe it is diatoms, but if it's something else please correct me. Any CUC that will eat this?

It's all the brown stuff you see on the sand.

Believe you are correct, a CUC crew will help with this. Need some pods also, might have to order some. I know petco sell them online nutramar pods is what its called. Shipping is free with a $35 order, that would get you started!

 

[ralquist]

I just read that they live in reefs, while blue leggeds don't, so the Scarlet's know what coral is already... I don't know though lol.

I've have both, they will walk over and irritate coral but that is it. They are a ok! Some of my blue legs have new shells they didn't come in with so murder has happened but hard to keep track, scarlet way more chill. Both do great work.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I am going to head over to Petco tomorrow, and see what they have. If they have these, I plan to get 2 or 3 Scarlet's (is 3 to much?), and 2 or 3 trochus snails.

 

[Ollie67]

Load up, its so fun watching those little guys crawling around. Gives you a little more action in the tank! I would recommend a variety depending on what they have snail wise. You can always see what what seems to work better and go back for more! Def get a few herms, scarlet and blue legs are great! Would recommend getting different sized ones as smaller get in places better but don't need to be tiny! Can't wait to see the photo shoot!

I was told by my LFS that I shouldn't get a different type of hermit in my tank. I currently have red-legged, and he said if I add a scarlet or blue-legged they can end up fighting and killing each other in such a small tank. I think that might be a small risk, but it's just a little thing I wanted to share that I heard. Not sure if it's accurate or not.