Hey guys, newbie here....quick question

[Travismc]

Alright guys, I've got a 75 Gallon tank here thats been cycling for around a month. Currently, I've got around 20 snails, 3 peppermint shrimp, 2 firefish and a yellow tail damsel...I've not had any trouble with things dieing so far except two damsels died, but I think they were sick when I started....All my test come back good, salinity, PH, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, alkalinity - everything checks out as far as I can tell. I currently have about a 1-1.5 inch sandbed, a LOT of live rock that I let "die off" before introducing to the tank awhile back, overall, the tank seems very happy, with slight algae growth on the live rock.

I'm considering buying the following, and I was wondering if you guys could tell me if there would be any compatibility issues here...

One porcelain crab, one banded coral shrimp, one tiger tail cucumber, one large feather duster and one serpent sea star.

Eventually, I'll be adding some better lights and adding coral, so I want to make sure nothing I add will hurt the coral. Can you guys suggest anything to me? are any of the above a bad idea? Thanks!

[Parrothead]

Hey Travis,

Welcome to Reeflands, enjoy your stay and please become part of our little reef world

One thing I would do is slow way down, if your tank is only a month old it has barely if at all finished the intial nitrogen cycle, it will need some time to mature, we are not talking years, but give it several weeks to a month before you start adding a bunch of stuff to it. In the meantime, check out our sticky at the top of the reef forum called "click here before you ask" there is a reef full of info there that will help you out alot, I still reference it from time to time, slow down, be patient and you will be rewarded.

Again, Welcome to reeflands

[Travismc]

Hey Travis,

Welcome to Reeflands, enjoy your stay and please become part of our little reef world

One thing I would do is slow way down, if your tank is only a month old it has barely if at all finished the intial nitrogen cycle, it will need some time to mature, we are not talking years, but give it several weeks to a month before you start adding a bunch of stuff to it. In the meantime, check out our sticky at the top of the reef forum called "click here before you ask" there is a reef full of info there that will help you out alot, I still reference it from time to time, slow down, be patient and you will be rewarded.

Again, Welcome to reeflands

Thx parrot, Yeah, I understand about the cycling and time - its actually been closer to two months, but, 1 month since I last added live rock - I've also read the entire "click here before you ask" thread. I don't plan on adding all of those invertebrates right away, I'm just checking for future compatibility as I buy them/add them.

Thx for your help, much appreciated.

[Steve McKay]

Alright guys, I've got a 75 Gallon tank here thats been cycling for around a month. Currently, I've got around 20 snails, 3 peppermint shrimp, 2 firefish and a yellow tail damsel...I've not had any trouble with things dieing so far except two damsels died, but I think they were sick when I started....All my test come back good, salinity, PH, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, alkalinity - everything checks out as far as I can tell. I currently have about a 1-1.5 inch sandbed, a LOT of live rock that I let "die off" before introducing to the tank awhile back, overall, the tank seems very happy, with slight algae growth on the live rock.

I'm considering buying the following, and I was wondering if you guys could tell me if there would be any compatibility issues here...

One porcelain crab, one banded coral shrimp, one tiger tail cucumber, one large feather duster and one serpent sea star.

Eventually, I'll be adding some better lights and adding coral, so I want to make sure nothing I add will hurt the coral. Can you guys suggest anything to me? are any of the above a bad idea? Thanks!

Damsels are very hardy fish. More than likely the damsels died because your tank wasn't cycled. It couldn't there was no rock. The sand bed will hold some bacteria but not enough. Then you added rock, which started the real cycle. If you have crushed coral instead of sand I wouldn't get the cucumber it will tear itself up on the crushed coral. The Banded Coral shrimp will probably make a meal of the Peppermint shrimp.

[Travismc]

Damsels are very hardy fish. More than likely the damsels died because your tank wasn't cycled. It couldn't there was no rock. The sand bed will hold some bacteria but not enough. Then you added rock, which started the real cycle. If you have crushed coral instead of sand I wouldn't get the cucumber it will tear itself up on the crushed coral. The Banded Coral shrimp will probably make a meal of the Peppermint shrimp.

Steve,

Thank you for your advice, I didn't know about the cucumber and the crushed coral - I do have *some* crushed coral, but its mostly sand - seeing as how I've already ordered the cucumber I'll try and remove as much of the crushed coral as possible - any tips on doing this? I know that the banded coral shrimp can go after the peppermint, which is why I bought the small ones....hopefully they wont be big enough to kill the peppermints- we'll see.

Again, thank you for all the advice, there is just so much to know! Btw, will the serpent star be alright? anything I should worry about with him?

[Steve McKay]

Steve,

Thank you for your advice, I didn't know about the cucumber and the crushed coral - I do have *some* crushed coral, but its mostly sand - seeing as how I've already ordered the cucumber I'll try and remove as much of the crushed coral as possible - any tips on doing this? I know that the banded coral shrimp can go after the peppermint, which is why I bought the small ones....hopefully they wont be big enough to kill the peppermints- we'll see.

Again, thank you for all the advice, there is just so much to know! Btw, will the serpent star be alright? anything I should worry about with him?

Use a stainless steel strainer of the right size and the sand will fall through it, keeping the larger particles. The serpent will be fine.

[Travismc]

Use a stainless steel strainer of the right size and the sand will fall through it, keeping the larger particles. The serpent will be fine.

I did this, and got most of the coral out. There is probably around 1lb of crushed coral left - I disturbed the tank a lot during this process, the water got very muddy/sandy looking, but I've got a lot of filtration going on, it cleared in about 2 hours (75 Gallon tank). is it ok to have *some* crushed coral with a cucumber? there really is a very small amount - I'm considering adding more sand to further dilute it..

[Steve McKay]

If you took most of it out you'll be fine. Taking it out will also help with nitrates, the crushed coral traps waste. How come you don't have a cucumber yet.

[Steve McKay]

Yes, add more sand if you have it, the more the better for the cucumber and other sand dwellers.