First SW tank

[gthomas75]

Hi everyone! Ok. So this is my first sw tank. It's probably about 5 weeks old. It's a 29 gallon biocube. I cycled it with 30 lbs of "Caribsea Arag-Alive Special Grade Reef Sand", 26 lbs of live rock and a 1"x2" piece of fresh mauhi (I read somewhere that it would help kick start the cycle). I waited about a week after my nitrates, nitrites and ammonia went back to zero, did a 15 percent water changed and added 10 blue leg hermits, 2 red leg hermit, 6 trochus and 2 emerlads over the course of another week (I read somewhere that their metabolisms are so slow they don't create hardly any bioload) so I figured that would be ok. Now I'm trying to decide on some sort of sand sifter. They guy at the lfs mentioned a cucumber but the releasing toxins thing makes me nervous. My question is "do they create enough toxins to worry about or should I shoot for something like a orange marked goby or something like that? Also, I'm not sure if reef sand is different than other sand. Looking at it I would think eating it and shooting it out of your gills or whatever would be kind of rough. Thanks in advance! =)

[Ninong]

Hi gthomas75,

...and a 1"x2" piece of fresh mauhi (I read somewhere that it would help kick start the cycle).

Yes, but it's totally unnecessary if you are starting your tank with live rock. The person who wrote that (me) started his tank with just sand for the first 10 days because his live rock had not arrived yet. It certainly won't hurt anything but it's entirely unnecessary if you have live rock.

Now I'm trying to decide on some sort of sand sifter. They guy at the lfs mentioned a cucumber but the releasing toxins thing makes me nervous.

A 29-gal tank is not large enough to support any of the sand cukes. They need a lot more sand bed surface than that to survive. Sorry.

Also, I'm not sure if reef sand is different than other sand. Looking at it I would think eating it and shooting it out of your gills or whatever would be kind of rough. Thanks in advance! =)

I guess that all depends on what you mean by "reef sand." Aragonite sand is different from regular building sand, which is quartz sand. If you're asking about the different particle sizes of aragonite sand, such as the wide variety sold by Carib-Sea, then it's true that sand-sifting gobies would be better off with the smaller particle stuff but a mixture that includes some small shell pieces would be okay. And crushed coral would be totally out of the question if you're thinking of any sand-sifting fish at all.

Good luck!

P.S. -- Lee, the moderator of this forum, has all sorts of good articles on how to set up a new marine aquarium. Just check out his links in this forum and the Marine Fish Disease forum. Lots of information there.

[gthomas75]

Hi Ninong ! Thank you for your response!!

Yeah, I had someone else tell me that my tank wasn't big enough for a cucumber and recommended some nassarius snail. (Not sure why the guy at the lfs recommended them. I didn't really want one and was relieved to find a good alternative) But the snails are awesome and working out perfectly.

Yes, but it's totally unnecessary if you are starting your tank with live rock. The person who wrote that (me) started his tank with just sand for the first 10 days because his live rock had not arrived yet. It certainly won't hurt anything but it's entirely unnecessary if you have live rock.

haha. Well thank you. It actually worked out really well. =)

And crushed coral would be totally out of the question if you're thinking of any sand-sifting fish at all.

"Special Grade Reef Sand - Grain Size 1.0 - 2.0 mm. This coarse sand is 100% aragonite and has excellent diffusive properties. A very versatile product, use in a deep or shallow beds. A significant denitrator when utilized in deeper beds or plenum systems"

I don't think I need a sifter anymore since I got the snails to stir it up, but I would like a yellow watchman goby and a pistol shrimp and the goby I guess grabs a mouthful and then spits it out. Do you think this sand would be ok for that?

P.S. -- Lee, the moderator of this forum, has all sorts of good articles on how to set up a new marine aquarium. Just check out his links in this forum and the Marine Fish Disease forum. Lots of information there.

thank you very much. I'm new to this forum and haven't had much time to check it out yet. I'll definitely go through and read some of his articles.

Thank you for you input!! =)

[Ninong]

Not sure why the guy at the lfs recommended them.

Probably just because he had some to sell. Most LFS employees are NOT good sources of advice.

But the snails are awesome and working out perfectly.

Just keep in mind that Nassarius snails are carrion eaters. They eat dying stuff and meaty detritus but not algae or algal detritus.

"Special Grade Reef Sand - Grain Size 1.0 - 2.0 mm. This coarse sand is 100% aragonite and has excellent diffusive properties. A very versatile product, use in a deep or shallow beds. A significant denitrator when utilized in deeper beds or plenum systems"

That's one option but it's really a rather large particle size. And they don't recommend it for burrowers.

...but I would like a yellow watchman goby and a pistol shrimp and the goby I guess grabs a mouthful and then spits it out. Do you think this sand would be ok for that?

Well, Carib-Sea doesn't recommend it for any burrowers. They recommend Grand Bahamas Biome and Super Reef for burrowers. Personally, I think I would probably go with a fine particle sand as the primary component but add a little of one of those other products that contains some small shell bits and pieces to help in the construction of the burrow. I would probably just get a small amount of the stuff with the shell bits to add in with the finer particle stuff in the upper 1" layer of the sand bed.

My 6" DSB was mostly fine particle sand but I did add in some Florida Keys sand, which is about 1.5mm on average. I didn't have any burrowers.

[gthomas75]

Awesome link. Thanks. I don't know why I didn't think to go to the manufacturers webpage. =)

Thanks for all of your advice! =)

Greg