What would you stock?

[longra]

Ron,

Sorry if this is a repeat. If so, just point me to the right source.

I now know that, in order to keep my live sand ... alive, I shoud avoid all crabs (including my emerald crab which I'll trade in for something else) and bumble bee snails (for trade, too). The question I have is: what would you stock your tank with (assuming some algae and some cyano/dino is growing) that would eat up the growth and help the sand bed "critters" with the detritus and are sand bed-friendly? Thanks,

:confused:

[rshimek]

Hi,

I would stock my tank with some live sand with a good animal diversity in it. This is hard to find, you have to talk to various vendors and see what they have available at any specific time. Also avoid "sand-sifting" stars. The "detritivore" kits from some of the online vendors are good starts for animals, but are limited in diversity.

I would put a few Nassarius in the system (generally we don't need many of these, a few will do better than a lot).

For eating the algae, I would go with some tropical Trochus (I get mine from IPSF (www.ipsf.com) but there are other sources as well) or some ring or money cowries. Small aquacultured abalone are also good algae eaters and are sometimes available .

Good luck!

[Masoch]

Also for grazing snails, keep your eyes open when you visit your LFS, or when you start buying (or trading for) coral frags from other reefers. Many people have grazers that reproduce well in our aquariums. And many of these grazers are rarely for sale since they're so easily obtainable from other people.

Stomatella snails ... asterinid stars ... and some trocchus cousins that only get to be a few mm across. I forget the name of these guys, but I started with a dozen or so and can count 20 or more when the lights go out. And that's with a very hungry cleaner shrimp in the tnak.

[longra]

Thanks. I appreciate the info.

[longra]

By the way, is there a snail (or other critter) that you'd suggest to take of the detritus on the rocks? I'm sure that the algae-eating snails will leave some!

[FlyTekk]

Dr ron, sorry to interupt, but are you saying that emerald crabs eat the good critters in our sand beds? I was under the impression that they were herbivours. Also are cleaner shrimps bad for a sand bed? thank you.

[rshimek]

Hi,

No crab is a complete herbivore. Emerald crabs will eat small animals. Cleaner shrimps are significant predators on small animals in our systems. Both of these types of animals will impact the populations of animals in a sand bed. Whether or not you may wish to keep them should be the result of a "cost-benefit" analysis on your part.

As far as grazing snails leaving detritus, all animals leave detritus. Detritivores, mostly various types of worms and small crustaceans eathe this material. They, in turn, leave some detritus. Eventually, this stuff flows through a food web until it is transformed into a form that bacteria can use as food.

[longra]

Until I'm able to get enough microfauna/flora to take care of the detritus on the rocks, could you suggest a snail that'll stay on the rocks. My (good) detritus eaters, nassarius snails, pretty much ignore the rocks for the sand.

[NicoleC]

My strombus grazers stay on the rocks mostly (that is, when they are not turning my sea lettuce into rags.) Also, I have a single stomatella that never leaves the rock, and mini stars (asterids) that stay on the rock.

[rshimek]

Hi Rick,

As a point of order, Nassarius will not eat most detritus. They will eat carrion or meaty based foods, but true detritus is neither of those. :D

[tlouie]

Dr. Ron,

Are Fire Shrimp just as bad as the normal "snunk" cleaner shrimp as far as eating small beneficial critter?

thanks

ting

Originally posted by rshimek
Cleaner shrimps are significant predators on small animals in our systems.

[rshimek]

Hi ting,

Probably, but they more of polyp predators, at least in nature. So they feast more on soft corals, zoanthids and corals than sand dwelling animals.

[Blood4U]

I've suffering from information overload after an hour in your forum - please help.

'What to stock?'

I have a DSB, for a couple of months now. Seeded, basically, from creatures from my LR and my original bacterial tank cycling. Tons of creatures seen scurrying at night (pods I think), lots of pinkish-orange rock worms (bristles?...I never see them in the sand, though), lots of sandbed bubbles, etc. My head's spinning with regards to the various detritivore kits from the vendors you recommend and the various animals included in them - some needed & good, some not.

I want to add animal species that dwell solely in the DSB, and wish to order them individually as opposed to a kit. Could you please list some recommended animals which you believe would enhance my particular DSB, and please be specific enough (common name & species name) so that I can know exactly what to order?

I imagine this must get old for you, but your time taken to respond is truly appreciated.

Thanks, Scott

[rshimek]

Originally posted by Blood4U

Hi Scott,

I want to add animal species that dwell solely in the DSB, and wish to order them individually as opposed to a kit. Could you please list some recommended animals which you believe would enhance my particular DSB, and please be specific enough (common name & species name) so that I can know exactly what to order?

I really can't give you much help, I am afraid. Few vendors offer specific animals for sale. Probably the only ones that I would recommend are cirratulid worms (several species, and as no vendor knows the species, well... listing them by species is rather silly). These go under the names of Mama Mia worms (IPSF), or terebellid or spaghetti worms (mis-identified; at Inland Aquatics and elsewhere). Several small snail species would be fine; there are ceriths (Cerithium species), peppermint snails (Hyalina).

Really, other than that the best things you can add are probably mixes of several species available from various vendors or some good live sand containing a lot of animals.

[Blood4U]

Thanks Dr. Ron, that's just what I was looking for.

Have a nice day, Scott