First SW ever owned...Build thread

Excellent plan and excellent advice, the only thing I can add to it is take things slow, the excitement to see things moving in the tank can be hard to fight but it's worth it to take it slow. I'll send some good tank vibes your way.

 

I would re-think about the sun coral unless you are in into spot feeding it 2-3 times per week. I've got one that I love, but it sometimes drives me nuts.

 

These are all great tip, everyone. Thank you very much & keep 'em coming!

 

WE NEED PICTURES!!!

 

Sorry, civic. Look at post #7....and it still hasn't shipped.

 

Crabs are a PITA when you have too many. They can knock frag plugs off rocks if they aren't glued down and I never glue them down until I've determined that they are in a healthy spot. However, a few are not a bad idea.

As far as snails, I'd say 5 or 6 to start out with and you can always pick some more up from your LFS if you feel the need down the road. The livestock list you gave isn't going to create a very large bioload so a big CUC is not really needed. Someone mentioned going slow and being patient and I think that also applies to adding livestock including CUC. Start small and increase as demand requires. A lot of people fall into the trap of adding CUC to combat algae problems and that usually just exacerbates the problem. The best fix for algae blooms is good husbandry.

I definitely don't hate you for posting early! Getting excited is AWESOME. Getting bit by the bug is better! Doing your research, planning, and discussing with knowledgeable people on forums is great (it sure has helped me!)

 

the suggestions are solid!

I have 2 blue leg hermits in my 38 and 1 day I will finally just pull them. Skip the hermits.
Ceriths always seem to do well for me
Nassarius are good if you are a heavy feeder, mine die off after a while
Always like a few Astrea, long term survival not so great for me. You get the occasional few that last a couple years
Nerites are similar to the Astrea. Both tend to end up on bottom tank upside down. Also Nerites I have found to be explorers(outside of tank if not covered).. found a few carpet surfers in my day.

Someone else said go slow... I triple that. Give yourself time before picking bunch of fish, go slow, see what others have experienced with theirs. You can save a lot of money if you do not impulse buy. We have all done it and you will to but we can help you limit the mistakes

 

The advice to start the CUC small is starting to settle in with me. I love the idea of less is more, everything cost so freaking much anyways!

Patience is something I have in spades. Anxiety will not trump that, however.

I've decided to reduce the CUC down to 9 snails total to start, keeping the cleaner shrimp and hopefully utilizing an urchins in the future. Removed the blenny, subbing a yellow clown goby. Removed the 2 chromis and subbed a yellowstriped cardinalfish.

 

I agree. Both of my nassarius died because I just didn't have enough food and detritus settling on the bottom. I bought two astrea and one died pretty quickly. They also have a harder time flipping themselves. Although, the one that is still kicking is really kicking! Like you, I prefer cerith and trochus.

I haven't had to worry too much about my hermits because my serial killer pistol shrimp keeps them in check. A warning about pistol shrimp (this is one of those lessons we all learn when we impulse buy,) if you get a pistol shrimp/goby pair make sure they are young. My shrimp was 1.5" and my goby was ~2". I didn't know at the time that this meant they were mature. Because they didn't grow up in my tank, they are mean mean mean. It's not my tank anymore; it belongs to king pistol shrimp!

 

I ran into something last night that I wanted to share with you. I was helping a friend who's having a pretty big algae bloom (high phosphates from using tap water are the cause there.) He had this little frag plug with a rock growing 4 zoanthids on it and it didn't look good. The whole thing was covered in hair algae and the zoa's were closed up tight. He asked me if I could take it and revive it for him while he got his parameters right. I was sort of hesitant but I decided a good scrub and iodine dip would make it safe enough.

I dipped, scrubbed, dipped, scrubbed, rinsed, and placed it in my tank. I got it as clean as possible before putting it in my tank but there were just some small pieces of algae I couldn't get as they were caught in crevices. A couple hermits went at it and within a few hours the rock and plug were spotless!

I wanted to share this because it reminded me why I put up with my pesky little hermits. They get where the snails can't and they do serve their own purpose as part of a well rounded CUC.