Lots of Questions.

[Mr.Fish]

Here is some general info on my system that might be helpful in answering my questions:

Size: 75 gallon long
Lighting: (1) 400 watt MH; (2) 40 watt florescent antinic bulbs
Photo Period: MH 7hrs/day, florescent 14hrs/day
Sand Bed: 6’’-8’’ deep composed of 50% reef sand 1-3mm (dead) 50% crushed coral 5-10mm(dead)
Rock: 48lbs base rock seeded with 8.7 lbs live reef rock.
Equipment:
Excalibur HOB protein skimmer, Penguin 75 gallon filter w/ 2 bio wheels and 2 cellopore cartages, 2 Rio 900 power heads on a wave maker, 250 watt heater, and a titanium grounding probe.
Stats: Temp. 80.0-82.4; PH 8.3; salinity 1.024-25; ammonia, nitrite, nitrate all 0 ppm
Ca 450ppm,
Maintenance: 5-10% water change weekly.

Inhabitants:
1 BTA; 2 emerald crabs, 1 brittle star, 1 scarlet hermit, 3 blue legged hermits, 1blue lobster 8 mushroom anemones, 15 turbo snails, 8 bumble bee snails, 1 yellow sea cumber, 2 clown fish A. Ocelus, 1 sand sifter star

When I purchased the yellow sea cumber I was told It was a sediment feeder. So far I have not witnessed it consume any sand. Could it be a filter feeder instead? Either way should I target feed this animal? If so how would I do so?

My clean up crew (various snails and hermits) has done such a good job of eliminating algae that now my tank is almost completely devoid of hair algae. Should I supplement their diet by feeding them macro algae on lettuce clips?

My clown fish completely ignore the BTA. I am aware the A. Ocelius (I'm not sure if the name is spelled correctly, however, its the clown fish w/ the three white strips) does not naturally associate with this anemone, but has anyone ever heard of them bonding to a BTA in captivity?


Can anyone suggest good peaceful tank mates (fish) for my pair of clown fish?

Does anyone know of a good source for live sand starter/ recharge kits (besides www.ipsf.com)?

 

[C J Rodders]

go for a coral beauty. You won't be disappointed.

 

[danmhippo]

Not sure what kind of yellow cukes you have, need to see it to know if it's sediment or filter feeder. If you can find a pic on the net and provide the link, it would help. If the cukes end up to be a filter feeder, you need to find out what are the proper food size for it and try to provide with the proper food types.

BTA is not the natural host for most Percula. Some are lucky that they have decided to take BTA as their host. But BTA does not need clown fish to do well, and neither does percula. Tomato clown fish readily takes BTA as their host, but they are too aggressive for your percula. If you want to see the symbiotic relationship between the clown and the anemone in your tank, you need to decide which one you want to keep, the percula, or the BTA. Percula takes carpet and ritteri anemone as their natural host, but these 2 types of anemone are much more difficult to be kept in captivity. Carpet has vorocious appetite for meaty food and will catch anything that drifts into their extremely sticky tentacles, and ritteri should not be kept in captivity unless you can fully provide their proper requirements.

 

[ReefMon]

Can anyone suggest good peaceful tank mates (fish) for my pair of clown fish?

A school of chromis would make a nice addition.

Does anyone know of a good source for live sand starter/ recharge kits (besides www.ipsf.com)?

Try Inland Aquatics http://www.inlandaquatics.com/

HTH
Glenn R

 

[Anonymous]

My clean up crew (various snails and hermits) has done such a good job of eliminating algae that now my tank is almost completely devoid of hair algae. Should I supplement their diet by feeding them macro algae on lettuce clips?

no. the clean up crew will be evn more of a bioload if you do this.