I have a 30 gallon tank. Started with live sand and a few pieces of live rock. Waited a month and had water tested and it was good. Started with 2 clown fish and being that I was already getting algae growth on the sand I also put a yellow head goby in at the same time. Did the cup method of acclimating them and the went into the water and now stick together in the same place in the tank. Feed them a mix of brine and mysis shrimp, they don' like pellets. All three are doing great after 2 weeks. Red algae starting to grow on glass. Need something that will eat that but I'm planning on getting a valentini puffer and I know they like to eat snails. Any suggestions? Thank you.
New to hobby
- Thread starter WilliamZX
- Start date
jay0705
Well-Known Member
Ok a few things. 1st that is a sleeper headed goby, they filter the sand to eat the micro fauna living in it. In such a new tank there won't be any.
2nd you have a ton of apatasia anemones these are a pest and should be removed.
3rd yes a valentini will eat snails but if kept fed won't eat them all at one time.
2nd you have a ton of apatasia anemones these are a pest and should be removed.
3rd yes a valentini will eat snails but if kept fed won't eat them all at one time.
That's what the store owner called the goby and yes those anemones are popping up everywhere but with only three small fish, I'm feeding them half a cube of frozen food and the anemones are eating what the fish don' eat so I figure, for now, they are at east keeping things clean. Do you know of any starfish that eat the algae on glass that would be safe with a valentini puffer. Don' know much about starfish but I have seen them stuck to the glass so I figured they may eat the algae.
Thank you, I will look into those if the puffer will leave it alone. I'm sure my kids would love to see a starfish but also want to make sure it's good for the tank and other fish.
silverado61
Well-Known Member
Astrina's are reputed as hitchhikers. Finding them online or in LFS is going to be a near impossible task. Like imforbis said, you should consentrate on getting rid of the Aiptasia.
I would advise taking all the fish back to your LFS. With all those Aiptasia, it won't be long before they wander too close and get stung by the Aiptasia.
While your there, check their other tanks and see if they are also infested with Aiptasia. If they are, I would be very wary of buying anything from them again. If they allowed their tanks to be overrun by them, who knows what other parasites or diseases lurk in those tanks.
I would advise taking all the fish back to your LFS. With all those Aiptasia, it won't be long before they wander too close and get stung by the Aiptasia.
While your there, check their other tanks and see if they are also infested with Aiptasia. If they are, I would be very wary of buying anything from them again. If they allowed their tanks to be overrun by them, who knows what other parasites or diseases lurk in those tanks.
It sounds like my first new Comer question should have been how do I get rid of the pest anemone. Didn't know they were bad. Actually gave me something to watch during the first month.
Thank you
Jesterrace
Active Member
Agreed. Clownfish by nature can develop an immunity to such stings but that goby will definitely be an issue. A small aiptasia contributed to the death of two of my dartfish (Purple Firefish and Scissortail). Too bad he can't get a small butterflyfish in there, they will clean house on those very quickly,
Jesterrace
Active Member
Mine was a single small aiptasia that hitchiked on a zoanthid coral frag and I hit it with Aiptasia X and it killed it dead in a few days and months later I am aiptasia free. The one nice thing about aiptasia x as opposed to other methods is that it keeps it from spreading it's segments and reproducing (which can be a possibility with other methods).
I actually took the advice of hitting them with boiling water. Being that I only have three rocks at this time, I went ahead and took them out and poured boiling water on them in a bucket. They are now gone. Unfortunately, I have now counted about 30 tiny ones in the sand and a couple on the glass. After doing some research, I am thinking about getting a file fish to keep it under control. What do you think?
I have taken the advice of hitting them with boiling water. Being that I only have three rocks at this time, I went ahead and took them out and poured boiling water on them in a bucket. They are now gone. Unfortunately, I have now counted about 30 tiny ones in the sand and a couple on the glass. After doing some research, I am thinking about getting a file fish to keep it under control. What do you think?
Jesterrace
Active Member
File fish are difficult to maintain and very delicate. I can't tell since you put decorations in your tank whether or not you actually have coral. If not you could try temporarily putting a really small butterflyfish (ie a young Klein's) in there and removing it after it wipes them out. It wouldn't be my first choice but it sounds like you have a real out of control aiptasia problem. Peppermint shrimp may or may not work.
Not exactly. I just put the rocks in a bucket and poured the water over it. By your question, Something tells me that was not what you meant.
No coral at this time. Was a fresh water tank and couldn't afford the $700.00 - $900.00 price that the local store was quoting me to switch it ove. I have autistic kids that love saltwater fish aquariums, so I decided to slowly do it myself.
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