Not quite 20 questions, but close

[saltydad]

My 90 gallon tank has finally cycled, and this past weekend I purchased a cleaning crew that includes snails, hermit crabs, and something called a marbled blenny which I haven't been able to find much information on.
I have noticed that the crabs do a good job of eating algae, but they leave behind quite a bit of their own waste, too, as do the snails. Is this normal?
The salesperson at the store insists that I use Stabililty and Algae Magic at every water change, both of which are very pricey. Is this really necessary, or just a case of "upselling?"
This particular store, by the way, insists on keeping their salinity at 1.021. I've seen other sources that recommend anywhere up to 1.025. Is there an optimal salinity?
I purchased some sand stars, too. What in the world do they eat? The salesperson said to feed them brine shrimp, and that the blenny will eat it, too.
I actually had an employee at ***** tell me that I didn't need a pump to get my new water from my bucket to my aquarium as long as I sucked on the tube hard enough to get the flow going. I insisted that this was impossible because it was working against gravity and would not work without a pump. She told me she had done it many times without a problem. I guess the laws of physics are suspended within the walls of *****...

So I want to pump my fresh salwater from my container into my aquarium over a distance of about 8 to 10 feet. How large a pump or gph capacity would I need to do this? I'm sure there's a mathematical formula out there somewhere.
And finally, does RO water need to be treated with a water conditioner like Amquel?

 

[1journeyman]

Hello.
*Never purchase a fish without researching it. Without knowing what it is you cannot possibly hope to provide the proper habitat, food, tankmates, etc. Ask the pet store for the scientific name. If they can't provide it and details on the fish, take it back.
*Brisk water flow and protein skimming will help remove waste.
*Definitely "upselling". Ask around here... I highly suspect virtually no one uses either product.
*That sailinty will kill inverts. Pet stores keep it low help fight parasites. 1.025-1.026 is ocean salinity.
*No idea what a "sand star" is. If it is a sand sifting star it will slowly eat all of the micro critters in your live sand and then starve to death. Either way, Brine shrimp is nutritionally worthless. Feed a variety of foods. Mysis shrimp is a good staple.
******... ask her to demonstrate, then take the show on the road and make millions

*Pumps will list their capacity over distance. Just look it up on the different pumps.
*No.

 

[perfectdark]

You can get a utility pump at Home Depot or the Lowes to get your water where you want it to. They have a small utility pump for pool covers its like 1200gph or somthing like that. Not sure of the price though but just wanted to throw that out as an option.

 

[integral9]

Originally Posted by saltydad
I guess the laws of physics are suspended within the walls of *****...

That and much more.
btw. In my experience: Fish != clean up crew. In fact, it's usually quite the opposite. I'd just use hermits and snails. Personally, I like the trochus snails for algea cleanup. I've never seen such a voracious appetite for hair algae. The hermits should clean up the sand.

 

[peckhead]

Originally Posted by saltydad
I actually had an employee at ***** tell me that I didn't need a pump to get my new water from my bucket to my aquarium as long as I sucked on the tube hard enough to get the flow going. I insisted that this was impossible because it was working against gravity and would not work without a pump. She told me she had done it many times without a problem. I guess the laws of physics are suspended within the walls of *****...

do you mean syphon? if you suck the tube with one end in the water and the other in your mouth it will syphon.

 

[perfectdark]

Originally Posted by peckhead
do you mean syphon? if you suck the tube with one end in the water and the other in your mouth it will syphon.

Except if the container of water you are syphoning from is lower than the container of water you are syphoning to. A syphon only works with the help of gravity. Typically we can all syphon a tank when we extract water from it because the bucket we use is lower than the tank is. However when you try to replace that water a pump is needed as now the water is below the tank.

 

[rudedog40]

A pump to put new water back into the tank? My 'pump' is called my arm muscles, whereby I lift the bucket with my new water, and pour it into my tank. I only replace 5 gallons at a time, so it's not that heavy. If you can't lift the bucket, just get a plastic pitcher that fits inside the bucket, and use it to pour the new water in the tank. Once you get enough out of the bucket, you can then lift it up to pour in the rest.

 

[dragonzim]

Originally Posted by rudedog40
A pump to put new water back into the tank? My 'pump' is called my arm muscles, whereby I lift the bucket with my new water, and pour it into my tank. I only replace 5 gallons at a time, so it's not that heavy. If you can't lift the bucket, just get a plastic pitcher that fits inside the bucket, and use it to pour the new water in the tank. Once you get enough out of the bucket, you can then lift it up to pour in the rest.
I do the same... I mix 10 gallons at a time and just use a 1 gallon pitcher to scoop water out of the rubbermaid to pour into my tank.

 

[perfectdark]

I agree I use the ol' lift and pour method myself.. I was just explaining what seemed to be a bit of confusion..

 

[donald]

I have a 30 gallon plastic drum that I mix salt water in. I made a base for it and put wheels on it and it has a pump to cirulate the water through two different outlets, one on top and one at the bottom. The pump can also be used to pump out the water to my tank. I have a quiet1 pump it is rated at 295 GPH.

 

[saltydad]

Thanks to all, but to 1journeyman in particular:
Where can I go to find info on blennies in particular? I actually went on line to look for information on the marbled blenny, but the pictures I've seen don't look like the fish I have, so now I'm not certain exactly what I've got. (Your point about buying creatures you know nothing about is well taken.)
I do indeed have 2 sand sifting stars, but how exactly would I feed them mysis shrimp or anything else for that matter?
What's the safest way to raise salinity up to 1.025?

 

[rcoultas]

The sand sifting star is part of your cleanup crew - thay omnivorous - they will scavenge and eat detritus, leftover foods and even some algae. If your tank is well established you shouldn't need to spot feed the star - he'll be fine

 

[michaeltx]

sand sifting stars are bad news for your tank. They eat microfauna you want in the sand bed in smaller tanks they will devastate the bed and then slowly die of starvation. IMO dont get a sand sifting star/.
Mike

 

[rcoultas]

For raising salinity - you should do it incrementally - you can add a little salt to the overflow or when you do your water changes you can slowly increase the salinazation of the new water until you reach your desired overall level. As a rule you should not raise the salinity more than .001 in a 24 hr period unless you are certain that the inhabitants do not have issues with the changes in levels.

 

[sambasam]

watch out because the hermits will kill the snails for their shells.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by rcoultas
The sand sifting star is part of your cleanup crew - thay omnivorous - they will scavenge and eat detritus, leftover foods and even some algae. If your tank is well established you shouldn't need to spot feed the star - he'll be fine
No, actually Sand Sifting Stars are predators on the micro critters in your sand. They will eat all of your critters and then starve.
You cannot feed them Mysis. Unless you have a huge deep well established sand bed you should not try to keep even one of these. It will eat all of your sand bed critters and then starve.

 

[1journeyman]

Originally Posted by saltydad
Thanks to all, but to 1journeyman in particular:
Where can I go to find info on blennies in particular? I actually went on line to look for information on the marbled blenny, but the pictures I've seen don't look like the fish I have, so now I'm not certain exactly what I've got. (Your point about buying creatures you know nothing about is well taken.)
I do indeed have 2 sand sifting stars, but how exactly would I feed them mysis shrimp or anything else for that matter?
What's the safest way to raise salinity up to 1.025?
As your tank evaporates add salt water. This will slowly bump up your salinity. After it gets to the correct salinity top off with RO/DI freshwater.
Get information from the pet store. Get the scientific name and then we can go from there.
i'm not entirely coming down on you btw. I have a blenny in my tank. Store sold it to me as a Bicolor Blenny. I didn't examine it closely and it was very small when I bought it. As it grew older and a bit more bold I noticed it's fins are entirely different than a Bicolor. It's coloration is the same, but it certainly not one.
In my particular case I got lucky. He feeds like my other fish.

 

[saltydad]

UPDATE:
After further research, it turns out the fish I have isn't a marbled blenny, or even a blenny at all--it's an ornate goby! According to the sources I found, small, sinking enriched shrimp pellets are a good staple food for them.
Any comments or suggestions?

 

[dischirm]

I use a rubbermaid trash can to make my water and I use a Mag 5 (i think its a 5) to pump the water out. You just have to make sure u have the right sixe tubing to fit onto the pump. I have a 3/4 inch inside diameter tubing. Different inside diamension tubing available at most hardware stores.