Questions ?????

[fishzen]

This board is awesome. I am new to this hobby, my tank just finish its cicle. I have one clown, one dwarf angel (well that is what I think it is, his body is blue with his head yellow), four red legs hermits (now only two), two snails, one fire shrimp, one emerald crab that came with the LR, CC substrate, and 10 pound LR, powerhead with biowheel, one 10k and one actinic blue.
I have found one of the hermits empty shell, and the remains of another one. The main suspect in the killings is the emerald crab. Should I take him out before he takes care of the other two and the snails ?
If I add more LR, should I be aware of any readings on the water ?
I would like to add another clown plus and anemone. I am overstocking my tank ?
Thanks

 

[jacksonpt]

OK, lots of stuff here, so...
If your thank just finished it's cycle, and you've already got a couple of fish and some inverts... I'd let the tank sit for at least a month before you do anything else... let it stablize itself, and monitor your water parameters.
As for the 'dead' reds... are you sure they're dead? Many hermits molt, and reds seem to do it more than blues. Do you have any extra shells for the hermits to move into? My reds molted about once a week for a month or so when I first got them, and they changed shells about every other week. Keep you eyes out... they may have molted and moved into a new shell. If they are actually dead, I doubt it's the emerald. I've never heard any death stories linked to emeralds, and mine is peaceful and solitary.
You will likely catch some flack for the CC and bio-wheel. People on this board seem to think they become nitrate factories. I dumped my bio-wheel early on, but I still have CC... so stick with it if it's what you like... just pay very close attention to you water parameters.
Whenever you add something to a tank, it's going to change the balance of the system... and LR is no exception. Most of the time, adding small amounts of cured LR will not off-set things enough to cause any problems, but you should always pay close attention to water parameters for a couple of weeks after any addition is made.
Adding another clown and anemone is really pushing the limits of you tank (20g, right?) I, for one, like to give my critters lots of room to swim... I don't want to cramp them. That's why I only have 3 'real' fish in my 75. You could probably get away with another clown and anemone, but they will be cramped, and it won't take much to upset the balance with that much stock. Anemones are hard enough to keep under ideal conditions... I'd just hate to see you shoot yourself in the foot by having too many.
Good luck with everything, and keep reading.

 

[fishzen]

Thanks for the info and the recomendations
I know they are dead because I found half of one un-eaten . I took the emerald out anyway. I don't know if I can exchange him for a couple of hermits, but I am going to try with my lfs.