aquaknight
Active Member
Thanks TeresaQ! This is the thread I'm looking for. Considering setting up a 55 SH tank myself. What about making this thread the 'one-stop' for questions? Or is there another thread for that? A sticky at the top would do wonders for this topic.
A couple questions/points I have.
1.) I know copper is not to be used, and FW dips seem recommended to treat pretty much anything. Is that it? What about stuff like Formalin or Marcelyn 2? No no's as well?
2.) What about QT? Are there standards there? Going by my fish knowledge, I would QT a SH much like say a leopard wrasse. Have a well established QT ready to go with live rock and sand (maybe just some crushed coral in place of sand for pods to breed out of for SH's) and treat if necessary. Or is QT unnessecary for SH's themselves, a FW dip will take care of their diseases, but it's adviseable to QT everything else regarding the tank? Like you mentioned using dried base rock instead of live.
3.) Tank size and rock quantity. It seems lately there has been a downward spin on tank size for this guys. Again, falling back to my fish knowledge about pod eaters, you need larger tanks stuffed with live rock for any type of success with fish like mandarins. Is that because SH's consumation rate is that much lower? I realize SH's need the swimming space, but that would only seem like to me to push tank sizes bigger? It seems like you are able to supplemental fed this guys with brine. I thought brine was about the most empty thing nutritionally-wise out there? Is that true or are SH's dietary needs what brine provides? Or do you use other things then brine, like cyclopeeze for instance?
4.) Tankmates. At first it seemed like SH's were strictly speices tanks. But now it seems like they are becoming more of a 'community' tank, heck even in this thread there's talk about that. I thought you couldn't even do pipefish because they had a chance to bring in diseases. Or does a standard QT timeframe of 4-6 weeks eliminate the chance of diseases coming in?
5.) Selfish question, what could I do in a 55? Would it be enough for a pair of reidi's and some pipefish? I know the general rule is the max size of the SH unfurled, should be a 1/3rd of the tank height. So for a 18" 55gal, max size of a 6" SH? Or perhaps this might be answered already in Q. #3....
A couple questions/points I have.
1.) I know copper is not to be used, and FW dips seem recommended to treat pretty much anything. Is that it? What about stuff like Formalin or Marcelyn 2? No no's as well?
2.) What about QT? Are there standards there? Going by my fish knowledge, I would QT a SH much like say a leopard wrasse. Have a well established QT ready to go with live rock and sand (maybe just some crushed coral in place of sand for pods to breed out of for SH's) and treat if necessary. Or is QT unnessecary for SH's themselves, a FW dip will take care of their diseases, but it's adviseable to QT everything else regarding the tank? Like you mentioned using dried base rock instead of live.
3.) Tank size and rock quantity. It seems lately there has been a downward spin on tank size for this guys. Again, falling back to my fish knowledge about pod eaters, you need larger tanks stuffed with live rock for any type of success with fish like mandarins. Is that because SH's consumation rate is that much lower? I realize SH's need the swimming space, but that would only seem like to me to push tank sizes bigger? It seems like you are able to supplemental fed this guys with brine. I thought brine was about the most empty thing nutritionally-wise out there? Is that true or are SH's dietary needs what brine provides? Or do you use other things then brine, like cyclopeeze for instance?
4.) Tankmates. At first it seemed like SH's were strictly speices tanks. But now it seems like they are becoming more of a 'community' tank, heck even in this thread there's talk about that. I thought you couldn't even do pipefish because they had a chance to bring in diseases. Or does a standard QT timeframe of 4-6 weeks eliminate the chance of diseases coming in?
5.) Selfish question, what could I do in a 55? Would it be enough for a pair of reidi's and some pipefish? I know the general rule is the max size of the SH unfurled, should be a 1/3rd of the tank height. So for a 18" 55gal, max size of a 6" SH? Or perhaps this might be answered already in Q. #3....
