PaulD

Thanks Brian/Pies This is all good stuff. Brian, great web site. You collected all those here in auckland? I doubt the fish could take the temp change to my tank (25c)but the hermits and glass shirmp look like a go. Pies, the room the tank is in gets a fair bit of natural light (not direct) so i'll turn the overheads off completely during the cycle. Pies, excuse my ignorance but I took the shrimp(piece) out to avoid pollution but you say if a hermit crab dies to leave it/them in the tank? Not trying to be difficult but if a hermit dies wouldn't I want to remove it for the same reason during the cycle? Thanks again Paul

Thanks Pies for the info I had a look at your web site earlier. Impressive tank. Noticed the hermits and glass shrimp. I'll have to go and have a look over the weekend and see whats available in local rockpools. I have now removed the piece of shrimp which I had in the tank and cut the lighting back to 3.5hrs a day rather than the 6 it was getting. About using the beaches. I hear what your saying but still a bit concerned about unwanted parasites/pollution. Do you use natural seawater? Also, what's the story with treating the beach caught items, dip them in something (chemical) or fresh water like they reccommend for fish? How far through the cycling process do I need to be before I add these. Can they handle the early spikes or do I need to wait for the tank to be fully cycled before adding these guys? Heaps of questions but any more advice would be great. Cheers Paul

Hi everyone Bit of background about me first..... I've been keeping fish for about 7 years, started off breeding African cichlids, then moved to breeding Discus (small garage setup with 3 tanks) but decided I needed a change so I have just started a marine setup The marine tank is a 4ft with about 220 litre volume. I have cut off a corner of the tank to make an in tank sump with surface overflow, much like the ones you see in Jansens etc. In the "sump" I have 2*200watt heaters, a protein skimmer feed by a deciated pump, and a 2600litre/hour return pump. There are 2 other powerheads in the tank. It's got 40kg of fiji rock which is left over from my African breeding days and fijian sand thats all. I have just started cycling and was told to put a small piece of shrimp in the tank to help the process (let it breakdown). I read on one of the posts maybe this isn't always a good idea, Any comments? The tank is effectively "dead" at present with 3 day old treated water at 78f, PH 8.2, 1.024 salinity. What are the best options to get it started. I was advised just to leave it for 4 weeks but have been thinking about crabs, etc from the local beach to help get the good guys (also micro etc) into the tank. Any advice on adding things from the local beach? Is it more risk than it's worth?. What are the risks of parasites? what about using natural seawater (fresh)? I live close to a few beaches so could collect and get it into the tank within 30min's Thanks for any advice Cheers Paul