Bigjohnwoody Posted December 18, 2010 Share Posted December 18, 2010 Ok I have a 120 rr with about a 30 gallon sump! It is a three chamber homemade sump so one section is going to be my fuge! Can I just leave it bare bottom and put extra live rock in there and then chaeto on top? The water is very slow moving through it! It almost looks stagnant but of course it's not! I am wondering on the cuc I should put in there if I leave it this way? Don't want to put sand in since it is only 13 inches high this will take up to much room and leave me with less room for live rock and chaeto! Also want to keep chocolate chip stars in it to feed to harliquin shrimp! Want to rotate the stars and cut off a leg at a time to feed to the harliquin! I have not bought anything for my tank yet as it is still cycling with just live rock this is all future planning. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 19, 2010 Author Share Posted December 19, 2010 Can anyone help me with this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 Yes you can. Best person here in my opinion is Miles (impur) I believe he runs bare bottom sump for ease of cleaning. I have a little LRR in my sump with my CC star who has been in there for 6 months or so. Bought him to feed my harliquin who met a quick death when I forgot to feed my tank for a few days and the wrasse got hungry. You might want to invest in bone cutters to cut pieces of the starfish....they make it WAY easier. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 19, 2010 Author Share Posted December 19, 2010 Thank you very much ca2or! I have also heard and since you have one, that cc star can pollute the water when I cut an arm off of him and then return the remaining back to the sump. I plan on running a mixed reef and also don't want him to kill any of my corals by cutting off pieces of starfish. I am very sorry to hear about your harli! Are you thinking of getting another? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 I don't know....i have sharks now and I feed them live shrimp so I might have to pass ATM. I had coral in my tank the entire time I the Harli....never had a problem....but maybe I just got lucky. I did like him very much....very nice looking shrimp. Do you have a wrasse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 19, 2010 Author Share Posted December 19, 2010 At the moment I have nothing but rock (and a rotting piece of costco shrimp...lol)! I am three weeks into my cycle and am just getting ideas and planning for the future. Any recommendation on how long I should wait before I add the harli's to a newly established system? I am planning on buying a mated pair. I just love the looks of them way to much to only have one. I am planning in the future to buy a wrasse though and now that you said that I really hope that I do not have problems with him or her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 Add the shrimp before the wrasse....I don't know if this will actually help but I have been in the logic of if it is weaker or potential food then adding it first will sometimes avoid the issues. For example....6 line wrasse....if he is the first fish in your tank you are most likely have issues when you add more....but if he is last you SHOULD be ok. I am going to refrain from answering the question of how long to wait. I don't wait, and I don't have problems BUT let the other more educated or experienced reefers here chime in for that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 19, 2010 Author Share Posted December 19, 2010 That is funny(laugh).... you say you don't wait but your sig says "Nothing good in reefing happens fast" You must be talking from past experience? I have been waiting three weeks staring at rock and two feather dusters and am going crazy waiting. I really feel like I should get hugs from everyone for waiting because it is really friggin tough...lol. I di get to kill an aiptasia though which was the highlight of my week. Used Aiptasia Rx and it seems to have worked beautifully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 19, 2010 Share Posted December 19, 2010 no....it's just with setting up new tanks and making moves that I wont wait....even though with my current move into a new tank I am doing just that. All of my tank upgrades were completed from dry tank to fully loaded (corals, fish, and all) within around 3 hours from start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 Three hours!! Holy cow that's fast. You are talking about transfering a previously setup tank though right? Did you wait when you initally set up a tank? I tested my levels last night and my ammonia was 0, nitrites between 0 and .25 and nitrates were between 10 and 20! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Fast but not recommended by many.....I was told when I first got into reefing that there are "myths" about setting up tanks and how long your cycle period has to be. Now I don't know if they are myth's or not, but my experiences has led me to believe that they are. Trust what you think is right. You do want to drop those nitrates though. And yes I waited....about a week on my initial set up. But when I moved from So Cal to here I did all new water....fresh spin up...and had tank set within 2 hours....never lost a coral or fish from the move.....well that isn't totally accurate....my Xenia didn't make it. But it was gone when I first opened the cooler to start adding my corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Hey John in addition to what we talked about i think you can cut a leg off the cc star and freeze it, then feed it to the shrimp later. That way you have some backup food if you are in a hurry or something and can't chop off a leg for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 Never thought about that. Good idea Miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 Hey John in addition to what we talked about i think you can cut a leg off the cc star and freeze it' date=' then feed it to the shrimp later. That way you have some backup food if you are in a hurry or something and can't chop off a leg for them.[/quote'] I have heard of people doing this but I heard also that you have to train them to eat the frozen leg because they don't usually accept it for awhile! This is from research though I don't have actual experience in it. I don't mind hacking away at a starfish leg every week or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 I don't mind hacking away at a starfish leg every week or so. Better be careful saying that....others might think you enjoy it. What are you using to cut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 Oh I didin't mean it that that way at all! I am sorry it came across that way and should have phrased it differently. I just know that it is something that I am going to have to do in order to feed the harlequins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 oh....I don't think you mean it that way. I have had a harli too and had to do exactly what you are saying so I understand. You are safe with me.....no worries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigjohnwoody Posted December 20, 2010 Author Share Posted December 20, 2010 I actually really like starfish a lot and have struggled with the idea that I will not be able to keep any in my tank since I will have harlequin's. Although I have heard that brittle and serpant stars can potentially be compatible with these shrimp since they are usually much larger and so fast. I imagine that has to do with how well you keep the harle's fed as well. I will have to do more research on this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted December 20, 2010 Share Posted December 20, 2010 I have heard that too. Let me know how your research goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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