If they look like crabs, then perhaps that is what they are.
I really wish I knew more about them.
I just didn't think that they had hair.

If it doesn't resemble a worm or a centipede or something with that form (no matter how small), then I think you are in the clear.

OK, I just read your other post... hold on, I'll be right bac

So you think they (or it) are bristle worms?
Tonight when you turn off the lights, check the tank often to see if you see it out.

Yeah I will do thanks for your help! Would it eat muscle? I put a muscle in for my crab at night in the morning it looked wedged in the piece of rock I saw the thing come out of :eek:

They will eat anything and everything and they sting too, so watch out if you're putting your hands on the rocks or in the tank.

It needs to be caught because I think the treatments are deadly for other creatures as well, like the crab.

I know they have traps for them, but I don't know how well they work.

Try to watch often when the lights are out tonight to see if you can see it.

Hiya I had a look last night and I couldn't see anything I rang the fish shop and asked them and he said they will always be there there's nothing I can do is he fobbing me off? What would you suggest I do?

I have been doing some reading up on bristle worms.
Seems like some are bad, but some can be beneficial.
Bristle worms There is really good info here. I'm still reading it myself.

Thank you I will read it

Hiya what is a reasonable reading for nitrate in my tank? Its slowly moved up to 40 and I've been doing 10 % water changes but it doesn't seem to move down my ammonia is 0/0.25 and nitrite is 0 is there anything I can put in to keep it down? Thank you

The ammonia and nitrite reading are perfect. The ammonia will always appear to be 0/0.25, but it's 0, so no worries there.

The nitrate level is in the upper mid section of being OK.
It's safer to stay in the 0 - 20 ppm range.

I use a water conditioner called Prime, it's made by SeaChem.
It will detoxify nitrate and nitrite as well as remove chlorine, chloramine, and ammonia.

How often are you doing water changes?

Am doig them once a week? Should it be more?

I had to look back in the posts to see what size tank you have, but just to make sure I'm correct, you have a 58 liter tank?

One of the cons to having a smaller tank is that there is less water to dilute
The toxins.
Nitrate is not toxic to fish unless it gets into the higher numbers.
I think you're doing good with one water change a week and keeping the nitrate level at 40 ppm, that shows tremendous effort and dedication.

With all your hard work, you'd probably like to see that number drop to a level where a weekly water change will keep the levels in the safe zone.

You could temporarily do a 10% water change every other day until the nitrate level is between 0 ppm - 10 ppm. The closer to zero, the better.

After the initial bulk of the nitrate is removed, it should be easier to keep the levels safe with a once a week water change.

You could also use the Prime I was telling you about and that will detoxify toxins during and between water changes.

Aw thanks for that it made me feel good about it!:D I thought I was doing too many water changes but you ve restored my confidence in what I'm doing!:D :D

Hiya can I add sea sponges to my tank or are they a type of coral and need extra light?

Sea sponges are living animals, I'm thinking they need coral to survive, not just rock.
That's something I have to double check, but I'm almost positive they need a reef setup.

I checked and they need a coral reef set up or a set up with a substantial amount of live rock.
You may want to check with the fish shop to see if they have any that may accommodate your tank.
This link provides a lot of the same info as my book.Aquarium Invertebrates

Thank you! You are a big help! :D :D

Hiya I know this mite seem a bit strange to ask but I were doing a water change and checking my heater and filter and in the built in filter system at the end where the water comes back out to the tank there's a lot of dirt is that normal? It will just go back into the tank how would I get rid of it? I'm sorry if you can't really understand what I've wrote.

Do you happen to be using a water conditioner with added slime coat or
That says it promotes a healthy slime coat or anything to that effect?

No I don't put anything in my water but in my tank there is a slight film of that sandy looking stuff

I were looking in the filter system at the back and the dirt is in th bit with the ceramic rings. How would I get rid of it from there? I feel like I'm asking daft questions but I don't want the dirt to build up

What type filter and does it have a back flow?
Is their a sponge inside it that is suppose to trap dirt before the water flows over the ceramic rings?
Or does the water hit the ceramic rings first?

I'm trying to rack my brain at what this could be... or why it's happening.

What brand do you use to get the chlorine out of the tap water?
Is your crab still carrying it's eggs?

Does the dirt look like it's attached to slimy stuff?

I don't put anything in my water to get rid of chlorine should I be doing? They told me tap water would be fine, no there's no sponge before the ceramic rings and before that is my protein skimmer and that looks covered in it as well. What colour would the eggs be? This is white stuff a bit like sawdust

I was just curious about the crabs eggs...

If your tap water is treated city water, then yes, you should be adding a water conditioner. If you have a well, it's not necessary.

Since you mentioned that it's white and kind of looks like sawdust, I'm pretty sure you have some salt build up(salt creep) and/or calcium deposits.

This happens to my tank as well, mostly around water surface lines.

My filter has a debris sponge that water passes through before it reaches the
Rings, this way dirt/debris is kept out.
When I notice any white build up, I just wipe it off and let the filter clean it out of the water.
I take a paper towel and clean around the water line inside the filter as well.

Does your filter have anything that traps debris?

It goes through some vents to the filter and uv sterilizer, there's a sponge on that, it then goes to the protein skimmer then to the heater and ball things and then to the rings but there's no sponge there and then filters back to the tank

Hiya I went to the fish shop and saw a nice fish and when I asked about it they said it grows 13 inch is that in the wild or in a tank as well?

Hiya do you have any good websites that have fish diseases on?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fattimoo

hiya i went to the fish shop and saw a nice fish and when i asked about it they said it grows 13 inch is that in the wild or in a tank as well?

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It will certainly grow to 13 inches in a tank that is the appropriate size for it.
Otherwise it's growth will be stunted and it will die.

Most often I refer to my fish book for all my needs unless I find a website that goes along the same line as the book because there is a lot of bad information on lots of websites.
I'll check a few websites for you tonight and give you links to the ones I feel are correct.

Is everything going OK?

Yeah thanks everything seems fine at the moment I've got two clown fish a well now and they are fine. My crabs got eggs again! Good job they don't get to become fully grown crab or id endup with too many!

I love clown fish, they are my favorite!
I'm glad everything is going good.

I've been reading a questions page on a different site about orca marine tanks and I've just realised my protein skimmer hasn't been on! How stupid am I. what does the protein skimmer do? I've done water tests and my nitrate has gone up its red now my nitrite is 0 and my ammonia 0. hen I went to the shop they said it doesn't really matter all their nitrates are all over is this true?

You know all the frothy white foam that the water gets? The protein skimmer helps the tank not to get it. Might be why you were having the white build up.
I like to keep my nitrates low because I feel it does matter.
It is a form of a toxin, not nearly as dangerous as ammonia and nitrites, but it is a byproduct (waste) of bacteria and therefore a toxin to fish - which can make them acceptable to disease.
So, in my opinion, it matters.
You're probably having a hard time keeping nitrate levels down due to the size of the tank. Are you still doing weekly water changes?

Yeah I feel it matters as well I've done a test on my tap water to see if that contains any nitrate and its come up zero 5 at the most so at least I know that's not the problem. I've been on a website I think its Fishkeeping.com - aquarium care fish keeping Resources and Information. This website is for sale! and on the questions page its full of people who have bought the same tank as I've got and a lot of people say the protein skimmers crap and doesn't work its good to see water I can do to improve mine but someone was saying the bioballs (I think that's what they are called) that are in the same compartment as my heater cause nitrate and they've taken them out. Do you know anything about them and do you think I should take mine out in case that's what's causing it? Also I was thinking(not good when I get thinking haha) maybe my tank hasn't cycled yet? I've had it running for just over 2 months and fish in 2months with the live rock but when I got my nitrate test and tested it it was 10 I think and didn't move and just recently its gone up. I do a water change every week sometimes twice depending on my water tests

You're tank is cycled. You can tell by your water readings, plus you have live rock.
Your water is testing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and you have a nitrate reading.
This is what it should be in a cycled aquarium, so no worries there, your tank is cycled.
The bio ball are important, they need to stay in the tank.
Nitrates come from the last stage in the cycling process (not anything from the tank or filters).
It is the waste from the good bacteria in the last stage of the cycling process.
In nature, plants, algae, etc feed on them and remove them from the water, but in an aquarium they are removed by water changes.

Yeah thank you I've been reading stuff off the internet and you read different things and I never know what to think. I read someone say something about a nitrate sponge that takes the nitrate out of the water in your opinion does it work? Thanks for your help!

Yes they help.
The Prime water conditioner that I mentioned before is what I prefer to use. Using both the prime and the sponge could help detoxify and remove the nitrate and that would probably benefit your tank a lot.

Thanks for your help would it be safe to put the sponge with my ceramic rings?

Depending on which one you buy, it will tell you on the instructions where to put it. The only ones I've seen personally are in their own individual bags (kind of looks like a net type bag) and the whole bag was placed inside the filter. Most filters has designated chambers (I call them baskets) for stuff that you'd like to add, if your filter has one of these, that's where you'd put it.

Yeah maybe that's the one with the ceramic rings they are in nets. What fish do you have? I'm always asking you advice and I've never asked you, how bigs your tank? I like them porky puffers they have cute faces are there any type o puffer I could have?

I have a 55 gallon (208 liters) saltwater with 4 spotted cardinals, a royal gramma basslet, and an ocellaris clown.

A 55 gallon (208 liters) rift lake set up with assorted africian cichlids.

A 55 gallon freshwater with 2 angels, 2 gorimies, a dojo loach, and a scool of glass tetras.

And a 20 gallon (75 liters) with 4 fantail goldfish.

I don't know of any puffers that would do. They are cute though aren't they.