newbie starting out

[catshanon]

Hi Everyone,
I had gotten some live sand and a pound of live rock along with some cycled saltwater. I added all of these in a 14g tank, added a Koralia 1 and a heater and had my 96W 10K CF on it for 7 or 8 hours. This was almost a month ago.

Two weeks earlier, I had gotten some live sand from a fellow member and I had added some portion of that live sand in the 14g. The sand bed is 4" thick in the 14g and my goal was to keep the rock and sand "live". Over the period of the month, slimy green stuff engulfed the tank and I had removed those.

Today, I checked the rocks, and I found a couple of centipede/millepede like worm in one of the holes. Apart from those , I did not notice any other thing. Some turbo snails are still present, but I am not sure if they are alive or not.

Is my sand and rock still alive ? or do I need to start over fresh ? Also, can I add hermit crabs now, or should I do some tests before I add them ?

Thanks in advance for any help.
Raj

[kevNnic]

how much live rock have u added? a pound? or 14 pounds? you should have 1 pound of live rock per every gallon. If the snails are alive, they should be active. Have u checked your water levels?

[catshanon]

how much live rock have u added? a pound? or 14 pounds? you should have 1 pound of live rock per every gallon. If the snails are alive, they should be active. Have u checked your water levels?

Its just a pound of live rock, and my water level has dropped 1/2 an inch. I took the snails in my hand and tapped them, and could still feel their soft flesh (so, am I guessing correctly that they are alive ?)

I have 60 pounds of base rock that will be seeded with these live rock, so I am just trying to keep the one pound of live rock alive.



I can see one small snail moving about nicely :-) :-), so is it safe to assume that the sand bed is live ? and can I add a hermit crab and a sand sifting starfish?

[Aquattro]

The "live" part is simply the bacteria in the rock and sand, so yes, it's still alive. In a 14g tank, I'd add about 8-10 pounds of rock, depending on porosity. Do some small water changes to dilute any nutrients from th erock and sand, which is why you've got green stuff everywhere.

[catshanon]

The "live" part is simply the bacteria in the rock and sand, so yes, it's still alive. In a 14g tank, I'd add about 8-10 pounds of rock, depending on porosity. Do some small water changes to dilute any nutrients from th erock and sand, which is why you've got green stuff everywhere.

I will be transferring everything from the 14g to a 60g. I just added some dry sand in the 60G and will be putting my 50lbs of dead base rock in the 60G.

So, how should I go about transferring the sand from the 14G to the 60G ? just a simple transfer will do ?

Thanks in advance.

[schroeder]

So, how should I go about transferring the sand from the 14G to the 60G ? just a simple transfer will do ?

place the live sand in the new tank in 3 or 4 mounds. Do not just scatter it evenly in the 60g tank.

BTW. the 'centipede' like worm is probably a bristle worm... a beneficial detrivore. You should avoid touching it however as the sharp bristles can irritate, or may even be toxic.

[ALang]

If the snail/ crab is dead, you'll know it when you pick it up! Give it a sniff, cautiously, and if it is dead, it'll have this incredibly awful decomposition smell. If it smells like regular sea water, salty, then it is still good.

[kevNnic]

sounds like your on the right trail, but it is going to take forever to seed your base rock with only a pound of LR.

[catshanon]

Thanks to everyone for the comments, it sure helps to get assurance.

sounds like your on the right trail, but it is going to take forever to seed your base rock with only a pound of LR.


If the sand is live, that should also seed the base rock, won't it ?

I will look for 3 or 4 more pounds of good purple rock once I have transferred the live sand to my main tank.

Thanks again for the help.