My first post!

[kg4izw]

My name is Paul and I live here in Birmingham. I live over next to the Summit off 280. I had 2 salt water tanks while I was growing up, but broke them down when I went off to college. I went by the fish store the other day to get a new filter for my pond fountain and came home with a small tank and filter for my den! I have 3 pounds of rock and a damsel fish as a guest till the tank grows some bacteria. Just wanted to say hi, and I cant believe how much the technology for salt water tanks has changed over the past 15 years. Things look soooo much simpler.
Oh wait, I have a question. There seems to be a small crab that hitched a ride home in my live rock. He is the size of my pinky fingernail and is gray with no shell. Usually all I get to see is one arm he sticks out to grab a bite and then it disappears again. Is it good to have this crab, or could he be trouble??? thanks, paul b

[scothew]

Welcome to the site Paul.

Not sure on the crab, usually they arent bad, but it really depends on what type he is. If you can get a pic, that'd be best.

[Opiy]

Welcome !

[alafish]

[welcome]

[Mariner]

Welcome!
Hitchhiker crabs can be real criminals, but sometimes they're harmless. Depends on which specific crab it is.
A lot has changed in this hobby in recent years. Like you, I was out of it for a decade and a half; getting back into it was worse than if I had been starting new because I had to "unlearn" so many things -- many old "facts" and "proven methods" are now called "myths" and "poor husbandry" :rolleyes:
Anyway, few people would use a damsel to get the bacteria going anymore; the current thinking is that its cruel to the damsel and you probably won't him in your tank later anyway when he turns aggressive toward newcomers. Most people just use the bacteria on good live rock to get things rolling.
FWIW,
Mariner

[8BALL_99]

Mariner forgot to mention that Damsels also can be a PITB to catch out of a tank.lol

As far as the crab goes.. If you dont know what he is take him out.... Most of them are bad.. Its better to get him out of your tank now then wait till later when its packed with rock and coral. If you can post a picture of him that might help. If you can't get him out of his hole. Simply remove the rock and poor som freshwater in there.. He will run out like you lit a match under him!! Then taking a picture is very easy ;)
Welcome BTW


Will

[XeniaMania]

Welcome

[tulkas71]

Hey Paul,

I Work over at the Colonnade, (though i live in Alabaster) so for a good part of the day were neighbors :)
Maybe ill run into you at the dairyqueen over there, lol
Heres a link to a thread with some pics at my meager setup.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=789314
Heh the moral of that story is never go Crushed Coral.

Yes, i also go along with the fishless cycle.
How small is your tank? 3 pounds of live rock is miniscule unless your doing a nano reef tank. and im not sure if nano is a good way to jump back into the hobby.

Anywho,
Great to meet ya.
Anthony

[kg4izw]

thank you for all the nice welcome notes. I got 3 snails a couple of days ago, and I can now see so many new colors on the rock that I never knew were even there. I am ready to get some more live rock, but my wife now tells me there are 3 tiny crabs that are living in the rock. I think I need to remove them and ID them before I crowd things up and this becomes very difficult. I spoke with the owner of the fish store and he said they were Emerald crabs. I think it would be better if I make sure this is the case.
Will it not hurt the rock to run it under fresh water??? I have so many pretty mushrooms and other tiny beautiful soft-looking blobs that I don't want to kill. But the crabs never come out when I feed the brine shrimp to the fish. Should I run the rock under the tap water, or should I dechlorinate some first, and then pour it into the holes where they reside? I'm not sure how to handle this. Thanks again for such a warm welcome. I will be interested in possibly ordering from that mail-order place if an order gets planned some time in the next month or so. I will keep a look on the other thread to see those arrangements. paul b