Confused on CUC to add? Also, to use bioballs and carbon, or no?

[Meglovin]

I have heard many different opinions on all these areas.

To start, I have a 29 gallon BioCube that I am using as my first saltwater tank.

First: the CUC I should add. My tank is on day 4 of the cycle, so I still have a while, but I'm trying to research and find the best CUC to add. I hear different things online than I do in forums than I do talking to my LFS. Asterea snails, nerite snails, and tronchus snails; what is really the difference? Just the fact that if the asterea snail flips over, it will die? Which would be best to add to my tank, and since they eat algae, should I wait to add them until algae develops? Or should I add them first and feed them veggies?

For nassarius snails, my sand bed will only be 2-3 inches since it is a smaller tank. Will this pose a problem? Are they really good to have?

I've heard hermit crabs will eat snails, so I've been told to choose one or the other. Is this true? I've also heard some species are more aggressive, like the blue-legged hermit crab. Should I add hermit crabs in addition to snails, or just one or the other? If one or the other, which one is better?

I really wanted to add shrimp as well, especially the pistol shrimp for my future watchman goby. I've heard the crab and shrimp may be incompatible, though. Can I add the shrimp, snails, and crabs, or am I limited in this regard? How many shrimp can I add if I can have them?

Bioballs are another topic of debate I've heard about. Some people love them, some hate them. Will they really make my nitrates spike? What if I swish them around in some saltwater every few months? Is there something better to use than the bioballs? The BioCube is supposed to use sponge, but the sponge that I had handy didn't fit properly and was blocking the flow to the last chamber, so I got rid of it. Should I purchase the right sponge, or no?

And lastly, on carbon; I've always used carbon for my freshwater tanks and am using it now. I have heard some people say not to use it during the cycle, have heard others say don't use it at all, and some that say carbon is fine whenever. So, which is it?

Thank you for helping solve my confusion!

[Meglovin]

Also, on live rock; I only purchased two pieces of "man made" live rock that contained no hitchhikers, but for my next batch, I'm confused what to do. Some people are saying that hitchhikers on rocks provide the tank with necessary life, while others are saying to always "cure" the rock first. But wouldn't this eliminate the good things also? So what do I do?

[mtaquarist]

I have blue and red leg hermets AND snails and they never seem to bother each other. If a snail flips over and can't right itself then the crabs will get them so I wouldn't get snails that can't. Nassarius snails are great and from what I've seen a 2 to 3 inch sand bed is fine.

[mtaquarist]

Originally Posted by Meglovin

Also, on live rock; I only purchased two pieces of "man made" live rock that contained no hitchhikers, but for my next batch, I'm confused what to do. Some people are saying that hitchhikers on rocks provide the tank with necessary life, while others are saying to always "cure" the rock first. But wouldn't this eliminate the good things also? So what do I do?

You don't have to have live rock. You can get dry rock and then seed it with bacteria in a bottle which makes it live rock. "live" rock just means it has that bacteria. I recoment this so you don't get any pests. If you do get live rock you need to cure it. Also any man made rock needs to soak in ro water to release any toxins.

[ryeguyy84]

First of all welcome!

I also have a biocube so I can give you advise on what I did I have the HQI so it's a little different. First, ditch the bio balls, its not worth the time you'll spend to keep clean. Get yourself a media basket from media baskets dot com. Or make your own there Diys out there.

I run gfo and the occasional carbon to clean up the water.

When you say man mad live rock do you mean the real reef rocks?

[ryeguyy84]

Oh I also have snails and hermits. I got my CUC from reef cleaners (sponsor).

Hermits may kill the snails if they like their shell better but usually if you leave some shells out they will swap for an empty one.

[Cymonous]

Originally Posted by mtaquarist

You don't have to have live rock. You can get dry rock and then seed it with bacteria in a bottle which makes it live rock. "live" rock just means it has that bacteria. I recoment this so you don't get any pests. If you do get live rock you need to cure it. Also any man made rock needs to soak in ro water to release any toxins.

You don't need to cure live rock. You just add the rock to your tank when starting a cycle.

[Meglovin]

Thank you both for taking the time to read and respond; I really appreciate it!

Most of my rock is dry, but I did add the two pieces (4-5 pounds) of the "man made" live rock. At my LFS, the two types of live rock they had were the Fiji live rock and the "man made" live rock. The "man made" was covered with that purple hue and was $3 cheaper per pound than the Fiji rock. They just said that the man made wouldn't contain any of the critters or hitchhikers that the Fiji rock would contain; but I mostly purchased it because it was cheaper.

For the media basket, will this just contain the sponge, carbon, and something similar to the biomax media? I watched a video and the design of the basket seemed similar to that of my AquaClear for my freshwater system. Is that its primary purpose?

[mtaquarist]

Originally Posted by Cymonous

You don't need to cure live rock. You just add the rock to your tank when starting a cycle.

He would need to if it was after the cycle though right? That's probably where I got confused.

As for the snails and crabs I have A LOT of empty shells and I witness them changing pretty often which is pretty cool. My point is maybe thats why mine don't bother my snails.

[mtaquarist]

Filtration has a lot to do with what YOU want. My tank uses only the rock and sand for bio filtration with no problems. Then I have a hob with just filter floss type stuff and carbon bags in it and a hob skimmer. I make sure one of my power heads is pushing a lot of water through the rocks for the bio filtration. I'm also confused on the use of carbon but I've ran it for a month not and it seems fine. I didn't run it for my cycle.

[Cymonous]

Originally Posted by mtaquarist

He would need to if it was after the cycle though right? That's probably where I got confused.

As for the snails and crabs I have A LOT of empty shells and I witness them changing pretty often which is pretty cool. My point is maybe thats why mine don't bother my snails.

If the tank was already cycled, then yes it would need to be cured first.

[Sk8r]

First of all, read the stickies: they're up there because they contain advice, not rumor. You've gotten quite a few pieces of advice that are applicable in some situations, actually harmful in others. Go check out the stickies and take notes where applicable. You don't have to read all 2830 replies, just the original post will do in most instances.

[ryeguyy84]

Originally Posted by Meglovin

For the media basket, will this just contain the sponge, carbon, and something similar to the biomax media? I watched a video and the design of the basket seemed similar to that of my AquaClear for my freshwater system. Is that its primary purpose?

Yeah basically. I have a sponge, then gfo then carbon.

I also removed the sponge between chamber 2 and 3 bcaa use chances are you'll forget to clean it and it will get nasty.

[Meglovin]

Thank you all; I'll definitely try making the media basket!

[darkiss]

If u run gfo will ur snails die off due to lack of food?