gmerfbox
New Member
I was unwittingly thrust into this hobby in early June, but so far so good! My family and I were on vacation in Florida and brought home 4 large hermit crabs we collected in bay waters. At the time I didn't even know it would be a saltwater tank that would be needed, but when we got home I found myself standing in Petco needing a basic setup to keep these crabs alive. And with the wife's blessing after promising to add fish at some point (and maybe even corals) she allowed us to get into this expensive but great hobby. So I bought the 13.5 Fluval evo nano kit and set it up straight away with live sand and a live rock arch. Crabs had to go in pretty quickly. Then I waited 2 months for levels to settle out with regular water changes.
I am using basically stock everything at the moment. I bought the Fluval heater as well as the Fluval Protein skimmer which fits with the tank. I'm experiencing the same as many on here that the protein skimmer is a pain to keep adjusting since the water levels vary and I may not even need it. At times, it does clear my tank up pretty good, but it would be nice to just get rid of it and maybe use upgraded media baskets as some use on here - that's probably the next change I want to make if appropriate.
As for the crabs, I have 4 thin striped hermit crabs. They are fairly large and I've added some empty shells in there in case any want to switch. A few have molted which came as a complete surprise when I found out that wasn't a dead carcass. My first thought is that my tank might not be big enough for 4 of these guys, so might need to get rid of some. They do indeed do a pretty good job of keeping the sand clean. They also climb up and around rocks pretty regularly so I'm worried they could mess up or even eat any coral frags I might eventually get.
2.5 months in, I added a pair of clownfish and a 6 line wrasse. 2 weeks after that, I added a pajama cardinalfish and a Blue Devil Damselfish because wife wanted more fish. So at the moment, I've got 5 fish and 4 crabs, so I'm probably pushing the limits of this tank right now on livestock. Everyone seems to be getting along quite well though.
Main question - should I get rid of some crabs? we also added some fake anenomes and a plant just to spruce it up a bit and some more dry rock. I do want to add corals eventually, but I'm a ways off from that and worried about doing them with the crabs. 2nd picture shows crabs pretty well, they are some big suckers. tank also is due for a regular cleaning pretty soon, apologies for the build up on the glass.
Livestock:
4 thin striped hermit crabs
2 clownfish
1 six lined wrasse
1 Blue Devil Damselfish
1 pajama cardinalfish
I am using basically stock everything at the moment. I bought the Fluval heater as well as the Fluval Protein skimmer which fits with the tank. I'm experiencing the same as many on here that the protein skimmer is a pain to keep adjusting since the water levels vary and I may not even need it. At times, it does clear my tank up pretty good, but it would be nice to just get rid of it and maybe use upgraded media baskets as some use on here - that's probably the next change I want to make if appropriate.
As for the crabs, I have 4 thin striped hermit crabs. They are fairly large and I've added some empty shells in there in case any want to switch. A few have molted which came as a complete surprise when I found out that wasn't a dead carcass. My first thought is that my tank might not be big enough for 4 of these guys, so might need to get rid of some. They do indeed do a pretty good job of keeping the sand clean. They also climb up and around rocks pretty regularly so I'm worried they could mess up or even eat any coral frags I might eventually get.
2.5 months in, I added a pair of clownfish and a 6 line wrasse. 2 weeks after that, I added a pajama cardinalfish and a Blue Devil Damselfish because wife wanted more fish. So at the moment, I've got 5 fish and 4 crabs, so I'm probably pushing the limits of this tank right now on livestock. Everyone seems to be getting along quite well though.
Main question - should I get rid of some crabs? we also added some fake anenomes and a plant just to spruce it up a bit and some more dry rock. I do want to add corals eventually, but I'm a ways off from that and worried about doing them with the crabs. 2nd picture shows crabs pretty well, they are some big suckers. tank also is due for a regular cleaning pretty soon, apologies for the build up on the glass.
Livestock:
4 thin striped hermit crabs
2 clownfish
1 six lined wrasse
1 Blue Devil Damselfish
1 pajama cardinalfish
