Faux-Reef?

Try caluerpa grasses or halmidia they look cool and your fish can eat
the caulerpa.

Can you add Caulerpa while the tank is cycling? Do this plant play any role
in the cycle? Will it survive if I put some in?

Feather dusters don't need light either, but they do need
to filter a lot of food. The dirtier the tank, the happier
they are.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



George Patterson wrote on 9/23/2006 10:33 PM:
StringerBell wrote:

I thought the tank could be pretty nice with a bunch of feather
dusters and some sponges. Am I right in thinking that the dusters are
less delicate and easier to maintain than those other reef inverts?

Yep. They need less light than most corals. Just make sure you don't buy
a fish that eats them and don't overfilter the water.

How about sponges--- are some types also on the less delicate side?

As Wayne reminded me, many sponges don't like much light. Put them under
an overhang. They also like a fairly "dirty" tank. Most of what I know
about them comes from reading; I had one as a live rock hitchhiker. It
did well for a while, but a butterfly I bought to eliminate aiptasia ate
it. I had fairly standard fluorescent lighting, which is probably
insufficient for feather dusters but (apparently) good for sponges.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are
permanent.

Yes fish produce more ammonia.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



StringerBell wrote on 9/23/2006 11:19 PM:
Back-in-the-day I remember the LFS guys saying that the bio-load
(waste-amonia production) of adding inverts to a tank was miniscule compared
to adding fish.

Is this true? Once the tank is cycled, can I add , say, a dozen feather
dusters with half-dollar sized crowns simultaneously without creating a
water hazard? Or, since they are worms, do they produce enough waste where
adding this many would be a concern?

corals going.

How about sponges--- are some types also on the less delicate side?

Sponges are filter feeders too. As a general rule, small sponges that come
on your live rock are easier to keep than larger sponges.


just echo that
sponges are hard!
Ya need lots fresh sea water

Just beware of hungry puffers, ******* hermit crabs and nasty spine cheek
clowns.
had a few of those worm things.... ummm die on me
but aside from that very cool and tough to in a mature tank


"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
nk.net...
Feather dusters don't need light either, but they do need to filter a lot
of food. The dirtier the tank, the happier they are.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



George Patterson wrote on 9/23/2006 10:33 PM:
StringerBell wrote:

I thought the tank could be pretty nice with a bunch of feather dusters
and some sponges. Am I right in thinking that the dusters are less
delicate and easier to maintain than those other reef inverts?

Yep. They need less light than most corals. Just make sure you don't buy
a fish that eats them and don't overfilter the water.

How about sponges--- are some types also on the less delicate side?

As Wayne reminded me, many sponges don't like much light. Put them under
an overhang. They also like a fairly "dirty" tank. Most of what I know
about them comes from reading; I had one as a live rock hitchhiker. It
did well for a while, but a butterfly I bought to eliminate aiptasia ate
it. I had fairly standard fluorescent lighting, which is probably
insufficient for feather dusters but (apparently) good for sponges.

George Patterson
All successes in conservation are temporary. All defeats are
permanent.

"StringerBell" wrote in message
...
Can you add Caulerpa while the tank is cycling? Do this plant play any
role in the cycle? Will it survive if I put some in?


yes chuck it in
I have used it in sumps before
it eats nitrate and ammonia
sorta vege filter
by removing excess growth you remove nitrates from the tank