First of all... do any of you actually use the big black sponge? I took mine out for fear of it becoming a nitrate trap. I closed all my vents on the intake so only the surface skimmer is taking in water, and i stuffed the skimmer net with filter wool....

my other question is... I know we have a sticky with a list of "approved" nanofish... but what are you guys ACTUALLY keeping as far as fish and shrimp go? right now i have 2 fire shrimp and a pair of tank raised perc clowns. I'm looking for ideas of what else I can put in there. I'm not a huge fan of gobies at the moment, nothing against them, just not awed by them. anyone keeping a flame angel by chance?

Hi,

I do use the Big black sponge and all vents are open but i do need to take it out to clean it. As far as stock go i have 1 x Perc Clown, 2 x Cromis 1 x Cleaner Shrimp 1x Red leg Hermit and 3 x turbo snails.

next fish is a Firefish then thats it.

regards

Dean

Hi

I have ditched the sponge, from my understanding it is impregnated with carbon, so would need replaceing every couple of months. (if you can get them)

I have just stuffed the compartment with fine floss which i rinse twice a week.

Dougal

I've left the black sponge in but have no idea how often it should be "cleaned".
It's a bit of a pain to get out so i assumed that "rarely" would be the answer.
Any views anyone?

Has anyone else heard of it being carbon impregnated? Not something I'd heard before and I guess it may change how often it should be replaced.

I havent heard about it having carbon, but then again, information on this system from the manufacturer seems scarce to begin with. Ideally, mechanical filter media should be cleaned AT LEAST once a week. I clean my floss every 1-2 days... basically whenever i notice its not white anymore.

Hi all,

That explains why i have heard reference to carbon in the Orca and had no idea where it actually was!!!

I have still got the sponge in but have not cleaned it as yet as i'm terrified of breaking the skimmer tube thingy!! As per my post in the other thread - how can i get it out safely - any tips would be appreciated.

Also how do your skimmers work as mine seems to be very temperamental and does not need 'emptying' very often!

in reply to your stocking question i have sadly lost my 2 clowns recently due to a white spot outbrek but eventually i would like to replace them.

I have in there now:

1 royal Gramma
3 turbo snails
1 cleaner shrimp
4 BL hermits

and am about to introduce a Mithrax (emerald) crab to help control algae.

Aswell as the 2 clows i would also like a red firefish and that will be it all stocked up then!

A flame is not an ideal choice for that tank, they will end up too big for it although they are not fast growers. Cleaner shrimp would be ok? neon gobies? difficult really, other than the recommended ones on that list

yeah... i think i have enough fish for the tank with 4 of them. though my new yellow wrasse is almost always hiding. its quite beautiful when its out and about though.

and in reply to newbie... i dont even use the skimmer, i gave up trying to get it right. I just got a purple firefish, much more colourful than the standard firefish in my opinion, but also more expensive...

i have no experience with emerald crabs, but dont they get quite large?

getting the tube out is easy actually. I just pulled it out and it came out without a struggle, then again, i took it out before i set up the system

Thanks for the reply CMW - i will try to remove the foam tomorow but need to get some more RO water to help clear out any scud it dislodges in the process. I'll let you know how i get on.

Emerald crabs stay quite small (Max of about 3") and are apparantly really useful little fellas to have in a nano to help control unwanted algae (including bubble algae). I am due to go and collect one on thursday so will post pics and more information then. The following link has some basic information about them http://www.etropicals.com/product/pro ... cfm?siteid=43&pCatId=1260