I got some new goodies!!

[rebekwl]

My hubby bought me some goodies yesterday. I couldn't wait to get home from work to see what he bought. When I got there there was a DAMSEL in our DISPLAY tank!!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!! I couldn't tell him all that was wrong because he was trying to be nice, but that fish was deffinitely no where on my fish list, especially as a first fish. He also bought a turbo snail which is huge. It's really cool, but I hadn't planned on getting any because I don't want them rearranging my tank. He also bought a new power head and I feel so sorry for my anemone because no matter how I position that damn thing the poor anemone looks like it's going to be blown right off it's rock. So, let's see.

GOOD:
My husband went out to do something nice and bought me some goodies for the tank.

BAD:
1. He bought a damsel which will probably harrass any other fish I put in there. Oh, AND he put it directly into the display, AND I swear I saw a little white spot on it's tail. (said he doesn't trust the QT for some reason)
2. He bought a turbo snail which will more than likely destroy all of my aquascaping, plus he did not acclimate the poor thing so it just sat there (probably in shock) all night. It seriously did not move at all, I thought it was dead until I tried putting it on the glass and it spread out. It was crawling all around this morning. Hopefully it will stay OFF THE ROCKS!
3. The poor anemone looks like it's going to be blown away. Does anyone know if condys enjoy a ton of flow? I swear I have positioned that power head every way I can possibly think of and it's still hanging on for dear life. Could it just be enjoying the flow?

Questions:
Is it possible that the damsel could be mellow? I know he got it because he loves the bright blue, and I know he doesn't want to ever get rid of it. What are good tank mates for damsels? I really want a goby of some sort, would it more than likely leave a goby alone since they stay on the bottom most of the time?
When you all talk about turbo snails knocking things over, are you talking mainly about corals, or rocks and all? I will be very upset if it knocks a rock onto my anemone.
Sorry about all the questions, I'm just not quite sure what to do now because I no longer have a clean slate!! Am I overreacting about all this?

Thanks so much everyone!

[Triggerjay]

I have a very large turbo snail in my tank. (I named him Paco). He has never been any trouble. I would be more concerned with the anemone. I am assuming this is a new tank? My wife kind of did the same thing. She went out and bought me a Pacific blue tang, and a chocolate chip star for my reef tank... which is only 55g.. too small for the tang, and the star is a coral eater. I kept the tang, but the star had to go. I'm sure your LFS will take the unwanted critters in trade for store credit. I am using the blue tang as an excuse to upgrade to a larger tank. He seems happy now, but I know in the long run, I will need a bigger tank. I have a 75g that is set up for a frag swap I am hosting, and it will become his new home after the swap. Good luck to you, and give the hubby a big hug and tell him you appreciate the gesture, and explain to him why buying them was a mistake.

Jason

[rebekwl]

Well, the anemone has been in there for a couple of months. It was actually one of the first inhabitants when we first set up the tank. We had ALOT of problems adn got ALOT of bad advice, and I was going to take it back to the LFS, but hubby said it must stay. It was surprisingly the only thing that survived the great tragedy. It has been doing great in there all alone with the CUC and the shrimp. I am concerned about the powerhead disturbing it now though. I don't know for sure though, it could be enjoying it. I guess I will see if it has moved when I get home. I'm glad to hear that Paco does not disturb anything in your tank. Hopefully mine will do the same. Does Paco go on the rocks at all, or does he mainly stick to the glass and sand? Thanks for your advice!!

[vdituri]

My turbos go everywhere. It has taught me to attach my corals really well.
Even then I get a few bumps here and there. I can stand putting my tank back together now and again versus algae everywhere.

[Triggerjay]

Paco goes everywhere, but he has done no damage.

Jason

[michael_cb_125]

I have 25 turbo snails in my 100 gallon tank, along with 25 margarita snails, 20 nassarius, and 15 ceriths. The turbos do a GREAT gob at cleaning my tank. They eat the thicker hair algea that the other snails will not touch. As long as you have your coral or rock secured they should not be a problem. And I have a huge one that is 3 iches long. My turbos stay on the rock at night at on the glass during the day. They even graze off the sand.If you secure all items that could be potentially knocked over, the turbo should not be a problem As for the damsel if he is the only one in there you should not have too many problems. If you have two or more they may gang up on new additions. A single one should not be too big of a problem.

[rebekwl]

Thanks guys. Looks like I will have to try out the under water glueing. I've heard it can be loads of fun!! I have some rocks that are not exactly stable. I did not want to glue them together, in case I wanted to rescape later. Does it come off easily? I would rather have my rocks glued together though, than have them falling all over the place all the time. I really like the turbo snail, just don't want him rearranging.

I will deffinitely keep it down to ONE damsel. Hopefully he will be a good boy. He's a very pretty fish and my tank is only a 55 gal, so I don't have a huge selection of fish to choose from. OF COURSE I will be upgrading at some point in the future though, maybe my hubby will get a tang (like your wife Jason) adn we can upgrade sooner.

Do the turbos do a really good job on the sand or just graze here and there? I have some kind of dark green algae that the snails and hermits eat most of at night, then it growns back the next day. I'm hoping he can nix that for me.

Thanks guys!

[rDr4g0n]

turbos do glass and rocks. conchs graze on sand. my nassarius snails move the sand around, but they never eat off of the sand.

sometimes damsels can be ok... what kinda damsel is it?

[michael_cb_125]

My turbo snails will graze algea off of the sand, if it grows in sheets. Conchs are also very effective aglae eaters, I have 5 in my tank and they clean up the red algea very quickly.

[rebekwl]

I went looking for conchs on Saturday and could only find 1 tiny one. my hubby went looking for them again yesterday and couldn't find one, so he got the turbo snail instead. The algae is sort of growing in sheets, but the turbo seems to like the glass better so he hasn't been too much help so far. I'll give him some time. How big do the conchs usually come. I pictured them being much better than the one I saw in the store. It was like 1/2" long.

I found this pic of the damsel online. It is call a Blue DEVIL Damsel, this is EXACTLY what it looks like. The article that the pic was attatched to said that they are very agressive and should be introduced last into your setup, if at all. I'm sad now. Seems like this is the fish from hell, and the last one you should have in your setup. Do you think it'll be ok? I deffinitely want more fish, but do not want this thing killing them all.

[michael_cb_125]

My turbos actually graze off of the sand as much as they do the glass. I dont know if I just got a wierd batch, or if this normal. But they do this in two of my tanks. As for the conchs, I have queen conchs and they arrived at about one inch. If they wee any bigger they could be a problem and would most likely starve. I supplement mine will aglea sheets and bits of meaty foods.
The blue devils are some of the more aggressive damsels. You can wait to see what he does when you add other fish. If he attacks, then you can try moving around some of your rock. This will break up his territory and he could slack off on the beating. When I first started SW tanks I had two stripped damsels. I added a bi-color blenny later, and had no problems. Since they were still small they had not developed the super aggressive behavior. Damsels are the most aggressive when adults, or after they have a territory established. "Give him a chance he may be a NINCE damsel"

[rebekwl]

Alright, I'll give him a chance. Hopefully he will be good. He seems pretty hyper, maybe I should add my next fish before he establishes his territory. I will try moving around the rocks if he gets aggressive.

Maybe I will get the tiny conch after all. I imagined them being bigger than that for some reason. I really like the queen conchs, but I am going to go with a fighting conch so there is less chance of it starving. I will get 1 to start with and see how it does. God knows I have pleanty of algae for him to eat!! I hope one can handle it. I could also feed algae sheets if he gets it super clean, which he hopefully will.

Just curious, how do you feed them meaty food? Do you just leave it on the sand for them? I know my nassarius snails come out everytime I put any food in there, it's pretty cool. I'm scared to leave food on the sand though, in case they don't get to it. I usually put a small piece of krill near my starfish, and had feed my shrimp (since until now I have not had any fish in the tank). I guess I will drop in a couple pieces of mysis for the damsel once a day.

Thanks!