Mich

I find myself doing the same thing unless I switch out all the established crabs with new little ones. This usually buys me + or - a year of cease fire. What I'd really like though is to engineer a means of perpetual harmony. Has anyone evr acheived this? There must be a way to beat nature!

Yeah the Mexican red legs are my preffered crab. Regardless, I know in a years time I'll still be fishing them out to replace with smaller specimens. They have $.99 tiny blue legs at the LFS by my house. So I've been leaning in that direction. In my experience their temprement isn't that much worse than the red legs. Plus, I've got hundreds of empty shells. I'm thinking, is a big crab less likely to kill a small snail? As my crabs grow should I replace my dead gastropods with ones that are too small for my monstrous crabs to host in? How can I most effectively exploit the nature of crabs and snails so that it is less costly and time consuming to me? Are there some simple alternatives that I'm over looking?

I've recently setup a 156 gallon reef and am considering what types of algae eaters to put in. In the past I've started new systems with with a mixture of trochus and cerith snails as well as blue / red leg hermit crabs. This is usually an effective system for about a year until the crab's carnivorous tendencies begin to manifest and then I find myself decrabbing the tank. There have been times in the past that I've tried to go completely crabless, but even turbos dont seem to do the good rock job like little crabs. Then I've got to go in with the toothbrush (which I hate). I know that there are some very mixed opinions on hermit crabs. Anyone have some input on this situation? Should I just recrab once a year? Go crabless? emerald crabs?

Thank you both for your responses, I've actually been leaning toward the turboflotor for a couple of days now. The ASM G1, looks decent as well, but since you've both mentioned the turboflotor, I tend to feel my inclination strengthening in that direction. However I'd like to know a little more more about recirculating skimmers before I make a decision. Do you know what Brian Ward calls his?

Hi, I've recently started putting together a new 156 gallon reef setup. For the sump I'm using a 45 gallon aquarium (36L X 13W X 24H) wich has already become fairly crowded with various media and equipment. Right now I'm in the process of shopping for a protein skimmer. My objective is to have something I can put outside the sump that won't collide with the underside of the tank. My two primary issues are that my stand is 36" high and my sump is 24", I want to keep the outlets of the skimmer level or above the water in the sump, but still have enough room to take off the cup to empty the skimmate. Also, my sump is pretty full already, so there's not much room for putting the skimmer inside. So I'm thinking, would putting upward ninety degree elbows on the outlets of the skimmer reap disastrous consequences? Or, is there possibly a skimmer that doesn't require the outlet(s) to be at or above the sump water level? What if I connect the outlet to the suction side of a power head? Any input or suggestions would be highly highly appreciated. Thanks, Mike