Avoiding the ugly stage?!?

[Exotrezy]

Not in my tank. It's all inclusive euphoria

I always seem to end up with one so now I just keep one per tank to enjoy.

No LFS here so my goal is to always have snails live lonnnnng time if I can or have those that naturally reproduce in our tanks. Don’t want to pay $40-$65 to replenish snails.

Surprised you would say it would crash. Some don’t run/use much cuc but then again there are other methods I suppose like fish and what not.

There is a lot of different hermits to get - I agree that the blue leggs is not the best - they are rather aggressive.

Its true that some hermits try to eat snails - however - they are not primary after the shell - they are after their flesh - but it is also true that healthy snails has a very effective defence against hermit attacks. They simply close the door. IME - hermits only succeed to attack snails that are dying or in bad condition. They just does their job - cleaning up.

Algae eating snails and algae eating hermits prefer different type of algae, hence its important to have both types of organisms. Urchins are also a good members in the clean up team.


Some are more herbivorous - especially some of the small species. I have at least 20 + of at least 4 species of hermits and also the same amount of different snail. Every half a year or so - I buy a lot of around 10 of different species (hermits and snails).

These and my urchins is my most important inhabitants. Without them - the system will sooner or later crash.

Sincerely Lasse

They do, but at a potential cost. It is not really THAT big of a deal, just my preference to not have to constantly buy new snails.

The person I am buying from said that hermits do kill snails but the ones he has are smaller so they shouldn't

 

[Lavey29]

The person I am buying from said that hermits do kill snails but the ones he has are smaller so they shouldn't

Just normal reef life. Same in the ocean.

 

[Tamberav]

Some people said that API phosphate is pretty good. Is that true?

No, I never found it to be sensitive enough. Chart on that one goes up in large increments.

I would just do Salifert then

 

[Exotrezy]

No, I never found it to be sensitive enough. Chart on that one goes up in large increments.

I would just do Salifert then

Ok

 

[Exotrezy]

No, I never found it to be sensitive enough. Chart on that one goes up in large increments.

I would just do Salifert then

The person I am buying from recommended me a cleaner or fire shrimp. He said I should get one. Do I need to and what do they help with?

 

[Exotrezy]

Just normal reef life. Same in the ocean.

The person I am buying from recommended me a cleaner or fire shrimp. He said I should get one. Do I need to and what do they help with?

 

[Exotrezy]

They do, but at a potential cost. It is not really THAT big of a deal, just my preference to not have to constantly buy new snails.

I think you could use the search here for test kits, but there is definitely a preference for hannah for some, and salifert for others.

While I can test for dang near anything, I think the only times I will test for certain things if I think something is off. ALK stability is pretty important assuming you're keeping corals. Most other parameters people worry about have wildly wide ranges that work in different tanks.... So theres a lot of us that decide not to chase numbers.

ATM I'm in the camp of testing is a tool for diagnosing a problem. All but one torch in my tank looks great, and the one torch just isn't all that extended today, and it will probably be fine tomorrow.

The person I am buying from recommended me a cleaner or fire shrimp. He said I should get one. Do I need to and what do they help with?

 

[Exotrezy]

No, I never found it to be sensitive enough. Chart on that one goes up in large increments.

I would just do Salifert then

Just normal reef life. Same in the ocean.

So I was filling my water up for a water change and my TDS meter is reading 1 PPM, I remember when I first filled my water up it was reading 0 PPM and sometimes 1 PPM, So could it be my RODI, I don't really think that the 1 PPM would be making that much of a difference.

 

[Exotrezy]

They do, but at a potential cost. It is not really THAT big of a deal, just my preference to not have to constantly buy new snails.

I think you could use the search here for test kits, but there is definitely a preference for hannah for some, and salifert for others.

While I can test for dang near anything, I think the only times I will test for certain things if I think something is off. ALK stability is pretty important assuming you're keeping corals. Most other parameters people worry about have wildly wide ranges that work in different tanks.... So theres a lot of us that decide not to chase numbers.

ATM I'm in the camp of testing is a tool for diagnosing a problem. All but one torch in my tank looks great, and the one torch just isn't all that extended today, and it will probably be fine tomorrow.

So I was filling my water up for a water change and my TDS meter is reading 1 PPM, I remember when I first filled my water up it was reading 0 PPM and sometimes 1 PPM, So could it be my RODI, I don't really think that the 1 PPM would be making that much of a difference.

 

[Exotrezy]

There is a lot of different hermits to get - I agree that the blue leggs is not the best - they are rather aggressive.

Its true that some hermits try to eat snails - however - they are not primary after the shell - they are after their flesh - but it is also true that healthy snails has a very effective defence against hermit attacks. They simply close the door. IME - hermits only succeed to attack snails that are dying or in bad condition. They just does their job - cleaning up.

Algae eating snails and algae eating hermits prefer different type of algae, hence its important to have both types of organisms. Urchins are also a good members in the clean up team.


Some are more herbivorous - especially some of the small species. I have at least 20 + of at least 4 species of hermits and also the same amount of different snail. Every half a year or so - I buy a lot of around 10 of different species (hermits and snails).

These and my urchins is my most important inhabitants. Without them - the system will sooner or later crash.

Sincerely Lasse

To address the OP's original question... No, there is not a way to avoid the uglies when establishing the tank using the method you chose. Diatoms will be the first of many pests you will need to manage. Adding cleanup crew members that help control the particular ugly pest haunting your tank can help. But really, you are the best cleanup crew. Get yourself a turkey baster, some bottle brushes, a denture toothbrush, and maybe a round brush used for dishes and blow/scrub away your problems repeatedly until they fail to return. Try not to start adding products that claim to eliminate one pest or another. They seldom work.

So I was filling my water up for a water change and my TDS meter is reading 1 PPM, I remember when I first filled my water up it was reading 0 PPM and sometimes 1 PPM, So could it be my RODI, I don't really think that the 1 PPM would be making that much of a difference.

 

[Exotrezy]

I wrote the message a couple of times just to reply to everyone, sorry if you got multiple notifications!

 

[Lavey29]

So I was filling my water up for a water change and my TDS meter is reading 1 PPM, I remember when I first filled my water up it was reading 0 PPM and sometimes 1 PPM, So could it be my RODI, I don't really think that the 1 PPM would be making that much of a difference.

You want 0 TDS

 

[Exotrezy]

You want 0 TDS

Update: Now it shows 0 TDS again, it was probably something that made it past but now the good water i guess "overtook" it and its good now.

 

[Exotrezy]

You want 0 TDS

I think it is just because I got fish and started feeding so the phosphates from the fish food are kicking in and diatoms are happening.

 

[Lavey29]

I think it is just because I got fish and started feeding so the phosphates from the fish food are kicking in and diatoms are happening.

Nope, diatoms is produced in new tanks due to silicate in the sand. It goes away On its own in a few weeks. This has been explained to you now a dozen times. If you are having a hard time understanding that the first year is filled with uglies not sure what else can be said here so good luck and have patience.

 

[BryanM]

Update: Now it shows 0 TDS again, it was probably something that made it past but now the good water i guess "overtook" it and its good now.

1 tds isn't a problem. Most people don't mind 2..... at 2 I start replacing filters, etc to get back to 0.

 

[Exotrezy]

Nope, diatoms is produced in new tanks due to silicate in the sand. It goes away On its own in a few weeks. This has been explained to you now a dozen times. If you are having a hard time understanding that the first year is filled with uglies not sure what else can be said here so good luck and have patience.

I understand that, someone said that their problem was that one of their RODI catridges were old thats why they randomly got diatoms. Sorry I am pretty new so I don't think I was making much sense. I do understand what you mean by the silicates and etc. Some people like Lasse did say that diatoms are also caused by phosphates and not just silicates. Thanks for your help!

 

[Exotrezy]

1 tds isn't a problem. Most people don't mind 2..... at 2 I start replacing filters, etc to get back to 0.

Ok, I am back to 0 tds now

 

[Lavey29]

I understand that, someone said that their problem was that one of their RODI catridges were old thats why they randomly got diatoms. Sorry I am pretty new so I don't think I was making much sense. I do understand what you mean by the silicates and etc. Some people like Lasse did say that diatoms are also caused by phosphates and not just silicates. Thanks for your help!

New tanks get diatoms because of sand silicate and triggered by light. It's normal and it goes away easily. Older tanks may get diatoms if their RODI has silicates in it due to dirty filters. High levels of phosphate may cause diatoms but I find this to be rare. Many people including myself run successful tanks with elevated phosphate levels and have no diatoms issue at all. My phosphate sits around .4 ppm. You just need to be doing weekly water changes especially on a small tank. 15% per week. Siphon your sand.

 

[Tamberav]

The person I am buying from recommended me a cleaner or fire shrimp. He said I should get one. Do I need to and what do they help with?

No you don’t need one. They can annoy corals and steal food. They are ornamental. Basically you can get one if you like the looks and don’t mine their negatives of stealing food and stomping on things but they are not going to clean your tank.

The person sounds like they just want to sell you stuff.