Avoiding the ugly stage?!?

[Lasse]

yellow watchman goby

Cryptocentrus cinctus

From fish base my bold

Inhabits sandy areas of shallow lagoons and protected coastal bays (Ref. 9710). Lives in a burrow with alpheid shrimps. Found in clear coastal sand slopes and lagoons, usually in depth of 10-25 meters

diamond watchman goby

Valenciennea puellaris

From fish base my bold

Inhabits sandy areas of clear lagoon and seaward reefs (Ref. 9710, 48637). Occurs in pairs and use burrows as refuge. Monogamous (Ref. 52884). The burrow is shallow, only a few cm, and made under large pieces of rubble. May be found on dark volcanic sand such as those in the Philippines, Indonesia, and the northern Mariana Is.

Not even the same genus and totally different behavior. Its only in the US this goby is seen as a watchman goby - they do not pair with pistol shrimps

They will take a little pelleted food if it floats right in front of them, but that is not their main food source.

That´s true - no one is feeding pelleted food in the ocean - but they take a lot of natural foods like worms, brine shrimps, copepods and so on. With sufficient water movement they will take these type of food in frozen form in an aquarium.

It is not a fish primary feeding on detritus (organic matter in different stages of decomposition) - it is primary a carnivorous fish feeding on small invertebrates shifted out from the sand.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Exotrezy]

Not even the same genus and totally different behavior. Its only in the US this goby is seen as a watchman goby - they do not pair with pistol shrimps

They have paired with pistol and other types of shrimps from what I read.

 

[Lasse]

They have paired with pistol and other types of shrimps from what I read.

Yea - the yellow watchman will pair but not diamond watchman that DebFerreira thought you have.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Exotrezy]

No, don’t bother testing silicates. It’s not something normally done.

For corals:

Alk
Ca
Mg
PO4
Nitrate

Of your list, the only two snails that eat algae are the turbo and trochus. I would not bother with bumblebee snails unless you have a specific reason to add them.

Ok, that is the list that a local fish guy recommended and I added the trochus as you guys recommended it. Don't add the bumblebee? I can get 2 mexican turbo snails instead of 1 if that would help.

Everything you ask for is in this article. To add 1 or 2 snails to a tank that already shows signs of a diatom monoculture is a joke. You need at least 10 - probably more. These algae double their biomass in less than 24 hours. If you have 1 gr one day - you will have 2 gr next day and so on. You need to have organisms that at least eat the offspring's every day and if you want to se the population decrease you need more grazers. Hermit needs to be more too. People in general is very afraid to add CUC when they do not see any algae - but believe me - they are there in exact that moment you turn the light on. The sooner you introduce CUC, the smaller number you need of them. Let us say that you have a population of diatoms of 1 gr totally - to keep that population in number - you need grazers that eat their daily production of 1 gr. If you wait one day and get a population of 2 gr (base population + produced offspring) - you need a grazer population that eat at least 2 gr/day. Normally you need no CUC before you start the light - but I never start the light before I had introduce at least some CUC. This means that I can start with a smaller number - if I see that growth rate outnumber grazing rate - I go down with or switch of the light and introduce more CUC. For me - that´s the only reason why I would wait some week befor coral introduction - I want to see that my CUC does its job and have a disen light regime.

In the start I have - if possible - the daylength as I would have later on - only play with the intensity.

IMO - if some succeed with only using blue light - its because they run it in low intensity - not because blue photons not will be harvest by algae. I prefer white light.

Sincerely Lasse

The article helped a lot, my problem was that I had brook on my clowns when I got them about 2 months back and had to fallow, so the tank ran for 2 days, then ran empty for 50 days. How many snails would you recommend for my tank? https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-this-diatoms-what-clean-up-crew.1089730/#post-13176891

 

[Exotrezy]

Yea - the yellow watchman will pair but not diamond watchman that DebFerreira thought you have.

Sincerely Lasse

Oh ok, don't have either yet, but hoping to get yellow watchman.

 

[Lasse]

The tank look ok. You do not need to panic. Shout down the light until you get a CUC large enough. Its difficult to advise how large but if it had been my tank - I had started with around 10 algae eating snails and 5 hermits and started my light the day before introduction.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Exotrezy]

The tank look ok. You do not need to panic. Shout down the light until you get a CUC large enough. Its difficult to advise how large but if it had been my tank - I had started with around 10 algae eating snails and 5 hermits and started my light the day before introduction.

Sincerely Lasse

Shut down the light completely? I have 2 coral and 1 anemone in there so can I keep blue on low intensity? Which snails like name wise as most of the ones the person has are algae eating.

 

[Tamberav]

Ok, that is the list that a local fish guy recommended and I added the trochus as you guys recommended it. Don't add the bumblebee? I can get 2 mexican turbo snails instead of 1 if that would help.

The article helped a lot, my problem was that I had brook on my clowns when I got them about 2 months back and had to fallow, so the tank ran for 2 days, then ran empty for 50 days. How many snails would you recommend for my tank? https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/is-this-diatoms-what-clean-up-crew.1089730/#post-13176891

Not enough to eat in there for 2 mexicans, they eat a lot and grow pretty large. Bumblebees are used for eating certain pests and you don't have any.

"Bumble Bee Snails (Engina mendicaria) are tiny snails that are likely to consume sessile invertebrates in your aquarium like vermetid snails and polychaete worms. They also serve as scavengers. Grows to 0.75 inches. "

Bumble Bee Snail

Resides : Rocks and other surfaces Consumes : Vermetid Snails, Detritus, Leftover Fish Food Max Size : 1 or 25mm Origin : South Pacific Availability: Weekly Warnings...

www.reefcleaners.org

 

[Exotrezy]

Not enough to eat in there for 2 mexicans, they eat a lot and grow pretty large. Bumblebees are used for eating certain pests and you don't have any.

"Bumble Bee Snails (Engina mendicaria) are tiny snails that are likely to consume sessile invertebrates in your aquarium like vermetid snails and polychaete worms. They also serve as scavengers. Grows to 0.75 inches. "

Bumble Bee Snail

Resides : Rocks and other surfaces Consumes : Vermetid Snails, Detritus, Leftover Fish Food Max Size : 1 or 25mm Origin : South Pacific Availability: Weekly Warnings...

www.reefcleaners.org

So then what do I get? Should I just remove the bumblebee and get more nassarius?

 

[Tamberav]

So then what do I get? Should I just remove the bumblebee and get more nassarius?

nass don't eat algae either, they just eat left over fish food.

If the bumbles are in there, you can just leave them, they will probably just scavange for scraps.

 

[Exotrezy]

nass don't eat algae either, they just eat left over fish food.

If the bumbles are in there, you can just leave them, they will probably just scavange for scraps.

Nothing is in there yet. Will be getting CUC on monday. Is there anything else I can get to replace the bumblebees?

 

[Tamberav]

Nothing is in there yet. Will be getting CUC on monday. Is there anything else I can get to replace the bumblebees?

If you are looking for stuff to eat your algae/diatoms then you need to buy snails for that... as I said... nerite, cernith, and trochus will do that. They all behave a little different.

Cerith go under the sand during the day and come out at night and will eat algae but also move the sand a bit.

Nerite will go on rocks and glass but also like to hang above the water line and will climb out if you don't have a lid

Trochus are all around good algae cleaners and can flip themselves over but more expensive.

There are many others...

Margaritias eat a good amount of algae but are cold water species and will die prematurely in our tropical tanks.

Astraea snails also algae eaters, common, cheap, but if/when they fall off the rock and land in the sand, they can't get up and if you don't help them flip, the hermit crabs will consume them.

Mexican turbos are great for hair algae but they are also cooler waters and life span may be shorter, they eat a lot and can starve if you don't have enough algae for them. They grow fairly big.

Nass snails will move in the sand but don't eat algae, they will eat left over fish food and anything that is sick or dying in your tank.


Better to buy less and have to add more than end up with too many that starve.


Pick out snails actively moving in the tank or are on the glass. Sometimes if they are just sitting on the bottom, they may be already dying or sometimes LFS will grab an empty shell (not check) and then you pay for an empty shell lol I usually just ask for the ones on the glass.

 

[Chenko]

Patience, patience, patience. If you are used to getting results in hours or days... here it takes weeks or months.

Add copepods and and make sure to feed them.

 

[Exotrezy]

If you are looking for stuff to eat your algae/diatoms then you need to buy snails for that... as I said... nerite, cernith, and trochus will do that. They all behave a little different.

Cerith go under the sand during the day and come out at night and will eat algae but also move the sand a bit.

Nerite will go on rocks and glass but also like to hang above the water line and will climb out if you don't have a lid

Trochus are all around good algae cleaners and can flip themselves over but more expensive.

There are many others...

Margaritias eat a good amount of algae but are cold water species and will die prematurely in our tropical tanks.

Astraea snails also algae eaters, common, cheap, but if/when they fall off the rock and land in the sand, they can't get up and if you don't help them flip, the hermit crabs will consume them.

Mexican turbos are great for hair algae but they are also cooler waters and life span may be shorter, they eat a lot and can starve if you don't have enough algae for them. They grow fairly big.

Nass snails will move in the sand but don't eat algae, they will eat left over fish food and anything that is sick or dying in your tank.


Better to buy less and have to add more than end up with too many that starve.


Pick out snails actively moving in the tank or are on the glass. Sometimes if they are just sitting on the bottom, they may be already dying or sometimes LFS will grab an empty shell (not check) and then you pay for an empty shell lol I usually just ask for the ones on the glass.

Ok, so get a cerith?

 

[Exotrezy]

I will just replace the bumblebee snails with 1 cerith snail

 

[Exotrezy]

Patience, patience, patience. If you are used to getting results in hours or days... here it takes weeks or months.

Add copepods and and make sure to feed them.

People were recommending a Clean up crew

 

[Exotrezy]

If you are looking for stuff to eat your algae/diatoms then you need to buy snails for that... as I said... nerite, cernith, and trochus will do that. They all behave a little different.

Cerith go under the sand during the day and come out at night and will eat algae but also move the sand a bit.

Nerite will go on rocks and glass but also like to hang above the water line and will climb out if you don't have a lid

Trochus are all around good algae cleaners and can flip themselves over but more expensive.

There are many others...

Margaritias eat a good amount of algae but are cold water species and will die prematurely in our tropical tanks.

Astraea snails also algae eaters, common, cheap, but if/when they fall off the rock and land in the sand, they can't get up and if you don't help them flip, the hermit crabs will consume them.

Mexican turbos are great for hair algae but they are also cooler waters and life span may be shorter, they eat a lot and can starve if you don't have enough algae for them. They grow fairly big.

Nass snails will move in the sand but don't eat algae, they will eat left over fish food and anything that is sick or dying in your tank.


Better to buy less and have to add more than end up with too many that starve.


Pick out snails actively moving in the tank or are on the glass. Sometimes if they are just sitting on the bottom, they may be already dying or sometimes LFS will grab an empty shell (not check) and then you pay for an empty shell lol I usually just ask for the ones on the glass.

I am getting cerith snails aswell and 1 more hermit

 

[Lavey29]

I am getting cerith snails aswell and 1 more hermit

To give you perspective, my tank is 65g so twice your size and I have the following cleaners

15 trochus
10 large cerith
15 bumble
6 large tongan nacarius and dozens of spawn
8 Estrella
15 scarlet and blue leg hermits
2 pithos crabs
2 acropora crabs
3 tuxedo urchins
1 large serpent star
Lots of micro stars and pods
2 fire shrimp
1 banded shrimp

And things I have no clue what they are

 

[Exotrezy]

To give you perspective, my tank is 65g so twice your size and I have the following cleaners

15 trochus
10 large cerith
15 bumble
6 large longan nacarius and dozens of spawn
8 Estrella
15 scarlet and blue leg hermits
2 pithos crabs
2 acropora crabs
3 tuxedo urchins
1 large serpent star
Lots of micro stars and pods

And things I have no clue what they are

Aren't trochus pretty aggressive? Wouldn't they fight if I got multiple? I think for now my list is fine but then later on I will get more.

 

[Lavey29]

Aren't trochus pretty aggressive? Wouldn't they fight if I got multiple? I think for now my list is fine but then later on I will get more.

You ever seen a snail fight? Lol.... yes you start small and add to it as needed. I am just giving you an idea of what diversity and size is needed for a cleaner crew once the tank is established. It's part of a healthy ecosystem.