New to saltwater - The story of a recycled tank

Arthur_Dent · Jan 4, 2021

Cross posting this here from the invert board:

I like snails. And inverts. I want....all the snails in my tank. And all the inverts.
I know what you may be thinking. You may be thinking, "Man. This guy wants a lot of snails and inverts."

Incorrect.

Take the number of snails and inverts that may seem reasonable to you. Triple that. This is probably borderline too many. Double that again. This is approaching the number of snails and inverts I'd like to have in my tank. Basically, instead of liverock, I just want to have a writhing mass of snails and crabs.

I also want to hire something to exterminate all the vermitid snails leaving white detritus all over my glass, rock and sump.

Here is what I'm currently working with:
- probably 50-70 dwarf ceriths.
- about a dozen trochus
- 9-10 nerites
- 9-10 small naussarus vibex
- 15-20 ceriths
- about 30 hermits of varying shapes and sizes
other inverts/fish:
- 2 RBTA's
- 2 percola clowns
- 1 yellowtail damsel
- 1 pink streaked wrasse

Here is what I'd like to add on top of this:
- 2-3 small conchs (I have a deep sand bed)
- 50 more dwarf ceriths (I like that they get into the cracks in the rock)
- 2 emerald crabs (have a bubble algae and turf algae issue)
- 1 pincushion urchin (for the turf algae and the hats they wear)
- 15 more nassarius vibex (I have a deep sand bed)
- 5 tongan nassarius (did I mention the sandbed? I like how they pop out like ninjas)
- 1 decorator crab (I like their hats, too)
- 3-5 scarlet hermits (for the bling they bring to the thing)
- 5-10? bumblebee snails (to commit arson on the vemetids/tubeworms wrecking up the place - will these kill my other sandbed critters, too?)
- a few bristle worms (because most people don't like them, but they are my homeboys)

Let's discuss. Tell me why I'm wrong and should post my tank on craigslist so that I don't decimate the world's population of captive bred inverts.

Arthur_Dent · Jan 5, 2021

1/5

updated tank shots. Tank looking great!

Next challenge: operation kill bubble algae, vermetid snails, and turf algae.

Emptyness · Jan 5, 2021

If you want the inverts to keep your tank clean - like spotless clean - without any work on your end and that's why you are aiming for the high numbers - then don't. It won't happen. They will do their part to some extend, but nothing extraordinary. And you need to do your part - not overfeed, stay on top of your water changes and water parameters, vac-ing your sandbet or at least a part of it, while doing the wc, clean your glass with a scrapper, try to remove as much of your turf algae as you can manually with the wc, etc.

Since 2 weeks I have 2 astrea snails in my 3mo old 30L nano, so I don't have tons of experience. But here are my 2 cents. They do nice work, but miss some corners, or don't clean the glass good and are slow as snails lol. And I need to watch them and turn them over as they are unable to do so themselves. But they have such a different "personalities" from each other, like how fast they move, how long they stay on one rock before moving to the next (I have 3 rocks total), how long they stay on glass or on the sand, how "thorough" they clean, etc. you get the point.

If you just like the inverts - it's another story. But I still won't stock so many. I find it more fun to have few, but get to "know them better". Watch them longer. To some extend, care for them better. Having so many will lead to many mortalities - especially between the killer crabs and the peaceful snails. But maybe you won't even notice that, cuz they are just so many, dunno...

You have a lot bigger tank and maybe I am completely wrong, but that's how I think, based on my limited knowledge.

Make sure to keep us updated! With fotos as well.

Arthur_Dent · Jan 5, 2021

Emptyness said:
If you want the inverts to keep your tank clean - like spotless clean - without any work on your end and that's why you are aiming for the high numbers - then don't. It won't happen. They will do their part to some extend, but nothing extraordinary. And you need to do your part - not overfeed, stay on top of your water changes and water parameters, vac-ing your sandbet or at least a part of it, while doing the wc, clean your glass with a scrapper, try to remove as much of your turf algae as you can manually with the wc, etc.

Since 2 weeks I have 2 astrea snails in my 3mo old 30L nano, so I don't have tons of experience. But here are my 2 cents. They do nice work, but miss some corners, or don't clean the glass good and are slow as snails lol. And I need to watch them and turn them over as they are unable to do so themselves. But they have such a different "personalities" from each other, like how fast they move, how long they stay on one rock before moving to the next (I have 3 rocks total), how long they stay on glass or on the sand, how "thorough" they clean, etc. you get the point.

If you just like the inverts - it's another story. But I still won't stock so many. I find it more fun to have few, but get to "know them better". Watch them longer. To some extend, care for them better. Having so many will lead to many mortalities - especially between the killer crabs and the peaceful snails. But maybe you won't even notice that, cuz they are just so many, dunno...

You have a lot bigger tank and maybe I am completely wrong, but that's how I think, based on my limited knowledge.

Make sure to keep us updated! With fotos as well.

Makes sense. I just like inverts.

In particular, I don't really want to dump in chemicals to deal with the turf algae and bubble algae issue I have. Will probably start with two or three more emerald crabs and an urchin or two and see how they knock down those issues.

Arthur_Dent · Jan 6, 2021

I'd just like to say.....this crab is a murderous b@stard.

Some cool photos came out of it, though.

Arthur_Dent · Jan 10, 2021

1/10

po4 - 55ppb (0.17ppm)
no3 - 10-25 ppm
began dosing 2ml/day of hommade NOPOX (12pm and 6pm)

small anemone looks like it's going to split again

Arthur_Dent · Jan 14, 2021

1/13

added 3 more emerald crabs, a decorator crab, some snails, etc.

still dosing 2ml nopox (homade) daily. 10ml MB7 and MB clean as well. reduced silica to 5 drops per day for the last week or so.
po4 - 57ppb (0.17ppm)
no3 - 10-25 ppm

Arthur_Dent · Jan 15, 2021

1/15

Had some time today, so removed a rock from the tank, and used a small paintbrush to spot treat all the turf and bubble algae I could with 35% peroxide. Let that sit for about 5 minutes, rinsed the rock in a bucket of salt water, and returned it to the tank. Now, we wait.

Arthur_Dent · Jan 19, 2021

Tanks is still doing well. No more dinos! Phosphate holding at 0.15ppm and Nitrate at 25ppm.

Have been dosing home made nopox at 2ml per day (noon and six), with no impact to levels. Have maintained silica dosing at 10 drops per day. Upping nopox dose to 4ml per day starting on 1/20.

Some pics of some creatures and the tank overall. Once my bubble and turf algae issue is sorted, going to start stocking corals, starting with zoanthids, a hammer, and a torch.

Arthur_Dent · Jan 25, 2021

1/25 - Tank looking pretty good. I've been crushing out bubble algae manually, but am considering dosing vibrant to help that along. The top rock that I nuked with peroxide is 99% algae free, and the coralline bounced back after a few days. The shrimp molted a day after I put that rock back in the tank, and I hesitate to do anything that is stressing him out.

Arthur_Dent · Jan 25, 2021

1/25 - Updated pictures of that rock:

And a pic of one of the small Trochus snails that has hatched out recently:

Arthur_Dent · Jan 25, 2021

Broke out my proper camera for some glamour shots.

Arthur_Dent · Feb 28, 2021

2/28 Tank update

NO3 and PO4 holding steady at 25ppm and 0.15ppm. Have been slowing increasing nopox dosage to bring these numbers down. Up to 12ml/day. Removed a bunch of the "tube" style media from the sump since it was trapping detritus. Increased flow overall.

I've been doing bi-weekly 10 gallon water changes, and the coralline algae on the glass is starting to erupt. Good sign. Think I'm almost ready to add corals.

I hand-nuked several of the rocks with peroxide to deal with bubble and turf algae. Also decided to dose vibrant over the last several weeks to kill as much of it as I can. So far, it's working, but slowly.

Added a scopas tang and a lawnmower blenny. Feeding nori for now, since I'm on the hunt for all the dead algae.

Decorator crab and 2 of the emerald crabs I had didn't make it for some unknown reason. The rest of the tank crew are still thriving.

Here are some updated glamour shots.

Arthur_Dent · Feb 28, 2021

And last but not least, a full tank shot, showing the progress made with the algae and the coralline growth:

Arthur_Dent · Mar 3, 2021

3/3 - Exciting news! I have been slowly ramping up nopox dosing for the last 2 months to try to get no3 and po4 in check in my system. I cleaned the skimmer and return sections of my sump last weekend, and arrived at 12ml per day nopox. Yesterday I measured no3 and po4, and they fell from 25-30ppm to 10-12ppm, and from 0.15ppm to 0.075ppm respectively.

Good stuff.

I think the "tubes" that I had on the bottom of the skimmer section weren't allowing the bacteria to get into the water column to be skimmed out, or were functioning as a detritus trap. Going to test daily, trend it out, and reduce dosing once I get under 10ppm no3 and close to 0.03ppm po4. I also turned flow up, so this could be a contributor.

Once I am able to get a stable reading for longer than a week, I'll begin to add corals. So stoked on this topic.

Arthur_Dent · Mar 20, 2021

3/20 Tank Update - Nitrates holding around 20ppm and phosphate around 0.1ppm. Bubble algae all but dead, but there is a small spot on the sand that some is sprouting up in. Vibrant works. Pink and Purple Coralline exploding everywhere.

Ceased Vibrant dosing, and just added some corals yesterday. If these thrive, going to continue to aquire Zoas and LPS. Good times.

Arthur_Dent · Mar 22, 2021

X-posting here for the log. Posted to critter ID section.

3/22

Recently, after running vibrant for two months to knock out a bunch of bubble algae, some green slime has found its way onto my sandbed.

I assumed it was the beginnings of cyano, but my understanding is that cyano is typical for low nutrient systems. My PO4 is typically 0.08 - 0.1, and my NO3 is typically 15-20ppm. I have been nopox dosing to bring these numbers down.

Note that I have also been dosing phyto daily, and under the microscope, this looks suspiciously like the phyto I have been adding.

Am I farming phyto in my DT?

What it looks like on the sandbed:

What it looks like at 400x mag:

Arthur_Dent · Mar 27, 2021

I was able to identify the above stuff as "euglena" with the help of some folks here on the forum. I have started a process that was recommended to deal with it. Since it's a protist, I'm told the approach is similar to treating dinos.

I will log the process here.

3/26 (lights out)
- turned off whites, and turned blues down to 15%
- dosed tank with h2o2. It was late and I was tired and I accidentally 10x'ed the dose (1ml/gallon). Oops.
- when I realized what I had done, I put a wooden air stone in the display and turned the flow up higher than normal for all powerheads to break the surface more.
- Tang appeared to list a bit about an hour after this. Nems shrunk up immediately. All zoas and LPS retracted.
- I was worried about the cleaner shrimp.

3/27 (pre lights on)
- Everything is still alive this morning (thank goodness) and no losses
- All corals look happy as heck.
- Going to dose 1ml MB7 per TEN gallons when the lights come on, and continue PROPER h2o2 dosing schedule suggested above this evening.

I can't believe how careless I was. Glad I didn't nuke all of our creatures...

Arthur_Dent · Mar 27, 2021

I also acquired some corals from "yourreef.com". I have to say, I was impressed. Fast (and free) shipping, and very reasonable prices. I bought their 10 packs of zoa and lps, and 21 frags showed up. One of the zoa frags have two different types of zoas on it. So, a total of 22 different corals for an average of about 10 bucks a frag. Not bad at all.

Now I just have to figure out what all of them are called. lol.

Two of the zoa frags had some aiptasia, which I glued shut prior to putting into the tank.

Arthur_Dent · Mar 30, 2021

A few pictures of the corals. Still dealing with euglena. Found an interesting microscopic creature that I thought was a zoa spider, but turns out, it was Halacaridae. Really enjoying this so far, despite the fact that my sand is ugly af at the moment.