tank maintenance

[disaster999]

my tanks been set up for a month right now, i have 10 snails, 5 astrea snail, 5 turbo snail (according to a fellow memeber here) 3 hermit crab, 1 clown and a frag of zoos.

im getting lots of diatom algae and some green hair algae forming. also, i see one or 2 balls of those bubble aglae. my snails and hermit are doing jack about the diatom and other algae. the snails either hangs at the top of the tank or sleeps on the rocks. my hermits do the same, they either sleep, or fight each other (i already have one casualty) i have tones of snail and hermit waste everywhere on the sand bed.

first, when i do water changes, could i use those gravel vacs to suck up the crap on the sandbed?

second, what other CUC would eat the diatom and other algae in my tank? if i get a sand sifter goby, would it take care of the crap thats on the sand? get a shrimp? crab?

 

[currentking]

get 2 emrald crabs, they will take care of alot for you.

 

[Azurel]

When you say a month do you mean a month since it cycled fully or a month in total and is still cycling?

What you are seeing is a typical series of events in brand new tanks, if you only have a few of the bubble algae I would just pull them off but be careful as not to break them. Mithrax crabs are hit or miss with corals and polyps. I have heard many stories about them picking, but have also heard just as many about them not picking so I think it really depends on the individual crab.......As far as diatoms that is usually a sign of high phosphates or high silica. You can get some Seachem phosguard and it will pull both out. I would test for both first though.....

 

[disaster999]

from scratch till cycled its been a month. my tank is finished cycling according to LFS. tested all my water and everything is good.

ill look into the emrald crabs, do they help reduce snail and hermid waste or just stir up the sand so the waste decompose in the sand? should i gravel vac the sand?

I have the API reef master test kit and tested the phosphate...its really hard to tell what color it is...it looks nothing like the one from the card...

heres a picture

 

[Pitcom]

My tank got alot of diatom (brown) on the sand. It really looked like crap. Even though your tank already cycled, this is normal. It honestly should go away on its own omce the silica is depleted rom the new tank. Water changes don't hurt either. My sand was back to 100% white after 2 weeks. Cerith snails help a bit as well.

 

[Azurel]

I would say that you should just keep doing water changes, what kinda salt are you using? Alot of these issues are common and Pit says should go away eventually. I wouldn't add to much bio-mass to the tank as you don't want to feed the problem. I would wait a couple weeks to add any more fish corals are not an issue as they really don't add to much to the overall bio-mass that creates nitrate issues like fish poo etc....Just keep doing what you war doing and if you have to add a few mithrax crabs and keep an eye on them. Where do you get your water from as well? IF your water source is not pure that can fuel these issues as well.......

 

[disaster999]

i guess i should wait a while before i should be worried about my algae problem. from what i read, and what pit said, the diatom will eventually go away. i just thought my CUC would clean or take care of them...and i wanted to know how i should clean up the crap from snails and hermits.

water is RO water from LFS. salt i used reef crystals. did 50% water change before i added my clown.

 

[Azurel]

Yea just keep that going the diatoms will eventually use up all the fuel source and die off.....They are not an issue at the moment, its what they call new tank syndrome. Just about every tank goes through it as the chemistry and the bacterial all get situated and levels off......There is a misnomer about how long a tank actually cycles. The water cycles about 4-8 weeks usually but a tank will truly be cycled in about a year. In that time period there are so many things going on a minute scale that we usually don't see it or cant really understand it. You will be fine and the tank will be great in short time.....I can tell you this nothing beneficial happens fast in this hobby. It seems the only thing that happens fast is things that can cause serious problems and then it takes twice as long to resolve them as it did for them to happen.....

 

[cbreefer]

A quick tip that I have found setting up tanks also is to place a phosphate reactor on from day one. Rowaphos and phosban wil also take out silicate and it prevents the eventual build up of phosphate in the long run creating less algae and promoting faster growth. Its much easier eliminating them all together at the get go then two yrs. down the line.

 

[Azurel]

That's a good point as well.....

 

[disaster999]

what you said might be true, i dunno how feasible it would be for 1.) a beginner. 2.) nano (AIO) tank.

it wouldnt be a bad idea if your dealing with 120gal tank with sump and all, but with a little 14 gal, it seems overkill.

but for the record, for people who is thinking of starting a new tank...that could be valuable information! thanks guys