Red Sea Max Reef Janitors

[drizahy4]

So here goes my on going questions cause I'm bored at work and everyone has there opinion which makes keeping such a tank fun.



My tank is passing the first week with no noticeable levels to this point. I have some algae starting to grow plus the very wierd green algae that looks like a plant in my other THREAD. So I am looking toward the future to be ready looking around I saw saltwaterfish has a nano kit including

Scarlet Hermit Crab: 5
Blue-leg Hermit Crab: 5
Turbo/Astrea Snail: 10
Peppermint Shrimp: 3
Cleaner Clam: 2
Nasssarius Snail: 5

I was thinking about modding the pack but wanted to hear what worked in a small tank for you guys. Im used to my old 55 Gallon. In my 55 which didnt use RO/DI water and all the kool things because I was young and money issues I added them almost 2 months in so time I think here will need to be done correctly as well. Last time I had crushed coral what do you suggest for a 34 thats not gonna knock everything over?

Secondly I will post a picture but the die off of the coralline algae looks to be slowing down. I am sad cause a nice piece of a rock that had a pink handle is now basically white and only the purple is left on it. Some of the purple coralline has white on the edges as well. I hate you die off. All of my levels are in order so its doesnt seem like a overdosing of any sort especially since I have not dosed anything.

Woot killed enough time to go home.

[Reefmack]

Coralline will do that, then most likely come back again. Your CUC list is similar to what I started with, but I only had about 4-5 turbos (3 of which were eventually killed off by a big electric blue hermit that got almost as big as a golf ball before I got rid of it. I still have at least 2 turbos that are now about 18 months old. The smaller hermits are great CUC, but mine kept decimating my smaller snails like nasarrius and cerith. I like emerald crabs much better, and they also do a good clean up and algae job. That's my experience. 10 turbos may be too much for the RSM?

[MatthewJ]

Originally Posted by Reefmack

but I only had about 4-5 turbos (3 of which were eventually killed off by a big electric blue hermit that got almost as big as a golf ball before I got rid of it. I still have at least 2 turbos that are now about 18 months old. The smaller hermits are great CUC, but mine kept decimating my smaller snails like nasarrius and cerith.

I got 10 blue leg hermits just a week ago and they've managed to start killing each other already. They're outright bastards, seems like they're fighting all the time. I added some larger shells and a couple have already swapped out.

I like emerald crabs much better, and they also do a good clean up and algae job. That's my experience. 10 turbos may be too much for the RSM?

I like my emerald crab too, lots of personality. My turbos seem to do the most work of any of my CUC though. I have 4 and I'm considering adding a couple more. Perhaps getting rid of a few of the hermits.

[steveh]

You may have slightly too many c-u-c although it sounds like the hermits are providing their own "natural selection". With regards to the coralline, my experience is that you will be amazed how quickly the alkalinity is reduced, and you should probably test with the Alkalinity Pro test every 2-3 days. I'm sure you will find you need to add Coral Buff, and this will really assist the coralline development.