My slow 135g build

[JoJo]

Pics!!!

crappy FTS



fuge plumbing. from the T fitting of the main drain.




the fuge drains in the center section of the sump.


my chaeto just sits on the bottom, not rotating



and a shot of the shy Tang

[JoJo]

i'm starting to get diatoms on the rock and sand so what should i get as far as a CUC?

[Varga]

looking great

[Tru2nr]

lookn' real good love the regal tang

[framerguy]

Excellent stuff Joe! Go for the snails as a CUC, nassarius for the SB and Trochus for the rocks, or Cerith for both,..or all three!

[nikkipigtails]

great pics JoJo!

For a CUC, definately go with nassarius and cerith at the least. I also threw in a few mexican turbos and they have desimated the HA. reefcleaners.org can do a custom CUC for you and the prices are really great. Don't freak out when you see the numbers of what they think you should get. Keep in mind that they're babies. I ordered our CUC from them and had 0 dead loss.

[Octoman]

My nerites are some awesome little glass cleaners, but they will climb above the water line sometimes. However, I haven't had any climb out of the tank. I also got mine from reefcleaners.org Nerites, nassarius, and ceriths...

[JoJo]

thanks yall. i stopped at the lfs earlier and grabbed some snails, turbos and margaritas (dont know what those are) i only got a total of 5 because they didnt have Cerith or Nassarius

[framerguy]

Turbos are great and can even eat the longer hair algaes. The margarita snails generally sold aren't true Margarites because those are a temperate species meant for cooler water and don't do well in Reef aquariums. It's probably something else. Octo mentioned Nerites. They are terrific snails but MUST have a means of getting above the waterline periodically. If left underwater continuously they will die within a year. Keep that in mind if you think of getting them.

[JoJo]

the snails seems to be doing good, they look to be hard at work. i'm going to check out some other lfs to see what type of snails they have to offer. should i completely stay away from crabs or are there some that can be reef-safe? since the diatoms are spreading over the sand and rock at a noticable rate i'm going to shorten the time the lights are on to 4 hours a day. wouldnt this keep the diatoms from gettting out of hand or should i leave the lights at 8 hours and stock up on the CUC

On a MUCH brighter note there was a big box waiting for me when i got home yesterday. it was from Greg and it contained a nicely cleaned Turboflotor skimmer and a PH monitor. Seriously, you cant find a guy nicer than Greg! Thanks again Greg.

[Woodstock]

Catching up on your chronicle! Nice work Jojo

Wow! Greg you got karma! Way to share

[framerguy]

Originally Posted by JoJo

the snails seems to be doing good, they look to be hard at work. i'm going to check out some other lfs to see what type of snails they have to offer. should i completely stay away from crabs or are there some that can be reef-safe? since the diatoms are spreading over the sand and rock at a noticable rate i'm going to shorten the time the lights are on to 4 hours a day. wouldnt this keep the diatoms from gettting out of hand or should i leave the lights at 8 hours and stock up on the CUC

On a MUCH brighter note there was a big box waiting for me when i got home yesterday. it was from Greg and it contained a nicely cleaned Turboflotor skimmer and a PH monitor. Seriously, you cant find a guy nicer than Greg! Thanks again Greg.

Ha! That answers one question from my PM to you. I'm glad it made it. I didn't need them and you did, that's what friends are for.

As far as the crabs go, the only ones I would consider are the scarlet legs with the yellow eyestalks, although I would just stay away from them altogether IIWY. Ceriths are diatom eaters so I'd get more of them probably. They also eat green algaes so when that starts you will already have them in place, plus they eat from the sandbed and on the rocks and glass. They are the best "all around" snail. Nerites are good algae eaters for the rockwork. Strombus get big so don't get them. Astrea are good for algae but have a problem righting themselves when they fall so you have to watch out for them. Nassarius don't really eat diatoms or algaes, they eat detritus and leftover meaty foods and are great cleaners and stirrersfor the sandbed. Trochus are good choices too for algae, not diatoms so much though.

I left my lights on their normal cycle and am just living with the diatoms, they will lessen (and already have) with time. Bump up the CUC a little but don't overdo it, when the diatoms and algeas level out, they won't have enough to eat if overpopulated. One snail per 3 gallons should do it.

Enjoy your stuff, and go with the Sedra pump.

[JoJo]

there's a review on the Sedra 3500 where the guy says he put it on a Turboflotor with some mods.

here's the LINK

[JoJo]

well i finally found snails. i bought 10 nassauris and 10 cerith also 3 pepermint shrimp. the rock and sand are really starting to brown up in areas so i'll have to make sure i stay on top of w/c's and testing. i'm hoping the CUC will be able to handle it because i dont want to buy too many and then afterwards there not be enough food for them. John Deere seems to love the diatom bloom.

The tang looks like it may have 2 white spots on it and is losing its color so i have to keep an eye out on it.

[cracker]

Joe! Looking good Man.