1st SW/Reef Tank: 14g BioCube

[wasupdavey]

Looking great i cant wait to see more corals in there ! =]

[Grasspicker]

Back from the beach. Well lets see what happened since i've been gone. Hmm. Tennessee lost but that usually happens with them early on.

I hate your still getting algae. I would have thought it would be gone by now also. I run my lights from 2pm to 10pm then i run the actinics from 10pm to 8:30am. only moon lights thru the day when we are at work. I do have some algae but nothing that the 5 turbos dont take care of. I really think an emerald Crab will help you. Its about an 11 dollar investment. Good luck.

[astiesi]

Grasspicker - Thanks for checking in and welcome back. Hope the vacation went well...good weather?

I am getting frustrated by the algae problem. I was at the LFS the other day and saw some emeralds for 6 or 7 bucks. I may go that route, as I said before, just hesitant to put a crab in such a small tank as I have heard horror stories. I may need to get another turbo snail as well since I lost the one I added a few weeks ago. Just trying to be patient.

[yungreefer2410]

what type of cuc do you have in there?

[astiesi]

I have 8 Nassarius snails, 4 Nerite snails, and 1 Red Striped Turbo snail.

[astiesi]

Added a Koralia Nano last night. I'm very impressed with how small it is, perfect fit in the 14g.

I will be doing a water change tonight. I'll snap some pics at that time for the few of you who are following along.

[nstiesi]

You added the nano and didn't tell me.....I find out on RS, whats going on here!

Haha, gald you like it. Time to come up and see it in person....maybe I'll add a Koralia, too.

[Grasspicker]

Ok,

Im not sure about this so if any of you wiser reefers would weigh in please do so.

I was thinking you would be better served to take out some of the Nassarius snails, perhaps 4 of them and add 3 Margaretta Turbos.

I believe that the Nassarius snails are mainly good for removing Debris from the tank but Turbos are best for algae.

We have 5 Turbos in our 29 and 2 Nassarius. I dont know what Nerite snails are but Ill google them in a bit and check. We dont really have much of an algae problem at all. I have more of a debris problem leading me to consider the possiblity of another Nassarius or two. The thing that is keeping me from it is we usually see the big Nassarius when I feed the tank, so either he/she isnt doing its job because of the debris or I have the wrong impression of what they do.

Im thinking with your tank size that 8 is too many and 1 turbo isnt enough. Im certainly open for correction though. The main goal here is to get your algae under control. I just wish someone would tell me how to get my Ca under control.

[nstiesi]

As I understand, Nerite's do a similar job as turbos, but on a smaller scale. They do eat hair, but at a slower pace, and they are good for clearing cyano from rocks and glass.

[yungreefer2410]

nstiesi right. all my snails eat the same thing but the three turbos just do it at a faster pace cause they are way bigger. but my turbos like to clean my equipment and not some much my sand so i have other snails for that

[astiesi]

Nassarius snails are great for stirring the sandbed and getting to uneaten food. The actually do a great job of keeping my sandbed looking good.

As for the rocks and glass, this is where I need the help. I'll probably run around a bit this weekend and look for some additional snails to add to the CUC, maybe one or two larger Turbos. The Nerites do a pretty good job, they are just smaller and slower at the algae eating than I would like.

Grasspicker, what salt are you using? I'm using reef crystals and I have had no problems with Ca, regular water changes keep the levels right where they should be. I have heard that Instant Ocean has been known to contain low Ca levels.

[astiesi]

Well here are some updated pics. I am going to add another snail or two to my CUC but not until Hurricane Ike passes us by.

Enjoy the pics:

[nstiesi]

It actually looks like it is clearing up....

[RNicorvo]

I agree - your tank is looking much better and clearer. I had 1 turbo, 2 red legged hermit crabs and 1 nassarius snail. I added 3 red band snails and 2 nassarius snails and I must say that the algae is so minimal that I have to see if they have enough to survive.

As you may recall, I was purchasing some new corals from live aquaria and was going to post pics. What a big mistake I made. Our lighting for the bio cube is not bright enough and you can't really fix it. Thank God, I have a great neighbor that came to the rescue and took 2 off my hands to help. IO actually had 1 coral that deteriated 60% in 2 days and one changed from blueto light pink in 24 hours. They're both doing well right now - the one had to be fragged into 2. I'll unfortunately have to sell them. However, I did buy a blastomussa who is looking pretty good, so I get pics out soon.

Looks like you're off to a great start!

ROBIN

[astiesi]

Thanks Robin for checking in. I'm actually starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel with this algae problem. I'm looking forward to adding some more coral soon, I'd really like to add some zoos and mushrooms.

I'm sorry to hear about the coral order. I just looked up the types you ordered and just realized they were SPS, which I've read are impossible to keep healthy under PC lighting. I'm glad your neighbor came to the rescue.