New Starter

[seffieuk]

Seffie, I think you meant most LFS sell Astraea snails that cannot right themselves.

Thanks Tina, good to know we have each others backs

Seffie x



Good job I am already under the third rock from the reet/left (lost all sense of direction now) or there wouldn't be much room left

 

[TigerIssey]

Third rock on the reet Seffie

 

[nel7000]

Just been looking in my tank. There appears to be a lot of growth of a kind of copper/orangey/brown colour algae over the LR and also over the surface of the sand in places. I'm not sure I like the look of it. Any ideas? Is it future cuc food?

 

[seffieuk]

Just been looking in my tank. There appears to be a lot of growth of a kind of copper/orangey/brown colour algae over the LR and also over the surface of the sand in places. I'm not sure I like the look of it. Any ideas? Is it future cuc food?

It's diatoms, a natural part of your cycle - your cuc will sort that out for you once your cycle is over

Seffie x

 

[nel7000]

That's good. I think they will have plenty to eat then! I am going to test early tomorrow and will post results.

Seffie, I didn't reccognise the terms you used for snails(?) (Nass cerith ?) in a previous post ref cuc. I can't remember seeing anything other than turbo snails in lfs's that I've been in. Are these easily available?

Also, with regard lights, will the standard on the boyu show the fish ip well? I want the clowns etc to look vibrant and stand out.

 

[TigerIssey]

Nass are Nassarius vibex snails, only very occasionally stocked by LFS and go very quickly when they do come in. Your LFS could probably order them for you, but they are more expensive from them IMO. They are detritus eaters.

Ebay or online suppliers such as Reefstock are the best and cheapest IMO.

Cerith are a sand sifting and eat some algaes aswell.

Usually listed as cortez cerith or mexican baja. Usually more expensive from the LFS than online and not stocked all the time.

I would order both lots from an online supplier, CUC orders from Reefstock are only £6.95 postage for small orders too.

 

[nel7000]

Results from this morn

ammonia still 0.25
nitrite now 0
nitrate now 0

what's next folks? I don't imagine anyone is on line yet, so off to gym and then lfs to buy a siphon and some ro water as I think it might be a water change and retest at some point?

Thanks

 

[seffieuk]

I suspect your tests, in particular the ammonia is not working correctly

I would be tempted to do a 50% water change and test in 24 hours - oh how i wish you had the salifert tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate -that blooming shop!!



Seffie x



sorry, forgot about the lighting question - the lighting in the 550 will really show off the clowns colouring and is great for many sofites and some hard corals such as euphyllia (a fav. on here). I even kept a gbta in mine and it flourished, although it is not to be recommended to a newbie as they grow quite fast and reach 12 inches or so and need a mature tank

 

[nel7000]

I have just ordered a set of salifert test kits to calibrate my results. More expense, but they will always be used. I didn't do the water change as couldn't get ro water from lfs. Neither he nor I had any aquarium Safe containers to put it in
( where do you get these?)

once the kits arrive I will retest and advise.

 

[seffieuk]

a camping shop

Seffie x



or as YF found out, sometimes your dentist!

 

[nel7000]

Ok, just retested.

Havent done a water change yet (have a container, but need to get to LFS after work which is a struggle) , nor have my salifert test kits arrived. Current results as follows:

Ammonia = same 0.25 (i only have a scale between 0 and 0.25)
Nitrate = 0
Nitrite = 0

The algae is getting a bit out of control now - all over the sand and taking over the LR. What should I do? It is concerning me. I thought rowaphos would stop this happening?

Should I be doing a water change soon?

Should I buy some control matter for the ammonia to bring it down?

Did some research on the snails etc. Bit worried that they like to bury themselves. I bought a siphon with a gravel cleaning attachment (you have prob seen them in the shops). Is there a risk that when im digging this into the gravel when using the siphon that I could accidentally crush one of the little critters?

 

[seffieuk]

Right, do your big water change, 50% then test in 24 hours, with hopefully your saliferts - but i am thinking you have had your cycle and are ready for you cuc - but as i said, water change, test and then we will see

Don't worry about the diatoms - your cuc will make short work of them, if you didn't have them we would be worried

Mmmm, well, we don't usually stick a syphon in the sand as many of our cuc live there

Seffie x

 

[Morri]

Yip CUC snails live in the sand if you get Nass snails they will stir the sand up for you and you will not need to disturb the sand at all

 

[nel7000]

Made a bit of progress today:

Got the RO water + Salifert test kits arrived!!

So, I have just done a water change and will retest using new kits tomorrow.

Quite hard lugging so much water up and over a tank during refill , and the water has a lot of debris floating round now. Is this normal, and why are the aquariums in the LFS crystal clear all the time - even in pure LR tanks??

Ta

 

[nel7000]

Think ive asked before, but can you have x 2 blood shrimps + x 2 peppermints in the same tank.

Anyone know if halloween hermit crabs are ok?