[dreamerfaerie]

Over the last few months I have noticed alot more GREEN algae growing on my sand. It went through its brown algae phase and now its into Green.

1st - Does anyone know what I can do about this?

I have reef lighting on for about 8 hours a day so I cant really cut that back since I have coral in the tank. I have a pretty decent size clean up crew but can always add more. I only have 4 fish in a 46 gal right now so its not over crowded. Its been pretty hot but the temp has been stable.

2nd - We have had a LARGE amount of random plants grow all over the tank. Green balls, Bushes of algae, weird stringy things, Something that looks like seaweed. a WHOLE lotta stuff all over the rock. This may tie into the algae issue but its starting to look like a jungle in there.

OH - Can anyone recommend a good sand cleaner. I tried a siphon and it didnt really suck up enough particles from the sand.

HELP! - Thanks

[glampka]

What are your nitrates? If you lower the nitrates you take away the food for the algae. What kind of water did you use - tap or RO/DI? How old are your lights?

[dreamerfaerie]

All Levels are good. I use the strip test and they are always white or light pink. I have been using RO/DI water the last 2 months doing water changes every 2 - 3 weeks which helps with the brown algae. Lights are brand new - bought with tank - so 4 months old approx.

[CyberJester]

I would put a couple of snails and hermits in their the snails do a great job on the glass and rock and hermits on the sand and rock. maybe 4 or 5 of each.

[glampka]

Test strips aren't the best for checking levels. Take a sample to your lfs & have them check it as well.

[dreamerfaerie]

I only have 2 hermit crabs becuase they fight and kill each other. But I have about 15 large snails and 3 shrimp. Its a 46 gal so I guess upping the snails would help. But what about all the crazy plants. There are so many weird plants growin. Not all algae but I guess a good 60% of them could be so all of the above would help that.

I also have the test kit that you put the water in the vials and putt he drops in. That shows up with everything good as well I just dont use it as often.

I really need a good sand siphon. Or something else to do the job. I need to get all that agae off the sand. It has created a pretty thick layer.

[Joan]

I know this might sound funny, but I have a Horseshoe crab and it is like having your sand raked. He also cleans up food. You may want to check on how much you really need to feed your fish. eevey day once a day or every other day like anenomes. Keep us updated please.

[dreamerfaerie]

I feed my fish 1 frozen cube of food or a small amount of dry flakes once a day.

There are 4 fish so its usally all gone within 3 - 4 mins.

There is never food lefton the sand or rocks, in fact anyting that comes close to the rocks is eaten by the shrimp.

So i dont know if its overfeeding but I will definatly pay more attn.

[ncdiablo]

Ok for clean up crews go with less hermit crabs and more snails. I am currently working on a CUC page that hopefully I can have perma posted in a forum to help people.

This is simply the beginning and I have a ton more to go through on just the snails. Then hermits and also cucumbers and also shrimp. The snails I have listed should help some.

Cleanup Crew Guide:

Astrea Snails: max size: 1” These snails IMHO are some of the best snails to buy for CUC. They work non stop and clean an area very well leaving a tell tale clean path. They seem to go after brown algae very well but I see them work on all sorts of algae (green, filamentous, red/cyan). Only downside is that they do not have a flip mechanism so if they get turned on their back they cannot right themselves and will need your help or they will perish. However that being said, they have a great grip and I haven’t seen one fall off the side of a tank or a piece of live rock even when going against a highly strong current. They are not as great at cleaning algae as say Turbo’s but do not become Bulldozers like Turbos that are large enough and strong enough to move small live rock.

Bumblebee Snails: max size: ½” These snails are great for taking care of detritus and decaying materials around the tank. They are small snails that can really get into nooks and crannies. I have had a shrimp die and three bumblebee’s were on it very quickly. They seem to have a sense of smell or some sense to death and they are often very quick to take care of the issue. They seem to hang around each other. They will also upon occasion work the substrate helping to aerate it. Not great for algae but good for cleaning up leftover foods and such.

Cerinth Snails: max size: 1” These snails are decent snails for clean up crew. They handle Brown and Green micro algae fairly well. They also like to bury themselves in the substrate. I have seen them making tractor marks through my substrate cleaning it of any algae that has built up on the surface. These actions help aerate your substrate which is a good thing. I will not call these guys eating machines but they are a great addition to the clean up crew.

Pyramid or Trochus Snail: max size: 1” This is a snail very similar in nature to the Astrea snail. A highly recommended snail for Algea control (brown, diatom, green, filamentous, red/cyan). Do not get large enough to become a bulldozer like Turbos. The big difference between Astrea and Pyramid is that the Pyramid does have a flip mechanism while the Astrea does not.

Abalone snail: Max size: 3” This snail is one of my favorite snails. Very primordial. Snail is an excellent grazer and has a rasp to really remove algae from any surface. They clean well and some varieties move slow others move with decent speed. I was lucky enough to have 4 hitchhike on some coral. They are very flat so they can fit into spaces that other snails cannot. Only negative to this snail is that they are cost prohibitive. They are about 10x the cost of most other snails.

Nerite snail: Max size 1” These snails are good cleaners but the knocks that I have heard on them is that they do not last a long time in reef aquariums due to heat issues. Many keep their tanks at 80-84 which is too warm for these snails and they often perish after a short period of time. It is for this reason I would not recommend them. However if you like Nerites I would recommend you look at the list and see Virgin Nerites.

[dinor2]

Interesting... and very helpful! Thanks for all the snail info!

I was just checking threads out for more info on the abalone snail; just found one this morning in my 5week old 55gal set up; not done putting live rock in but that's cool that I got a pricey snail for free. AND they clean and stir up the sand? Awesome!

~Dana

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Just a quick note on stirring up your sand bed.If you are maintaining a deep sand bed for denitrification purposes stirring it up is the last thing you want to do.Critters like star fish,sand sifting gobies,horseshoe crabs and burrowing snails are extremely detrimental to dsb"s.
DSB article - CALFO

[dreamerfaerie]

NATIVEVAMAN
- Thank you - I do stir up my sand to help with the settled algae. I have about 3 inches of sand but im not doing any sort of deep sand bed - Im not even sure the reasons to do it - If its good - bad - etc..

But I have noticed it dosnt really help with the alge it just makes small clumps of it throughout the top layer of my sand which makes it look dirty.. Not really helpful!

I really need to remove it but not sure of the best way - HELP PLEASE

[dreamerfaerie]

ncdiablo
Your snail info is amazing and It has been extremely helpful - Im sure to everyone!!!

Thank you

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Laura,I know the algea is ugly but dont let it make you make a mistake.Algea eating hermit crabs and snails will clean it up in a hurry( are you on the way to the lfs yet? lol)Click on that link to the dsb article and it will tell you all you need to know about a dsb.

[dinor2]

I'm with you on that! I have currently 40lbs of indo pacific live sand and it doesn't quite cover the back of the tank so after adding another 20lbs I figure that would put the sand depth at about 2 inches.

I also noticed that the hermit crabs are cleaning the sand but just the surface. So on a plus note, I'm just now seeing some more baby snails and crabs climing over the lr! Since i'm not done putting lr in the tank, I'm going to keep the number of inhabitants to 4 snails (5 including the cool new one I found!) and 5 crabs and see what comes out of the lr when it's done being set up (got 50 more pounds of lr to go before I add my inverts (polyps, mushrooms, etc.).

Hey, any advice on what to use for bait to catch a mantis shrimp? I have a home made trap that I believe will work but I get the feeling he isn't interested in the piece of cooked shrimp I put in it..... and he's already killed one crab and knocking holes into the others' shells!

Thanks!
Dana

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Any raw fish should do.

[dreamerfaerie]

So are you NOT suppose to clean the sand at all?

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Laura, if you want to maintain a fully functional deep sand bed (4+inch's) that answer is an imphatic NO.a few hermits and snails can do whats needed.The plan would be that if you have a working dsb and lots of live rock and refugium you wont have anything in the tank for the algea to grow from,no food.

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Deep Sand Beds

[dreamerfaerie]

Whats the benifit of a deep sand bed
This is the 1st time I have heard of this. This was not something I was trying to do. I was told to lightly siphon my sand for regular maintenace so I thought I was doing the right thing. Obviously I was mis-informed.

[Lowej82]

my LFS points me away from snails?? my tank is a little over 2 months old anyone have a clue why? do they leave ugly tracks on your glass?

[dinor2]

I have had a lfs encourage me not to put too many snails into my tank because they'll feed on the microfauna and other beneficial critters after they run out of algae BUT, if that happens, why not put those handy dandy algae sheets in there for them?..... just MO.

~Dana

[NATIVEVAMAN]

Deep Sand Beds Laura there is another article about deep sand beds.There are 4 important steps to denitrification,live rock,deep sand,refugiums and protien skimmers.If you have an established deep sand bed(6 to 8 months old)1.5 to 2 pounds of live rock,a clean well functioning protiem skimmer and fuge with cheato or other kind of algea you will have a marvelously stable tank.