[elaine]

Im setting up a new 75 gallon tank. I have followed all the steps. water, live rock, lights, algae eaters. Now my snails are dieing and I have a new diatom bloom.

What did I screw up:mad:

[RyanG]

diaton bloom is normal if you just started up, how long has this been running? What are your tank parameters? Like specific gravity, no2, no3, etc.

[elaine]

my ph 8.3. salinity 1.023, temp 79.2, no nitrates, running protein skimmer and emperior 400 filters

[RyanG]

How are your snails dying? What type of snails are they?

[elaine]

They are just falling off the side and shrivling up. Narcissius pardon the spelling, Crabs are doing fine, cleaner shrimp, and one blood shrimp.

[RyanG]

You mean Nassarius Snails? They need high levels of calcium and dkh should be at least 7

[elaine]

Yep thats what I meant. And I havent been worrying about calicum just adding it trying to build up levels. Thought it took time to build up.

[RyanG]

Nassarius Snails need calcium, this is how they grow their shell
The also need live sand as a substrate

[elaine]

I have the sand substrate. So I need a new calicum test kit and build it up by the book,

[volitan_fa]

What about your ammonia and nitrites? Adding too much calcium can be a problem too. Perhaps they're not getting the right diet? Nassarius snails are scavengers, eating things like fish wastes and detritus, not algae. If they're not getting enough of their natural diet items then that could explain them just shriveling up and dying.

A better snail for algae control is the Mexican Turbo Snail. They'll plow through that diatom bloom like nothing.

[elaine]

Mexican Turbo Snails. How many for a 75 gal?

[volitan_fa]

One snail per 2 gallons is the recommendation, but I would think 20-25 would be plenty. Perhaps even less than that. They get to be about 2 or 3 inches, and cost about $2 each.

[elaine]

Thank you for your help. Would you give me a list of all the correct levels I should be testing for? Reef tank 75gal, agressive tank 50 gal are my tank sizes.

[volitan_fa]

Water parameters are pretty much the same for either tank, but it's hard to keep them as tight in an aggressive tank because of the way they eat (they're messy). Here ya go:

* Temperature: 75°F - 80°F/24°C - 27°C
* Specific Gravity(SG): 1.021-1.025
* pH: 8.0-8.4
* ammonia: 0
* nitrite: 0
* nitrate: <10 ppm (5 ppm or less is preferred)
* carbonate hardness: 7-10 dKH
* calcium: 350-450 (important in a reef system or one with inverts)
* phosphates: 0
* strontium: 8-10 ppm
* magnesium: 1280-1300 ppm
* iodine: .02-.06 ppm (.06 ppm is natural seawater)

The last 5 you really only need to worry about if you have a reef system. Enjoy

[elaine]

Turbo snails are working great... have my levels all with range.. so here goes again.
thanks for your help and advise,
Elaine

[volitan_fa]

No problem....anytime!