clean up

[abrahamavelar]

hello i just clean my tank and did a 20% water change due that i was getting alot of brown algae and it was taking over my sand so after a few hours of hard work it looks ok so i decided to post some pics by the way this are my result from the tests:

temp 78
salinity right between 1.023 and 1.024
ammonia 0
ph 8.1
nitrites 0
nitrates0
phosphate 0

 

[abrahamavelar]

there is a few more

 

[thominil]

Looks nice! Could use a tad more live rock. I would bump the temp. up to 80-82 and the sg to 1.025-1.026. I would take some live rock and pile it up so it rises halfway up the tank in the back corners and leave rock scattered like you have. Just what I would do .

 

[abrahamavelar]

Thanks thats what im actually planning on doing im just buyin it slow due that money is is coming kind of slow

 

[roka64]

Looks good to me and I agree with thominil, some more LR would give your critters more places to hide and feel safe.

 

[match55]

+3 what they said~ haha
and I bet your fishes are happy cuz they have a lot of open water to swim
^^

 

[abrahamavelar]

Thank!!! Do you think a goby will help out wit the algae because my snails and crabs aren't really helpin, also i saw a creature that its full of spines and its black in my tank it appeared this morning there is that thing bad its kind of big

 

[thominil]

Click the link in my signature and scroll down a bit and see what it is. Try some astrea or trochus snails as they seem to do the best job. Try manually removing the algae if it is that bad (I can't see any in the pics).

 

[abrahamavelar]

yeah its an urchin

 

[abrahamavelar]

i bought some more turbo snails (3) we will see if my snail and crab army and goby will help me against the algae i got now 6 turbo snails, 3 black nails (i call them black due to their shell and color) 3 nassaurus 3 blue leg hermit crabs and one emerald

 

[abrahamavelar]

today the algea looks like if its almost gone, between the snails, the crabs the urchin and the goby i think that they are eating it all good

 

[thincat]

Looking good Abe, keep up the good work!

 

[abrahamavelar]

Thanks how do i know when i have too many members of my cleanup crew

 

[thominil]

Most likely some will die due to starvation.

 

[match55]

Snails will slowly control your algae as they find the spot.
My tank is full with diatom before n recently my snails just take them away,
u will know they snails had worked on the algae, they will leave marks. Hehe
hermits r good as well, but watch out they take down your snails for new home.

My 46gal has 7 hermits 8 netrite snails 13 nassarius snails
2 peppermint shrimps as clean up. They r Doing pretty good, so if u about the same, u should be fine.
I don't know if I have too much but they r doing good.

 

[abrahamavelar]

thanks i just didnt want to over populate my 80 gal tank wit only snails and crabs and an urchin so im doing fine the, are urchins reef safe

 

[thincat]

Urchins tend to knock over unstable rock formations and corals. If you can live with resetting things once in a while they are fine.
PS: I have three that hitched a ride in. One white and two black. Other then the occasional knocking over of something they don't bother at all.

 

[abrahamavelar]

oh ok cool i also bought 5 more blue leg crabs today

 

[thincat]

Go easy on those Hermits, they can wipeout your snails if they don't have enough food. They also kill for new and larger snail shells.
I removed all but three Hermits from my setup.

 

[abrahamavelar]

oh ok i actually put some empty shells too