Cool, thanks Steve. I dont feed all the different foods at once, just a bit of 2 at a time, then the other 2 the following day.
So, to verify:
Get a DI attachment for my RO unit.
Get some snails (35g tank - how many, what sizes, what type(s), and will they interfere with my hermit crabs or shrimp or vice-versa? I guess they don't add to the bioload and can be put straight in the tank from the LFS after a drip acclimation?)
Ideally, what type of snails, how many, and what size should I get out of the following, bearing in mind the majority of the algae problem is the sand, with the glass not being too bad (can clean it easily enough myself) and the powerheads/rock/fake plants fairly bad:-
Bumblebee
Turbo
Nerite
Trochus
Turbo
Margarita
Cerith
Nassarius
Also, when I add the snails, will they use up the calcium in my tank more than the inhabitants are at the mo (fireshrimp, 4 fish, 10 small hermits)? My calcium is a little on the low side (approx 380) but I think is balanced against my dKH which is about 10.
GPH may be a small part of the issue but not that significant.
I'm quite out of action ATM following a hospital op, so bi-monthly waterchanges are really all I can push to ATM.
If I do the above (add the DI and snails, clean the filter and change the rowaphos every 2 weeks during waterchanges for the time being until things are under control) and give it a good cleanup, I will definitely see a good improvement with my algae situation in a few weeks? And hopefully stop the issue from returning?
BTW, how should I be cleaning my filter? Should I be doing anything with the media balls in the 2 baskets? And how should I be tackling the gunk on the wet/dry foam tube thingy?
Thanks!
So, to verify:
Get a DI attachment for my RO unit.
Get some snails (35g tank - how many, what sizes, what type(s), and will they interfere with my hermit crabs or shrimp or vice-versa? I guess they don't add to the bioload and can be put straight in the tank from the LFS after a drip acclimation?)
Ideally, what type of snails, how many, and what size should I get out of the following, bearing in mind the majority of the algae problem is the sand, with the glass not being too bad (can clean it easily enough myself) and the powerheads/rock/fake plants fairly bad:-
Bumblebee
Turbo
Nerite
Trochus
Turbo
Margarita
Cerith
Nassarius
Also, when I add the snails, will they use up the calcium in my tank more than the inhabitants are at the mo (fireshrimp, 4 fish, 10 small hermits)? My calcium is a little on the low side (approx 380) but I think is balanced against my dKH which is about 10.
GPH may be a small part of the issue but not that significant.
I'm quite out of action ATM following a hospital op, so bi-monthly waterchanges are really all I can push to ATM.
If I do the above (add the DI and snails, clean the filter and change the rowaphos every 2 weeks during waterchanges for the time being until things are under control) and give it a good cleanup, I will definitely see a good improvement with my algae situation in a few weeks? And hopefully stop the issue from returning?
BTW, how should I be cleaning my filter? Should I be doing anything with the media balls in the 2 baskets? And how should I be tackling the gunk on the wet/dry foam tube thingy?
Thanks!