almost cycled

[luvmyfishies]

hi, my tank according to the LFS has 1 to 2 weeks to go before being completed for the cycling. however i have brown and green alge spots starting all over the sand and dead coral pieces i have. when i does cycle what can i get to take care of the sand at least. no snails please. had them in freshwater tanks and don't like them.

 

[steve-s]

Snails in SW aquaria are nothing like FW tanks. They are no where near as prolific and often do not bread at all. Many of the egg masses laid never get properly fertilized or are eaten by other scavengers. If your cocerned about the tank being overrun by snails, don't be. It will rarely, if ever happen

That said, snails will indeed be your best defence against aglaes as well as detritus. Here are a few good suggestions.

Nassarius great for detritus and the sand bed.
Nerite especially good at film algaes..
Cerith cleans both the glass and the sand bed..
Bumblebees cleans up the uneaten food bits as well as detritus.
Margarita another excellent algae eater..

The amounts of each will vary on the types of algae problems or detritus as well as fish types you may keep. The general rule is 1 snail to every 1-1½ gal of tank water volume. In the beginning though I would start with about half that and build as needed based on the natural food sources available to them.

Cheers
Steve

 

[luvmyfishies]

sorry i had a snail eat two whole fins off a fish while it was sleeping and i lost the fish the next day. i am assuming it was sleeping, because it was fine that night next morning no fins. the nassarius snail looks ok. i think i will try that one. oh" will hermit crabs be ok with the snails?

 

[two11devan]

You could potentially have a problem with them. They have been known to kill the snails for their shells when they grow out of their own. I have a bunch of snails and hermits in my tank. I think the blur leggs stay relatively small in size. You might also wanna throw in a few empty shells for the hermits to move into. There is no guarrantee that will work, but its better than nothing

 

[steve-s]

With the right mix of snails for your 30 gal, crabs are actually not even needed.

Cheers
Steve