I think that because of my use of tap water I had a spike in algae growth

[rncarter]

I have been testing my water chemistry on a weekly basis and everything seems just right. However, I think that because of my use of tap water I had a spike in algae growth. I cealned the tank and then bought 3 snails in the tankm to help with the cleanup of the algae on the glass. However, after a week it seems like the hermit crabs killed and eat two of the snails. I gave the tank a serious cleaning, I now have some protion of my sand that looks slightly brown like algae lives on the surface of the sand. Do I clean the surface of the sand by "sweeping" the surface or do I get more snails to clean the sand surface?

 

[melosu58]

It`s diatoms. I would say that in a while they`ll burn themselves out but your repeated use of tap water will only add more fuel to the problem. You really need an RO/DI unit. Read this on tap water

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/chem.htm

 

[rncarter]

I plan to buy a RO/DI water unit after Christmas.

 

[mr_X]

and hermit crabs kill snails out of instinct, not just because they need a bigger shell or need food. they will kill snails until there is none left.

 

[rncarter]

I had turbo snails.....so now i am thinking about getting a different type of snail.

 

[mr_X]

i can't think of a snail that keeps the sand bed clean. if you are patient, those diatoms will disappear as fast as they've come.

 

[kingman8610]

Ok first, your not feeding your hermits enough food. I have three and never did they kill any of my snails.
Second, a Nessarius snail is good for your sandbed, it basically lives in it but will pop up from time to time to say hi and they are about $4 a peice, just be sure to keep your ammonia lvls down or just about everything will die but the hermits.
And thirdly, your tap needs to be tested at you LFS before you use it but if you do use it dont be too extensive or excessive with it b/c eventually it will make your water lvls go cuckoo. Try using it only for quick/small top-offs, other than that like for evap. replacement I use Distilled, its much cleaner and better for use in bigger quantaties.

But your Hermits shouldn't kill your snails unless they are hungry, geez lol I had snails hitchin a ride on the back of my hermits lol starfish too (astrea) but yeah try feeding them more. How many do you have? What Specie are they?

-Brett

 

[kingman8610]

Another thing, Snails add to your Bio-load, probably about 2-3 Nessarius Snails for every 10g should be fine (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) Just set the Nessarius(es) in somewhere unobtrusive not around your hermies and they will be under yuor sandbed in about 24 hrs. another bonus to Nessarius(es) is that unlike gobies and other sand-sifters, they dont eat any of the good stuff in your sandbed, only the detritus, which will cut back on a lot of your negative chemicals that you dont want. that and they are really cool to watch when they come up or go down, and if you find one top-side, man, they are pretty active lol and fast too!!!

But yeah I forgot to mention ^this^ earlier..

-Brett

 

[mr_X]

nassarius are carnivores. they eat uneaten food, but not fish poop or any type of algae.
2 or 3 per 10 gallons and you'll probably have to add extra food, just for them.
feeding extra food to the tank just to keep the hermits fed seems contradictory to the whole "cleanup crew" fantasy.

 

[kingman8610]

Lol yeah, but at least it will keep the snails from being eaten.

And as far as Nessarius go, I was told that they do eat the waste out of a sand bed. Not sure about fish poo, but hermit poo, yeah lol but then maybe I was told wrong, but that is what's been happening in my tank.

-Brett

 

[austinsdad]

I'm not sure anything keeps snails from being eaten by hermits.

 

[kingman8610]

Well, it did for my tank, and thats all I had... 3 stripped legged hermies and snails, plus like 75 Astrea starfish lol, and not one was eaten, and my hermits are huge, like prolly 2-3in diameter for the biggest. I feed 1 headless frozen jumbo shrimp a day, and they never completely finish it and its about 6-8hrs between the time I take it out and put another one in. and yeah, my snails were never bothered... lol I remember I had a snail, 1astrea starfish, and 1 hermit all eating together on a shrimp lol it was really neat.

 

[Jaybird]

The shrimp lasted 6-8 hours? Man, I had a hitchhiker crab take out a yellow tang sometime during the night. I went to bed around 11pm and it was there but at 7:00am there was nothing left but a few yellow spines.

Hermits are pretty aggressive. People don't figure that because they are so small. Given the chance they will eat each other.

 

[mr_X]

Lol yeah, but at least it will keep the snails from being eaten.

And as far as Nessarius go, I was told that they do eat the waste out of a sand bed. Not sure about fish poo, but hermit poo, yeah lol but then maybe I was told wrong, but that is what's been happening in my tank.

-Brett

maybe, maybe not.
i've owned nassarius, and they touched nothing but food that hit the bottom. the sand bed was as clean with them, as it was without them. they did come out during coral feeding time and rob all my lps of their food.

 

[Jaybird]

I have the same problem but it's with my cleaner shrimp. When I feed my LPS they come right up and steal the food. The nassarius boil out of the sand whenever food enters the tank, or you move something like a rock.

maybe, maybe not.
i've owned nassarius, and they touched nothing but food that hit the bottom. the sand bed was as clean with them, as it was without them. they did come out during coral feeding time and rob all my lps of their food.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...I feed 1 headless frozen jumbo shrimp a day, and they never completely finish it and its about 6-8hrs between the time I take it out and put another one in. and yeah, my snails were never bothered...

Glad to hear you've stopped leaving the shrimp in there for 3-4 days like you were talking about in that other thread. With the amount of food you were leaving about before, I can imagine your hermits didn't go after the snails. But I wouldn't consider that normal when it comes to folks that keep reef tanks where you can't leave stuff like that rotting away for that long.

 

[kingman8610]

The shrimp lasted 6-8 hours? Man, I had a hitchhiker crab take out a yellow tang sometime during the night. I went to bed around 11pm and it was there but at 7:00am there was nothing left but a few yellow spines.

Hermits are pretty aggressive. People don't figure that because they are so small. Given the chance they will eat each other.

No I mean 6-8 hrs from the time I take it out to the time I put another one in. The shrimp is in there about 16-18 hrs. And no, they never finish, but these shrimp are pretty big. I think they eat 2-3 times a day but not so much when they do, but they eat other stuff too like shells and they sift through the sand a lot. they are Scavengers by nature and they seem to like a variety. At least mine seem too lol. And these are no regular hermits, I cant seem to find anyone who can pinpoint what specie of hermit they are. you are welcome to try.

I have heard them called stripped legged hermit crabs, fish-killers... even their scientific names! Apparently these guys that I have, have more than one scientific name! lol

But yeah they eat a lot but never have finished one unless I left it there for 2-3 days...

 

[kingman8610]

maybe, maybe not.
i've owned nassarius, and they touched nothing but food that hit the bottom. the sand bed was as clean with them, as it was without them. they did come out during coral feeding time and rob all my lps of their food.

Haha oh im sry lol yeah my Nessarius only came out twice out of the month or so that I had him, and he would be out for no more than a few hours, then he went back underbed < lol, but I would see his antenna sticking up out of the sand bed like every other day. and he def. cleaned up my sandbed, in like a month it went from black nasty looking detritus all in it, to absolutely none. Not a spot that I could see.

 

[kingman8610]

Glad to hear you've stopped leaving the shrimp in there for 3-4 days like you were talking about in that other thread. With the amount of food you were leaving about before, I can imagine your hermits didn't go after the snails. But I wouldn't consider that normal when it comes to folks that keep reef tanks where you can't leave stuff like that rotting away for that long.

Lol yeah I had to learn that lesson the hard way. But lucky for me I had nothing too precious or expensive that died, just a few snails and a ton of astrea starfish. I have an API Master Test kit now but it only tests for Calcium, KH, Phosphates, and Nitrates

 

[mr_X]

in like a month it went from black nasty looking detritus all in it, to absolutely none. Not a spot that I could see.

this may have not been from the snail at all. when tanks are young the sand bed always looks less than perfect, then as they stabilize, the bed starts to look better.
if you had black nasty detritus all over your sand bed, you probably would have had a tank crash. are you sure it wasn't just diatoms?