adding livestock???

yeah you do need a cleaner crew in there and maybe a good scraper....diatoms bad!

 

Scrape and syphon! Then add back some clean water...and find the source of those diatoms. What kind of sand do you have?

 

believe its live sand and crushed coral, it came with a strange mix and then I added a bag.

 

Yes, but is it argonite, or any of the 150 other kinds of substrate you can buy?

 

I am going to say its a mixture of the 150 other kinds, i can't really give you a answer on that but it does have argonite and probably just crushed coral.

 

I have never had diatoms (I got cyano, GHA and bryopsis...lucky me). I do believe though that they are a result of silicates, which can be in your sand. It's not the end of the world though, just quit feeding it...get a phosphate reactor or do what I did and buy a crap ton of macroalgae from reefcleaners.org (much prettier and cheaper than a phosphate reactor for my small tank) then talk to John Maloney (owns reefcleaners) about a clean up crew. He can tell you exactly what to do to improve your water quality and customize the clean up crew that you need. I know before I got my clean up crew in the tank, I had red cyano on one end of my tank and in all the corners. Now there is one little corner left and the snails are piled up on it as we speak!

 

Couldn't agree more. John is great, and very helpful. He'll work with you to get the best solution (speaking from my experience with placing an order with him just last Friday). Should arrive Thursday......can't wait.

 

Are your ceriths on the way? Just a note, they will be slow the first few days! I honestly thought 1/2 of mine didn't make the trip now they are algae eating machines.

Be sure to follow up with him on how the critters are doing, he likes to know.

 

Yes they are. He allowed me to add to the already paid for order today. So, I added 15 Florida Ceriths like he recommended. The customer service is top-notch.

Thanks, I will.

 

What all did you get? I have more fun watching the snails at feeding time than anything else, the Nassarius look like little race cars. Then at lights out, all the ceriths (Florida and Dwarf) come out and clean the sand and glass. In the morning, it's like there isn't a snail to be found.

I did put one "extra" hermit in the refuge with about ten of the "extra" dwarf ceriths he sent (seriously, I ordered like 30 and got 50). The hermit crab was black when I got him and I noticed today that he's in a white shell...guess he hijacked a snail!!!!!