New 20 gallon high.

Hey 3reef, new member here. I have been keeping freshwater for quite some time now but finally diving into the marine field. Purchased a new 20 high, got 2 powerheads on it, couple of pounds of live rock and 10+ pounds of base rock at the moment. Inhabitants include 3 turbo snails (two of which seem to have trouble moving on the sand), 2 small blue leg hitch hiker hermit crabs. My question is that, since I am getting a ton of diatom growth on my live sand i am assuming my cycle is not done yet? I was hoping the turbo snails would help with this problem but they seem to stay on the rocks...

 

Diatom is a visible sign of cycling progress. What are your water parameters?

 

Welcome to 3 reef! Yes, you are still cycling. My snails don't like the sand eithor. Post some pics when you can.

 

Yea i guess im just gonna have to pickup some more live rock for the snails, to move about on, and also for more filtration. The pic on the right is some live rock rubble im using to see the baserock. Unfortunately im a bit low on funds right now so this tank is sort of a work in progress, The formation on the left has a little bit of athelias on it which seems to be doing well. Dont have a test kit right now so im not sure on the water parameters. Hermit crabs eat diatoms or is there any sort of reef safe cleaning crew that would do this task? The diatoms are pretty obvious and apparent in these pics...

 

If you don't have the test kits, bring water sample to lfs and ask them to test the water for you. Diatoms will disappear (or at least reduce) once the tank is mature. If you cannot wait, add a few snails to speed up the cleaning process. Hermit crabs (IME) don't eat diatoms.

 

yea i thought the turbo snails would help with the diatoms but for some reason 2 are always attached. U can see them stuck together on in the rock formation to the left. And everytime i see them on the sand they are on their backs..... Also, should i worry about feeding the hermit crabs, there is only two of them and they are real small..

 

Welcome to 3reef! I also have a 20H, I think they are nice tanks. The diatoms will go away after your cycle completes. Those are a sign that nitrates are building up in your tank. You might see GHA growning after the diatoms burn out.
I really haven't come across anything that likes to eat diatoms, but that's just my own experience. If you haven't purchased one yet, the next thing to save up for is a good quality protein skimmer. Having one will make life much easier in this hobby, and your livestock will thank you for having one. I would also suggest putting in more sand, get about 1.5-2" of sandbed. Of course you mentioned you want more rock as well.
This is an expensive habit, so I can (I'm sure we all can actually) relate when you say "a bit low on funds."
You are off to a good start, welcome and have fun watching your tank grow.

 

Thanks very much for the help everyone. Yea definately an expensive hobby but i am having a good time seeing even this progress. Would it be alright to put more sand directly ontop of the sand with diatoms everywhere? Or should i wait. Also from what ive researched, its better to keep the rocks resting on the glass instead of the rocks resting on top of the sand to prevent shall i say, "structural failure"? haha. Ill get a skimmer eventually but like i said im just testing the field right now...

 

If you pour sand over the current sand, you will see the diatoms grow over from cycling. I would try to wiggle the rock down as far into the sand as your can. I generally advise to put the rocks in first, then fill the sand around it. The only time you would have to worry about the rocks breaking the tank walls is if you stack your rocks and don't expoy them together or drill/zip-tie them together and your fish bump them.
If you don't get a skimmer, doing weekly water changes (after cycling is 100% complete) is pretty much mandatory. The money you will spend in making up the change water will buy a skimmer over time. When you do get one, the skimmer is one piece of equipment you really don't want to cut corners on.

 

I will see the diatoms grow over? As in they will start over ontop of the new and higher sand bed? Is there any real consequence of putting more sand in and covering the current sand bad with a serious layer of diatoms? Thanks for the help.