Am i on the correct path?

Chaeto will help by reducing nutrients in the water. Effectively it introduces competition for nutrients and thus reduces growth in your display tank.

I wouldn't be in a rush to build your CuC unless you start having a problem. My experience was that everything looked beautiful, thought I was done cycling. All looked good, but started having blooms of algae, massive quick growth. It is all part of the larger cycle. I have read that it takes about a year to full mature a tank.

Everything you are doing really looks good to me. Welcome to the gang. Lots of really good people here.

M

 

looking good keep up the great work, and the pics lol

 

they are not turbo snails... they are nassarius snails (dont eat any detrus or algae)

 

Thanks, i didnt thank they where after i looked them up. didnt have a clue what they where.

i noticed yesterday that their was some of the tan/brown stuff that was laying on the sand bed (was expecting it). it wasnt to bad though just alittle hear and their.

So well i went to the LFS and bought some Joe's juice to kill off the Aptasia. i also picked up 2 turbo snails and 2 crabs. crap forgot the name of the crabs. ill thank of it later. i figured i needed to add to my cleaning crew for the LR and the sand bed and maybe the glass. being that the Nassarius snails doesnt clean the rocks and stuff. So i put them in last night. I also used the joe's juice on the Aptasis and it seamed to work great, they closed up as soon as it hit them. I found about 2 that was about quarter sized and 4-5 that was much smaller.

when i woke up today they was out cleaning away and seamed to be doing fine. the turbo snails was on the rocks and the crabs was cleaning the SB. it looked to me that the Aptasia was dead already. One thing i did notice, my Toadstool coral was pretty well closed up. kinda like how the Aptasis did but not quite so bad. So i took a turkey baster and shot it a little to maybe blow off some of the joe's juice that might of got on it. NOT SURE IF JOE"S JUICE WOULD BOTHER IT OR NOT THOUGH. any ideas? after the burst of water it seams to be open / back to normal again.

I also check my nitrates and they are still at 0.0

 

I just thought I'd add my two cents on the aiptasia removal. I've tried so many things including joes juice, aiptasiax, etc, but nothing has ever worked as well as a peppermint shrimp. Some people won't agree of course so, I'm just saying they've been great for me.

 

thats funny, that is what the LFS said i could try if the Joe's juice doesnt kill it all.

 

Well I added some moon lights to my tek lighting unit. I was going to post photos but I just figured out that I can't post any from my iPhone I guess. I'll post them afteri get off of work. I also noticed a few other snails that was on the LR. They must only come out at night because I never see them during the day. They are kinda small. So it's hard to get a good photo of them but I will try.

Well I found a Emerald crab yesterday. Just what I was needing. It's just to bad he was dead. It's kinda a funny yet sad story. I pretty sure I killed him. I actuly found him in my garage, laying in the floor. no where close to where my tank is setup. Apparently when I was busting Up a very large peace of LR into a few smaller peace when setting up my rock. I guess he fell out of the rock and I just never noticed him. Poor little guy must of froze to death.

 

I just got home from work and noticed a MAJOR brown coating over the sand and LR. their is non on the glass though. kinda odd being that everything is cleaning the LR and sand. So should i reduce my lighting time? it is currently at 12 hours on 12 off and my water temp is at 80 degrees and the Nitrates are 0.0. was thanking of decreasing my lighting to 8 on 16 off and keep the water temp the same (80). BTW the room that my tank is in does get a little natural sunlight around mid day.

Would adding a few more to my clean up crew be the best thing to do and not touch the light?

im also filling that it might be a good time to add the Creato to the refugi, what do you all thank?


Thanks

 

There was a poll a while back asking how many hours folks kept their lights on. You can search for it. I believe the norm was 9-10 hours on. I would reduce down to that.

Second thing, these algae blooms are normal for new tanks. Mine is only a few months older than yours and it is only starting to settle down.

What kind of flow do you have in the tank? Inadequate flow is also a cause.

M

 

my flow is around 2000gph + or - 50gph so that should be good i would thank.

im thanking to much lighting well not to much but to long. i was at 12 hours on/off, but at the same time i only have 2 turbo snails and 2 Nassarius and 2 crabs. know i didnt notice that their is a few snails that only come out at night. they are very small and their is around 10 or so. they was brought in with the live rock.

ill cut my light back to 8 hours on, being that i get some natural sun as well.

should i maybe add a few to the CuC or wait?