What should I do next....

Ok...so I got my live rock, my live sand, my water all in the tank. Its been in there for about a month. After a couple of weeks brown algae started growing on the glass and I was told this is normal. I went in to my local aquarium store and the owner said it was time to get a few damsals and the clean up crew. So I got two damals, 6 crabs, and 6 snails. One of the damsals died within 6 hours of getting it but the other one still lives (yeah)!!! The snails are doing a decent job on the brown algae but at the rate they are going, it seems like it will never be done. Is there any way to help speed up the cleaning process?? I have a 25 gallon aquarium and I was wondering if I should get more snails or if I should just let it be. I also am wondering about my live rock. I got two pieces that came from Hawaii and a piece that is artificial. One of the ones from Hawaii had green plants growing off of it when we got it but now the plants are all fuzzy and it looks like its dying. What can I do to save it? Any help would be great!!! Thanks

 

research b4 you buy! a month is no where near enough cycling time. have you tested your water before you got your fish? you should have zero readings on No2 No3 Nh4. also 25 g is rather small if the damsel did not die from your poisoned water chances are the other one killed it. DO NOT TRUST SHOP KEEPERS! i would buy more rocks (need to know the weight of the rocks rather than the numbers) and i would throw away the artificial rock. the brown algae you have is probably diatoms that vanish on thier own and as for the green stuff if it kinda looks like hair its pesky micro algae that does not really help your system. research research research!!!!!!!!

 

Hello and welcome


the brown algae is normal and an uphill battle that you will fight but with diffrent algae's it will burn its self out and not be as noticable after a few weeks.

the damsels are used to add fish poop to the system and jump start the cycle and to start maturing the tank. I unfortinatly did the same thing with my 20 gallon except I put three in there and all of them have died since then. That being said you CAN keep the one in there alive, there hardy fish and my last one lived for over a two years before it just died. you have to check the water and post the peramters listed below and keep them in chek to do it though.

as far as a cleaning process there is no faster way to make it cleaner except to just let it do its thing for a few weeks and then you can think about trying a bigger and more extensive CUC.

I would not recomend putting anything else in there untile you have gotten a better more stable water quality than you have now, it killed me when somthing I bought died and I just dont want you to have to go throught the same thing.

a few things to think about and try. test for: Ammonia/ nitrates/ nirtites/ salinity level.
as far as teh Fish store goes it sounds like that they might be trying to make a quick buck. It happened to me and many others but thanks to 3reef I have learned moved on and still buy from them but I do air on the side of caution more.

a few question for ya?
what type of water did you use?
how much rock, in pounds is in there now?
what type of light is over the tank?
what type of filtration do you have on the tank?
what is the tempature of the tank?
what type of salt mix did you use for the water?
what type of crabs and snails did you put in there?

 

would also be nice to know how you acclimated the fish

 

Thank you so much for responding!

what type of water did you use? I used salt water that was already mixed at the fish store
how much rock, in pounds is in there now? I have about 24 lbs of rock
what type of light is over the tank? My boyfriend bought me a weipro complete aquarium system and it has 4 X 24W T5...I think :S... I don't know how good of a tank it is, I have been trying to research it but I haven't found a lot of information on it and I want to keep it for a while because it has sentimental value but if it doesn't work out I am not opposed to buying a better tank.
what type of filtration do you have on the tank? The filter's power consumption is 21W
what is the tempature of the tank? The temperature is 78 degrees
what type of salt mix did you use for the water? I'll have to ask the store...
what type of crabs and snails did you put in there? I'll have to ask the store again....hermit crabs and white shelled snails is all I can tell ya now

 

A month can be enough time to cycle if he seeded with live rock. The 'brown aglea' can be the diatom bloom that comes along during the cycle as well. You didnt mention a test kit and like swiss mentioned, testing is how you tell if you have completed a cycle. As far as the algae problem to really assess it please tell us your water test results, what type of lighting you are using, how long your lighting cycle is, and what kind of filtration you have set up. All of those are contributing factors.

 

Hey there SwissSwiss, everyone makes mistakes when they are new and Ponyo is here for help and advice, not to be berated. I'm new to this hobby too, and though I've been researching quite a bit, a post like yours would have driven me to another forum. Please try to soft-pedal your irritation a bit with newbies.

Thanks

 

Couldn't have said it any better. Thank you!

 

im actually just getting over the same problem with algae but what i noticed is that it seems that the snails arent cleaning... but they are! but they crap more than they eat so instead of an algae problem youll end up with their filth unless you get detritus eaters also. make sure to sift ur substrate at least once a week to let some of it filter out too. if you wait too long to sift it will eventually become extremely toxic. good luck, do alot of reading all advice is different

 

Huh?! What berating? Looks like a non-inflammatory question was asked. Was the original post by SwissSwiss changed at some point, because I see absolutely nothing nasty?