Dawn On The Reef

[BigC]

"

Turbo" snails are often actually Astrea snails incorrectly labeled

Ahh! well thanks Ski for that. I have seen some online named True Mexican Turbos would this be a good buy alongside some Astrea and others.
My LFS has just decided to set up a large Marine display aquarium. Its in the early stages (water rocks and snails) The rock structure is absolutly stunning (all flat like pieces and glued with marine epoxy) overhangs and crags in abundance utterly stunning. Well beyond my budget!!!!! Anyways the rock is pristine and a million times better than the gunk they sold me. The snails are humongus they are absolute giants (turbos) I am going to ask them to get me some of those. Its obvious that they can source such stock. The snails they sell to Joe Public are in contrast runts and not good quality going by my critical eye. I have spent a lot of time and money patronising the shop so I see no reason why I cannot make a few demands on them. I dont mind paying a little extra for superior stock.
Anyway getting back to my spit in the ocean.
Stats this morning again made for encouraging reading, the Ammonia is now totally gone (Zero in test vial....YES!) Nitrites are way up at over 1 (will this drop away as quick as the Ammonia did once it started) Temperature is 79.5'F - Specific Gravity is 1.026 and pH has fallen to 7.8 (but I expect th pH will rise again once the waterchange is performed when Nitrite drops to zero and testing for Nitrate begins).
I hope the CUC introduction will be the next pictorial post.
Regards
BigC

 

[littleme1969]

Hi Big C
Its all comming together.
Just a little note on the snails..Stick to the smaller ones. These guys are like little bulldozers and will knock down coral frags and move rockwork looking for food, so its best to stick with the smaller varieties with a nano tank

 

[BigC]

Thanks LM.
My thinking was just that I knew they would be turbos as they get big, whereas the ones the LFS were selling were a completely different species possibly Astrea. Ski hinted that Turbos can right themselves when they fall whereas Astrea cant, Reasoning being whilst I'm at work snails topple/die and I'm of down the LFS again throwing money away. I know its only a pawltry sum for snails but neverther less wastage. When I lived on the mainland shopping for even the smallest aquatic accessories was so easy, now I'm back home in Northern Ireland it's become a hardship. Online shopping is a godsend, but that said paying postage for a critter pack to NI far outweighs the actual cost of buying the critters in the first instance.
I'll see what the LFS has to say on the matter. Would ideally like to get some different snail species which the LFS dont seem to stock.
Let you know the outcome in comming posts on this thread.
Finally I have aquired a milky scum on the surface water much akin to a bacterial bloom when setting up a new freshwater aquarium is this normal. I was going to direct or redrill a few small holes in the spraybar to diffuse it somewhat but did not want to create microbubbles. Its hampering light diffusion somewhat. Any suggestions.
Regards
BigC

 

[steelhealr]

BigC:
-surface skimmer; most tanks will build up a layer of protein on the surface. It's good to get rid of this as it can reduce lighting if it gets thick.

-snails: I avoided turbos in the beginning. I think they DO do a good job but just don't get a lot of them. I loved astreas. I have some cool pix of them bulldozing thru cyano when I had it; nassarius I loved; cerith....good too. Was unhappy with blue hermits and margarita snails. Hermits, fpr the most part, are underachievers and can get nasty at times

-Cukes...well..just be sure you read up on them. People get real defensive when I counsel against putting them in the tank. I put them under the same heading as flame scallops, etc. Personal call.

SH

 

[timpetty]

Nassarius are fun to watch. I would recommend a couple of them. They burrow in the sand with their "snorkel" sticking out. Then when food is introduced to the tank they shake off the sand as fast as possible and glide over to it pretty fast.

As far as Astreas, I wouldnt worry about them dying from being upside down while you're at work. They will definately last until you can get to them to right them. The only problem, as i posted before, would be hungry hermits. But even at that, its not too common and Ive left Astreas upside down for a couple days as an "experiment" and they were fine.

 

[SkiFletch]

Also remember, that IME snails are very sensitive to shipping stresses, so don't be surprised if you do have some mortality even if you take all precautions to keep them alive. I've actually had best luck with Trochus, Cerith, and Nassarius msyelf. Like SH said, true Turbos are a little too good at bulldozing

 

[littleme1969]

Surface scum can be an issue, I found aiming one of my powerheads upwards to the water surface halps break it back up, so adding it to the water column so the filters can remove it. A good thick padding of filter floss is perfect for getting rid of such rubbish I use it in my internal filter and change once a week with water changes.

Snails. Ive never had an issue with them not being able to right themselves. They tend to hang out on rock work/glass anyhow and avoid the sand.

 

[BigC]

Again, much obliged guys.
When you purchased your cleanup crew, presumably both snails and hermits did you aclimatize them seperately ie, hermits in one bucket and snails in another,
Or is it fine to have them all together in one recepticle whilst you equalize the parameters.
Just curious
Also I have quite a lot of hair algae tufts dotted all over the rock and are on the increase (again only on the LR and none at all on the rockwall) Which member of the cleanup crew if any would be best suited to munch this, or will I have to surgically remove this myself using long tweezers,
Again you help is valued
Regards
BigC

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, although no little spawn of darkness will ever get in my tank again, make SURE you keep hermits separate from snails when acclimating.

As for the hair algae, there are but 4 organisms which relaibly eat it, and a couple which sometimes eat it. Only Sea Hares, Lettuce Nudibranchs, Urchins, and Tangs really eat hair algae reliably. Of those, really only smaller Urchins are suitable for a nano tank. Sea Hares and Lettuce Nudis often get caught on powerhead intakes and killed. And Tangs of course are far too large for a nano longterm, although could be "borrowed" for a few months if need be. As for snails, True Turbo, and Trochus snails have eaten it for me, but I've had little if any luck with Cerith, Astrea, or Margarita eating hair algae. Ultimately the problem with snails is they usually prefer to eat diatoms over hair algae, and really only go after the hair when really hungry.

If you do need to resort to manual removal, get a very small diameter tube (3/16" or less) and suck some hair into it. If it refuses to let go, pinch it off with your finger while its in the tubing, remove your finger and let the siphon suck it out. If the outbreak isn't that bad, just do this while waterchaning. If its fast and you have to do it every few days, consider investing in some women's nylon knee-high stockings. Siphon into the stocking rubberbanded to the end of the tube. That'll keep the HA out of the water you siphon out and allow you to put it back into the tank

 

[BigC]

Cheers Ski
Regards
BigC

 

[BigC]

Well what a week its been First the Ammonia dropped to Zero now today the Nitrites also dropped to to the big 0. Tomorrow I'm going to perform a full batch of tests and if everything turns out fine then I'll do a 50% waterchange and start testing for Nitrate.
Managed to syphon a lot of hair algae tufts today using 6mm airline hose coupled with manipulative fingerwork. Strained the water through some ladies nylons (brand new) and returned the water to the tank. I still left some low cut algae for the CUC to munch on, but the appearance is looking a whole lot neater now. (thanks Ski for the airline/syphon/nylons tip)
My Liverock seems a bit soft and breaks off easily almost as if it's eroding is this natural, some of it is rock hard but the outer edges are easily crumbled. Please advise.
First lifeform spotted small (3mm) like a minute sea fan, grey in colour with white edging. pops out of its hole in the rock opens its fan and shoots away back into its hole at the slightest disturbance. Any ideas people....Friend or Foe!

Hope to get some CUC soon!
Regards
BigC

 

[steelhealr]

Feather duster most likely. SH

 

[BigC]

Feather duster most likely. SH

That small SH. Its minute. Any ideas on the brittle rock.
Regards
BigC

 

[steelhealr]

Not sure why...unless they gave you some cheesy stuff. What type did you get? SH

 

[BigC]

It looks a lot like Fijian. Not Tonga branch and it doesen't look Caribbean. The LFS have just set up a Marine Display. Everything in there (Rock and Livestock) is the best of gear, they do the same with their tropical setups, Its not down to husbandry, the livestock they obtain for their own displays are far superior to the livestock offered to Joe Public. I am going to put them on the spot as regards to cleanup crew, I'm going to make a specific request as to what I require, and see what happens.
This Island of ours is a bit off the beaten track when sourcing aquatic essentials, I've had a few emails back today looking £25 postal charges for the critters. Of course this is up to 10kgs. How many critters are there in 10kgs The total cost for snails and crabs would have been £36 plus the postage. So again I'll see what transpires at the LFS.
Regards
BigC