Hello!!! New to this hobby and need some serious help!!!

Anonda22 · 04/28/2018, 09:42 PM

Hello! We are 3 weeks in with our salt water tank... we unfortunately got advice from the people at petco and have had a very rough start to the tank life! After unfortunately losing a couple of fish due to adding to many at once we have backed off and working on getting the water correct! I have these little guys and im curious on what they are. (Pictures of what i am talking about). Currently i have one watchman, one clown (his partner died), one chocolate chip starfish, and 5 crabs. The other 3 died (again wrong info from petco). I am currently fixing the issues i have caused and these tank mates i have now are strong and bearing with me. So my question is what do i have on my rocks and is it harmful??

Sisterlimonpot · 04/28/2018, 09:55 PM

First off,

To Reef Central

The first picture looks like hair algae the second is a vermetid snail. The hair algae is signs of high nutrients more than likely not from your tank but the tank that the rock came out of, you'll want to get rid of that before it's too late. The vermetid snail isn't harmful but people try to keep them out because they spread and take over any surface.

When you have a chance read the stickies at the top of this forum, it is chalked full of great info for those that are new to the hobby.

top shelf · 04/28/2018, 09:59 PM

Hair algae and mini feather dusters, has the tank even been cycled yet? If not you may likely loose more fish.

This is a good read with lots of great info if you are new, I would recommend going through it all. Can save yourself a lot of money and headache. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1031074

Anonda22 · 04/28/2018, 10:01 PM

Thank you so much!!!!! Sooooo, how do i get rid of these things?? I guess i dont mind the snails i think?? But the algae is the confusing part...

Cancun · 04/28/2018, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anonda22

Thank you so much!!!!! Sooooo, how do i get rid of these things?? I guess i dont mind the snails i think?? But the algae is the confusing part...

Hi and welcome!!! I agree get rid of the hair algae before it really takes over....first things first though....tell us about your water....are you using RODI water in your tank? What are your water parameters? What kind of lighting do you have and how long is on? How many times a day are you feeding?

The easiest way to get rid of hair algae fast is to manually pull it out....then if any water parameters such as phosphates or nitrates are out of wack do a series of water changes to get them back in a good range....

Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

top shelf · 04/28/2018, 11:47 PM

Once you can provide answers to Cancun's questions we can give you better answers but the easiest ways are manual removal like mentioned, frequent 10-20% water changes, don't overfeed, (feed once a day or every other) maintain nitrates between 5-10ppm, and phosphate around .03. With a new tank algae is part of the ugly phase so don't stress too much.

Uncle99 · 04/29/2018, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by top shelf

Once you can provide answers to Cancun's questions we can give you better answers but the easiest ways are manual removal like mentioned, frequent 10-20% water changes, don't overfeed, (feed once a day or every other) maintain nitrates between 5-10ppm, and phosphate around .03. With a new tank algae is part of the ugly phase so don't stress too much.

^^^^This^^^^^^
+ a lighting photoperiod which is not excessive 8-9 hours max, and use only the intensity you need, which at this early point is very low.

Master your water, know your parameters, cycle fully, add slowly so beneficial bacteria can adjust to the new levels...

Some LFS workers are good, some not. If your in a store that carries a TON of corals in big, clean well lit tanks, talk to that guy or gal.

teddscau · 04/29/2018, 10:33 AM

Man, sorry to hear about what you and your poor critters are going through! As a rule of thumb, I usually recommend being EXTREMELY skeptical of anything a pet shop or animal shelter tells you about critters. Ideally you should've just started with live rock, plunked it in your tank, then let it cycle for several weeks before even thinking of adding any critters.

Like the others said, get those excess nutrients under control and your parameters are stable, consider buying a maintenance crew. I'd recommend a few brittle stars (avoid green ones as they will murder every critter in your tank), tuxedo urchins, blue-legged hermit crabs, scarlet reef hermit crabs (Paguristes cadenati), and maybe some fuzzy chiton. Eventually, you might want to buy a giant clam as those guys can really help control excess nitrates, but they need a stable tank with lots of light.

reefteaser · 04/29/2018, 01:00 PM

Personally, I favor snails over hermit crabs. Much better behaved, and mostly non-destructive. My favorites are trochus, nerites, cerith, and nassarius. All except nassarius with work on different algae. Nassarius are great for cleaning sand and very entertaining to watch “arise” from the sand.
I avoid the large Mexican turbos, great eaters, but they bulldoze a lot of stuff around.
I also have a cucumber—GREAT vacuum cleaner! I wouldn’t put it in a new tank though.

Icewing726 · 04/29/2018, 08:53 PM

Haven't seen your water parameters but I can tell you from experience that bio spira has kept ammonia and nitrites at 0 consistently. Nitrates are a different story though.

04/28/2018, 09:55 PM	#2
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	First off, *To Reef Central* The first picture looks like hair algae the second is a vermetid snail. The hair algae is signs of high nutrients more than likely not from your tank but the tank that the rock came out of, you'll want to get rid of that before it's too late. The vermetid snail isn't harmful but people try to keep them out because they spread and take over any surface. When you have a chance read the stickies at the top of this forum, it is chalked full of great info for those that are new to the hobby. __________________ Jimmy MASVC President Dishes are done man! Current Tank Info: 300 in progress

04/28/2018, 09:59 PM	#3
top shelf Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,022	Hair algae and mini feather dusters, has the tank even been cycled yet? If not you may likely loose more fish. This is a good read with lots of great info if you are new, I would recommend going through it all. Can save yourself a lot of money and headache. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1031074 __________________ Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it into a fruit salad. Philosophy is wondering if that means ketchup is a smoothie. Current tank info: 45g SCA Cube

04/28/2018, 11:47 PM	#6
top shelf Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 1,022	Once you can provide answers to Cancun's questions we can give you better answers but the easiest ways are manual removal like mentioned, frequent 10-20% water changes, don't overfeed, (feed once a day or every other) maintain nitrates between 5-10ppm, and phosphate around .03. With a new tank algae is part of the ugly phase so don't stress too much. __________________ Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it into a fruit salad. Philosophy is wondering if that means ketchup is a smoothie. Current tank info: 45g SCA Cube

04/28/2018, 10:01 PM	#4
Anonda22 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2018 Posts: 2	Thank you so much!!!!! Sooooo, how do i get rid of these things?? I guess i dont mind the snails i think?? But the algae is the confusing part...

04/29/2018, 10:33 AM	#8
teddscau Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Canada Posts: 214	Man, sorry to hear about what you and your poor critters are going through! As a rule of thumb, I usually recommend being EXTREMELY skeptical of anything a pet shop or animal shelter tells you about critters. Ideally you should've just started with live rock, plunked it in your tank, then let it cycle for several weeks before even thinking of adding any critters. Like the others said, get those excess nutrients under control and your parameters are stable, consider buying a maintenance crew. I'd recommend a few brittle stars (avoid green ones as they will murder every critter in your tank), tuxedo urchins, blue-legged hermit crabs, scarlet reef hermit crabs (Paguristes cadenati), and maybe some fuzzy chiton. Eventually, you might want to buy a giant clam as those guys can really help control excess nitrates, but they need a stable tank with lots of light.

04/29/2018, 01:00 PM	#9
reefteaser Convince'em or confuse'em Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: S FL Posts: 341	Personally, I favor snails over hermit crabs. Much better behaved, and mostly non-destructive. My favorites are trochus, nerites, cerith, and nassarius. All except nassarius with work on different algae. Nassarius are great for cleaning sand and very entertaining to watch “arise” from the sand. I avoid the large Mexican turbos, great eaters, but they bulldoze a lot of stuff around. I also have a cucumber—GREAT vacuum cleaner! I wouldn’t put it in a new tank though.

04/29/2018, 08:53 PM	#10
Icewing726 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 248	Haven't seen your water parameters but I can tell you from experience that bio spira has kept ammonia and nitrites at 0 consistently. Nitrates are a different story though.