Cuc help?

[swbeginner]

Yeah, I know I should have a cuc by now. But here we go. Paramaters are perfect but sand is not and there is a bit of algae. It is a 29 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. I have a turbo and some nassarius snails (5). I am wanting to add 2 cerith snails and 3 blue leg hermits. So, how does that sound? Any suggestions. More/less?

[WaterKeeper]

I'm not really a cuke fan and only somewhat warm on hermits. If you have a DSB I'd just rely on the snails. As a DSB ages the algae growth on it dies out on its own.

Cukes stir a DSB too much and hermits eat the benificial organisms, like worm and pods, that live in the sand.

[swbeginner]

I don't have a dsb, just a small sand bed. In a 30 gallon tank, would a sand sifting star do the trick instead of hermits?

[nikkipigtails]

I would steer clear of the hermits. IMHO, the snails do a better job, especially the nassarius. They're detrivores and scavangers. They live in the sand (as you can probably already see) and come out when you feed the tank to eat whatever they can get a hold of. I would stock up on those guys, ceriths (which will stick to the rocks and glass) and turbos.

[Bandsaw]

You do not want a Sand Sifting Starfish. Your system is why too small to support a creature like that. It would destroy all life in the sand, then slowly starve to death.

I would just vacum a third of your sand with each water change. That way, any gunk gets cleaned up out of your system.

[swbeginner]

I'll give you a pic of what it looks like in a minute.

[swbeginner]

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/KeeblerK/PICT0547.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/KeeblerK/PICT0548.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/KeeblerK/PICT0549.jpg http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f135/KeeblerK/PICT0552.jpg

[swbeginner]

bump!!!

[swbeginner]

Is this an issue or just an ugly thing to have?

[WaterKeeper]

:lol:

You're as bad a photographer as I am. ;)

Looks like diatoms. Not bad, in fact common in a new tank and snails will eat them.

Do you use RO/DI or bottled distilled? Tap water can be high in silicates which promotes diatom growth.

[swbeginner]

I use ro from walmart. That would explain it. I have had them WAY too long. So an ro/di unit would help?

[swbeginner]

About the photography. I am actually not that bad, but the camera I was using sucks, so I got careless. But I agree, the pics look like crap. I could use my good camera, but it would take 4 years to load.

[swbeginner]

So, is there a test for silicates? I am probably going to improve my cuc without adding hermits. I'll just get like 3-4 cerith snails. Then I'll buy a unit. Since my parents will be using it more than I, maybe I can convince them to pitch in, or at least buy replacement filters for it.

[swbeginner]

lemme bump dis

[swbeginner]

bump for an answer.

[swbeginner]

one last bump...

[nikkipigtails]

The brown stuff is cyano. Cyano is caused by excess nutrients in your tank ie: overfeeding, not using ro/di water, not enough flow to take the left over food and detritus to the overflow/filter, etc.

How long has your tank been up? Are you feeding the tank anything? Are you using ro/di water?

[swbeginner]

I am using ro water from walmart. The brown stuff has little stringlike things hanging off it which made me think it was dinoflagelles, but it could just as easily be brown cyano. I have a great skimmer and keep up on water changes well. My tank has been up since April, but I changed a lot of stuff about the tank in July, so it was almost as if it was new. Will simply doing a large water change with ro/di water fix my problem. My flow is comprised of a koralia 2, two 160 gph powerheads, and a spray bar connected to the sump pump that is at the bottom of the tank and puts out flow across the sand.

[nikkipigtails]

How often do you feed and what do you feed your tank?

[swbeginner]

I feed my own mix, it should be free of nitrogen and phosphorous if that is what you are getting at.