New Tank

[akopley]

i just started a new tank and i have redish brown algae everywhere. I just put in my cleaning package in today which includes the following.


Astraea Snail - 12
Margarita Snail - 12
Nerite - 6
Turbo Snail Mexican 12
Queen Conch - 4
Tonga Nassarius Snails 12
Blue Leg Hermit Crab - 12
Marshall Island Electric 1
Pom Pom Crab 1
Sexy Shrimp 2
Randall's Pistol Shrimp 1

When will this redish/brown algae leave? and when will i start to see purple and green coraline? Any other recommendations on things to add to the cleaning package are also welcome.

[sir_dudeguy]

is it like a rusty color? Its completely normal for a new tank. Give it like 2 or 3 weeks, and make srue your nitrates and phosphates are down. Those feed it.

[turretdr]

Could be diatoms but if its slimey, it's not actually an algae, it is cyanobacteria. Fed by phosphates an nitrates, low flow is a major contributing factor. Do a search for cyano or cyanobacteria.

[akopley]

it is a rusty color. My cleaning crew is eating it up. So i can expect it to be gone in the next couple of weeks.

[drummereef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8097499#post8097499 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by akopley
it is a rusty color. My cleaning crew is eating it up. So i can expect it to be gone in the next couple of weeks.

Good to hear it's going well. Just like the above posts said, make sure your parameters are in check and the stuff will go away. Keep your parameters in check and it hopefully won't come back.

[WaterKeeper]

Just a normal diatom bloom and part of the startup of any new tank. The snails will indeed help. This may help you understand what will happen next--The New Tank Thread (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=239848).

[Travis L. Stevens]

Just a normal tank cycle. Might I add that you might want to take a few of these critters back until you at least complete your cycle (if you haven't already)

**Margarita Snail - 12: This is a temperate water species that doesn't survive well in our warmer water reef tanks.
**Nerite - 6: These are intertidal snails that have no problem climbing out of the tank
**Turbo Snail Mexican 12: While this is also a temperate water species, their range of diet is priceless. But they are very strong and will knock over frags left and right. I would take some of them back just because they eat so much and are so strong. Maybe keep 2-5 in your tank.
**Queen Conch - 4: These grow far too big for such a small tank. They also need lots of surface area in the sand. A typical reef tank doesn't keep much surface area for sand. I wouldn't keep one unless I had a very large tank with lots of room. You could get away with one though.
**Marshall Island Electric 1: :confused: A what? Do you mean an Electric Scallop?
**Pom Pom Crab 1: I would take this back until your tank is a little more established. Though they will scavenge here and there, their main source of food is through filter feeding. As your tank cycles through various populations of invertebrates, the food source for this crab will fluctuate. In a better set up tank, it would be fine though.
**Sexy Shrimp 2: These little guys are really cool, but can be pretty delicate. They react very quickly to fluctuations of water parameters, and I'm sure you will have some as your tank ages. Plus, these guys are on the menu for most fish that people put in their tanks.
**Randall's Pistol Shrimp 1: A good little guy, but is also effected by water chemistry. I would hold off on getting this guy for a while.

FWIW, only the conch is commonly seen to eat Cyanobacteria, but over time, the Cyanobacteria will disappear on its own.

[sir_dudeguy]

my margaritas were sold as black turbos that eat cyano...never heard of black turbos (nor do i think there even is on) But they sure ate cyano. I would also recomend not getting them tho because like travis said...they're not a tropical species. Had i known at the time, i wouldnt have gotten them. Now i'm trying to set up a colder tank that they'll go into so they wont die (i'm not takin them back to the lfs because they run their temps higher than me)

[akopley]

Once again thanks for the advice. I ordered all my critters from marinedepotlive so sending them back isn't really an option. My tank temp is around 76 77 degrees so hopefully they will be ok. They seem to be enjoying themselves right now. The electric thing i have is a Marshall Island Electric Blue Hermit...very cool looking critter by the way.