What next?

[SiReal]

Hi all,

I've had my tank setup for about 6 months now 45 gallon, and we now have 5 Damsels, 3 percula Clowns, 1 Starry Eyed Hermit Crab, 1 Emerald crab, 2 turbo snails, 1 brittle starfish and 1 pink tip anonome(sp?).

Everything seems to be pretty happy, but just recently I have that "brown" algee showing up as I've seen other people post about, however this seems rather late, dosn't it?

I had a cleaner shrimp but he only lasted 2 weeks before one of my damsels ate him, so I don't really want to buy anymore of those right now...

What I'm wondering is what should I do next? Get more of a clean-up crew? If so what should I add?

I've also had problems with the snails I initally bought 6 and they all died within days... Then I bought two more and acclimated them a little longer and things seem to be okay now...

Thanks In Advance!

[demonsp]

Is this fish only or do you have live rock ? What are your readings. (cal,nit,nat,ph,ect..)

[Bandsaw]

Some info on your lighting and filtration will help as well (skimmer, photo period, etc)

You have a lot of animals for a 45g, IMO.

An outbreak like the one you described is not uncommon in the first year. It is not late at all at 6 months.

The biggest thing to remember is algae feeds on nutrients and almost always gets back to phosphates in your water. Good housekeeping practices, good nutrients export, rinsing your foods before feeding etc will all go a long way in minimizing the outbreak.

In the end, if this is just a phase your tank is undergoing in the maturing process, it should pass on its own.

[SiReal]

We have fish and live rock right now. I'll get my fiancee to check out the readings and I'll post them up.

We have a sea clone protein skimmer and Fluvol 204 filter, I am not really sure what a photo period is...

Too many animals in a tank? what is a good rule of thumb for a tank my size?

[bheron]

i would definitely get more of a cleaner crew. 2 crabs and 2 snails is a bit on the low end in my opinion.

[bertoni]

For that size tank, I would probably stop at 4-5 fish from that list, at most. A few Trochus or cerith snails might be a good addition.