Clean up crew suggestions....

[aromaff16]

I have had a 14 gallon biocube set up for approximately 1 month. I have had freshwater fish pretty much my whole life but this is my first plunge into the wonderful world of saltwater. It is home to 8 pounds of live rock, (I know I need to get more but its a start), 2 acanthastrae coral, 4 zoanthid polyps, a clownfish, an emerald crab, and 2 turbo snails. My water is crystal clear but I have lots of bright green algae. What other "janitors" would you recommend I get to help get my rocks cleaned up? Thanks

[twisted]

I have had a 14 gallon biocube set up for approximately 1 month. I have had freshwater fish pretty much my whole life but this is my first plunge into the wonderful world of saltwater. It is home to 8 pounds of live rock, (I know I need to get more but its a start), 2 acanthastrae coral, 4 zoanthid polyps, a clownfish, an emerald crab, and 2 turbo snails. My water is crystal clear but I have lots of bright green algae. What other "janitors" would you recommend I get to help get my rocks cleaned up? Thanks

some of the issue you are having is because your tank is still going through the cycling process. at a month old, the tank doesnt have the proper bacteria to break down nutes. so this is feeding the algae. your cuc sounds fine. keep up with water changes, make sure you are using ro water, and take it easy on adding anything else until the algae clears and the tank is a few months older. are you testing for phosphate and nitrate? what are the other water readings?

[twisted]

also, make sure that if you add more rock, that it is cycled and cured...if not, you will possibly kick off another spike in bad stuff

[aromaff16]

Thanks for your reply....Not testing for phosphates yet, but as of this morning, Ammonia and Nitrites are 0, and nitrates are about 10. The last water change I did was a 2 gallon change saturday the 27th, that was because the nitrates were up to about 40 but Ammonia and nitrites were fine though. PH is bouncing around between 7.8 and 8.4 and KH is about 11.
Live rock... Ive got about 8 pounds in there now and Ive been told I probably need around 20 pounds in my tank eventually. Does that sound right? I just started dosing Magnesium today but havent tested it yet, I cant get a mag test kit till next week. I hope to beable to get calcium and a calcuim test kit next week too. Thanks again for any suggestions.

[twisted]

Thanks for your reply....Not testing for phosphates yet, but as of this morning, Ammonia and Nitrites are 0, and nitrates are about 10. The last water change I did was a 2 gallon change saturday the 27th, that was because the nitrates were up to about 40 but Ammonia and nitrites were fine though. PH is bouncing around between 7.8 and 8.4 and KH is about 11.
Live rock... Ive got about 8 pounds in there now and Ive been told I probably need around 20 pounds in my tank eventually. Does that sound right? I just started dosing Magnesium today but havent tested it yet, I cant get a mag test kit till next week. I hope to beable to get calcium and a calcuim test kit next week too. Thanks again for any suggestions.

ph will change throughout the day and be highest near lights out. as for rock, thats up to you. recommended at 1 to 2 lbs per gallon......as for dosing, never add what you cant test for. that goes for iodide,mag,strontium......your tank is young, so there isnt alot of stuff in there that will be using it up. read some of the stickys about water balance...there is some great info and advice inthere...

[rluix]

I think its way too soon to add corals, corals will need a much more stable ambient to live on, and acording to you, you are having a algea problem, wich could endager the corals life if they get to the coral.
Also, one more thing, you mentioned the tank was 1 month old, could you tell us in order what and when was added the live fish and corals? Adding too much at the time could indeed make nitrates get hight, especially in such a small tank.

[aromaff16]

The large acan and th first zoo frag were added at the same time... righ tafter the tank was set up. The clownfish, and the startfish were added about a week later. Afew days after that I added a sally lightfoot and the 2 turbo snails but the sally lightfoot died.. I think because my salt got to high. Then the chocolate chip star ate 18 of the 22 polyps on my first colony of zoos so I took him back to the pet store and got another frag of zoos. The other polyps survived until just the other day, 1 day after I noticed it looked like they were being overtaken by algae. Then about a week ago I added an emerald crab. And just the other day I added another small frag of acans. I dont plan on adding anything for a while.. as I have lost one zoo colony and the sally lightfoot, and the first acan I put in isn't looking so hot.. his skeleton is poking through.. I have decided to hold off on adding anything else until the tank is a few months old and hope everything else survives in the mean time. Thanks for the advice.

[TYoung]

Turbo Snails and Hermit Crabs are a must. I also have a Sleeper Banded Bullet Gobie who does a great job of cleaning the sand and is also a very interesting specimen to have. If you are having algae problems an Angel Fish might be a good addition to your tank as well being they are know to eat algae and are very bright and active. Otherwise just give it a few weeks and keep up on your filters and your tank will clean up. Have fun!!

[Jessie Nicoletti]

i had a huge alagee problem and i added 20 nasius snail ( spelling is probarly wrong ) they cleaned it superbly add 1 cleaner shrimp and a lykinia star blue or red and 10 nasiuis snails do this like 2 months down the road once your tank is truely done cycleing corals preferbly should be added after 4-6 months