[dk4182]

I started my first saltwater fish only tank three weeks ago. I have 200lbs of live sand and 250lbs of Reefbones rock. The tank is stocked with 1 dogfaced puffer about 6-8 inches long, a yellow tang and a niger trigger. I have about 20 turbo snails and about 30 real small snails the lfs called "sandbugs". I have 4 48 inched VHO lights bulbs powered by ICECAP. I have one chunk of live rock about 10 lbs...

My question is... brown algae has started to grow, it's starting to turn green. where ever the snails go, a bright white patch of rock is uncovered. how long should i expect to have this brownish algae or do I live with it and get more snails. the puffer is well fed and thus far has not ate to many snails. Think I have only found three shells.

Think 400 watts should be enough to get the corline to grow? Don't what a reef set up..

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by dk4182

I started my first saltwater fish only tank three weeks ago. I have 200lbs of live sand and 250lbs of Reefbones rock. The tank is stocked with 1 dogfaced puffer about 6-8 inches long, a yellow tang and a niger trigger. I have about 20 turbo snails and about 30 real small snails the lfs called "sandbugs". I have 4 48 inched VHO lights bulbs powered by ICECAP. I have one chunk of live rock about 10 lbs...

My question is... brown algae has started to grow, it's starting to turn green. where ever the snails go, a bright white patch of rock is uncovered. how long should i expect to have this brownish algae or do I live with it and get more snails. the puffer is well fed and thus far has not ate to many snails. Think I have only found three shells.

Think 400 watts should be enough to get the corline to grow? Don't what a reef set up..

Yes, 440 watts of VHO is more than sufficient for good coralline algae growth in a 210-gal tank.

If the small snails the LFS called "sandbugs" like to bury themselves in the sand and then come scurrying up whenever any food hits the tank, they are probably Nassarius snails. They are good carrion eaters and they keep the top layer of the sand stirred. They eat meaty foods and meaty detritus.

The brown stuff is probably just diatoms. That's a stage every tank has to go through. I wouldn't get too worked up about it. Hopefully it won't last more than a couple of weeks.

You might want to go slow on the livestock additions. Give the tank time to adjust to what you already have.