New To Saltwater. Advice Please.

[Ninong]

Thanks for your help ninong after further research i am sure your right. Do they mostly live in live rock or substrate? Unfortunately I have crushed coral and was planning on switching to sand. Any idea on how to not kill the poor guys?

First things first: if you're keeping a reef aquarium, I would strongly support your decision to remove ALL of the crushed coral and replace it with aragonite sand. That can best be done all at once by removing the livestock and live rock to temporary containers while you take out the crushed coral and replace it with aragonite sand. This usually takes several hours.

Collonista snails are nocturnal. They're tiny trochids. They hide in the live rock structure during the daytime and come out after dark. Some of them may start appearing during the last half hour or so that the actinics are on and before all of the lights are out. They go back into hiding a couple of hours before the lights come back on in the morning. To get a better understanding of the size of their population, you have to turn on the lights a couple of hours after they went off or you can simply shine a flashlight in the tank.

They're excellent grazers for their size. And therein lies the problem. The Collonista snails will reproduce like crazy. They will displace many of the other snails that you paid good money for. In my 120-gal tank, I noticed a few of these snails and didn't pay much attention to them. I don't even remember how long it was from that first sighting until I happened to shine a flashlight into the tank late at night and discovered that I had well over 100 of them. It may have been a few weeks but it could have been a few months but no more than two or three months at the most.

Within six months after I saw the first individuals I had several hundred of them. At night they covered whole sections of the glass and just about all of the available space on the live rock. They were everywhere except the sand bed. Their population fluctuated between a high of around 800 and a low of around 200. The population will reach its maximum and then suddenly crash. Then, after a couple of months or so, the population will explode again.

They are not harmful. It's just that their shells end up everywhere. I used to remove a layer of their shells from the sump every month. I had to clean my return pump and skimmer pump more frequently (every six weeks instead of every six months) because the shells of the smallest ones managed to get past the intake guards.

It was a waste of money to purchase new grazers as long as the Collonista population was thriving. The shells of mine were gorgeous under a simple 2x magnifying glass. Shining a light on the shells revealed beautiful irridescent green and pink lines running around the swirls of the shells.

Here is my take on them: I wish I had never seen them. I wish I had made an effort to get rid of them when I first saw them. You have no idea what 800 of those little beasts looks like in a 120-gal tank. My experience is that only people who don't have them wish they had some. People who have them wish they didn't.

That's about it. Your mileage may vary. Good luck!



P.S. -- When I say 800, I'm being conservative. It could well have been more than 1,000.

[shazane]

Wow! Thanks for all that information. Yes I am removing all my crushed coral and replacing it with sand. Luckily I havent got to far and only have 30 pounds of live rock and the crushed coral to remove.

The population will reach its maximum and then suddenly crash. Then, after a couple of months or so, the population will explode again.

Did you see an ammonia spike after most of them died off? From what Ive read that is the only harmful thing I can find. I am undecided on whether to just leave them or get rid of them. What are my options as far as getting rid of them?
Thanks for your help it is much appreciated.

[Ninong]

Did you see an ammonia spike after most of them died off?

No, not at all, but I had 150 lbs of live rock and a 6" DSB. These snails are really tiny and I doubt that 500 of them would equal one 3" fish as far as mass is concerned.

I am undecided on whether to just leave them or get rid of them. What are my options as far as getting rid of them?

Your best option is to not have them from the beginning. Once you have them, you will probably always have them. Their populations will rise and fall but you won't be completely rid of them, ever.

The only method that I used was to simply remove them off the glass at night. An algae scraper or even a bank credit card will do the trick. They're so small that it's hard to collect them without losing them. Removing them just seemed to create new vacancies for more of them to develop. It's obvious that they have direct development but I don't really know how long it takes them to reach sexual maturity. I guess that's something I never bothered to try to search using Google Scholar, assuming it's ever been studied. Maybe I'll post that question in Dr. Ron Shimek's forum.

During the daytime, you won't even be aware of their existence looking at the tank. You will definitely be aware of their existence when you go to clean out your sump or if you look at the tank late at night.

As far as I know, removing them by hand is the only option. But you will never get all of them. You might try deliberately not cleaning one particular section of the glass and then waiting to see if they decide to congregate in that area at night. Actually, once these little snails reach a certain population, you won't need to clean the glass all that often. It appeared to me that their primary food was algal film. The algae would begin to grow during the daytime when the lights were on and then the little Collonista snails would come out at night to harvest it.

[twisted]

well, i just learned a hell of alot about my glass crew...do they by chance have any reef friendly predators?

[Ninong]

well, i just learned a hell of alot about my glass crew...do they by chance have any reef friendly predators?

What do you mean by "glass crew?"

I don't believe I saw anything about you having Collonista snails. Is that what you're talking about? If so, there are a lot of wrasses and similar fishes that eat snails, all snails. Most reefkeepers don't keep those fishes because of the fact that they eat snails, and many of them are either too rambunctious, get too large or are simply too aggressive with other fish.

[twisted]

What do you mean by "glass crew?"

I don't believe I saw anything about you having Collonista snails. Is that what you're talking about? If so, there are a lot of wrasses and similar fishes that eat snails, all snails. Most reefkeepers don't keep those fishes because of the fact that they eat snails, and many of them are either too rambunctious, get too large or are simply too aggressive with other fish.

i have them in my tank and occasionally suck them off the glass...they dont bother me much i was just curious if there were fish that took a particular fancy to them that wouldnt hurt anything else....there are times i see about 90 to 100 of them. i made a piece that fits on my power head that works like a vacuum with a scraper for them.

[Ninong]

A harlequin tuskfish (Choerodon fasciatus) would probably eat them. These fish are peaceful and whether they are reef-aquarium safe or not depends on your definition of the term. They won't bother your corals but they will eat your snails, hermit crabs and cleaner shrimp. They might be a threat to any really small gobies but so are most dottybacks. And most dottybacks will eat your cleaner shrimp, too.

One interesting feature about harlequin tuskfish is that they have bright blue teeth.

[Parrothead]

A harlequin tuskfish (Choerodon fasciatus) would probably eat them. These fish are peaceful and whether they are reef-aquarium safe or not depends on your definition of the term. They won't bother your corals but they will eat your snails, hermit crabs and cleaner shrimp. They might be a threat to any really small gobies but so are most dottybacks. And most dottybacks will eat your cleaner shrimp, too.

One interesting feature about harlequin tuskfish is that they have bright blue teeth.

And a really cool fish to observe, cool looking that is

[shazane]

So ive been working on making my tank quieter. Tell me if you see anything wrong with what i did.

From overflow

Instead of the male part of the tubing threading into the black female I used another threaded female to 1inch pvc to an elbow. Its been running for 24 hours without any problems. It has cut down on sound greatly. Let me know if you see this being a problem and if not great.

[shazane]

So im having a recent outbreak of algae on my glass. Could it be A) because I recently removed the bio balls, B) what i did above cutting down on aeration or something, or c) a combination of both. Also what is the biggest water change you would do safely? Thanks
Shane

[Ninong]

So im having a recent outbreak of algae on my glass.

What exactly is "an outbreak of algae?" If algae shows up on your glass, you clean it off and there is no more algae on the glass.

That's what glass-cleaning magnets are for. It's perfectly normal to clean the glass at least once a week. Some people clean the glass every other day and fanatics clean it every day.

Could it be A) because I recently removed the bio balls...

No.

B) what i did above cutting down on aeration or something...

No.

or c) a combination of both.

No.

Also what is the biggest water change you would do safely? Thanks
Shane

Why do you need to do a water change? A really BIG water change is only done on a reef aquarium in case of a real emergency. A normal water change on a reef tank is 10-20%.

[SpokaneReef]

I clean my sides a little each day.

If it is really bad you might want to check your Phosphate levels

[shazane]

Why do you need to do a water change? A really BIG water change is only done on a reef aquarium in case of a real emergency. A normal water change on a reef tank is 10-20%.

I used tap water before i knew how important RO water is. I would like to do more than 20 gallons on my 90 gallon tank.
Thanks

[Parrothead]

Just do weekly 20 gallon changes for a couple of months, all a big one will do is dilute the gunk, this is another area where patience comes in, slow and easy, all will be well

[Ninong]

I used tap water before i knew how important RO water is. I would like to do more than 20 gallons on my 90 gallon tank.
Thanks

I really wouldn't be all that concerned if I were you. However, if you feel like doing a 30-gallon water change, go right ahead. The recommendation to not do water changes greater than 20% is more applicable to established aquariums that are heavily stocked. The thinking being that stability is something good and large water changes are too disruptive to that stability. Again, this does not apply at all if you have a real emergency situation.

You might want to run carbon and a ferric oxide-based phosphate sponge in your sump if you are concerned about phosphate.

[shazane]

Thanks for your help guys, I went ahead and just did a 10% water change.
I am considering buying a carbon/phosphate reactor. Opinions on them / recommended brand and models?

What are your guys experiences with bag sales? Pros cons?
Is it worth the discount or are you buying them in a vulnerable state?
TIA
Shane