A few general questions

[reefaluva]

You do not have to drill tank. They are just power heads with magnets that hold them on the glass. So you do not have to worry about powerhead falling off and blowing your sand everywhere.

 

[Mstark11]

... Now I feel stupid. I've been thinking "Man I wish I had those!" every time I see them, but thought I had to drill into the glass! I know what my next order will be~

 

[Mstark11]

Ok, so that nice red Algae has sprouted little arms and has begun swaying back and forth and I'm not gunna lie, it getting a little gross.

Should I kill the lights? I've been trying to do 8-10 but should I go lower?

 

[mitchellmoto]

since you have no coral killing the lights or useing them less will not hurt a thing. You can also use airline hose or any small hose to suck up the really bad areas. Some people rubberband airline hose to a toothbrush so while they scrub the hose sucks up the loose algae

 

[Mstark11]

Yea I had no idea how bad it was getting until I looked at the back of the tank.

On the plus side, I think I saw some sort of pod-looking bug. It ducked away and I can't find it anymore, so that might be good news. Either that or it was an unlucky bug that fell into the tank, grabbed a rock and promptly drowned.

 

[reefaluva]

kill the lights. Add more flow. you can siphon it out as well. Need to run some gfo. That looks like cyno to me. Normal but need to jump on it cause it will take over lol. Grows where there is not alot of flow also. Had it in one of my tanks and gfo, flow, and a little siphoning took care of it.

 

[Mstark11]

Can I attach a GFO and a skimmer during the cycle?

 

[reefaluva]

Skimmer np wont hurt anything. Gfo is phosphate remover. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php < interesting read. I wouldnt worry too much about stuff until your cycle is over.

 

[Mstark11]

Yea, I killed the lights last night, I usually leave on the moon lights at night as a night light. But, doing that and swapping the jets around seemed to really agitate it. I went from having a thick, dark, hairy red carpet to some little sparse pink patches overnight.

Cleaned it out, scraped it off the rocks I saw and got in a water change so it's all good Wasn't sure if I should have scraped it off the glass, so I just left it alone.

 

[Mstark11]

Woo-hoo! Ammonia and Nitrites are 0, and most of the Cyano seems to be under controll! Now to wait for nitrate and hope nothing goes back up!

 

[Mstark11]

Ok, so Ammonia and Nitrites have been 0 now for a while, and with Nitrates going up to about 80, I'm starting water changes.

I choked out and killed the cyano and i don't see any other algae on the substrate either, a little on the glass in the back. What I want to know is should I add a CUC even though i don't see really any algae, or should I add a fish then next month put in a cuc? Once I reduce Nitrates.

 

[mitchellmoto]

I would wait a little on the cuc. Since your sand is a bit barren at this point there wouldn't be much for it to feed on. Also make sure to get the correct cuc for what you want. For example if you want a cuc to help keep your sand bed clean don't get a yellow cucumber as it feeds by filtering the water thru it's appendages.

 

[reefaluva]

Personally I would get some fish then add cuc. Like mitch said just know what your buying)

 

[Mstark11]

Well that sucks, I got a cleaner shrimp and 2 turbo snails, and one of the snails was dead. Didn't think anything of it until Ammonia started going up. ):

 

[mitchellmoto]

You have to keep an eye on your snails, many can not right themselves if they fall on their back. So you will have to occasionally have to flip them over.

 

[Mstark11]

I have a question about hermit crabs.

When I was young and lived near Galveston, they always sold hermit crabs in those novelty beach stores and so I always had a few. As a kid i thought they were really cool but as an adult all I can remember is them being disgusting little creatures. So I want to avoid them at all cost, but I was thinking, if I had a constant supply of more than 1 or 2, would I have to deal with them, or will they just sort of "take care of" the dead ones?
And how important are they to a tank?

 

[mitchellmoto]

Well they can be very beneficial but they are not absolutely necessary. They are not a solution to any one thing but they can be part of any good clean up crew. They can be a pain as well. They like to kill your snail for their shells. So you should provide them will loose shells to try and prevent this.

 

[Mstark11]

Should I be dosing anything?
I have the foxface, 1 cleaner shrimp and all those snails. Everyone eats (especially the foxface, he eats EVERYTHING. little piggy.) but i haven't seen the shrimp molt.

 

[mitchellmoto]

I would say dosing is not needed right now. Maybe some purple up or similar item to help increase the Coraline algae. But nothing is really needed. Just keep up with water changes and tank maintenance and let your system mature. Add fish slowly and make sure your research before you purchase. You want to make sure your livestock choices will coexist. Probably make a list of your top fish and invert choices. Your shrimp will molt but it isn't that often. Make sure your snail have enough algae. with that many you will probably have to supplement some algae.

Later
M

 

[Mstark11]

Ok, so since I think one of my lights is buzzing and I know that's never a good sign, I was thinking of doing new lights next.
I was thinking either this:
http://www.aquatraders.com/EVO-Quad-48-LED-Reef-Bright-p/56237.htm

Or this:
http://www.aquatraders.com/48-inch-4x54W-T5-Aquarium-Light-Fixture-p/52325p.htm

I'm not really sure if either is better in terms of lighting, I know the LED will be more cost-efficient in the long run (plus you can buy a fan for it.)