SPS Before and After Pictures, Need Advice From the Experienced

[swk]

Meh - I don't know how much weigh Id put in some guys blog - although the info is good overall. A large snail dying will only pollute a tank if it doesn't have any life in it. I guarantee if anything dies in my tank, it is eaten in 10 minutes max.

Mexican turbos are the most effective snail I've used. I keep cerinths, dwarf cerinths, nerites, turbos and mexican turbos. Overall I think they all kind of crap out between 6 months - year in age regardless. I keep my tank at 76-77 so maybe that helps? I don't know.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Meh - I don't know how much weigh Id put in some guys blog - although the info is good overall. A large snail dying will only pollute a tank if it doesn't have any life in it. I guarantee if anything dies in my tank, it is eaten in 10 minutes max.

Mexican turbos are the most effective snail I've used. I keep cerinths, dwarf cerinths, nerites, turbos and mexican turbos. Overall I think they all kind of crap out between 6 months - year in age regardless. I keep my tank at 76-77 so maybe that helps? I don't know.

Do you keep putting them in after the 6 month - year mark or do they reproduce enough to keep a sufficient amount?

 

[PaleHorse]

It means doing nothing and waiting for the tank to return to a balanced state without the assistance of gfo

Beef up your CUC and wait. I would stop dosing acro power daily. You added a bunch of nutrients and dropped GFO at the same time.

Just because your test reads 0 po4 doesn't mean it's not there. The hair algae is saying otherwise

SWK is absolutely right. the last thing you want to run in your tank are chemicals. beef up the CUC and you will have awesome corals!

 

[PaleHorse]

I read in this article to avoid the Mexican Turbo because it is a subtropical snail and won't last long in a reef tank -

https://joejaworski.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/whats-the-best-snail-for-a-reef-tank/

I have 5 mexican and 5 margarita turbos in a 20g along with 2 lettuce and a sea hare. Guess how much algae i have.....

 

[Tuffloud1]

Okay so you guys were right.

I just tested Nitrate and it has dropped to .5, even with the heavy feeding.

Initially after beginning heavy feeding, it went from 0 to 2, now after a couple weeks, went down to .5.

Looks like I found a balance? The question is, do I feed even more to get my nitrates back up into the 2-4 range?

I have an auto water change system changing out 1.5 gallons per day running 24/7. This was also going before I upped feeding so it wasn't a change.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Just thought I'd give an update.

I apologize for the horrendous pictures.

Here is a before of 1 of my frags.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Here is the after.

 

[Tuffloud1]

Colors seem to still be washed out, but not as bad as it was and the fact that I actually have substantial growth is a good sign. I realize it takes time for sps to make a comeback in health.

My dilemma now is I have this algae outbreak. It appears to be turf and I pull a hand full of this out every couple weeks.

I have 4 Turbo Snails which have really slowed down and don't appear to be doing much at all. When I first put them in they devoured everything 8 months ago. 1 recently died and the rest just kind of sit around and move at a much slower rate.

Here is a pic of the algae.

How do I deal with this?

I have a huge Chaeto ball that rapidly grows in my refugium.

Phosphates tested with Hannah Checker always reads 0.

Nitrates are barely above zero, I'd say about .1 - .3

 

[Tuffloud1]

Anyone know how to deal with this algae without starving sps?

 

[reefmutt]

Add some tangs. They will eat the algae and their poo will provide nitrate and phosphate for the corals.
I don't think snails eat that stuff very much but tangs will eat it with gusto.
However , I would also add more snails to control any other nuisance algae.
Youve gotten really solid advice, in general imo..

 

[Tuffloud1]

Add some tangs. They will eat the algae and their poo will provide nitrate and phosphate for the corals.
I don't think snails eat that stuff very much but tangs will eat it with gusto.
However , I would also add more snails to control any other nuisance algae.
Youve gotten really solid advice, in general imo..

I got a Two Spot Bristletooth Tang and he hasn't touched the stuff.

 

[reefmutt]

Should have been more clear.. the bristle tooth tangs like kole, chevron, etc, don't really eat leafy or tufting stuff like that, they are great scrapers and will do a decent job of keeping the soft hair algae from building up. Just about any other tang will eat what is growing in your tank.. This is my experience...

 

[Tuffloud1]

Should have been more clear.. the bristle tooth tangs like kole, chevron, etc, don't really eat leafy or tufting stuff like that, they are great scrapers and will do a decent job of keeping the soft hair algae from building up. Just about any other tang will eat what is growing in your tank.. This is my experience...

For a 90 gallon tank, what kind would you recommend?

 

[reefmutt]

That's a tricky size tank for tangs.. Of the more common tangs, I guess the Naso or Hippo would get too big (a tiny hippo tang would be nice but you might have to remove him in a year) and the gold rim, powder blue, powder brown are too aggressive.. Clown and sohal are too aggressive as well..
I guess yellow or purple tang..
Maybe somebody has a suggestion for less common tangs..
I really like the color combo of a purple and yellow together.. But for a 90, one of them might be best. Sometimes they can get really aggressive..

 

[Tuffloud1]

That's a tricky size tank for tangs.. Of the more common tangs, I guess the Naso or Hippo would get too big (a tiny hippo tang would be nice but you might have to remove him in a year) and the gold rim, powder blue, powder brown are too aggressive.. Clown and sohal are too aggressive as well..
I guess yellow or purple tang..
Maybe somebody has a suggestion for less common tangs..
I really like the color combo of a purple and yellow together.. But for a 90, one of them might be best. Sometimes they can get really aggressive..

Ya, that's why I got the bristle tooth, because I'm limited on size.

I was going to go with a yellow or purple but thought my tank is just too small.

I really don't want to get another fish unless I'm sure he will definitely eat this turf stuff.

 

[markalot]

IMO that's plenty big enough for a yellow tang, who will eat the stuff. I have a 150, same width front to back as the 90, and the yellow rarely cruises the entire width. My Kole on the other hand, often recommended for smaller tanks, uses the entire width and is a much more active swimmer than my yellow.

You could also consider a Foxface (One spotted), but after a few years they might outgrow the tank. Tank size recommendations are a funny thing.

 

[reefmutt]

Forgot about the rabbit fishes. Most will eat that algae but if they get hungry, many will begin tasting other more desirable things in the tank..

I wouldn't hesitate to add a purple or yellow to a 90...

 

[Tuffloud1]

Thanks for the help guys.

Will a Bristletooth and Yellow be okay together?

 

[markalot]

Thanks for the help guys.

Will a Bristletooth and Yellow be okay together?

Yep, thought there might be some chasing from time to time. My Kole (bristletooth) is a real punk but it never gets out of hand, at least in my experience.

 

[Dugless]

Just so you know, bristletooth tangs are detrivores. They feed on detritus and other opportunistic items, this may include algae but it isn't exclusive. For tangs, a better suited herbivore would be from the zebrasoma family.