mister crabs Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 (scratch) ok so i started my tank last month finally as many of you know and it has been going thru the typical new tank cycle. small nitrate spike but live rock was from an established tank so not too much die off. now the nitrates and such have leveled out and i haved the brown/orange diatoms everywhere on the sand rock and even glass. So i am going to put some snails in as my first inverts and then some tiny blue leg crabs. what kind of snails should i get to help out with this stuff? any i should avoid? thanks for the help. (scratch) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted April 19, 2007 Share Posted April 19, 2007 IMO get a mix........I like ceriths, turbos (just a couple), nass., and astrea. Maybe even some margarite snails. You'll most likely need more then you think at least that is what I have found. Make sure you get extra shells for the hermits to stop them from killing snails for their shells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Had the same problem as you. Tank looked soooo bad. Bought four snails for a 55gal about a week ago. The rocks are sparkling! They are working on the acrylic now. I think two are the Margarite snails (I've heard they don't last long) and two are small guys with black bodies and very cool green stripes. They are workers! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 If your problem is diatoms (brown), the problem will just fade away over time, and snails and hermits will not make it any better or worse. With my diatoms the tank was brown one day, then it started to fade the next, and then the next day it was green instead of brown. Diatoms should go away after about three weeks. I think the small black ones with the stripes are nerite snails. I saw a lot of then at WAVES a few weeks ago. He may still have some. You can also get them on-line. I believe that IPSF.com has them in their 9 for $99 special and the reef tank tune up special (also $99 with free shipping). Turbos are work-horses. THey are non-stop eating machines. But if you get big ones they also will bull-doze anything you have in the tank. This is OK at the beginning when there is only LR. But once you get some frags in there, they need to be glued down, or you will allways be picking them up and replacing them. If your LFS will sell you turbo's now, then exchange them 1 for 1 later then start with turbo's. Five of them in my 45g cleaned up the algae nicely. Now I am starting to get some small frags, I traded them in for some less aggressive cleaners, so I will need to get some backup help soon. If you have a sand-bed don't forget some nassarius snails. THey dig in the bed and only come up when it is feeding time. It is kinda fun to watch them surface out of the sand like a submarine. You first see a snorkel, then the sand starts to quiver, then BAM there is this snail coming out of the sand. Both of my kids thought it was kinda cool (or they just said that to make the old man feel good). I got a couple of the margarite snails, not knowing that they are the ones that don't live long, but they have lasted a couple of weeks. I just do a shell count each day to make sure that none have gone MIA. I also have a couple of cerenth, snails. THey are not as fast or as clean as Turbos and margarites, but they also don't knock over my new frags. This is why I need to get some backup. A couple of my rocks are starting to get green. I have some of the blue leg dwarf hermits as well. They are good once hair algae starts. They did little or nothing for the diatoms. Get them if you want, but you may need to feed them so that they don't go after your snails. A hungrey hermit is a nasty animal. I once watched a large red hermit attack and kill and eat a smaller red leg. It was cool and disgusting at the same time. Kinda like a car accident that people will slow down to see if there is any blood. Good luck with the diatoms. Enjoy your tank in all of its phases! dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modularduck Posted July 6, 2007 Share Posted July 6, 2007 i gotta say hermits have their place in the beginning but man they mess with my corals something aweful so now the bulk of the hermits i had in my ap24 have met their maker at the hands(or smashers) of my G. smithii. the mantis love the little things. i have gone snails only for the most part and with the right combination i have no problem keeping everything in check. too it becomes easier as your tank gets more mature. just my $.02 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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