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reefgirl888
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Joined: 28 Oct 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 28

Posted: 17 Apr 2009 at 5:05pm \| IP Logged

Need some advice on how to get more algea on my back glass. i can only keep 1 snail because i don't have enough algea on the glass, i do have lots of diatoms on the sand thought ugh. i have tried leaving the lights on longer but that doesn't seem to help much. i had 2 aster snails die. So i checked my wtr. even had it tested today at the lfs. i figure there wasn't enough algea for them.

Calcium-350 Alk.-10 Nitrate-10 Nitrite-0 Ammonia-0 ph-8.2 Salinity-1.025

i know my calcium is a little low. i have had my 8 gallon bio-cube for 10 months now. i have 2 clown fish, 1 cleaner shrimp 1 trochus snail & around 10 soft corals. There is just enough alge for the trochus.

Any thoughts?

Christine.

kyroguy
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Joined: 16 Feb 2004
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Posted: 17 Apr 2009 at 7:12pm \| IP Logged

Well I am not sure where you are going here. Do you mean you want to grow green algae for the snails to eat? I feel like having a small amount of that algae is a good thing! I have well over 10 watts per gallon and I only have about 4 snails. They control the algae easily. If you have less light you will have less algae and thus need fewer snails.

On the other hand, if you are talking about coralline algae then it is a different story. Most people prefer the back glass and the rock to be crusted in coralline algae. This type of algae doesn't look like algae in the traditional sense. It looks more like plating coral in many instances. It's presence also prevents regular green algae from growing in that spot. Helps in the fact that you have to maintain a smaller cleaner crew.

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reefgirl888
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Posted: 17 Apr 2009 at 7:53pm \| IP Logged

i mean the green algea, i do want to grow more for my snail (trochus) to eat. Also the reason i bought more snails before is to help get rid of the diatoms on the sand that never goes away, i mean i've had it for 4 to 5 months. i know you said it will go away but when? That was the only reason i did buy those aster snails. The trochus snail has hung in there, yea i guess your right about the lighting, it's low so i guess i will only be able to have 1 snail, not enough algea for anymore. SUCKS! I hate those diatoms i have to stir the sand lightly everyday. BTW i do have the coraline algea starting to grow on the back of the glass.

Christine.

P.S. i saw your update on your website looks fantastic! is that you holding a monkey? What's the story with that?

kyroguy
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Posted: 19 Apr 2009 at 5:54pm \| IP Logged

LOL! A monkey? I had to go look again. It does look a bit like a monkey because of the way the text lays over the pic. So to answer the question, yes that is me and not it is not a monkey. It is a very ill tempered snapping turtle that I caught last summer. To get a better look at it check here http://monsterminibow.com/nowoodchips That page is a dumping ground that I use to host pics to link to. They are several deep and all over but you can see the turtle better there. There is also a pic of my wife with my old pet alligator. Glad you like the new format of the home page as well. It didn't take as much time to change it up as I thought it would and I think it turned out nice. The old format just looked dated. I hadn't changed it in ages.

Anyway, back on topic. If you need food for the snail, get some algae discs. The same thing that is used to feed plecos. The snails will eat them. The diatoms will eventually go away. Make sure that you aren't overfeeding and they will cycle out. The fact that you have coralline starting is a great sign as well. Sorry I have been so slow to reply lately. For some reason I can't get this forum to send me email updates to replies on topics.

A monkey...ha!

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reefgirl888
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Posted: 20 Apr 2009 at 12:58pm \| IP Logged

Cool pics. Can't believe the size of that turtle & alligator, i would be too afraid to touch the alligator. i stopped feeding the fish everyday a few months ago, i feed 3 times a week. i think that's why my wtr. is pristine. i will get some algea tablets for the snail but the cleaner shrimp will probably steal it, he's a little sh## that way stealing food from the fish. if i'm not mistaken in one of your posts you said you give the cleaner shrimp a shrimp pellet once a week. So i'll pick some of that up too. Not sure if i found some snail eggs on the glass today they look like wtr. bubbles.

Christine.

kyroguy
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Posted: 21 Apr 2009 at 2:40pm \| IP Logged

The alligator actually felt really cool. His skin was softer than the softest leather. The only part that was hard was the spikes on his back. They might be better described as tough, not really super hard or sharp.

The shrimp may steal the algae disc but give him a shrimp pellet first to keep him occupied. I would recommend breaking the algae disc into several pieces to see how much the snail will actually eat. I doubt he will eat the whole disc at a sitting. You will have to place it right in his path too. I doubt he will seek it out. I would give the shrimp the pellets on your regular feeding schedule of 3x per week. He should be fine with that.

It is fairly unlikely that the bubbles on the glass were snail eggs. Most snail eggs look more like tiny white dots and are often deposited in a nice pattern. You really can't miss them. Check out this link for a good pic of them as I have most often seen.

snail eggs

Hope that helps!

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reefgirl888
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Posted: 21 Apr 2009 at 7:23pm \| IP Logged

So i went to the lfs today to get bigger shells for my hermit snail & i was going to get some algea tablets but the guy said seaweed is better. So i put a small piece in the tank & guess what? that cleaner shrimp stole it & took off with it. i did finally get it back when i put some flake food in to distract him. What a waste of money that was, the snail couldn't care less about it, in fact he was a inch from it & kept on going along the glass. All the sand sifting snails had a fest on it. So maybe there is enough algea, what a costly mistake! Can you believe the cheapest seaweed was 8.99. Well maybe i'll treat the sandsifting snails once in a while. Next time i'm at Walmart i'll pick up some algea tablets & shrimp pellot's there cheaper there.

What's with this forum? Nobody comes on here much eh?

Chris.

kyroguy
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Posted: 24 Apr 2009 at 7:57pm \| IP Logged

A few technical issues all but killed the membership here. I just can't stand some of the other forums because there are too many politics. I wish there was more traffic here but I kind of like it to be our little club. I just wish I could get the stupid thing to email me updates to the threads.

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