question about cleaners

D

dmata

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Apr 11, 2004
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Sparks, NV
www.hotspotskiosks.com
Hey folks, my tank is rather new, 100gal., and just recently had it's ammonia and nitrite levels 0 out. I've noticed in conjunction with that, that I'm having huge brown blooms of algae, with two of my white coral pieces (This is dead coral, just for looks.) turning a nice brown, and a blue coral (again, just for looks.) looking like a blue/brown dalmation...

I just bought 3 turbos, and 3 hermit crabs, which brings my tank's total population to 10... 3 turbo snails, 3 hermits, 4 damsels.

My questions are:
Will the white corals ever be white again without bleaching?
Do I have enough cleaners for a 100gal. fish only tank (Would there be a maximum population for these?)
What can I do to get rid of the brown stuff, but maybe with luck grow some purples and reds?

Thanks folks, I've always wanted a SW tank, and it's been a learning experience. I think it's all of a month and a half old now. :) (Newwwwbie! Heh.)
 
The brown diatom algae is a stage that must be got through. To encourage the purple coraline algae make sure your calcium stays up in the 400-430 range, and (as always) don't overfeed what few creatures you have in there.

In a 100 gallon tank you could have lots more clean up crew- in a 90 gallon I have 50 turbo snails, 4 peppermint shrimp, 2 cucumbers, 3 serpent stars, and 200 blue legged hermits.
I would not add that number of hermits again, as I see the larger ones getting agressive and have heard they will pick at clams. But mine came as part of a package deal from Tampa Bay Saltwater.

Do you have any idea what you are planning on keeping?

Fun hobby, eh?
 
Definitely a fun hobby...

I'm not sure completely what I want to keep...

There are talks about possibly a snowflake eel,
Yellow Tang, striped hawkfish, a puffer of some sort, possibly a lionfish, a mandarin goby is a definite need also.

No clue yet, I haven't even done research about compatibility yet, but fish only.

So I can go a lot further with the crabs and the snails then, ok... I just checked on them a few minutes ago, they have mobbed one of the coral that's covered with the brown algae.

About how long does this stage last? If I had known, I wouldn't have placed coral pieces yet. I'm thinking they are a total loss if I wanted the nice bone white they had.
 
There are talks about possibly a snowflake eel,
Yellow Tang, striped hawkfish, a puffer of some sort, possibly a lionfish, a mandarin goby is a definite need also.


There are a couple of things you'll probably want to keep in mind with your fish choices. Most Lions will eat anything that will fit in their mouths and, try to eat some things that won't. They have huge mouths to so keep that in mind for sure before you add one of these guys . The Hawkfish will munch on shrimp untill there aren't any more in your tank. Puffers love small hermit crabs and the shells aren't very much protection at all. With the eel you need to keep some of the same things in mind that you would for a lion and also if you're talking about one of the full sized lions you probably would want to have it and maybe the mandrin in a 100 gallon. The mandrin needs a very well established tank ,"like 8mnths to year old" with a large well established breeding popultion of copepods.
I would have a fish plan in mind when adding the clean up crew or you might end up throwing away a lot of money and critters. Not trying to tell you that you can't keep these fish but forwarned is forarmed.
hth
chris
 
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