Clean up crew

[mark-24]

Hey, my 135 fowlr is about done with it's cycle and I'm already starting to see diatoms and want to stop them before it gets out of hand. On swf.com I saw The Big 20 BONUS PACK-
20 Scarlet Reef Hermits
30 Blue Leg Hermits
20 Turbo Snails
2 Emerald Crabs
And free shipping and box fees, and 20 free blue leg hermits or 2 brittle stars
For $60, it sounds like a good deal, but I want to hear what you think. It's also going to be an aggressive tank, so if you guy know how to catch these guys so I could to sell them to my lfs before the lion, eel, trigger, or tusk eats them. Or even better if you guys know another way to stop diatoms, post them, I'd like to hear them.
Thanks- Mark

 

[andymi]

The diatoms will quite often go away on their own, but if you are just looking to make it look pretty you could do one of a couple things.
1. Just stir the sand a little and you wont see them.
2. Just buy a couple hermits from somewhere and in a few days your sand will be as good as new. Maybe just 5 or so would probably do it over time.
Diatoms will usually start to go away after the cycle. You could try to reduce the lighting period for a few days if you want, but I think they will subside on their own over time.
--Andy

 

[mark-24]

I think I'm just going get a few blue legs, a couple of turbos, and 3 more pep. shrimp to help with the aptaisa problem. I have 1 right now, it's doin pretty well, and I want to add 1 more to my big tank, and I want to put the other 2 into my smaller 5 gal tank and let them breed, I read they breed pretty easily. I'd put some into the big tank when I see more aptaisa or for a treat for my fish. Oh, I'm also goin buy a queen conch or 2 online, I heard they fair pretty well in an aggressive tank, and they're cheaper than most cowries.
-Mark