Im tired of my sand being brown...

[posiden]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3139794
good point flower, and you and posiden also are probably right about the LFS water varying. id much rather trust myself to mix it perfectly
I-I on that. Plus you can choose the mix that goes in. I myself like sea chem salt right now. I know for a fact that they aren't using that at my LFS. It runs high in calcium and low in alk. Just they way I like it. Others are different.

 

[gio28]

i use the sea chem reef salt too recently and like it as well. maybe later this week i can get some walmart water and do a 20% change or so to get a good start on replacing my tap water.

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3139801
i use the sea chem reef salt too recently and like it as well. maybe later this week i can get some walmart water and do a 20% change or so to get a good start on replacing my tap water.

 

[carlos413]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3139784

Walmat is cheaper...they sell water at 37 cents a gallon here. Ace hardware sells it for 50 cents...so a dollar per gallon is expensive.
What's the brand? What kind of water will be good for reefs? My phAtes out of my tap is 2.0 I want to try this. Will I need to codition the water before I add it to the tank?

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3139760

nothing eats poop...it breaks down and becomes nitrates. Nothing eats the clowns waste.
thats not true there are all kinds of detritivores that can be introduced to a reef system. its also thought that many corals are capable of consuming fish waste as the waste is appropriate particle size for lots of organismal corals.

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3139760

The algae that forms on everything is what the CUC eats...you don't feed them. Once every 2 weeks you can get a chunk of shrimp and put it right next to the serpent star...when lights are out..and it will feed on that. They eat the dead and if nothing dies, feed it.
I dont even know where to start with this statement.
there are plenty of clean up crew members that dont eat algae.
serpent stars eat more than just "dead" they are actually great detritivores, and consume uneaten food fish, fish waste, crab waste, etc.

 

[ophiura]

There definitely are things that eat fish waste. Now, you may not have added them they may be in your LR and your LS which is why I am opposed to sand sifter gobies and stars in tanks that have a functional sand bed. It defeats the purpose. The fish is eating the stuff that eats the detritus. So you never solve the problem, only cover it. Other members of the clean up crew are often in our case there as safety blankets as they are detritivores and eat left over food etc.
In my case the shrimp, and particularly brittlestars are the main focus of my tank and I feed them heavily because there are clearly so many. I recommend spot feeding brittlestars every so often but this does depend on the tank situation and may not be needed in all cases.
IMO, this is a young tank (yes even at 6 months) in a natural phase of nutrient overload that the tank needs to balance out. Our test kits are not precise enough to really tell us on a small scale what is going on, we just look for big indications of a problem.
I think the source water is a problem as noted. But some tanks just go through this phase and then grow out of it.

 

[gio28]

i hope my tank grows out of it...
my rocks, sand, and walls are covered with brown diatoms/algae...so after they consume whatever is keeping them alive...will it all go away due to starvation?

 

[flower]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3140000
i hope my tank grows out of it...
my rocks, sand, and walls are covered with brown diatoms/algae...so after they consume whatever is keeping them alive...will it all go away due to starvation?

I got hermit crabs...lots of them, they eat brown algae. You will always have brown algae and green and coraline...algae is what happens in any healthy tank. Hermit crabs eat the brown, emerald crabs eat the green..urchins eat any and all of it including coraline.

 

[ophiura]

My hermits do nothing to help with brown nuissance algae The only thing that has gotten rid of it is serious water changes, change if flow, and getting my skimmer back to working. I think the sump with macroalgae and a skimmer will be a pleasant surprise. I also had to do rather large water changes, every week, as I basically had neglected my tank to the point of a crash. I couldn't see through the glass there was so much brown slime.

 

[gio28]

i really hope that the combined power of a DSB, Chaeto, and a skimmer will reduce it...