Moving right along....and an issue...

[jennln]

Alright, a couple of weeks ago I posted a pic of my tank at about 4 1/2 weeks old - cuc only - everything nice and clear....

Since then I've made a few additions:

Now if you look I've got this really bad "fuzz" issue going on. At first I thought that it was my ph maybe blowing sand or debris into the water, but I've adjusted it several times today and have been watching closely - I don't think that's the problem. Any ideas on how to resolve this?
BTW...I know the corals don't look happy right now....I moved everything around a bit and they are just now peeking out again to see if the coast is clear (Oh and the "dust" issue has been going on for almost a week now - it wasn't from the moving I did today, although I would imagine it didn't help matters much either)

 

[jennln]

Also I'm using filter floss to catch debris in the filter in the first chamber. Is there a better spot to put it?

 

[jennln]

Oh and the last of my poor turbo snails (first picture) that I bought for the nano was murdered by the crab who hitch-hiked his way in. After the first incident, I moved what I thought to be all of the rest. I missed one....he didn't....

 

[whisk]

how often do you change your filter floss. I have a similar issue with "particles" in the water, but not as bad as yours. There are a couple solutions I can recommend.
When you do a water change, use a turkey baster to blow off detrius dust off rocks. While the dust is floating around, change your water. You will get rid of some of it.
Change your filter floss every few days until you see improvement. I change my once a week.
Take a flashlight and look in the back chambers and see if you see any detrius dust settled on the bottom of the chambers. Use a syphon hose to clear that all up. I did this just recently and the water in the bucket I used was black. It was very dirty.
When you feed your fish, and I'm assuming frozen food, thaw out the portion you use and use a net to filter out the food chucks from the food particles. Give your fish the chunks that are left in the net.
Hopefully this will help you see some improvement. Are you also using any filtration media such as chemipure or purigen? These could help water clarity as well.

 

[whisk]

thats too bad about your snails. You can also put empty shells in the tank that the hermits can find and use. You can also feed your hermit scraps of raw shrimp once in awhile to keep their hungry appetites away from snails. Good luck!

 

[jennln]

I've been changing the floss weekly - guess I'll step that up a bit. I have chemipure and purigen in the first chamber, chaeto and light in the second, heater and return pump in the third. I'm due for a water change in a day or two - I'll siphon out the back chambers with that change. I'll also try the trick with feeding, I've just been cutting a slice off of the cube and breaking pieces off the slice to feed them so I haven't exactly been preventing the small particles from entering. I guess I kind of figured the shrimp and snails would take care of that.
I can't believe those crabs were so quick to take over the snail shells. There have been several times now where I've added things to the tank and hermits have hitched along. Go figure. I keep pulling them out and throwing them in my other tank but there's always more. My intentions were a snail/shrimp only clean up crew. Today I picked up a red mushroom while getting my water from the lfs...sure enough when I went to transfer, another hermit fell into the bag....grrr. For now I've still got nassarius and cerith in there...too small for the crabs to bother with (or so I'm hoping). Once I'm absolutely certain all the crabs are out, I'll probably get more turbos. I just think they are kinda cool looking

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by jennln
http:///forum/post/2939851
Oh and the last of my poor turbo snails (first picture) that I bought for the nano was murdered by the crab who hitch-hiked his way in. After the first incident, I moved what I thought to be all of the rest. I missed one....he didn't....

that looks like a margarita snail, not a turbo. either way, both snails are HUGE algae eaters and starve fast without enough algae. your hermit appears to be a blueleg, so most likely, unless it had absolutely no other homes, it didn't kill the snail, just ate the snail that died of starvation.

 

[jennln]

Hmm...I guess that could actually be a very likely scenario. When I got them, I was having my first algae bloom in the tank. They did an amazing job, so well in fact that even without them in there, the tank is still pristine. Although the first casualty was within the first hour after I put the snails in there....maybe just an old snail or one that was already on it's way out?

 

[renogaw]

you gotta be VERY cautious with adding snails. they don't take changes in salinity very well--i recently forgot this and added 6 astreas right to the tank and all but 1 died. it's best to either acclimate for a long while, or even attach them to the top of the glass and let them move into the water on their own.
most likely, the immediate death was acclimation issues.
IF they were margaritas, be warned. they are cooler water snails and are hit/miss in temps over 75 degrees. as are mexican turbos.
the best snails for reef tanks are going to be astreas and ceriths

 

[jennln]

Yeah my bad...those are the margaritas....turbo imposters are already in my other tank (I got pics of him around here somewhere too lol). I get my snails confused.

I believe my initial purchase included the margaritas, turbos, nassarius and cerith. I didn't even see astrea's at the lfs?
Judging by your post I think I basically killed my snails. I was told to just temp acclimate them and not do the drip like I do for fish. The lfs has lower salinity then I do - I know this too because I get my RO water from them and occassionally I'll get the salted and just bring it up a bit to my salinity when it's a "I need it now" type of situation. So should I do drip acclimation for snails? Or can I do bigger portions over a shorter period of time like using a cup to add water? What is the best method of acclimation for them?

 

[jennln]

Every time I think I'm finally getting the hang of things in this hobby, I end up doing something that set's me right back into the complete idiot category

 

[renogaw]

ehh, i usually just take out a turkey baster of water and put in a turkey baster of water over a few hours.
astreas are conical in shape, you can see them under the inverts column on the left. they can get huge... i've got my original astreas that are a little larger in diameter than a quarter at the base, about 1" tall. they have more coralline built up on them than my pumps do...
you'll probably get them about a dime diameter in the LFS
and... don't beat yourself up... just learn, and pass on what you've learned

 

[jennln]

Ok so if I'm reading right turbo's are astreas right? They are one in the same...so then that is what I had (for awhile at least). What is the difference between a turbo and mexican turbo? Could I tell the difference by their appearance? From what you said the turbo's (astreas) are okay but mexican turbos are more suited for colder temps? Sorry if I sound ignorant (I'll readily admit that I am in this department

) I just want to try to avoid any more stupid mistakes. Thanks!

 

[coastie5685]

i have the same issue. with a bit of debris floating in the tank. i use filter floss like crazy. and still comes. prob. just a little substrate. nothing to worry about. i mean.. if a powerhead is in the tank. there will always be debris. tank will never b perfectly clear.

 

[coastie5685]

p.s.
im loving the setup you have.. nice aquascaping..

 

[freeborder_01]

is that true of all snails? hmm i have 5 nass and 2 cerith and didnt do much else but float them for like 20 minutes...none died for me

 

[subielover]

Yes, snails are very sensitive. I drip mine for at least 2 hours, fwiw.

 

[renogaw]

Originally Posted by jennln
http:///forum/post/2941331
Ok so if I'm reading right turbo's are astreas right? They are one in the same...so then that is what I had (for awhile at least). What is the difference between a turbo and mexican turbo? Could I tell the difference by their appearance? From what you said the turbo's (astreas) are okay but mexican turbos are more suited for colder temps? Sorry if I sound ignorant (I'll readily admit that I am in this department

) I just want to try to avoid any more stupid mistakes. Thanks!
correct, astreas are called turbos, but so are mexican and margaritas. i'm not sure why, so it's easier for me (and less confusing) to think of them as just astrea, mexican, and margaritas.
mexican and margarita are spherical, where astreas are conical. margaritas are found in cooler temps, where it stays around 70-72 in the water. as are mexicans. warmer water can make them hit or miss as to whether they will survive. also, mexicans eat a TON (Imean a TON) of algae, and will most likely starve unless you have a really nasty tank. i've stopped buying them (they always seem to die behind the rock and never get eaten all the way)

 

[rebelprettyboy]

Ive never acclimated snails in my yrs. Never had a death rate with them either

 

[snakeblitz33]

mexican turbo's have to be acclimated or they will die, eventually. Also, Mexican turbo's are a coldwater species, so if they are put in the average saltwater tank, they will not acclimate well. Good luck. Your tank looks pretty good so far!