What does this mean?

[sly]

Originally posted by Hiddenicon
my cycle is done all my levels are where there supose to be and yes right now i have 5 fish in my tank, mean while i have seen alot of pods and brown aglea has formed
Your tank is not yet mature. The brown algae is diatoms. These form in new tanks. They form by several means.
[list type=decimal]
[*]High nutrient concentration- caused by not enough beneficial algae (corraline) being established- high silicates, phosphates, etc.
[*]Too little light- grows in dimmly lit tanks and tanks that don't use the correct spectrum of lighting (actinics, 10000k) 3-5 watts per gallon for coral/anemonies
Too little water flow- low oxygen levels, need more powerheads to break up the dead space
Using poorly filtered water- tapwater or well water
[/list type=decimal]
All of these are detrimental to anemone health. Before your tanks is mature, time needs to pass for the diatoms to go away as beneficial algae and plankton, etc. start to fill your tank. The good news is that the diatoms are actually good. They suck up all the excess nutrients in your tank while it is still new. Then as things start to grow, the diatoms die off and your water gets completely clear.

 

[hiddenicon]

THANK YOU SO MUCH for giving me the answer i needed to here and now my new question is, is it ok to get a clean up crew right now for my tank and if so whats the best shrimp for eating algea? Once again thank you Sly for not being a butt

 

[sly]

As long as your levels are ok, now would be an excellent time to add a clean up crew. I've heard that a lot of people use shrimp. I use turbo snails, narcissus snails, and blue leg hermit crabs. They work great at keeping my LR clean. The shrimp are good at keeping the other fish clean but some fish are not shrimp firendly and may eat 'em.
Adding a clean up crew will only help your water parameters. They add to the biological filtering of your tank in that they remove any decaying mess before it can rot and form nitrates (which also hurt anemonies)

 

[hiddenicon]

thank you

 

[sly]

I don't have any shrimp so I can't recommend any. I've heard that people use coral banded shrimp or peppermint shrimp. It's usually best to only have one per tank unless they are a mated pair. You can buy reef packages from this site that have the shrimp and snails you need.

 

[sly]

One other thing... If you buy blue leg hermit crabs (I love them), buy some extra shells for them. Crabs don't grow their own shells and as they get bigger they will force the snails to give up their shells (kill them).

 

[hiddenicon]

how many of each should i get for a 30 galleon tank

 

[tizzo]

Originally posted by Hiddenicon
my cycle is done all my levels are where there supose to be and yes right now i have 5 fish in my tank, mean while i have seen alot of pods and brown aglea has formed
You think :notsure: OK, was being a butt?? If so let me clarify what I mean by :notsure: ...
You say all your levels are where they are supposed to be, but 3 weeks ago you didn't even know that there were levels (or parameters) that needed to be monitered (because you just started your tank).
You say they are fine, but can you tell me what they are???
Can you tell me how you are testing them and what exactly you are testing for??
Since you are so sure that you cycled, can you tell me the highest level that your ammonia got to, then your nitrites.
I don't expect nor do I want you to answer these questions, I am trying to point out to you that 5 fish and an anemone is a bad choice for your tank. I am not trying to help you... I am trying to save an anemone. We take these creatures from the ocean to provide them with a predator free, practically sterile environment to compensate for removing them from an otherwise perfect reef (in most cases). When you want to put things in your tank just to "see if" they will survive, against the advice of every person who responds to you, well THAT'S BEING A BUTT!!!!
Sincerely, Me...

 

[sly]

Originally posted by Hiddenicon
how many of each should i get for a 30 galleon tank
I'd check out the reef packages on this site to start with. They offer several packages in your tank range. Something like 20 of each snail would be good. I have 30 turbo snails, 50 nar. snails, and 10 blue leg hermits in my 72 gal tank.