Dirty aquarium

[jazreef]

I feel that reefcleaners exaggerates a bit how many snails etc you need, so I wouldn't follow that list exactly. But yeah, definitely add more!

For reference, I have about 12 algae eating snails in my 50 gallon currently; still planning to add more (was waiting for a toxic dino outbreak to finish).
If you have an LFS so it's convenient, I like the advice to add just a few each week/2 weeks, so you can see how the algae level responds and not risk overstocking on snails.

I only have about 3, so I’ll definitely need more. I was just finding that my snails weren’t lasting long, after about a month they would die. My most recent ones have been doing well though.

 

[Bruttall]

I feel that reefcleaners exaggerates a bit how many snails etc you need, so I wouldn't follow that list exactly. But yeah, definitely add more!

For reference, I have about 12 algae eating snails in my 50 gallon currently; still planning to add more (was waiting for a toxic dino outbreak to finish).
If you have an LFS so it's convenient, I like the advice to add just a few each week/2 weeks, so you can see how the algae level responds and not risk overstocking on snails.

Dwarf Cerith Snails come about 1/4 inch in size and only get to about 3/4 inch full grown, they are some of the best algae eater snails you can buy. when Reefcleaners suggests 125 snails for a 100g tank, 99 of the snails are going to be Dwarf Cerith. I added 150 on 2 different occasions plus various other snails in the package and I did not notice any that came in shipment dead, they all crawled out of the specimen cup and into my sand bed.

There is some confusion on snails I feel because Trochus get the size of golf balls while dwarf cerith remain so inconspicuously small you never see them unless you know what to look for.

After having added what they recommended to my tank I can tell you, even with 7 tangs, a rabbit fish and a skat, I still have green algae growing in my system, to the point where I just added a Lettuce Sea Slug to help with it.

Nature evolved the perfect critters to help her keep the Reefs clean, we know what they are and what role they play in the overall health of a natural reef, so why not use them in captivity as well.

 

[Dom]

Ok thanks for the feedback. So it’s ok to use a little Syphon on the gravel? If so, I will start doing that. I agree with you, it seems like I’m not doing something right if it keeps getting so dirty, I just don’t fully get what the issue is. But I’ll try doing more frequent water changes

Use siphon on the gravel if you want. Or you could just use a piece of PVC to stir up the substrate and get debris free floating. Then you can pick it up when you siphon for the water change. I use a plastic rake-like hand tool that I fashioned out of PVC.

The issue is the lack of frequency. Your doing the work, it just isn't frequent enough.

 

[Dom]

Dang! Just saw this. I definitely need more then.

That's on a 300 gallon display. You won't need that much on a 65.

 

[Bruttall]

That's on a 300 gallon display. You won't need that much on a 65.

wrong Dom, he said DANG to the list I posted for his 65g tank, a list for a 300g tank would have 300 dwarf cerith snails, not 64.

 

[Dom]

wrong Dom, he said DANG to the list I posted for his 65g tank, a list for a 300g tank would have 300 dwarf cerith snails, not 64.

True.

 

[Peter Houde]

The cloudy tank looks like it hasn't cycled. Not saying that it hasn't, but it sure looks that way to me. I wouldn't want to put any corals or fish in there until the problem was solved. At least, I wouldn't.

I'm a fan of ReefCleaners. I have absolutely ZERO nuisance algae and cyano, and the bristleworms vanished. I add the full package of snails periodically to keep up with attrition (hermits eat them up), even when there are lots remaining. I've never found that I can have too many snails.

 

[Bruttall]

The cloudy tank looks like it hasn't cycled. Not saying that it hasn't, but it sure looks that way to me. I wouldn't want to put any corals or fish in there until the problem was solved. At least, I wouldn't.

I'm a fan of ReefCleaners. I have absolutely ZERO nuisance algae and cyano, and the bristleworms vanished. I add the full package of snails periodically to keep up with attrition (hermits eat them up), even when there are lots remaining. I've never found that I can have too many snails.

I'm just over a year into my reef adventure, I added a 150g snail package 2x to my 300g about 6 months apart, and I am thinking I might be due to add another 150g package of snails again soon, I am not seeing tons of dwarf ceriths climb my glass when lights go out any more so I am assuming the dozen or more hermits have dined very well on them little fella's.

 

[jazreef]

Dwarf Cerith Snails come about 1/4 inch in size and only get to about 3/4 inch full grown, they are some of the best algae eater snails you can buy. when Reefcleaners suggests 125 snails for a 100g tank, 99 of the snails are going to be Dwarf Cerith. I added 150 on 2 different occasions plus various other snails in the package and I did not notice any that came in shipment dead, they all crawled out of the specimen cup and into my sand bed.

There is some confusion on snails I feel because Trochus get the size of golf balls while dwarf cerith remain so inconspicuously small you never see them unless you know what to look for.

After having added what they recommended to my tank I can tell you, even with 7 tangs, a rabbit fish and a skat, I still have green algae growing in my system, to the point where I just added a Lettuce Sea Slug to help with it.

Nature evolved the perfect critters to help her keep the Reefs clean, we know what they are and what role they play in the overall health of a natural reef, so why not use them in captivity as well.

Thank you! I will definitely be adding more

 

[jazreef]

I'm just over a year into my reef adventure, I added a 150g snail package 2x to my 300g about 6 months apart, and I am thinking I might be due to add another 150g package of snails again soon, I am not seeing tons of dwarf ceriths climb my glass when lights go out any more so I am assuming the dozen or more hermits have dined very well on them little fella's.

Ok thanks! I will be looking for a better CUC