Some Questions On My First 75 Gallon Tank

[Reef_in_Denver]

Hey Everyone - One of my first times posting here.

I have recently just setup a 75G aquarium, for my first saltwater/reef tank. The cycle has completed over the past few months.

Current Stock List:
10 Cerith Snails
10 Astrae Snails
10 Red Leg Hermits
3 Peppermint Shrimp
3 Emerald Crabs
1 Randalls Goby
3 Soft Corals(Just $10 Frags) - Candy Cane, Zoas, GSPs

My Water Parameters:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
MG: 1450
Ca: 480-500
Alk: 6.5dkh

-I have been using Kent Reef Salt Mix

All Corals/Fish/Shrimp/Crabs seem to be doing just great. I am having a bit of an issue with the Astrae Snails falling on their back what seems like every two minutes. If I leave the tank for a few hours I inevitably come back to one of the hermits eating the snail out of the shell as it has been flipped over. I started with 10 Astrae snails and after 2 weeks or so I would say I am down to about 5. The Ceriths don't seem to have the same issues with their longer shells. Anyone else have this issue?

Second, I am getting quite a decent bit of red hair algae in the tank. My total Gallons with Sump/Refugium is probably closer to 100-110G. Should I add additional cleanup crew members? I was thinking about picking up some Mexican Turbo Snails, as it seems like they are good for Red Hair Algae.

Third, I think I may be seeing a handful of flatworms(Already...sigh) in the refugium. I got my Chaeto from another reefer but didn't really notice any of them in the Chaeto until I added other livestock. I made sure to properly dip all corals before placing them in the tank. What have been your best ways of dealing with flatworms?

 

[Reef_in_Denver]

I failed on the picture upload.

 

[Reef_in_Denver]

Unfortunately I can't edit, but after doing some algae research. It looks like the algae I am dealing with is NOT red hair, but Diatoms. The tank has only had water in it for a little bit over a month so I guess this is normal. In the meantime is it best to just scrub it off with a toothbrush?

 

[3Twinklets]

Diatoms will go away on their own.Unfortunately, hermit snails are probably going to continue killing the snails. They are bad about that, especially in a new tank where the food pickings are limited for them. You may want to consider removing them.Turbo snails are a great choice. They do get rather large as a rule so that may be something to think about. They also cannot turn themselves over if they fall.I have never had flatworms, thank goodness. There is a lot of information available on how to deal with them and I am sure someone that has had that issue will chime in here soon.

 

[Reef_in_Denver]

The "Flatworms" look very similar to this. Just MUCH smaller.

 

[TJ's Reef]

First off a BIG WELCOME to R2R hope you enjoy it here. Judging by your pic it looks like there is only one small piece of LR and clean sandbed so really not much for a clean up crew yet and probably several weeks yet from completing its cycle. Keep an eye on your Chaeto for now for same reason, not many Nitrates or Phosphates available for it yet to thrive and/or live. Beautiful aquascape as is so may I then suggest adding some Live Rock to your sump for additional nitrification. Do you have a skimmer yet and if so how is it performing, meaning what does the gunk look like in collection cup? Could you also post a pic of sump area and maybe a close up of mentioned flatworms.

Cheers, Todd

 

[TJ's Reef]

Most likely simple Planaria then and will more than likely fade out with Diatoms at end of their cycle.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Reef_in_Denver]

First off a BIG WELCOME to R2R hope you enjoy it here. Judging by your pic it looks like there is only one small piece of LR and clean sandbed so really not much for a clean up crew yet and probably several weeks yet from completing its cycle. Keep an eye on your Chaeto for now for same reason, not many Nitrates or Phosphates available for it yet to thrive and/or live. Beautiful aquascape as is so may I then suggest adding some Live Rock to your sump for additional nitrification. Do you have a skimmer yet and if so how is it performing, meaning what does the gunk look like in collection cup? Could you also post a pic of sump area and maybe a close up of mentioned flatworms.

Cheers, Todd

Hey Todd, thanks for the response!

Here is a look a the skimmer(SWC 160 Cone) area taken a while back. The skimmer is collecting gunk pretty seriously. Depending on how much air I let in I can have about 1/2 inch of nasty nasty brown skimmate after a day.

I got the Chaeto at the start of the cycle, and it has nearly tripled in size since then. Pods are scattered all across the walls in my tank(I feel bad using the algae scraper against the front wall haha). I have also seen a few baby brittle stars in the chaeto. I can grab and updated picture of the chaeto in the refug tonight.

One thing to mention is that I started with ALL dry rock to begin with minimal cooking. I am testing near 0 for phosphates, but I think that may be due to the chaeto devouring them all.

 

[Reef_in_Denver]

Diatoms will go away on their own.Unfortunately, hermit snails are probably going to continue killing the snails. They are bad about that, especially in a new tank where the food pickings are limited for them. You may want to consider removing them.Turbo snails are a great choice. They do get rather large as a rule so that may be something to think about. They also cannot turn themselves over if they fall.I have never had flatworms, thank goodness. There is a lot of information available on how to deal with them and I am sure someone that has had that issue will chime in here soon.

I also have a 30G quarantine tank that is getting close to completing it's cycle. Nitrites have been 0 for about 4 days and nitrates are registering at less than 5 PPM. The cycle on the quarantine actually started earlier than the main tank but took almost 8 weeks to get to this point. Probably due to lack of sandbed for the bacteria to flourish. Both cycles were started with raw shrimp - 1 in the 30g - 3 in the 75.

Maybe I should throw the hermits into the quarantine(although I am afraid they will starve to death... Could I just throw a few small flakes in there and hope the scrounge for them?

 

[Daniel1dgk]

If your cycling your tank in a few months means it not cycled the diatoms are telling you the cycle Is still going and i would give it 6 months with some live rock to fully cycle even up to a year

 

[Daniel1dgk]

And the hermits need live rock to eat that's why there eating your snails

 

[Reef_in_Denver]

If your cycling your tank in a few months means it not cycled the diatoms are telling you the cycle Is still going and i would give it 6 months with some live rock to fully cycle even up to a year

How do I manage livestock if this is the case?

 

[Dragonreef202]

You can put the hermits in sump until your tank gets time to fully finish cycling. You can always feed them in there. Unless you want to just replace the snails they eat in the main tank.

 

[TJ's Reef]

IMO/IME starting out with Dry Rock just takes a whole lot longer to stabalyize then with using LR (good and bad) I'd still suggest finding a nice piece of clean (nuisance algae free) LR that would fit into your fuge section or replace one of the pieces in DT. Two benefits would be added nitrification and maybe adding some Coraline Algae and other Macro Algae to system. See about getting some sinking Herbivore Pellets like Hikari Seaweed Extreme and dropping a few in for the Hermits occasionally. Other than that just continue to take your time and things should proceed well for you.

Cheers, Todd

 

[3Twinklets]

I also have a 30G quarantine tank that is getting close to completing it's cycle. Nitrites have been 0 for about 4 days and nitrates are registering at less than 5 PPM. The cycle on the quarantine actually started earlier than the main tank but took almost 8 weeks to get to this point. Probably due to lack of sandbed for the bacteria to flourish. Both cycles were started with raw shrimp - 1 in the 30g - 3 in the 75.Maybe I should throw the hermits into the quarantine(although I am afraid they will starve to death... Could I just throw a few small flakes in there and hope the scrounge for them?

Hermit crabs are opportunistic feeders. They will eat when and where and what they want. They also can grow rather large. They need to move into larger shells as they grow and if they cannot find an empty one, they will kill a snail to get one.Feeding them probably will not stop them from attacking snails or even small fish.; If you put them into the quarantine and feed them, (just about anything), they will do OK until they need a new shell. Keep in mind that if you quarentine small fish in there they can become a snack for the crabs.I am a believer in deep sandbeds personally. You will get many opinions regarding them. Many years ago, I would vacuum them or siphon the detritus out of them. I have not practiced that for many years because my wrasses take care of stirring up the sand bed and I also believe that there are beneficial bacteria living in the sand beds also.