Bmwaaron's 90 Gallon Reef tank project

[fat walrus]

it'll soon clear up. just be patient.

[bmwaaron]

Ok I found some flat worms in my tank.. Must have come from the Live rock I got.
I used the Salifret Worm exit and I couldnt belive how many little worms that were floating in my tank dead. I will try and retreat tomorrow to make sure I get all of them. None of them were red as far as I could tell, they were very small and a cream color. Looks like I will be getting a sixline for my first fish.

Other then that all my test showed good.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
ALK 2.75
PH 8.3
Salinity 1.025
Temp 77

I hooked up a Phosban reactor to run activated charcol after using the worm exit.
After I treat again tomorrow I might do a 15 % water change to help get some of the worm toxins out.
I also wanted some opinions on what types of snails and how many to add. I think I will start adding snails within the next week or 2.

[fat walrus]

well, if you treated the tank properly with flatworm exit, the six-line may not be necessary as the first fish. i would hold off for a while, since some six-lines can be quite territorial.

my favorites snails are black-foot trochus, ivory nessarias, and fighting conches.

[V]

not stomping on your knowledge here ok,
u definately identified them as flatworm? lol

hey merc, how much water movement does your equiptment create, for the corals u plan to keep is it going to be enough?

i love those large rocks on the bottom still, wish i had them in my tank!...still!

[bmwaaron]

u definately identified them as flatworm?

Yes I had a friend that idenified them, and they look like all the pictures of flatworms on the net. Some are clear and some are a cream/brown color.

how much water movement does your equiptment create

I have my return pump which creates about 700 GPH in my tank. I also have a wavebox that has a Tunze 6200 in it. I am thinking about adding a Maxijet 1200 in the back of the tank. But even without the maxijet there is a ton of flow. The 6200 is turned all the way up and basically turns on and off the same amount of time so I would think its about half the max realated flow of the 6200 which would be around 2000-3000 GPH

[V]

Sweeet.........!

[bmwaaron]

Just an update on the tank.
Current readings are
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0
CA 400
PH 8.2

I have
1 peppermint shrimp thats been in there for 5 days now,
2 Astrea snails 4 days
2 Nassarius snails 4 days
2 Nerite Snails 4 days
2 Green Chromis 4 days
2 scarlet red hermits

I started with 4 green chromis but 2 died the first night, It wasn't anything in my tank, they were very small and the LFS got 10 ish in and half of theres died also..

But the remaining 2 seem to be eating well and healthy
I think the Nerite snails are my fav snails this far just because they do a great job cleaning the glass, I think I would need a small army to clean the whole tank, didn't say they were fast just very though.
The Astrea do a great job on the rocks.

Any recommendations on snails or crabs are appreciated. I was thinking on getting 2 emeralds and a cleaner shrimp tomorrow.

[gwen_o_lyn]

I would avoid an emerald unless you are trying to get rid of bubble algae. They are too aggressive for me. Stick with hermit crabs- the cute and friendly ones.

And do me a favor:

Slow down Mr Aaron!!! The beemer needs new brakes!!

[wildeone]

I myself love my trochus snails. They are cleaning fools and they are also very funny to watch at times. When my hermits occasionally climb on top of them they slowly wind up and then release themselves spinning there shells in an attempt to throw the crab off. I will try to get a video of this as it is real funny to watch!

[bmwaaron]

Thats cool Wildeone, I was looking for some today but I guess they are hard to come by in my area for some reason. There is another store I will try tomorrow. I am having allot of fun watching the tank still
I did notice some for sure hair algae today. I am also going to start the Calcium reactor tomorrow. I am hoping to jump start the Coraline algae growth to smoother some of the other hair algae. I did notice today some new Coraline growth also

[bmwaaron]

Originally Posted by gwen_o_lyn

And do me a favor:

Slow down Mr Aaron!!! The beemer needs new brakes!!

Well I got new brakes but they just cant stop the new engine I just built

[gwen_o_lyn]

Originally Posted by bmwaaron

Well I got new brakes but they just cant stop the new engine I just built

yeah it's always something with u

[bmwaaron]

Today I am going to order my cleanup crew online. I cant believe out of all the LFS we have in this town NONE of them have a variety of snails. No turbos, no Banded trochus, very little Astrea.
I think I'm going to order everything from Marine Depot live.
Here is what I'm ordering

5 Turbo Snail Mexican - Turbo fluctuosa
12 Astraea Snail - Astraea tecta
48 Cerith Snail - Cerithium litteratum
5 Trochus Snail (Banded) - Trochus radiatus
1 Queen Conch - Strombus gigas
1 Velvet Sea Slug - Chelidonura varians
5 Scarlet Hermit Crab - Paguristes cadenati
12 Nassarius Snail - Nassarius species

Let me know what you think. I already have some snails... My tank it getting hair algae now and Ive been testing 0 on nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia for about 9 days now.
The couple Astrea I have do a very good job at eating everything, the just cant keep up with the Algae bloom.
Let me know what you think about my snail choices.
Oh I already have 2 scarlet red hermits and 10 blue leg hermits
Should I get a cucumber?

[Rob]

looks like a good list with one exception.
The Chelidonura varians also known as the blue velvet nudibranch (even though its not technically a nudi)
these sea slugs feed exclusively on Planaria flatworms.
if you dont have a flatworms in your tank (you dont want them, they suck), you should not get this, they can be difficult to acclimate, and will starve to death.