i need advice

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#1
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#1
...on what the next step should be in my pico. stats:

3 gal
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
<5 nitrates
pH *should be* 8.3 (i haven't tested it today but i've been buffering regularly)
sg 1.024 (working on lowering it)

5 lbs live sand
4 lbs live rock

1 turbo snail
1 scarlet hermit

this is my 3rd turbo snail. the first died for unknown reasons. the second, i think probably because i had a salinity spike (i had a few small blue legged hermits, and they died too, again, i think b/c of the sg). the tank's been running for 1 month + now, and i've made little to no progress. i have TONS of algae... i know everyone gets a 'brown algae outbreak,' but this has become a month-long outbreak. and my hermit crab loves to sit and not do much... come out of his shell a bit, sneak back in when he says me.

this snail (which i've only had since tuesday) has made a trip around the tank on the acrylic, and is now on a piece of live rock, but has not actually consumed a noticeable amount of algae. the guy at the lfs asked me more than once if the problem w/ the snails could be that there's not enough food... and NO, definitely not, lol.

so what the heck do i do? it's not that i am meaning to be impatient, it's just that my tank seems to be at a true stand still and i want to make some progress. i would love to at least be able to get a cleaner shrimp, but i'm not going to spend $20 on a shrimp when i can't keep $3 snails alive, plus i can hardly see the shrimp through the icky brown walls. :/

jess
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#2
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#2
OH, when i was writing my stats, i should have added... i have the stock eclipse filter with no media running, as well as the azoo 200 powerhead. ;)
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#3
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#3
how long until after your tank cycled did you add the snails/hermits? how did you acclimate them? are you using tap or RO/DI? you might want to get some LR rubble in the eclipse filter to start off, make sure it's cured though unless you want a mini cycle.
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#4
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#4
my tank cycled pretty quickly, and i waited a few days afterwards. acclimation may be one of my troubles, i hardly acclimated the first two snails at all... this sounds stupid but the trouble i find with acclimating snails is they climb right out of the water! and then i'm not really 'acclimating' them.

if i ask my lfs for some LR rubble, they should be able to give me some?

and i'm using tap water. i bought a 2.2 gal of the pre-made saltwater yesterday though, and i'm planning on doing a reasonable sized water change with it tomorrow. does that seem like a good idea?
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#5
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#5
no reason to do a WC unless your nitrates are around 10ppm or above. If you really don't want to deal with the diatoms you'll have to get RO/DI for top-offs. just buy maybe a 1/2lb of rubble. When you say the snails climbed out, they climbed out of the bag?
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#6
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#6
no, not out of the bag, but the water was only may 1/4 full, and they climbed out of the water. i don't think they would've made it all the way out of the bag had i given them the chance... but i didn't. RO/DI water will help clear up the algae?
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#7
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#7
fluoride, chlorine, chloramines, nitrates, phosphates, and metals that are possibly in your tap may cause nuisance algaes. I've acclimated 4 snails, all living and tearing up algae, and never had any of them attempt to climb out of the bag. Usually when the bag is floating with the bag rolled down a bit, the water level hits the top and theres practically no way for them to get out.
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#8
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#8
GRRR...

i think i killed turbo #3. it hasn't moved in well over 24 hrs.. even when i picked it up and tried to coax it to peek out a bit. :(

what is the next step here?
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#10
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#10
what kind of de-chlor are you using? I only use Prime because it takes such metals out. If all else fails, see if any lfs around you sells RO/DI and get some to see if it makes a difference. also, which hydrometer are you using? maybe its faulty.
 

C

CoolWaters

Superstar Fish
#12
Dec 10, 2006
1,028
1
0
Milpitas
#12
Lotus said:
Snails sometimes "rest" for a day or two. As long as its not on its back, it may start moving again. Some snails are unable to right themselves after a fall, although turbo snails don't usually have a problem.
Click to expand...
my turbos cant flip themselves over but they they can get a hold of something then their fine. on the other hand my nassarius snail can swing themselves around. pretty cool stuff. mine likes to skydive...craws to the top of my tank and jumps. i thought that was kind of funny.
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#13
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#13
ah maybe i am 'jumping the gun' on the dead snail business. :eek:

i am switching to RO/DI water, though. like i said i got a bit of the pre-mixed seawater, and i'm using distilled water for topoffs and water changes from here on out. i'm just not trusting my tap water.

as for my hydrometer... is there any way for me to know if it's faulty? i guess just bringing some water to my lfs and comparing my results with theirs?
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#14
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#14
i think my scarlet hermit has joined the rest of the crew in saltwater heaven. it is possible that i'm wrong... he's in the same spot he's been in, almost all the way out of his shell. it's also entirely possible that he molted... but i don't see him anywhere, and considering the fate of everyone else (besides perhaps my olive snail), it doesn't seem very unlikely that he died. i'm going to test the water, give it a day or two, and keep trying... i'm planning to get another scarlet hermit, maybe a blue legged hermit, and a snail - maybe two (maybe a turbo and a margarita snail?). i'm going to be more diligent about acclimating them more slowly, as well. any thoughts?
 

MrBungle

MrBungle

Large Fish
#15
Oct 18, 2006
421
4
0
37
NY, on an island...
#15
I would honestly go the the best lfs around you and have them test your water. Explain your situation and see if they have any suggestions. Yes, they will roll their eyes at you when you tell them its a 3g tank lol. They will tell you its hard to keep stable, blah blah blah. I've heard the same story from every lfs i've been to. anyways, wouldn't hurt to bring your hydrometer with you and see if they can test their water. I would hold off on buying any more livestock until you settle everything down. Have you seen the water report for where you live? I'd try and find it for you but I don't know where you're at :p
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#16
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#16
MrBungle said:
I would honestly go the the best lfs around you and have them test your water. Explain your situation and see if they have any suggestions. Yes, they will roll their eyes at you when you tell them its a 3g tank lol. They will tell you its hard to keep stable, blah blah blah. I've heard the same story from every lfs i've been to. anyways, wouldn't hurt to bring your hydrometer with you and see if they can test their water. I would hold off on buying any more livestock until you settle everything down. Have you seen the water report for where you live? I'd try and find it for you but I don't know where you're at :p
Click to expand...
i think this sound like a good plan, and i'm going to follow your advice. :eek: obviously something's going on.. and they've rolled their eyes at me already, so i don't really care about that part. i'm going to go in tomorrow (i hope) with a bottle of water and my hydrometer.

as for the water report, i live in tampa, fl, and i do know that our water is notoriously hard and notoriously.. well, nasty. a little farther north it actually smells like rotten eggs b/c the sulphur content's so high. i will look into the water report, though i'm not sure i'll really understand what i'm reading!
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#18
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#18
thanks mr b!! it's actually finally making some kinda exciting progress :D

i had my water tested at the lfs, and he said everything looked good, except for some phosphates.. i did a reasonable sized water change, figuring that the more of the tap water i could get out of the system, the better, lol. the next day, i went and bought what i thought was one red scarlet hermit and one blue legged hermit.. turned out to be one red scarlet and three blue legged! he thought he was giving me empty shells. ;) a few days later, i went and picked up an olive snail and a turbo snail.

the hermits are doing well, and the olive snail is doing good as far as i know.. i haven't seen him and that's good to me! the turbo snail was doing great.. until he got murdered! :eek: i turned on the light one morning and one of the blue legged hermits had him on his back, and were pulling him out to commandeer the shell.

so i went to the lfs today, and replaced him with another turbo snail, and a margarita snail. but on top of that.. i also bought a skunk cleaner shrimp!! hooray!

i don't think i was jumping the gun on this purchase, the tank's been doing well. so i have a pretty crazy question: if the shrimp molted within hours of being in the tank, that's a good thing, right? (or at least, not bad?) i put him in the tank around 1:30, and when i got home from work at 7:30... i thought i was just seeing his reflection at an odd angle, but i quickly realized.. nope, my shrimp had already gone through a molt! he seems very healthy and is already roaming the tank again.

i promise i'll try to get pics. :eek: i'm just so awful with the camera, i know i won't do my tank justice!
 

jessey

jessey

Large Fish
#19
Dec 25, 2006
548
0
0
37
Tampa, FL
#19
i have a fish, i have a fish!!

i brought home a yellow clown goby today :D he's actually still acclimating as we speak. oh my gosh he's so cute. (i don't know if anyone saw my thread in the lounge, but my attempts at picture taking thus far have failed.)
 

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