Cuc: what else should u add?

[Miah2bzy]

Been slowly increasingly cuc over the last few months on my 30 to see what my tank needs. Have increased my gph to 1800. Currently have:
2 emerald crabs
3 trocus
30+ narcissus

Have hair algae and cyano pretty regularly and glass gets thick w scum. I feed 1x/day w flake or pellets enough for the 3 fish to eat. Add reef roids/coral frenzy mix 3x a week. 5 gallon water change every week. Reef octo hob skimmer has been doing well, pull about 1 cup out every week at water changes.
I am going up to great white aquatics tomorrow to stock another tank I have. Should I add anything else to this cuc? Thinking of getting a few more trocus and adding some ceriths and nerites.


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[Balz3352]

I've heard turbos do work on hair algae

 

[zombie]

Narcissus are primarily detrivores and stay in the sand unless food supply is bad. I would recomment DBTC half of your narcissus or they will start going after your microfauna. A turbo will get big and will bulldoze stony corals. I would recommend adding 3 margheritas and 5-10 ceriths.

Optimists say the glass is half full. Pessimists say the glass is half empty. Engineers say the glass is twice the size that it needs to be.

 

[jahmic]

As much debate as there is regarding the phosphate levels in flake/pellet food vs drained frozen, I personally find that I have less issues with nuisance algae when I feed primarily frozen food. After melting it, I pour off the excess water, drain as much as I can, and notice less film algae development in my tanks.

Before switching foods though, I would cut back on the reef roids/coral frenzy. If you are feeding their recommended amounts per gallon, try cutting it in half, or only feed once a week to see if that helps.

Although you can increase the size of your CUC, in the end you still have a nutrient problem that needs to be addressed...start there before adding more livestock to clean up the tank. That being said, I'd agree you probably have an abundance of nassarius snails; they are detrivores and eat left over food and fish waste...not algae.

I'd also recommend some cerith snails and maybe a few more trochus snails or astreas if you don't mind flipping them back over from time to time. I'd go with a turbo over a margarita snail though. Just make sure your frags are secure. The issue with margarita snails is that they are actually found in colder waters, and do not always acclimate well to our tanks...if/when they do, their lifespan is usually reduced.

If you aren't opposed to hermits, I'd also add a handful to your list. Make sure you have empty snails for them to move into so that they don't go after the rest of your CUC. Also keep in mind that your CUC won't touch your hair algae if it starts getting long enough to blow around in the flow of the tank; manual removal is going to be necessary until you get your nutrients under control.

Have you tested your water? I'd try to find out where your nitrate and phosphate levels are before adding more CUC to the tank.

 

[Miah2bzy]

Thanks for the advice jahmic! I had Vince test the water last time I was at his store and everything but my salinity was "ok" nitrates were slightly elevated but he didn't seem concerned. I will try adding more Trocus and ceriths to the tank next week and will cut out the coral food for a while to see if it helps. Auto feeder is set at lowest setting once a day already. I remove as much algae as I can when I water change and have started a black out day of no lights and that's helping a lot each week. The only crabs I've been advised were "ok" and wouldn't go after polyps were emeralds. Does that sound right?


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[zombie]

Ive had good luck with hermits staying away from polyps and snails with blue legs. I had a striped hermit I got as a hitchhiker that killed snails for fun, and never had a hermit eat polyps. They are usually pretty good as long as you have a plethora of various size empty shells.

Optimists say the glass is half full. Pessimists say the glass is half empty. Engineers say the glass is twice the size that it needs to be.

 

[Off The Deep End]

Your nitrates are most likely registering low because your cyano and hair algae are consuming it to grow, I would first look at what you have for denitrafication (skimmer, sump ect). Do you use an rodi? How often do you do water changes? How old is your system? Are a few questions that come to mind.

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[jahmic]

Your nitrates are most likely registering low because your cyano and hair algae are consuming it to grow

+1 It's good that they aren't abnormally high...but the algae growth is a better indicator of your need to control nutrients. I'm pretty confident that reducing the feedings will help immensely.

I've never had issues with hermits picking at polyps either. Emerald crabs on the other hand...I've had 2 go after just about everything in my old tank...zoas, sps...I even watched one rip a polyp off my hammer coral. It's hit or miss with those guys; they seem to be voracious feeders...in my experience as soon as they run out of food they go after coral. Hermits on the other hand will go after snails...which I'd much rather replace.

Keep an eye on your autofeeder. I had an Eheim and it'd regularly dump way too much food into my 90 gallon...I'd be OK with using one over vacation, but don't think I'd want to rely on one for daily feedings. I have the Neptune auto-feeder now, and even on its lowest setting I feel like it overfeeds the tank significantly. Pellet/flake size definitely plays a role in this; my 0.5mm NLS pellets slide through easily and can overfeed the tank...I might be better off using a larger pellet size to control the amount that fits through the gate on the lowest setting. If you're confident that the autofeeder isn't overfeeding the tank, then I'd say stick with it, especially if you are using it to fill in between small morning/evening feedings while at work. But if you're using it for your one feeding per day...I'd be careful to make sure that it's not dumping too much food into the tank. Maybe try feeding by hand for a while to see if that helps.

 

[Miah2bzy]

Going to take the auto feed off. Ur most likely right that it's putting too much in. I had tested it when I last filled it but noticed that it gets funky when moisture hits the gate.
I do weekly water changes, 5 gal of rodi. System is 9 months old.


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[jda123]

How about some pictures of the algae?

The phosphates in flake and pellet food are nearly the same as in frozen food when dried - the ash, protein and all of that is lower because of the water content. High quality foods add no ash, so make sure that you are using a good food. All living (and ex-living) is full of phosphorus. You can still get into trouble if you overfeed with pellets.

Mexican turbos, emerald crabs and even blue and zebra-legged crabs will eat hair algae when the other "easy" algae is gone. I have never seen any of these go after it while there was film algae, bubble algae or excess food in the tank. Emeralds can eat the smallest pieces of algae, but once all of those are gone, they will typically start to mow down the hair.

The best thing to do with hair is to reach in there and pull out clumps with your fingers. This is a good nutrient export. It will save your system a bit since even the stuff that the crabs and snails eat ends up going back into the N cycle. What you remove is gone forever.

I cannot really think of a fish that might help you out in a 30G except for maybe a lawnmower blenny... but I hate them since they move around so much sand (at least mine did). They might also eat coral polyps when they get hungry. One might be worth a shot, though, if you think that you can catch it if becomes a jerk. Some people really love them - they do have some fun behavior.

Lastly, you might consider light vacuuming some sand when you change water. ...like maybe 6 square inches every 2-3 weeks. ...and keep it up if it comes out really, really nasty. If the sand is plugged up and not functioning as a filter, it gets really hard to process N and P - the bacteria can outcompete the algae when they are able to work.

 

[Miah2bzy]

I'll put up a pic tomorrow when the lights come on. I've noticed the six line knocks the snails off the glass during the day. I had bubble algae and it's mostly gone . I am running power compacts that r coming up on their replacement period. Running these until I move to the 65 I am setting up end of this month.


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[Miah2bzy]

I use prime reef flakes and ocean nutr formula one pellets.


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[jda123]

Cool. Definately replace the PC bulbs when their time is up, but that is not your issue. They need a LONG time to shift into red/yellow/green to grow nasty algae... and you still need nutrient then.

If the 6 line will not let your CUC get comfortable, then I wonder how good any of them will be. It might need to go, if you can live without it.

 

[Miah2bzy]

They come out at night mainly. Since I've increased flow it hasn't bothered any of the snails and seems much healthier/not as spastic.
Added a few more trocus snails last weekend and trimmed down the hair algae. Have switched to every 3days feeding the fish and only once using the reef roids per week. Also readjusted the skimmer and pulling out thick instead of wet skim mate now. This seems to have slowed the hair algaes takeover.


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