just getting started

[littlemutt]

i've added 1 fire shrimp, 1 pistol shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, 1 procelan crab, and 6 snails. i've also added two zoanthids and two small ricordia's. these have all been added in the last two weeks.
i took new water tests last night and got theses readings:

ph 2.8
ammonia: 0.25
nitrate : 0
nitrite : 0

the ammonia reading is up, is that due to the additions? and is that a problem? do i need to do anything or will it go down by itself? one problem i'm having is with feeding the 2 shrimp, i got some frozen meaty seafoods - 4 types and this is where i am having trouble, i bought a plastic clip with some plastic mesh designed to hold the frozen food but it doesn't work well, when i put a piece of food in it it seems to work it's way out before it hits the bottom with food floating all over the tank. and if i'm lucky and get it down there the fire shrimp has no problem and he comes zooming out and grabs what he can, but the pistol shrimp who also comes running out doesn't seem to be able to deal with the mesh and i'm not sure he's getting anything, he usually will come out only once and then seems to give up where as the fire shrimp will make repeated trips and take as much back with him as he can. a lot of the food ends up floating around the tank which i know is not good, could this be the reason for the ammonia spike? does anyone have a better method of feeding these guys? also how do you figure out exactly how much to give them? i keep hearing to feed them what they will eat in 3 minutes but this doesn't seem to apply to these guys especially the pistol shrimp and when i add fish it would seem like the problem will grow worse for them. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

also the algae is still a problem with a lot of film as well as hair algae
growing in one tank, which is the tank with the shrimps and crabs in it, the other is much better with just some algae on the glass and small amounts growing over some of the sand. is this pretty much normal or is it the result of the ammonia readings? i keep cleaning up what i can but it makes a mess in the tank with floating debri, etc. i keep seeing photos of other tanks and they seem to be algae free and crystal clear. am i doing something wrong here or does it just take time to work itself out? thanks for any input.

[FragOutpost]

I'm guessing you meant 8.2 instead of 2.8 for your ph. If so then that is good.
The elevated ammonia levels could be from the excessive food depending on how much you are feeding. I use a turkey baster for target feeding. I turn off all of the pumps so that the food doesn't scatter around the tank so quickly. Does the pistol shrimp have a burrow built? If so you can just use the turkey baster to target feed the burrow. Got any pics of the new shrimp? Have you considered getting a companion goby for the pistol shrimp?

also how do you figure out exactly how much to give them? i keep hearing to feed them what they will eat in 3 minutes but this doesn't seem to apply to these guys especially the pistol shrimp

Start will small portions and slowly increase the amount. Over time you will figure out the correct amount. If there is food left over in the tank then you have probably fed too much.

also the algae is still a problem with a lot of film as well as hair algae
growing in one tank, which is the tank with the shrimps and crabs in it, the other is much better with just some algae on the glass and small amounts growing over some of the sand. is this pretty much normal or is it the result of the ammonia readings?

Both of your tanks are plumbed together, right? Which means that they share the same water supply, but you also have different lighting on each tank. You posted earlier that you had a 96 watt 50/50 compact pc on one tank and a 64 watt 50/50 compact pc on the other right? How old is the bulb on the tank with the algae issues? Which lighting is on the tank with the algae problem? You could easily test whether it is the lighting that is causing the problem by switching the lights from one tank to another. Then if the same algae begins to grow in the other tank and decreases in the original tank then you will know that your problem is the lighting.

[D12monkey]

I'm agreeing with Frag.... The algae issue looks like it could be from the lighting. Did you buy the fixtures and bulbs new? Try a swap of lighting and see what happens. Most bulbs have a lifespan of a year or less before they fall off their specturm. Once this happens it facilitates the algae growth.

[littlemutt]

both light fixtures are new with new bulbs, the 64 watt is the one over the 24 gal nano cube which is the tank with the shrimp,crabs and most of the snails. the 96 watt is over the 20 gal cube that i built, that just has snails in it so far, i would try switching the lights but the 64 watt light is built into the hood of the nano cube and the whole top would have to come off ( not easy to remove ) and wouldn't really fit over the other tank. i was thinking of getting some additional lightning in the form of those new t-5 fixtures that can be daisy chained, do you guys think more lighting would help?
i took another ammonia reading and it was closer to 0 than 0.25 so i'm really getting confused here, i have the lights programed to stay on for 12 hours a day, is that to long? could this be the problem? i thought that the more light the bigger the algae problem. i'm amazed at how fast that stuff grows. i clean off the glass daily and by the next day it's back again - very frustrating. any other ideas to get it under control please let me know, at this point i'll try anything.
as far as the food goes i try to feed as little as possible and i use a net and try to remove any that goes uneatin or is floating around the tank. the fire shrimp is getting plenty of food but i'm not sure the pistol is, he works non-stop on his borrow which unfortunately is under the piled up rock, it's hard to tell where the entrance is as he keeps changing it. it's really neat tho watching him move all that sand around, he puts his 2 claws together and carries it out on top of them. he seems to work non-stop and i'm worrying that he's not getting anything to eat.i will get a turkey baster and try to feed him that way. i'd like to hire him to do some work around the yard, that guy is a hard worker.

[FragOutpost]

Two of the main factors that algae needs to sustain growth are light and nutrients. Without one or the other algae can not sustain such growth rates. Nutrients are usually in the form of nitrates and/or phosphates. Are you using RO/DI water? Have you started doing regular water changes? Is your skimmer working efficiently?

[littlemutt]

have been using ro water for the past 1 1/2 months, however i have not done any water changes just makeup water for evaporation. this has been runninng about 2 - 3 gals a week. should i do a water change and if so how much should i change? the algae is still there and the film algae over some of the rocks and sand seems to have gotten slightly worse in the tank with the livestock in it. the other tank which has only some zoas and snails seems a bit better although i still get brown algae on the glass.
i got a turkey baster today which i will start using, the pistol shrimp has a burrow now and is not digging as much so i hope he's finally picked a spot he likes. i bought an antenna goby today from my local lfs to keep him company, i hope that works out, i think he needs company. that is my first fish as i've been holding off til i got that algae thing under control. everything i have put in there seems to be doing well ( 6 snails , 1 hermit, 1 fire shrimp, 1 pistol shrimp, 2 emerald crabs, and 1 porcelain crab, although the later i have not seen since the day after i put him in so he may not be doing so good ). does it sound like i need to put more snails in there? i didn't want to overload it either, the refigium is a whole other story, i have red algae growing in there, not sure how all 3 areas can be so different seeing as how they are all connected.
i am going to try and post some more pics and see if i have that figured out, would like to get them down to normal size. thanks for your continued input.

[littlemutt]

if anyone has any reasonable priced frags for sale i might be interested. would like to get something in my setup, local visit to lfs's in my area have shown me that i can't afford to do much at there prices and i figure frags will grow. please answer here or e-mail me - thanks