just getting started

[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

[FragOutpost]

Go ahead and start changing about 10-20% of the water every week or two. Ideally it is better to change smaller amounts of water frequently than it is to change large amounts of water infrequently. Try changing out 2-3 gallons every day for a week or two. Are you running any carbon? How many total gallons do you have?

You should easily be able to sustain 20-30 snails if not more between all of the tanks.

Is the turkey baster helping with feeding the pistol shrimp?
Has the pistol shrimp began to bond with the goby yet?
You'll have to post a pic some time of the two.

What is the resolution of the photos you posted earlier? If your photos are 300 dpi then they will display very big on a monitor. For displaying photos online make sure that your photos are 72 dpi. Just a thought. Hope this helps.

[littlemutt]

i will begin doing water changes, will try doing 2-4 gallons per day til i get at least 20% changed, the total water volume between the 2 tanks and the refugium is approximately 62 gals (20 - 24 -18 ) minus sand and rock. i am running carbon in the 24 gal nano-cube and purigen in nylon bags in the refugium input.

have a total of 10 snails which i will increase to 25 or so as soon as i can.

haven't really used the turkey baster yet as i've come up with a way that kind of works. i stick a piece of food inside the entrance to the pistol's burrow and within a second he comes to get it. if he likes it he pulls it in, if he doesn't he just shoves it back out, it's actually pretty funny to watch him. am trying to get a pic of him but he doesn't come out in the open for more than a second at any given time. i wish he would stop all the excavation as each day he changes things around. when i put the antenna goby in he sat on one of the rocks for about 2 hours not doing much of anything but as soon as i stopped watching for awhile he was right at the pistols burrow and hasn't left since. when the shrimp comes out with a load of sand he merely moves aside then goes right back to halfway in the entrance, for me this is all new and it's pretty neat. after feeding i turn the pumps back on and whatever left over food there is starts moving around the tank and each time it goes by the goby he darts out and grabs a piece, i've noticed that he might eat the first 2 or 3 pieces then when he grabs the next piece he'll take it into the burrow and come right back out, he will eat a couple of more pieces then do the same thing. from what i can gather he must be bringing it to the pistol, i was amazed at how fast they teamed up and it has also solved the problem of leftover food in the tank.

i have a question that i'm not sure you can answer, does the saltwater have any effect on my septic system? i've been dumping it down the drain and am not sure if that's ok. would hate to create a problem in that area.

thanks for all the help

[FragOutpost]

That is great that your goby and pistol shrimp teamed up so quickly. It must be great watching the two together.

As long as you keep consistent with the water changes and carbon, and ensure that your parameters are all in check then the algae should diminish in due time.

As for the salt water harming the septic system, I think it should be ok. I'm on a city connection so I can't tell you with for sure certainity but I don't think you should have any problems. I usually drain my used water into the yard.

Just in case you ever decide to culture micro algae, never pour a Nanochloropsus culture down the drain, as it can live in both freshwater and saltwater and could possibly contaminate local waterways.