anyone have cheatmorpha?

[the Undone guy]

ok it seems my cycle is done...2 weeks early (verifying at the LFS tomorrow), so i need to get some cheatmorpha to start soaking up that nasty nitrate. Is anyone's fudge ready for a trimming? I'll be @ the meeting sunday and would greatly appritiate a little cheat~ to help me get this puppy going=)

[the Undone guy]

one more quick q...where is the best place online to get snails and clean up crew?

and do you guys have any advice for what to include in my clean up crew? ie - how many of who to put in the display, and what in the fuge, but remember i cant get any crabs(except maybe in the fuge), my eel will devour them!

[LVfishguy]

Astrea snails and Naussaraus (SP?) snails both rock!

[opihi]

i'll bring a ziploc bag for you on sunday.

i've got a bag for you too ron.

j

[the Undone guy]

thanks jeff, you rock.

ok so does anyone have any advice on how many snails and such to stick in my 55 gallon? and how many to put in my refugium? i'm pretty new to this clean up crew stuff...my 20 gal only has a few snails and a couple hermits.

[opihi]

i think this would be a good starter pack.

10 astreas
4 turbos
10 nassarius

i've always had difficulty keeping astreas in my tank for long periods. maybe i'm not around to upright them when they fall, but i'm constantly replacing them.

turbos are by far the most active and best eaters of the bunch. they grow huge, and will bulldoze your rock structure, so make sure your rockscaping is sturdy. they also seem to be the most hardy of the snails i've tried.

the nassarius snails will bury themselves in your sandbed. when you introduce food or the smell something rotting in your tank, they'll come out of the sand and devour whatever they can find. cool snails for sure.

i recommend you stay away from zebras, blue legs and pretty much all other hermits. they will eat your snails. i've had pretty good luck with scarletts, but i'm sure they have to do with the demise of my margharita and astreas snails.

hth

[the Undone guy]

my zebra will eat hermits so i wont be picking up any of those, what about the fuge? do i even need anything in there? and can you reccomend a good place to order clean up guys from online?

[opihi]

you don't really need anything in the fuge. maybe some astreas or a turbo or two to keep the class free of diatoms. but definitely not necessary. nassarius snails require meaty foods, so putting them in the fuge is a death sentence.

i haven't purchased a CC in a while. try searching the new to the hobby forum. i'm sure there's tons of info. anyway, i believe the big CC online dealer is inlandaquatics. but with the quantities you want, you might be just as good at the LFS (expect to pay ~$40 for shipping).

[the Undone guy]

ok one more q, sorry =)

i used and have been using RO/DI water for my tank and such, and have yet to see an algae bloom, or any for that matter. if there is nothing for the algae to feed on will any form? people in the newbie forum told me not to add any corals since my algae cycles arent complete...but i dont see any algae!

[TippyToeX]

Bobby, do you have a sand bed in the tank & refugium? I really like the micro fauna you can get for sand beds at Inland Aquatics (http://www.inlandaquatics.com/prod/prod_detrit.html). The det-kit if perfect to kick start a 'fuge. :)

Also Look at their Inverts (http://www.inlandaquatics.com/prod/tr_invert.html) list. Snails such as Stomatella are great little guys and you might like more than what IA would provide in the det-kit. Along with spaghetti worms as an extra. Great sand bed crew.

HTH

[the Undone guy]

i have a 1-2" sand bed in the main display, and the fuge has a 2-3" sandbed. i gotta head out to school so i'll check those links out when i get back, thanks!

edit: forgot to add that the sand in the fuge is 15lbs of live sand from PA

[opihi]

Originally posted by the Undone guy
ok one more q, sorry =)

i used and have been using RO/DI water for my tank and such, and have yet to see an algae bloom, or any for that matter. if there is nothing for the algae to feed on will any form? people in the newbie forum told me not to add any corals since my algae cycles arent complete...but i dont see any algae!

your algae blooms will feed off waste from uneaten food, your fish's waste, etc. so using RO/DI is a good start, but algae feeds on nutrients that you add to your tank.

i would also recommend that you wait a few months before adding corals. you can start off with some soft corals like mushroons and xenia, but i would hold off on purchasing any corals with skeletal parts for algae to grown on (brains, torches, etc).

[the Undone guy]

was just going to stick to xenia and zoo's for now, are zoo's ok to put in there?=) i was going to put the cleanup crew in, then the zoo's/xenia possibly, then put my eel in there. i need to get him out of my 10 gallon quarantine as quickly as possible, i think he's becomming depressed from being in there for so long. but i want to do things right so i'm going to @least wait on the cleanup crew and cheatmorpha before i stick him in there.

[opihi]

how big and what kind of eel is it? if your 55's cycled, you might want to put the eel in now. a 10g is not really the best conditions for an eel.

[the Undone guy]

i know =/ he's been in my 10 gallon for a good 4-5 months now (dont ask). It took way longer than i expected to get my 55 gallon up and going. But he's eating and appears to be healthy so i havent been extremely worried. Im taking my water to the fish store today to verify my findings. It seems rather odd to me that my cycle would be complete 2 weeks after filling the tank with UN-cured live rock. but maybe i got lucky? im going to wait for the cheatmorpha this sunday before i add him in for sure though, i dont want the nitrates skyrocketing.

where's the best place in town for turbo's? unfortunatly all my turbo's from GVA end up dying in a matter of 2 months =( maybe they're those turbo's who prefer a cooler tempature?

[LVfishguy]

I seem to have better luck with astrea snails than I do turbos personally. I have had astreas in tanks for more than a year and trubos kick off after 3-4months.

[opihi]

i've had both types live for over a year in my tank, but i seem to find more astrea shells at the bottom of my tank than turbos.

[TippyToeX]

I have had great luck with both. My turbos do seem to die sooner I guess. I just don't like them because they are clumsy and get large, and always find my just mounted frags.

@&%)@*(&)!($!_ :mad:

[the Undone guy]

well it seems my cycle is finished after 2 weeks! amazingly GVA had 2 baby chromis, so i had to pick them up. i picked up 1 turbo, and 2 nas's, chirs you were out of astreas!! oh, and they had a baby anenome getting sucked into a powerhead, they were going to freeze it i think, but i asked if i could try and save it. Dont know how well it will go but im hoping for the best!! im pretty worried especially since it's so early in the tank's life. But im hoping he'll pull through. acclimating as we speak!