meagle November 2, 2012 Share November 2, 2012 Hi All, I am new to salt water tanks and am very excited to be setting up my first 28 gallon nano cube. Here are a few pics of the setup: Liverock has been cycling for 4 weeks now. Water levels are all where they should be with the exception of my nitrates being a little high (approx 15 ppm). I have put in half a clean up crew as a test - two turbo snails and 5 nassarius snails. They are all doing very well. But a day after I added them to the tank I noticed a 'browning' of the sand where they had been roaming around. See pic below. Any ideas what this is? Is this a problem? My second concern is I found this little guy growing on my live rock. Any idea what this is? Is he harmful? Thanks for all of your help! Looking forward to sharing the tank with all of you as it grows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunWyrm November 2, 2012 Share November 2, 2012 The last pic looks like a young vermetid snail colony to me. They'll look like they have white strings attached that they send out when you feed the tank. They may be sharp to the touch and fragile so be careful. They're a neat little filter feeder and shouldn't harm anything. The brown on your sand/rocks is just diatoms and a normal part of the process. They'll go away with time. Good looking tank and welcome to the addiction! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amay121 November 2, 2012 Share November 2, 2012 The brown stuff is just a diatom bloom due to the cycling (which is typical and shows that you're on your way in the cycle). What I'd do now is get a cheap nitrate and ammonia test kit and test them weekly if not daily (API makes a super cheap set for general usage). Also, if you haven't already, maybe pick up a refractometer. This is a better method of ensuring that your salinity is up to par (god knows how many cleaner shrimp/corals I've lost due to salinity issues). Everything looks to be going good, just take it slow and not try to add too many fish too soon. Enjoy the hobby and good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amay121 November 2, 2012 Share November 2, 2012 Whoops, one last thing. WELCOME to WAMAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf November 2, 2012 Share November 2, 2012 Welcome, nice setup!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagle November 3, 2012 Author Share November 3, 2012 The last pic looks like a young vermetid snail colony to me. They'll look like they have white strings attached that they send out when you feed the tank. They may be sharp to the touch and fragile so be careful. They're a neat little filter feeder and shouldn't harm anything. The brown on your sand/rocks is just diatoms and a normal part of the process. They'll go away with time. Good looking tank and welcome to the addiction! Thanks Yiatz! Glad to know it isnt harmful. Thanks for the welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meagle November 3, 2012 Author Share November 3, 2012 The brown stuff is just a diatom bloom due to the cycling (which is typical and shows that you're on your way in the cycle). What I'd do now is get a cheap nitrate and ammonia test kit and test them weekly if not daily (API makes a super cheap set for general usage). Also, if you haven't already, maybe pick up a refractometer. This is a better method of ensuring that your salinity is up to par (god knows how many cleaner shrimp/corals I've lost due to salinity issues). Everything looks to be going good, just take it slow and not try to add too many fish too soon. Enjoy the hobby and good luck. Thanks Amay, glad to know the tank is moving in the right direction. I will check into the nitrate test kits in addition to the one I use as well as the refractometer. Glad to be a part of this community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 November 4, 2012 Share November 4, 2012 Hi Matt, welcome to the club. The brown algae is part of the cycle, your tank will eventually balance out. In regards to the growths, they don't look like vermetid snails to me, although they do resemble them. Are they hard to soft? If soft they are more likely Hydroids which you'll want to get rid of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaddc November 4, 2012 Share November 4, 2012 Nice to see another nanocube in the club! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Chalice November 5, 2012 Share November 5, 2012 WELCOME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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