Hermit/snail stocking density

[nrs98001]

Hi,
I just wanted to see what kind of stocking densities people use for "jantitor" species. I have a 90gal with ~90lb of LR (want more). I have a little hair algae, and a small amount of bubble algae, and some pretty persistent patches of red slime (cyanobacteria) on sand and some rocks. I wanted to supplement my current skelton crew of 24 ceriths and 10 blue leg hermits with ~30 scarlet reef hermits and 24 turbos. Is this overkill for my algal growth? The cyano is not at plague status yet, but it is significant. I was told these species will likely graze on cyano - have people had this experience, or am I on the wrong track? Thanks.
NRS

 

[brandon4291]

Hello NRS98001 and

I think your tank has room for the additional janitors your are contemplating, but I also think we need to evaluate why you are getting this level of algae/cyano in the setup. Do you use RO/DI for your source water? (changes/topoffs) If not, do you test your tap water for nitrates and phosphate levels?

Is your tank skimmed and also what is your fish stocking/feeding regimen? Also, how often do you change the water and bulbs for your reef lighting? These answers will generate some good feedback from our savvy members and then maybe we won't have to rely on additional janitors to take care of this small problem. Oh, I have personally used Boyd's Chemi-Clean to kill off red cyano and it works great. It can kill your system if you overdose, I just lost a small nano reef to it because I didnt measure the dose correctly, but if you follow directions it will wipe out all red cyano within 5 days.

Hope this helps,
good luck!

Brandon M.

 

[nrs98001]

Sorry, Brandon, I should have been a little more informative. Well, here goes... I arrived at the extra janitors as a last resort I guess - I don't think I over feed, I'm understocked, and I just switched to RO/DI water ~6 weeks ago (phosphate, nitrate, and silicate read zero on SeaChem tests). My skimmer is woefully inadequate I know, but could that really be to blame? I should say too that I am continually (every day or two) wiping down the tank walls to remove a very fine film of green algae. It grows back incredibly quick - but it's slowing down now that I moved to RO/DI. Anyway, here's the particulars:

Tank specs:
Setup about 6 months ago
90gal AGA w/ corner overflow draining to 30gal sump (15gal actual water volume) with Rio3100 return pump.
1 marineland powerhead rated at 300gph
SeaClone skimmer - I know I know... it gives me ~1 cup of dark dark green foam ~every 3-4 days
5" aragonite DSB seeded with 20lb live sand from etropicals.com
40lbs liverock from etropicals
40-50lbs "aragocrete" homemade rock
4x96W PCs - 2 10,000K/2 actinic '03

Livestock:
1 Ctenochaetus strigosus
2 ocellaris clowns
1 Damsel
6 blue-green chromis

Feeding:
1 SMALL pinch Prime Reef twice a day (maybe 1/8 - 1/4 tsp)
2x per week, 1 prime reef meal is replaced with brine shrimp
0.5mL selcon every 7-10 days for some filter feeding bivalve hitch-hikers on the LR

Maintenance:
15 gal changed every Teusday using RO/DI water premixed in a rubbermaid garbage can with Instant Ocean salt and aged 2 days to 3 weeks
Skimmer cleaned every 3-4 days
No gravel vacuuming

Water Chemistry:
SpG: 1.024; Temp 78; pH: 8.1-8.2; Alk: 3.0-3.5; NH3: 0; NO2: 0; NO3: 0-5ppm; silcates: 0; phosphates: 0; Ca++: 400-450

Thanks for the help.
Nick

 

[nrs98001]

I am thinking of getting the aquaC EV-120 - I think this would be a definite benefit to the system since the skimming seems to be the weak link in my system. Does anyone have any feedback on this model? would a skimmer change make that big a difference? Any thoughts on my setup? Thanks.
Nick