Something eating my new coralline

[ReefFan]

I think my little hermits are eating my coralline algae. I watched the lil bastids yesterday and i noticed a couple of them goin to work in areas where new pink coralline was growing. I thought for a minute that they were eating the little bit of greenery still left in the area but I knocked them off the rock anyway. This morning I woke up and sure enough, there was substantially less pink in those areas. So, either I have too many of these guys for my amount of rock or something else caused the coralline to disappear, overnight. All levels in my atnk are better than they've ever been. Zero nitrates, very little phoshates, perfect amount of calcium, magnesium, strontium all that stuff.

Maybe its time I added more rock in there. Give them more to graze on so coralline growth isnt consumed as it grows. I still want these guys in there to take care microalgae that may grow, but then again since the addition of the remote fuge, the stuff doesnt grow nearly as much as it used to. Maybe I can put some of the hermits in my scrubber or just give/sell em back to the aquarium store. Not sure what to do. I know my primary goal in this tank is to get everything encrusted, so this aint gonna work. Any advice?

 

[Brian5000]

I don't think hermits can do that. Knawing on calcium shells isn't really their thing. My guess is the coraline is receeding anyway and microalgea is feeding off the decaying coraline which the hermits eat.

The rock is new, right? You're going to have a big shift in the coloration of your rocks over the next 6 months. Some areas will turn purple and others non-purple according to the flow patterns, lighting and nutrients of the rock's new home.

Still, if you have too many hermits, return them to the store by all means (1 per 10 gallons-ish is plenty).

 

[ReefFan]

can you really have too many hermits though? I mean within reason. For example i'm not sure how many lbs of rock I have but it fills my 75gal about 2/3s of a typical reef tank that volume. If all the lil guys do is eat undesireable algae then the more the merrier. I have about 15 small red leg? hermits, two big blue leg hermits, 6-7 snails small to med size, 2 large snails, one sea hare and many creatures that crawl out of the rock at night. White sea slug things, wierdass worms n ****. All these critters seem to find enough food to eat and while keeping the algae to an absolute minimum. but I wondered if things were gettin too competetive in there and they had to start finding other stuff to chow on. The growth of new pink coraline on a rock almost completely vanished within 2 nights. I took 7 small hermits out of the DT tank and threw em in my algae scrubber. Within a week almost the entire side of that rock where the new coralline was is 90% encrusted. Maybe its just coincidence, so i'm going to put the 7 hermits back in the DT to see if it happens again. Thats all

 

[Anonymous]

If all the lil guys do is eat undesireable algae then the more the merrier.

This is it. Hermits are opportunists. Sure, if there's plenty of algae, that's what you'll generally see them eating. But they'll also take the opportunity to eat meaty snacks as well. And if, there's very little algae and they're starting to feel really peckish, they'll even take on killing living things like snails. You definitely can have too many hermits. As the ideal reef tank is about balance (enough clean up crew to consume the nutrients the tank produces but no more), you should aim for the same with the number of hermits you have.

 

[Brian5000]

As far as undesirable algae goes, they (and snails and everything else) can only eat a few select types. When that's gone, like Ape says, they'll eat whatever they can...(usually what you want to keep).

In the beginning, the stuff that grows is exactly what they eat. As the tank matures, the growth rate of that algea will go down and give way to other types (macros, hair, turf, etc.) which they can't eat. I'm guessing you'll need about a third of your current cleanup crew by the time your tank matures, more than that may starve.

 

[ReefFan]

ya i definetly do have too much cleanup in that case. Thanks that was some good advice guys. There was a time when my tank could support all those hermits but definetly not now. I wonder if pet stores will buy them or at least give some credit for 8-10 red legs. I notice the smaller they are the more active they are ,so i'm guessing they require more food to sustain all that activity. The bigger guys seem to chill out more, in cozy knooks and what not.

I actually wonder if keeping them in my algae scrubber is a fine idea as well. The scrubber creates tons of pods I gotta say, I looked in there today and tiny organisms of all types were everywhere. So I'm begining to think harvesting the algae by frequent removal is less effective than letting hermits feed on it. They are indeed nasty lil bastids. Ive been watching them alot lately and they will screw with anything. I'll keep a few of the red legs and everything else. But 10 are goin somwhere.

 

[Anonymous]

My hesitation about using the hermits to eat the algae in the scrubber is that you'd be undermining the vital export element of the scrubber. When you harvest by hand, the algae, with nutrients bound in, is taken out of the tank completely. But the hermits eating it will mean that the nutrients will simply be released back into the tank (as hermit poop).

Plus, as you know, I'm not a huge fan of scrubbers anyway. :wink:

 

[ReefFan]

Yep, not much sense in havin the crabs in there. Gotta get rid of em. The scrubber is almost due for another harvest but after lookin in there I noticed a hell of alot of organism activity. I'd like to keep as many of those lil copes as possible so maybe i'll just shake 4 of the 8 algae panels (eggcrate) off before i havest the algae. Maybe i'll shake each one in the scrubber then once in the DT. Hopefully this will leave the pods but I can 86 the algae. The 3 remaining panels can remain in there to seed cleaned panels and provide home for copes.

I know some people here do not like the algae scrubber, more accurately actually despise them, based on the lynching Santa Monica got. But so far I really like them. My design is a much more passive system than his but so far so good. Mandarin fish graze all day long on the pods it produces and since the first harvest my nitrates have dropped to 0 and phosphates have dropped dramatically. The DT has surpassed my expectations in terms of live rock grow out (all the desireable stuff) so I'm presently a big fan. I think I've come across some ominous, foreboding warnings about impending catastrophe waiting for algae scrubber users down the road. But so far things appear very stable and ideal for all life I could want to put in my DT. All levels will be monitored as close as ever so if it seems the scrubber is causing probs I'll get rid of it. Its only a styro box with a light on it anyway. What happens after these second and third harvests will shed more light on the method. Let the results do the talking right?

 

[Anonymous]

Santa Monica got a lynching for his manner, not for his message. But, if it works for you, let us know about it!

 

[ReefFan]

Yea i guess if you step on the scene like that with what you claim is the end all in reefkeeping, you should be better prepared to back it up. His subject line was Mega Denitrator Replaces Skimmer or something.. bold statement. If I were going to make a claim like that i'd probably wait til I have several examples of it in use for at least a year each, clearly showing before and after exhibits. I'm a big fan of natural reef keeping but he needed to show a few kick-ass tanks with great pictures to make that claim.

A couple weeks ago I was somewhere on the web, maybe here.. the "Tank of the Month" was a planted tank that a woman made. The picture was of multi colored macro algae type stuff and a sea horse. Anyone know what pic i'm talking about? I want to find out more about, would like to see if i can create something similar in my fuge Very cool environment in that tank..

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I saw the same tank somewhere as well. Looked really impressive, IIRC. I'm not against the use of algae for nutrient export, particularly in tanks which are not SPS-dominated. My dream, in fact, is to set up a tank for LPS/softies with an absolutely massive refugium (probably bigger than the tank itself). But unlikely to happen in the near or even mid-term future.

 

[Anonymous]

....


A couple weeks ago I was somewhere on the web, maybe here.. the "Tank of the Month" was a planted tank that a woman made. The picture was of multi colored macro algae type stuff and a sea horse. Anyone know what pic i'm talking about? I want to find out more about, would like to see if i can create something similar in my fuge Very cool environment in that tank..

Sounds like Suzy's tank here:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/10 ... hterm=None

 

[ReefFan]

Yeap.. thats the one, thanks beasl. I reckon i'll make the sump and use regular cheato for now as it seems difficult to get these types of algae/plants. I saw a couple sites that were sold out of apparently everything. Inland Aquatics appears to have several kinds but with no picture its hard to identify which is what. When i get some more spare time i'll try to figure out the names of the multicolored algae and what else would go well with it. I know theres many types of caulerpa, and I'd be happy with using it but i've heard unless you keep the light on it 24/7 they may release toxins when they go into sexual mode. I actually saw a show on discovery channel last night, about a "Killer Algae" which has such a high amount of a certain toxin that nothing else can even compete. I think its caulerpa taxifolia? At any rate, I'll have my sump made and ready to accept some cheato and the live sand i already have down there. When I get the extra funds to buy some good miracle mud, i'll replace it and I'll get the cool-ass algae. And THEN, living on long island offers an unexpected benefit of capturing seahorses and other exotic fish that get caught up in the gulf stream as fry. I've gone down to the south shore with a buddy/g/f about 6 times with a seine net through the eel grass. So far I've caught spotfin butterflys, look downs, seahorses, spiny box fish and pipefish. They are all juveniles when they reach the inlet and would most likely perish when the cold weather comes. My fuge and tank will hopefully house a few of these guys

 

[zooid]

If you're looking for different types of macroalgae, try www.reefcleaners.org
They have some that you might be interested in.

 

[ReefFan]

Great site man. TY!

 

[Anonymous]

I think there is a guy in brooklyn that has a hudson bay biotope in a tank that has been running for like 20 years. He has used such things as beef bottles and asphalt from the bay instead of live rock.