rock12 Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 yeah i have 2 in my tank and they were touching it but now there just going for anything else! LOL! I know when i was trying to attach my corals they kept knocking them over, and even now when there attached they just plow right over my corals!! Silly little guys! Does anyone else have any feedback as to if a lettuce slug would be a good or a bad thing to have?! Link to comment
Withers Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 i don't have any personal experience with the nudibranches, but the article i pulled all the information out of came from reefkeeping magazine. i'll see if i can find it again. Link to comment
Paul B Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I raise lettuce slugs and I had over 100 of them in my reef. I have about 40 now the rest I sold to researchers. They eat bryopsis and bryopsis only when they are adult. When they are small they will exist on a little hair algae which they don't eat but they suck out the chloroplasts. They will not make an impact on your hair algae, not even 100 of them. You do not need an animal to get rid of hair algae as the waste from the animal will be converted back into hair algae. In the sea the animals take care of the algae because there are so many algae consumers but in a tank that is not the case. If you feed very sparingly and manually remove as much algae as you can, the algae will eventually starve for lack of nutrients. You said the algae is very light, that means it is on the verge of dying. If you can remove it and possably diatom the tank a few times without feeding hardly at all it will disappear. I have been getting these cycles of hair algae every few years since 1972. Paul B Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 Thanks for the nice informative post Paul B. Any recommendations for LFS in long island? i'm on the tip of queens, near great neck and such. Link to comment
MKramer Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 Wow, I apologize for my misinformation on the lettuce sea slugs. I could have sworn it was a hair algae outbreak that I got mine for, but it was a while ago, I must be getting events confused. Thanks to those who cleared up the diet info for those critters. And, rock12, as for the water you use, be sure it's at least "distilled" or "purified" water. Usually they label the method used, like "Processed using reverse osmosis and/or steam distillation." Do NOT get water labelled as spring water or drinking water, which will have much higher mineral levels, as possible nitrates. Link to comment
Paul B Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 holyherbiness. A friend of mine owns Pet Barn on Franklin Ave in Franklin Square. Nice selection of animals. Old store. Tell him you know Paul who invented the seahorse feeder. Paul Link to comment
dhoffroad Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 do you have a phosphate test kit? I use water from the store also but I use the stuff that you fill your own jug works great not to mention only .29 per gal. any way when I had this prob turbo's took care of it for me I have like 7 in my 10 Link to comment
Cain Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 Blue Legged Hermits, my first tank i was swamped with algae, i added 5 hemit crabs to my 75gal set up and in days the algae had disappeared. Link to comment
rock12 Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 i have a zebra and he hasn't toched it, but thats the only hermit so i gusse i could try more. I'll just keep ripping it out, but if you rip it out, and some ecapes your fingers will that make it spread? Link to comment
redparrotbubbles85 Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 holyhiberness i agree with paul B that the pet barn in franklin square is a great place to get stuff at. Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I'll keep that in mind sometime. thanks! Link to comment
Tanked Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I had a mad green algae problem. The Turbos, Astreas, and hermits did nothing so I tried some less conventional cleanup critters. An Arrow crab and a Pincushion urchin totally did me solid. Not a trace of green hair algae is left and the tank has been that way for months now. I also had a wicked aiptasia problem for a long time. A lot of people suggested trying Joe's Juice but the lfs doesn't sell it here and I didn't want to buy it online so I tried 3 peppermint shrimps instead and they did a phenomenal job eliminating them. Both of these problems occurred in a 12 gallon FOWLR set up. Link to comment
rock12 Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 thankx, i'm going to see if i can get a mix of hermits, and such, right now my clean up crew is pretty light! I figure if i go with a mix something might help with getting rid of it ! Link to comment
kappa Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 I use a hard tooth brush to scrub the rocks a few times before, and I did it with the rocks still in the tank. You could buy a the tooth brush at Rite-Aid for 99 cents. I also pulled the hair algae out manually, but this was all before I has more snails, and the electric blue, and halloween hermit crabs. Now I don't remove any algae, as there are almost none that are unsightly. From my experiences, If you have bubble algae, and want to remove a few of them, it's no big deal if you pop a few of them, if you have 2 emerald crabs in a 12 gallon tank. Link to comment
cjl Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 The only way to completely eradicate hair algae is a refugium or algae scrubber. This basically robs the nutrients for just about any algae in the tank(coralline excluded) I turned an aqua clear power filter into a refugium and it works wonderfully Link to comment
Paul B Posted September 6, 2004 Share Posted September 6, 2004 holyherbiness, I guess you know "Fish Town USA" being you are so close to them. They have been in business since the sixtees and I helped start their salt water tanks then. Their livestock is the cheapest you will find. Firefish, lettuce slugs and many gobies about $7.00. You have to watch though, the stuff is not always too healthy but if you know what you are doing you can get some real bargains. Paul Link to comment
rock12 Posted September 6, 2004 Author Share Posted September 6, 2004 wow, i wish stuff was that cheep around here:)! Firefish are $30! Link to comment
holyherbiness Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Yes, The prices at fishtown USA are quite good, and they have a fairly large number of tanks. That being said, many of the employees seem to be clueless, and that sometimes turns me off from them. Their corals look nice too. Their live rock, pretty bland looking, but it would make some nice base rock heh. Link to comment
rock12 Posted September 7, 2004 Author Share Posted September 7, 2004 man, i'm stuck getting all my live stock from a lfs that doesn't care about there customers and sells things way over. Not to mention some of there corals arn't even that colorfull! I wish i lived sumwhere close to a good lfs. Instead i try and get thing for reefers on this site who are selling of giving away stuff, or i have to get it online(yes its even cheeper to go that way even with shipping then go to my lfs! )oh well whats here is whats here! Lucky you though! Link to comment
Paul B Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 There are maybe 12 salt water places within ten miles of where you are in Queens. Also try Aquarium Adventure, I think it's on Glen Cove Road by Roosevelt Field. The prices are extreamly high but they have these rediculous specials where the stuff is real cheap. I get all my gorgonians from there. Rock12, No offence but, I could not live as far from the ocean as you do. I live on an Island and it is still too far. Paul Link to comment
rock12 Posted September 8, 2004 Author Share Posted September 8, 2004 lol, I agree I agree, i hate it here ALOT! Unforutantly its not my choice not old enough to live on my own. My dad though is determined to live in costa rica or the virgin islands someday when we have enough money to move! WE all hate it here. I used to live in Arizona and i even miss that! I hate the cold, and man is it coming:(! THats why i want to get my tank finished before then(more frags, and get more of a clean up crew crabs/hermits) before it comes so i can look at my tank and remeber to good places on ! Unfortuantly due to my age, limited amount of money, and the outragous prices of the lfs all around me i don't think i'm going to be able to do it:(! No offense taken i hate it here. THats why i started a reef(i love the ocean{went to calie alot when i lived in Arizona]) and wanted a reminder when winter comes(can't stand the cold! I freak out when its 70 here.) Uhhhhh this is going to be one long winter. You know what else is bad about winter though w/ this hobby you can't order anything due to how cold it is and delays:(! Uhhhhh. I wish i was where you are, and had money, and had a good lfs. Oh well:)! I'll just stare at me semi-complete nano all winter in my room with the music on waiting for it to pass. In the meen time remeber me and relize how lucky you are, and send me some of that ocean;)! Link to comment
Withers Posted September 8, 2004 Share Posted September 8, 2004 try joining a local reef club, they always seem to have the absolute BEST corals available. sorry if that has already been mentioned, i skimmed over the long posts Link to comment
phergus_25 Posted September 8, 2004 Share Posted September 8, 2004 i have to go 2 hours to get any corals Link to comment
rock12 Posted September 8, 2004 Author Share Posted September 8, 2004 wow! I wish i could drive. i would go that far on weekends, but i don't get my license till febuary! I'm taking behind the whell though tommorw, and i was going to see if my parents will get me a driving gift, but thats not going to happen:)! Oh well i tried! VicSkimmr~no problem. I would join a club, but parents work ALOT, so they wouldn't be able to drive me. I will when i get my licens though, but thats about 5-6 months from now:(! Link to comment
Withers Posted September 8, 2004 Share Posted September 8, 2004 ah that stinks. i've gotten all my good corals from people in my local reef club, it's the only way to go. Link to comment
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