what kind of Hermit crabs and snails do you have in your tank? I use blue leg, common, left handed and blue knuckle hermits and the valonia grows in one or two spots but is eaten within a week of me seeing it. also i have nerite snails and turbos

Ya, I'm quite aware of the phosphate reading being pretty much useless. My tank is fairly low nutrient, has been from day 1. I don't have any other nuisance algaes. Coralline algae has never really grown much in my tank. My rocks are mostly white. I'm hoping the higher Kelvin lighting may help with this as well. It doesn't have enough food in it for even a Peppermint or Cleaner shrimp to survive long-term. Nutrients are well addressed in my tank. The only other thing I could do is upgrade the skimmer. Current just have a Remora.

I've been looking for Emerald Crabs for probably 6 months, and haven't been able to locate any. They seem to be REALLY hit or miss though as to whether they will eat Valonia (do a search for the poll I made). Some people say hermit eat Valonia, but most people say they only eat hair algae. As a rule, I don't keep crabs of any kind in my tanks because I like my snails more. ;)

So here's what's in the tank (and how long):

1 True Perc (1.5 years)
2 Bangaii Cardinals (1 year)
1 Kole Tang (1 day)

3 Astrea coelata (almost 2 years; original snails, never lost one)
1 Black Cerith (almost 2 years; original snail, had 3 of them)
3 Nassarius (1.5 years)
2 Ring Cowries (1+ year)
1 Brittle star (1+ year)
1 Margarita (6-8 months)

Critters that have died (and how long they lived). They weren't all in there at the same time:

1 Peppermint shrimp (1 year)
1 Orange Lip Conch (~8 months)
3 Ring Cowries (<1 month)
2 Black Cerith (6 months, and 1 year)
8-10 Nassarius (3-6 months). 3-4 were eaten by a Hermit crab I had, so the hermit was banned.
4 Margaritas (1 week-6 months). They fall on their backs, and die.

Thats what's happened to all my margarita's I had a bunch, 10 I think. Now I dunno, 2? I would try to attach the ones I seen on their backs to the glass, but cant catch them all I guess.

The Brittle star, why don't you like them? I'm going to l;ook for a Conch, like your reccomendation in my Algae thread. But allways keeping eyes open for better stand stirrers to get rid of the junk.

Hey Myka, after reading that you are using a 6000k bulb, my immediate thought is that the bulb is probably one of the culprits. I have a 6000k bulb in my fuge and bubble algae is always present (I think it would be a more serious problem if I removed all the cheato). I don't have any bubble algae in my DT where I use a much higher K bulb.

If your looking for a cheap skimmer improvement, instead of an upgrade. Use a stronger pump. I have a Mag5 hooked to my Remora and the performance increase was rather impressive.


HTH

Kevin

[quote=Myka;362899]Ya, I'm quite aware of the phosphate reading being pretty much useless. My tank is fairly low nutrient, has been from day 1. I don't have any other nuisance algaes. Coralline algae has never really grown much in my tank. My rocks are mostly white. I'm hoping the higher Kelvin lighting may help with this as well.


How is your Cal and Dkh readings at? For Coraline to grow you have to have a bit of it in your tank already, if not you need to get a bit of it in there first.

I flip my Margaritas over if I see them, but they don't have to be on their backs very long to die. It's funny, my Astreas can be on their back for days and still survive. They aren't the usual type of Astrea though.

Ya, the Conch didn't make it in my tank. Since he did survive so long I assume he starved. My tank was just too small for him. :(

I don't like brittle stars because they creep me out!! No other reason.

Hey Kevin, thanks for posting. That's good to know about the Kelvin making a difference in your tank. Albeit we all know that sometimes "things" don't follow the rules. I am thinking that it should make a difference though.

I have a cracked Remora Pro laying around that has a Mag 5 on it. I have been meaning to put it on my Remora, and haven't gotten around to it yet...but it's so big and ugly!!! :lol:

Calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium are spot on since the very beginning. My live rock came with coralline on it, and there had always been some coralline in the tank, it just doesn't grow much. The rocks are mostly white.

Calcium 415-425 ppm
Alkalinity 8-10 dKH
Magnesium 1325-1375 ppm

I would say add some scarlet hermits, like 5 or so and some blue legs. Whether or not you like them should be balanced against how much you hate the valonia :P

Trying hermits will be the VERY last thing I do. I will try out this Tang first (he's seeming promising right now...he bites the Valonia a lot). Plus I will have new bulbs coming at the end of the month. I will try to find an Emerald Crab or two as well. If none of that works...then I will try a few hermits, but I don't think they will work.

Believe me I'm not exactly the one who follows the 'rules' when it comes to reef keeping. But when things start to go sideways I stray back more to the rules. After battling Algae in my tank, I came across this article Anthony Calfo.

"Most desirable aquatic plants, corals and algae fare best in light within the range of 6500 to 10,000 Kelvin. Undesirable algae and very shallow species are supported by warmer colors (below 6500K). Many lamps are known to stray toward this lower end of the Kelvin scale as they age, and may be evidenced by an increase in nuisance algae growth in the aquarium."

After swapping to higher K bulbs my DT was back to normal (well sort of :wink:).


Here is the link to the full article
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marcanopies.htm


I actually siliconed my Mag 5 up and have it running the remora outside the tank. That way I don't have to see the ugly thing and it keeps the unwanted heat out of the tank. If you have space behind the tank, it might be worth looking into.

I agree with you on the hermits by the way. I'd only try them as a last resort too.

Good luck,

Kevin

Thanks for the link! I have known about the lower Kelvin increasing algaes, but I always figured I could work around it because my corals like the lower Kelvin. Time to throw in the towl on that one. :lol:

Good idea on the Mag 5. Got a pic? Did you just silicone some tubing or something?