Detrivores

[rcl]

Hi Robert,

I found the same thing with those little shrimp. They do a wonderful job of scavenging. My adult bimac would eat 50 in one or two days, but there were always a few smart ones that survived.

Maybe they're not colorful or beautiful but they add movement and activity in an octo tank. I even adopted one as a pet and it was interesting to watch and feed. It had lost a pincer but the pincer eventually grew back.

About the urchin - tt's not so good to have an urchin with sharp spines because the octo can injure himself - the pencil urchin is the best.

Nancy

I was hoping to find one at this store but didn't, but I really liked the looks of this guy. If the octopus tried to attack it maybe it would get hurt... but I hear that pencil urchins get to be like 12 inches. This seems a little crazy! If this one presents problems I will attempt a swap though

Haven't been able to tell if OCTAVIA has eaten any of the shrimp yet. Honestly, I haven't been able to tell if OCTAVIA is even still alive

Robert

Robert

 

[chrono_war01]

IHaven't been able to tell if OCTAVIA has eaten any of the shrimp yet. Honestly, I haven't been able to tell if OCTAVIA is even still alive

Robert

Robert

A sad sad thought. I'm worried

 

[DHyslop]

Well, my brown diatoms are disappearing and being placed by growing circles of pink. I trust they will be reabsorped too as the cycle completes.

My ammonia and nitrites have been continuing to drop, except for a small spike when I added a few critters--hermit crabs, shrimp and snails, perhaps first meals.

Dan

 

[Jean]

growing circles of pink? where? sounds like coraline algae to me (unless your substrate is pink of course?) Coralina is a &%%@#& to get rid of. Grazers don't like it cos it's full of calcium carbonate. We have to scrape it off of tank glass /acrylic. Which can be a pain cos a) it's hard to get off and b) can't use regular scrubbers on acrylic cos it scratches!

Hope it's not that!

Cheers

J

 

[chrono_war01]

Scrubing the tank sounds like an awful lot to do..

 

[Nancy]

We who keep smaller tanks regard coralline algae as a plus. It's very pretty - I'm even letting some grow on the edges of the glass of my smaller aquarium as a "frame". It also comes in beautiful shades of lavender and purple, inspiring your octo to match the colors!

Nancy

 

[chrono_war01]

sounds nice..hope some grows on my tank...

 

[DHyslop]

Two of the pink circles are growing in my oolitic sand, and a few tiny circles are starting to grow on the glass. Should I pull the sand out and start scraping the glass now to keep them from getting a beach-head? Or will these things go the way of my diatoms when my ammonia and nitrites finally hit zero?

Dan

 

[Jean]

welllllllllllll personally I'd get rid of the stuff! I guess it's OK on tank frames but once it's on the viewing surfaces it has to go! Also when it dies it just turns white!

Dan, our tanks have been on the go for around 74 years they're pretty stable now! And we still have coraline.....so it you don't want it you'll need to scrub. Your sand will possibly be OK

Cheers

J

 

[DHyslop]

Thanks Jean

 

[chrono_war01]

wow, scrubing the tank..still sounds like an awful lot to do.
P.S: I've got this green alage/bacteria/seaweed thing on my tank! I hve no idea what it is and it just keeps coming back! #*$&$^&#*$!!!!!

 

[DHyslop]

OK, my coralline algae is taking over. Its been spreading rapidly across the sand. Every few days I "peel" the top layer of algae-consolidated sand off and throw it into a dry bucket for possible future retrieval, but it still grows back. Its started taking over one of my pieces of live rock, growing in pink mats.

My tank is cycled with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and nitrate just barely registers on the test. I've got a couple hermit craps and a peppermint shrimp, and a couple margarita snails that never leave the glass.

Is there anything I can do to stop this onslaught? I was planning on buying a brittle star to help with some of the detritus, but I can't imagine him eating this stuff?

Dan

 

[Jean]

Hi Dan

Sounds like you've got a real bad "infestation" of coraline there! What's your lighting like? Coralines being a red alga don't need much light and if you've got a brightly lit tank it'll go nuts. This stuff must be getting nutrients from somewhere. How old are your test kits? The chemicals in them do have a finite life and they can give odd readings if they're old. Other than that more snails!! We keep a whole bunch of top snails, turbinids etc but we still have to scrape. Problem is coraline algae has the calcium carbonate in its cells to inhibit grazers, so snails etc have quite a hard time dealing with it. We also keep our lighting quite dim (a day working in the aquarium can feel a little like working in a cave!!!)

Sorry I can't be of more help

J

 

[Nancy]

Are we sure this is coralline algae? - I've never had any form on the sand, although it will cover almost anything else: rocks, shells, snail shells, glass, etc.

Nancy

 

[chrono_war01]

Coralines being a red alga don't need much light and if you've got a brightly lit tank it'll go nuts.

I'll think I'm gonna go turn on the lights now..
Wait, where's my flash light?!