CUC...please help

For my first CUC I had 2 scarlet reef hermits, 1 cerith snail, and 2 mexican turbos. At the start they were doing a fantastic job..but recently one of my turbos died, and one of my hermits is missing...the other one is just chilling not doing much.

I have alot of Red and Green hair algae (dont know if color matters) and alot fo Bubble algae forming....What should I get for a CUC?

I was thinking getting 1 or 2 more Mexican Turbos b/c they clean like crazy. I havnt seen much from the cerith, but some stuff is settling on my sand..so im thinking maybe a Nassurias as well. For the bubble Algea I guess Im going to have to get an emerald crab and bring him back later when his job is complete (since its a 3gal he will get to aggressive IMO once I add some gobies and sexy shrimp) So I guess here is the CUC I will purchase this weekend

CUC:
2 Cerith Snails
1 Nassurias Snail
1 Emerald Crab (or sally lightfoot if they clean bubble algae to)
1-2 Hermits (maybe..what do you think?)

The tank is a 3gal picotope w/ 2-18w PC's. My lighting cycle is never set b/c I dont have timers yet.

My params:
Unknown b.c Im about to leave for class...Ill get them later 2day and do a WC either 2day or 2morro (need to get more distilled water to).

I would love to get Comments/Suggestions on this CUC..Thanks alot..also below or some pics of the algae (sry the camera is bad)



I can try to get a Better FTS if needed to help w/ what types of algae it is, and what is the best option for a CUC

thank you for reading this long post on a simple CUC...your help is appreciated

also..how do u make the pics thumbnails? so they dont take up so much room? thanks

once again sorry for the poor quality pictures


Edited by Avalanche1201 - March 02 2007 at 1:30pm

So its def Cyano b/c ppl on Nano-reef thought the same thing.

-I do around 1/2 gal WC's a week...I need to get some more water so I can do one this weekend (I could up the WC amount)

-Im running a Current USA 36w Satellite USA 24hr System...its only a few weeks old

- I dont feed that much because of the algea and what the tank supplies so far (I offer some frozen brine shrimp once and a while to treat my camel shrimp)

- I havnt checked in a few days b/c of classes and stuff...Last time I chcked it was: Ph: 8.0-8.4 nitrite: 0 ammonia: .25-.5 (doesnt seem to want to drop at all) I dont have a test for alk and I need to get one for nitrate)

-I think Ill pick up some Cheato to have in the corner of the tank this weekend so it can help eat up some un wanted nutrients.

So w/ the Cyano..can I pull it to try to trim it down as I wait this out?

When I first put the shrimp in my tank I had cured LR from an established tank of 4 yrs...So after 3 weeks of that in there I added the shrimp. My old roommate then came back wasted one night and chucked that rock out the window, So i got more LR and LS. I will be doing another water change and check the params tomorrow.

-The tank has been running for about 2 months, w/ setbacks in between
-I get Distilled water from Stop and Shop (its steam distilled) and I just heard that that my be the problem because Poland Spring my be using copper pipes.
-Im using Instant Ocean Salt, always have.
-The Salinity(sg) is 1.025 and I do daily Top offs (until I get my fuge built and add an ATO)
-I had a 10gal turned into a 55g fish only tank for several months, only had a few deaths because I couldnt treat the disease in time (and at the time did'nt recognize signs of problems or distress....I have since learned)

Next time I go to the LFS I will be bringing some water in so they can do a water test as well.
Im beginging to think that the Distilled water is adding unwanted things into the water creating the Cyano...My GPH has slowed b/c the strainers on my filters have been getting clogged w/ junk So ill be cleaning those off when I do the water change.

Any other Ideas are greatly appreciated, thanks so much

Im a member on nano-reef as well, someone suggested to rip off as much as you can, and to try some chemi-clean so I think im going to try that. Stop and Shop is the grocery store where Im at..I live in Connecticut and go to school in boston. I stumbled upon this nice little forum when searching for a DIY HOB Fuge. I looked around the place a little bit and decided to join :)

I just upgraded from 9w to 36w a week ago or so...Could that have to do with it? Not acclimating the tank to the new lighting?

Actually the lighting didnt do anything to my temp, I was really suprised. i use to have the temp set at 83 but when the window was cracked at night it would drop to 78-79 so I thought that was to much temp change every night. So I lowered it to 79deg and even w/ the light on it never hits eighty. Its always between 78-79.

So im guessing the problem source might be the steam distilled water, but the problem just started so its confusing me that it didnt happen earlier.

I agree with the comments here. I have heard many times that Chemi Clean isn't a good solution. The problem is that it kills the good stuff as well as the bad stuff, and as others have said, it is only a very temporary solution. I would also cut down the light period and increase your water flow if possible. Good luck!

I agree with tileman on the light thing (and maybe the roomate BTW: Welcome to the group. 

So i pulled off all the red water in my MASSIVE water change today. I still have stuff im going to try to either blow off the rocks or suck off the rocks. But im left w/ alot of hair algea.

What causes this? I have some scarlet hermits who will hopefully help chow it down..but does anyone have any other suggestions?

I was going to hold out until I built the fuge...But I think Ill get it before and just try to stick it in a corner in back to help keep nitrates down

edit: ive also gotta take my rock out and trim down the hair algae so my snails and hermits go after it


Edited by Avalanche1201 - March 05 2007 at 10:06pm