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clean up crew suggestions. (1 Viewer)

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Sethw3

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So I am still new to this hobby and have been fighting all sorts of issues. The main is recurring GHA.(smaller each time) I only have three fish and I am beginning to think not enough clean up crew for my 75 gallon tank. Id bet I have a total of 20 snails/hermits.
I stumbled upon this in my search of the day:
https://www.reefcleaners.org/aquarium-store/quick-crew-75-gallon

140 snails!?!

Is this a number that is realistic?

I mean heck its a deal at 56 bucks... shipped.
 

DeepBlueSomething

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Welcome to MARSH Seth!

I used John at Reefcleaners and followed his recommendation for my tank size. It seems like a lot -- and it is. But for the most part they seem to be doing the job. Reefcleaners seems to be pretty well regarded and used. If you are unsure, I would send him an email and he can pull some custom things together for you. All in all by my experience and in forums a great vendor.

Also, rest assured that some of the algae is just part of the new tank process and cycles -- not that it makes it any more fun or easy to look at!
 

sneezebeetle

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Welcome Seth!

I've used reefcleaners myself for all my tanks and I really appreciate that they have done all the hard work for us in putting together tank CUC's for different shapes and sizes. You will get no complaints out of me [emoji16]

As for the gha, yeah it sucks....but as long as you are keeping your parameters in line and keeping up on your water changes, it should be resolved quickly once you get a good CUC in there. Only other culprit I could possibly think of is your lighting.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
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Sethw3

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Awesome, I think I will be ordering the pack from Reef builders. Water changes at this time are bi-weekly, Lights are hydra 26's no greens or reds, 100micron felt socks, good skimming, out of control chaeto, and GFO/Carbon Reactor. When I test basic parameters are in line. I think I may not have enough CUC to keep up with normal day to day... We will see. Thank for your help.
 

RobertP

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I beat GHA last year as well. Part of it was getting your nutrients under control with some method. I have a refugium and while it was producing chaeto like crazy it was not enough. I cut back to feeding lighter and once a day (no coral feeding) and started dosing nopox (which is basically carbon dosing). This helped but still didnt get rid of what GHA I already had. I used a siphon into my sump and had an old sock to catch the GHA that I sucked/ripped out.
I also added an Algae blenny that loved to eat GHA...starry blenny ate some but not nearly as much as Mr. Stony. I didnt see any other member of the cleanup crew that eat GHA.

It took me about 3-4 months to get rid of mine so dont get discouraged!!! I even had one store owner tell me that the only way to beat gha was to nuke everything and start over!!! Needless to say I will never ask for that store's advice again. :)
 
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Sethw3

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So its been a month and the majority of my algae issues are gone. And everything is up and running smoothly. Pic for criticism... lol Yes I know there are no socks. I took the pic while doing some maintenance.
fishtank.jpg
 

FarmerTy

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Very nice! I don't ever run socks so the thought didn't even occur to me that they weren't in there. [emoji4]

Do yourself a favor though, buy a refractometer. Those swing arm hydrometers can be wildly off. I had one that read 1.026 when it was really 1.031!
 
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Sethw3

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Thanks ATX. I have it more as a reference. I am fortunate that my neighbor who provides all my water has one and he tests it regularly. And this one has been pretty accurate thus far. One day when I set up the garage for water I'll get one though.
 

FarmerTy

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Thanks ATX. I have it more as a reference. I am fortunate that my neighbor who provides all my water has one and he tests it regularly. And this one has been pretty accurate thus far. One day when I set up the garage for water I'll get one though.
You have a neighbor that's a reefer? Man, that's awesome to have someone just as addicted in walking distance.
 
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Sethw3

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You have a neighbor that's a reefer? Man, that's awesome to have someone just as addicted in walking distance.
Yeah he got me into it. I always had freshwater growing up. Love my tank pets... always know where they are and they dont get into stuff like my carb loving dog (cant keep a loaf of bread in reach) lol
 
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