What is this stuff

[caferacermike]

The big Nassarius do a killer job of turning sand beds, eating left overs and they live forever. I once got some of those spiny star snail things that you see at the Tek and other places online, sorry I can't bring myself to say "ninja snail" as I've seen them online, and they actually ate right through the cyano in my tank. I always seem to have a small patch behind one rock and have decided I don't mind it being there.

[JamesL]

The big Nassarius do a killer job of turning sand beds, eating left overs and they live forever. I once got some of those spiny star snail things that you see at the Tek and other places online, sorry I can't bring myself to say "ninja snail" as I've seen them online, and they actually ate right through the cyano in my tank. I always seem to have a small patch behind one rock and have decided I don't mind it being there.

Agreed on the big nassarius snails, except mine are lazy and only come out when I feed... which is counter the idea of lowering nutrients

[offroadodge]

1st thing id do is THROW away the Flake food period...use frozen food, strain it with R/O water then feed fish, cut back on feeding, the fish will live feeding them once a day. That away they eat everything u put in there once, and not pick and choose, 2nd buy 2 Two little fishys reactors and run GFO(ROWAPHAUS) in one and CARBON in the 2nd. Change one a month. Rowa is exspensive but its the best on the market. Bulk reef supply sells one comparable also. Carbon, look for one with no PHOSPHATES in it, i use the Marineland, why I ask a friend and thats what the recomended. I wash it with RO water also. NUTRIENT export is the main issue. CUC(clean up crew) mmmmmm.... in my 120g i put 200 redlegs(cause they typicaly dont kill eachother for there shell, they eat algae) and 150 snails. in a 2 week period u couldnt grow algae anywhere in my tank. but now i hv to feed them to keep them alive. I just use a sinking food at night after the light go out.(so the fish dont eat it). Maybe with all our comments ur issue will clear up.

[pbnj]

As for CUC, yes they eat algae and other things, but they also make their own "marine snow", so they won't help as far as nutrient exporting.

[caferacermike]

Wise comment PB. For those not in the know, PB is saying that your CUC will uptake a certain amount of detritus, however only a tiny fraction of that is actually utilized by the creature and in turn is put back into the water as CUC detritus.

As has been stated, it's all about the nutrient export. water changes, skimmers, and as said by Offroad, resin exchange. Keep in mind that the resins, be they ferric oxide, phosban, Rowa, Carbon, etcc.. that they exhaust their ability to absorb quite quickly. You need to understand how to test your water daily and watch the curve. You'll see levels drop, level off, and then rise. The rise can be very significant, causing a rapid shift once the resins are exhausted. You don't want the resins within the tank after they are exhausted. They can become nitrate factories as well as begin to leach the products they have absorbed back in the tank water. If you are not testing the levels, then plan to use the bare minimum of the product and change it weekly. Yep weekly. If you find honest advice about most of these products the manufacturers generally say that the products work so rapidly as to almost exhaust themselves within HOURS of being placed within the tank. BRS has a really good example of this where they test ROX carbon for us. Check the home page for carbon comparisons. Some folks will tell you that the products are good for a month or maybe even longer. These are people that are (or **** it should be) testing their water constantly. They generally have ULNT as well so that the water is always pristine from water changes, proper food management, good filtration, and thus the resins have nothing to scavenge from the clean water.