[mattellison]

I bought my 24 g nano cube the other day and now have some brown/orange algea on my sand. how long do i need to wait until i put snails in. I have 25 lbs of live rock in there that was full of critters and have some algea on them. not sure what the critters are or what they were as alot of them have died. i do still have alot of things living in the rock and the sand. every morning i wake up and there is a new spider web looking thing on a different rock. should i leave my lights on during the day or just stick with the moon light?

 

[Marty]

i am not sure about snails but i assume you will need to make sure the tank is cycled like any other species!
Oh and welcome to the forum

 

[mattellison]

Thanks And Any Info That You Can Give Me To Help Get Through This Cycling Thing Would Be Appreciated. Any Ideas That You Have Would Be Helpful. Also Should I Leave My Daylights Off And What About My Moon Lights

 

[Marty]

Fish are not worried about lights.Unless they are to bright.The lights are only there to please us or unless you have a planted tank.But you stated you have live rock so i take it your setting up a salt tank?So some of the other friends here can talk to you about the lights.Now as far as cycling goes if you have live rock in the tank just be patient the rock will cycle the tank for you.
So make sure you by yourself a master test kit.Do not use strip make sure its a liquid test kit and keep an on all your parameters.Please make sure the tank is cycled completely before adding your fish.Do some research on the fish before choosing

 

[mattellison]

i now am getting more and more of the wed like material on some of my live rocks. not sure what it is or if any one could help me answer that question. also i have what appears to be ared algae growing on my rocks. some one told me that may be a type of coral.

 

[petlover516]

welcome to the site! The red algae is called "coralline" algae and is a good sign your tank is cycling. This process should take a few weeks from whenever u put the LR in. be sure to use liquid test kits-i use API. Test for high range pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Once nitrates are above 10, u can start to add some hardy fish. Once u have >5 nitrites, u can add the snails. Im not sure what the web things are.

 

[mattellison]

Well I got up today and my one rock looks like a cloud from all the webs growing on it. If anyone could tell me what that stuff is I would be greatful. Thanks in advance!