Ich, Brown Uglies, and a Jump House, OH MY…and Clean Up Crew is Here!

Come check out the latest update on my Red Sea Reefer G2 reef tank build. One evening I came down to observe the tank and was shocked to see my kids' jump house had shifted way too close to my tank. This nearly caused me a heart attack after finding the cabinet doors had also popped open! Beyond this stressful surprise, I recently noticed ich appearing on a few fish... On top of this (when it rains it poors) my tank is now going through the dreaded "brown ugly" phase. No matter how many reef tanks I've had, the shock of this early stage of a reef tank's life still puts me in a mode of angst to this day. To respond to this phase, I've now added a clean up crew from reefcleaners!

[@queencityreefs]

Anything that came from another tank could be what brought it. Snails, someone else's rock, etc. Not that they have it but the water that was introduced with it. Good luck moving forward. I have certainly been there.

[@dereks3207]

lol. we have the same bounce house, but luckily it only fits downstairs away from the tank.

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

Trochus snails are a good bet, I’ve found. They can right themselves if they fall over. I’ve found Astrea snails to be slightly better at mowing down algae, but I typically default to Trochus now, so I don’t find dead rotting snails around the tank. Evolution really didn’t do the astrea snail any favors 😂

[@zburnreefing]

Thanks for the recommendation - I’m going to pick some of those up!

[@kalamazoo_reefer]

@@zburnreefing FYI - they’ll also breed for you. It’s not an overwhelming thing either. Every year I gain a half dozen or so. Haven’t bought them in ages, since they slowly grow their population on their own. They are a lot better on the eye than astreas, too. Well worth paying up for. I think they’re typically 25-50% more expensive, and always a bit tougher to find in fish stores. But cleaner-centric shops are usually selling them online. Happy reefing! Keep the content coming!