Newly reset up tank questions

[Thunderkat]

I just restarted my tank and finally have all my fish and corals in my new tank with some new additions (pair of percula clowns, one large mexican turbo, and 4 nassarius).

My sand bed is not an aged sand bed yet and doesnt' have worms or anything like that in there yet. How often should I supplement my Nassarius snails with meaty foods like shrimp and other seafoods?

My cyano is also starting to come back again in the form of long strands but it is only growing on the rocks that were in my old tank. The new rocks seems unaffected. Could the old rocks still be leaching nutrients?
I have a filter sock full of fresh activated carbon, I have a phosphate sponge in the tank, I have a fuge with macro algae growing in there (lights 24/7 in fuge and no cyano there yet), I used all RO water to get the tank going, and there is macro algae all over my rocks and hair algae blooming all over (I don't mind the macro algae or hair algae- the snails love it and it looks nice). How many hours a day should I keep my lights on (two 10ks and 2 actinic but no halides) to keep my zoos, mushrooms, and riccordia healthy without causing excessive cyano growth?

New tank (55 gallon) has sump, 165 pounds of sand (with plenum), 40 pounds of live rock, 18 gallon fuge with macroalgae and lights 24/7, emperor 400 filter, cpr dual pak (has skimmer), overflow box, and mag 7 return pump.

Cannot get paramaters due to being at work.

[GaryP]

I would add some Nerite snails or small hermits to help control the cyano. It sounds like you are doing everything else right. They will also help clean up the hair algae. The nassarius don't need to be fed. They will scavenge on leftovers. Cutting back on your light will not really have any impact on the cyano. Normally I would recommend additional flow to help control cyano, but I know that's not a problem in your tank. Majke sure your skimmer is dialed in and you are getting the most you can from it. IMO the CPR's performance is only marginal, at best, for a tank your size. Getting the most out of it is going to be very important to maintain nutrient levels and also control of nuisance algaes.

[jonreed]

I don't mean to redirect the discussion, but I have a curious question. Does anyone know if chemi-clean takes care of cyano?

As far as the snails go-I have to agree and say that they don't need feeding. I had about 20 in my 46g when I started and they were fed plenty good enough with all the food and junk sinking to the bottom.

[thedude]

Yes Chemi Clean works but it a bandaid and not a cure.

[GaryP]

ChemiClean will kill the cyano, but it will come back. I'm glad you mentioned it. In TK's case, since its a new tank, it may be a good short term solution. The best solution for long term cyano control is adequate circulation, detritus removal (siphoning or detritivores), cyano grazers (hermits and nerith) and nutrient control.

In TK's tank we may simply be seeing a situation where the tank hasn't matured yet and is suffering some residual problems from when it was set up in a different configuration. Cyano is very common in a new tank.

[jonreed]

I thought that it helped, but wasn't absolutely sure. Thanks.

[Thunderkat]

Ok, thanks you guys. I haven't seen the skimmer produce anything at all for days but then again I just put fish in there recently. I also recently added about 5 heaping tablespoons of activated carbon. Anybody have any recommendations for a good skimmer for a 55 gallon?

The skimmer did produce stuff when I put my new live rock in the tank before I put the fish in there but you could smell stuff rotting off of the new rock.

I think it is strange that the cyano is only on the old rock and nowhere else.

I started to spot feed the nessarius because I am very careful about how much I feed my fish. I try not to let any hit the bottom and the stuff that does make it to the bottom gets eaten by the cleaner wrasse (really cool to watch it "hunt"). I have seen two different things written about nessarius. Some places said they do not eat deturitus and only eat carrior, other places say both. I didn't see them come out of the sand for 2 days and when I put in a piece of shrimp they came out quickly.

As for hair algae, it doesn't bother me one bit, I actually find it kind of cool, as does my algae blenny :lol Hair algae reminds me of home, all the lakes and ponds there were full of moss.

I will buy a few hermit crabs (thinking around 3 or 4). I read they can be bad for snails in the tank, especially the blue legs. I will add some shells too to calm their house hunting needs.