If you want to have a healthy saltwater aquarium that is algae free, you will have to take steps to remove the nitrates and phosphates in your tank. People have come up with a variety of ways to keep nitrates down, from dosing sugar to operating denitrating coils. Our solution is to use macro algae and mangroves. In time, a macro/mangrove planted tank or sump will remove all the nitrates, phosphates, and many of the harmful chemicals from your water.

    The ideal refugium/sump utilizes both mangroves and macro algae to achieve the desired results. The reason is because mangroves grow up and out of the aquarium, and require little tank volume to thrive. Below the mangrove theres will remain ample room for macro algae to be grown between the roots of the small trees.  This growth helps stabilize the roots of the trees, and give the macro something to cling too. This win-win situation is common in nature.

    When it comes to filtering nitrates and phosphates out of an aquarium, no macros are better at achieving results than caulerpa. However, because caulerpa has a tendency to go sexual and release nutrients back into the tank, it should not be kept by the novice aquarist. In order to reduce this risk, make sure to regularly prune the algae so it does not starve, and to keep it well lit. By providing a sump that is lit 24 hours a day, the risk is from this algae is very low. More information on caulerpa can be found in our growing guides , and our general macro algae care guide .

    The more popular filtering algae is chaeto. While it will not remove nutrients as effectively as caulerpa, it presents a very low risk of going sexual and harming your tank and still does an excellent job. It also grows well thin the root structure of mangroves, and is easy to harvest. Other important filtering algaes include Ulva and Gracilaria - which can be fed to herbivorous fish, keeping your tank self sustaining - to some degree at least. 

   By adding macro algae and mangroves to your reef system, (either by placing it directly in the display tank or in the refugium),  you are bringing your own reef closer to those found in the wild. In nature, every coral reef that benefits from the filtering properties of macro algae. Some reefs are mixed, and include coral and macro algae living side by side, this is similar to placing macro algae directly in your display  reef tank. Other systems have extensive macro algae fields in the "back reef", and have their nutrients washed out to mangrove islands before the water returns. Such reefs are found extensively in the Florida Keys.This is similar to having a system where the refugium/sump is filled with macro algae and mangroves and the display tank is coral dominated. 

By carefully utilizing mangroves and macro algae, your tank will be able to outcompete nuisance algae from forming, and your tank's overall health will greatly improve.

We have found the following method to be an effective way to maintaining a clean tank with minimal manual effort from you, but you should get your calculator and some paper for this. You should also read this entire article before completing the steps we have laid out for you.

Determining the Clean Up Crew Need: 

"Dimensional Need" 

1. Take the number of gallons in your tank and multiply it by 3,  let us call this number X.

2. If your tank is about twice as long as it is high, then your "Substrate Need" is equal to X divided by 2. If your tank is taller than it is long, then divide X by 3 to find your substrate need. Write down this substrate value separately. Subtract this value from X and call this new value Y. So X - Substrate Value = Y   

3.  Y divided by two equals your "Middle Tank Need" value, it is also equal to your "Top Tank Need" value.

4. At this point you should have three numbers. A substrate, a middle and a top tank need value.

Write all of these numbers down separately, you will need them again. 

"Type of Use Need" 

Fish Related Trouble: 

    If your tank is stocked with fish add 3 to your "Detritus Need" right off the bat. Additionally, add 1 to this number for every small (under 3 inches) fish you own. For middle sized fish, (3-6 inches), add 2, and for larger fish add 1 for every inch of that fish. So if you had a nine inch fish you would have a value of 9 for that fish. For each fish that is a messy eater add 1. For every large invertebrate you have that eats meaty foods, add 2 for each inch long they are.Tally up all these numbers, that is your "Detritus Need". 

Coral and Rock Trouble:

    Corals alone do not produce trouble. However, one of the greatest threat facing a tank is the threat of a noxious bloom that can occur in areas of your tank that might have low oxygen. While it easy to stir a sandbed that is exposed, it is the sand under your rocks, (sand that is compressed by the rocks), that present a greater threat. This is because many of us are hesitant to move around rocks that are covered with expensive corals. In that way, corals and rocks can "combine" to create a problem in the reef aquarium.

    To determine your "Noxious Bloom Need", estimate the percentage of your substrate that is covered with rock. Divide this percentage in half. Multiply the percentage by X. This is your "Noxious Bloom Need". Your "Noxious Bloom Need " is also your "Rock Need".

Depending on your tank, you should have a value for the following:

• Substrate Need
• Middle Tank Need
• Top Tank Need
• Detritus Need
• Noxious Bloom Need
  
• Rock Need 

Now it is time to fill out your CUC list, and fill up the tank with the cleaners you will need.

Filling Your Clean Up Crew:  

For each of the values you received  select enough cleaners to fill that value.

Finally done. If you have correctly filled out these values, you should have a clean up crew that effectively controls nuisance growth with minimal efforts from you. This formula may seem daunting at first, but it is an imporovement over our last guide to choosing a clean up crew, and will lead you to great results. While you must do a good amount of work to complete your CUC list, it will be specifically tailored to meet the needs of your tank.

Limpet is a common name used for many kinds of saltwater or freshwater snails, specifically those that have a simple shell which is more or less broadly conical in shape, and which is either not coiled, or appears not to be coiled, in the adult snail.

The phrase "true limpets" is used only for marine limpets in the ancient order Patellogastropoda, subclass Eogastropoda, but as well as being applied to true limpets.

The common name "limpet" is also used for many widely different snails in the subclass Orthogastropoda including:

Marine:

• The keyhole limpets - Fissurellidae
• The slipper limpets or slipper shells - Calyptraeidae
• The hoof limpets - Hipponix
• The opisthobranch notoaspidean limpets such as Tylodina and Umbraculum
• The pulmonate false limpets - Siphonaria

Freshwater:

• The pulmonate river and lake limpets - Ancylidae

Most of the marine limpets have gills, whereas all the freshwater limpets and a few of the marine limpets have a mantle cavity which is adapted to breathe air and function as a lung; all these various kinds of snail are only very distantly related. In other words, the name limpet is used to describe various extremely diverse groups of gastropods which have independently evolved a shell of the same basic shape, see convergent evolution.

Introduction to true limpets

Limpets have flattened, cone-shaped shells, and the majority of species are commonly found adhering strongly to rocks or other hard substrates, looking like little bumps on the surface. In life, many limpet shells are often covered in microscopic growths of green marine algae, which can make them even harder to see, as they can closely ressemble the rock surface itself.

Habitat

They attach themselves to the substrate using pedal mucus and a muscular "foot". They locomote using wave-like muscular contractions of the foot when conditions are suitable for them to graze. They can also "clamp down" against the rock surface with very considerable force when necessary, and this ability enables them to remain safely attached, despite the dangerous wave action on exposed rocky shores. The ability to clamp down also seals the shell edge against the rock surface, protecting them from desiccation during low tide, despite their being in full sunlight.

When true limpets are fully clamped down, it is impossible to remove them from the rock using brute force alone, and the limpet will allow itself to be destroyed rather than stop clinging to its rock. This survival strategy has led to the limpet being used as a metaphor for obstinacy or stubbornness.

Life habits

Feeding

Most limpets feed by grazing on algae which grows on the rock (or other surfaces) where they live. They scrape up films of algae with a radula, a ribbon-like tongue with rows of teeth. Limpets move by rippling the muscles of their foot in a wave-like motion.

In some parts of the world, certain smaller species of true limpet are specialized to live on seagrasses and graze on the microscopic algae which grow there. Other species live on, and graze directly on, the stipes (stalks) of brown algae (kelp).

Homing behaviour

Common limpets in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Some species of limpets return to the same spot on the rock known as a "home scar" just before the tide recedes  . In such species, the shape of their shell often grows to precisely match the contours of the rock surrounding the scar. This behaviour presumably allows them to form a better seal to the rock and may help protect from either predation or desiccation.

It is still unclear how limpets find their way back to the same spot each time, but it is thought that they follow a mucus trail left as they move, this trail contains pheromones. Other species, notably Lottia gigantea seem to "garden" a patch of algae around their home scar . They are one of the few invertebrates to exhibit territoriality and will aggressively push other organisms out of this patch by ramming with their shell, thereby allowing their patch of algae to grow for their own grazing. Also, where the limpets eat the algae off bare rocks, it creates places where other organisms can grow and thrive.

Predators and other risks

Limpets are preyed upon by a variety of organisms including starfish, shore-birds, fish, seals, and humans. Limpets exhibit a variety of defenses, such as fleeing or clamping their shells against the substratum. The defense response can be determined by the type of predator, which can often be detected chemically by the limpet.

Limpets can be long lived, with tagged specimens surviving for more than 10 years. If the limpet lives on bare rock, it grows at a slower rate but can live for up to 20 years.

Limpets found on exposed shores, which have fewer rock pools than sheltered shores and are thus in less frequent contact with water, have a greater risk of desiccation due to the effects of increased sunlight, water evaporation and the increased wind speed. To avoid drying out they will clamp to the rock they inhabit, minimizing water-loss from the rim around their base. As this occurs chemicals are released that promote the vertical growth of the limpet's shell.

Reproduction

Spawning occurs once a year, usually during winter, and is triggered by rough seas which disperse the eggs and sperm. Larvae are pelagic for a couple of weeks before settling onto a hard substrate. Because of this breeding in the home aquarium is unlikely.

Acclimation (Snails, Limpets, Chitons & Hermit Crabs)

1. Float the bag in your tank to get the snail used to the temperature in your aquarium.

2. Wait 15 minutes.

3. Add contents to tank.

Important: Snails may go through shock during shipping, and be closed when they arrive. You should give them plenty of time to come out of their shells and move around before deciding they didn't make the trip. Ceriths may go dormant for up to 3 days.

You may find this to be different than the acclimation procedure you are used to carrying out. The reason we now ask our customers to use this procedure is because our snails and crabs live intertidally, and can handle swings in ph/salinity without a problem. However, what they can't handle is toxic levels of ammonia. During the shipping process, ammonia levels in the shipping bags build, while the ph level goes down. As the ph goes down the toxicity of ammonia also goes down. However, when your tank water with normal ph is introduced to the shipping bags, and the ph rises, so does the toxicity of the ammonia, and you will be poisoning the livestock. Please don't do this. Any other method of acclimation voids the Alive Arrival Guarantee.

Macro Algae and Mangrove Acclimation

1. Float the bag in your tank to get the macro used to the temperature in your aquarium.

2. Wait 15 minutes.

3. Add contents to tank.

Your macro has been without light for some time and it needs light to survive. As long as it will not harm your tank, try to put the lights on when you introduce macro algae. Stress on a macro is normal. A good photocycle or two usually improves their health, you should give them time to bounce back.

 Non-Hermit Crabs, Shrimp, Urchins, and Starfish

1. Float the bag in your tank for 15 minutes to get them used to the temperature.

2. Open bag, and drip acclimate for 30 minutes. (Start a siphon with airline tubing and then tie a knot in it so there is about 4 drops of water every second or so).

3. Remove animals from water and place in your tank.