Damage Control A few days after the diatom bloom reared its very ugly head, it was time to deal with the situation. I took the diatoms as a good sign that indicated a completed cycle, so I did a partial water change. While I was at it, I also added my fancy new EuroReef protein skimmer. A day or two later I visited the Sunnyvale LFS and bought two Turbo snails and two Nassarius snails to control the diatoms. The Nassarius snails quickly went to business taking care of what lays below the substrate surface, and the Turbos got to work on the tank walls.

While at the LFS, we also bought one huge (14 lbs) pink rock that would serve as a base rock. It wasn't all that exciting, but it didn't need to be. A few days later I realized the tank needed a good boost of life and a cleanup crew, so I placed an order to GARF for 12 lbs of their Grunge and a janitor pack for a 30 gallon tank, since my tank was very minimal at that time.  ¶ 10:53 PM