Red Alg, Green hair alg, question

[Jason]

Hey guys moved up to Stephens City VA, a few weeks ago and have had my tank going since. The live rock/Sand came from my other system. I wanted to do a clown fish system. It currently has 2 false perca's about 5-6 hermits, a emerald crab, 2-3 snails, anemone. My question is I currently have Red alg taking over and I even have green hair alg as well. What can I Put in the tank that would take care of the alg and id also like to do something that would keep the sand clean because thats getting dirty as well. Any help would be great. Here is a pic or two

 

 

 

 

When tank was setup a few weeks ago...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current

 

 

[BliffBlam]

I had the same prob, I cut back my lighting cycle do 20% waterchange every week and i syphon the algae of the sand and rock using like 1/4 tube as of not to suck all the sand out. Then I also use a turkey baster to blow crud off the rocks and my mechanical filter normaly gets it all and then I cahange that too. I only started dointhis about 6 weeks ago. I skipped last week cause i was so busy and my tank is not that bad at all, considering when i first started within a couple days sand, glass and rock would be covered again. it been 2 weeks since last cleaning and water change. its dirty but no where near like before. so its been working for me. goodluck.

[Malawi]

My tank was started the second week of August so I am also new to saltwater. I'm just getting over that reddish algae. It's all dying off and seems like just a normal part of the cycle. I use a siphon to suck some of it off during water changes, and added a koralia to increase water flow on the rocks that were the worst off. So far that's working. Keeping up with water changes will help from what I've read here. I also strip some of the hair algae off by hand.

[Highland Reefer]

Algae and cyanobacterial growth is not uncommon in a newly setup aquarium. Usually good old fashion elbow grease works the best in your situation.

 

There are a lot of hobbyists in your same position. Reducing your nitrate and phosphate levels to a zero reading will help in getting rid of many type of algae pests. IME, reducing nitrate and phosphate levels too low can kill or cause problems for many types of coral. Running GAC & GFO will all help in reducing the growth of these type of pests. In many cases they will not eradicate the pest. Vodka dosing will help reduce the nitrate and phosphate levels also, but will not necessarily eradicate the pest either.

 

A common problem is being able to identify your pest to a catagory correctly: true algae, cyano, dino, bacteria & other assorted pests that look similar. In many cases a micro look at your pest is best to properly ID it to one of these catagories.

 

IMHO, if you are faced with an algal type pest problem, it is best to implement an algae pest control program strategy:

 

 

1) Wet skimming with a good quality skimmer. Clean your skimmer cup at least once per week.

 

2) Reduce your nitrates and phosphates to a zero reading using the hobby grade test kits. See Randy's articles regarding this:

 

Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

 

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

 

3) Proper lighting. I find that the higher wavelength bulbs are less conducive to algae growth. I now run 20,000 K bulbs from using 10,000 K bulbs.

 

4) Proper day length is a good thing also. I would not run your lights for more than 12 hrs total. Keep in mind that light entering from a window nearby is added to this figure.

 

5) Running GAC is a good practice in my book. It will help reduce the total dissolved organic carbons in your tank water and this is a food source.

 

6) Proper 30% per month total water changes will help export the DOC as well as some of the pests in the water column. It will help maintain the micro-nutrients as well.

 

7) Physical removal of the pest by hand, scrubbing and siphoning is important as well. If the amount of pest in your aquarium is overwhelming, perhaps dealing with one section at a time is a better idea.

 

8) Proper water circulation in your tank to prevent dead zones. When dealing with cyanobacteria pests increasing the flow where it grows seems to help.

 

9) Use RODI water for all top-off, salt mixing, additive mixes... etc.

 

10) Dosing iron may have benefits for macro-algae, but if you are experiencing algae pest problems than I would stop dosing it as it can add to the problem in many cases.

 

11) If you are dosing other supplements such as vitamins, amino acids, or others that contain a mix of supplements other than the basic alk., calcium and magnesium, I would stop these until you gain control of your pest. This includes many of the store bought products with unknown ingredients. Dosing Vodka or sugar to reduce your nitrates and phosphates would be an exception in my opinion.

 

12) Proper feeding habits. This can be the number one problem when trying to reduce your nitrate and phosphate levels. Use low phosphate fish foods.

 

13) IMHO, lighted refugiums may be a problem when trying to deal with an algae type pest problem. They are wonderful when it comes to reducing nitrates and phosphates. However, the light over most refugiums is conducive to the microalgae type pests. If the refugium becomes infested with a microalgae pest, I would clean it throughly of all pests as best as possible, remove the macro and turn off the lights until you gain control of your pest. Re-using the same macroalgae later may serve as a source for re-infestation of your pest.

 

14) Adding fish and other creatures that will eat your algae pest will help.

 

15) There are other items that can be added to this list if others care too share and some of the items listed may be disputed.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Highland Reefer

[Highland Reefer]

A focused close up pic of your pests would help in IDing them.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Highland Reefer

[Jason]

Algae and cyanobacterial growth is not uncommon in a newly setup aquarium. Usually good old fashion elbow grease works the best in your situation.

 

There are a lot of hobbyists in your same position. Reducing your nitrate and phosphate levels to a zero reading will help in getting rid of many type of algae pests. IME, reducing nitrate and phosphate levels too low can kill or cause problems for many types of coral. Running GAC & GFO will all help in reducing the growth of these type of pests. In many cases they will not eradicate the pest. Vodka dosing will help reduce the nitrate and phosphate levels also, but will not necessarily eradicate the pest either.

 

A common problem is being able to identify your pest to a catagory correctly: true algae, cyano, dino, bacteria & other assorted pests that look similar. In many cases a micro look at your pest is best to properly ID it to one of these catagories.

 

IMHO, if you are faced with an algal type pest problem, it is best to implement an algae pest control program strategy:

 

 

1) Wet skimming with a good quality skimmer. Clean your skimmer cup at least once per week.

 

2) Reduce your nitrates and phosphates to a zero reading using the hobby grade test kits. See Randy's articles regarding this:

 

Phosphate and the Reef Aquarium

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php

 

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm

 

3) Proper lighting. I find that the higher wavelength bulbs are less conducive to algae growth. I now run 20,000 K bulbs from using 10,000 K bulbs.

 

4) Proper day length is a good thing also. I would not run your lights for more than 12 hrs total. Keep in mind that light entering from a window nearby is added to this figure.

 

5) Running GAC is a good practice in my book. It will help reduce the total dissolved organic carbons in your tank water and this is a food source.

 

6) Proper 30% per month total water changes will help export the DOC as well as some of the pests in the water column. It will help maintain the micro-nutrients as well.

 

7) Physical removal of the pest by hand, scrubbing and siphoning is important as well. If the amount of pest in your aquarium is overwhelming, perhaps dealing with one section at a time is a better idea.

 

8) Proper water circulation in your tank to prevent dead zones. When dealing with cyanobacteria pests increasing the flow where it grows seems to help.

 

9) Use RODI water for all top-off, salt mixing, additive mixes... etc.

 

10) Dosing iron may have benefits for macro-algae, but if you are experiencing algae pest problems than I would stop dosing it as it can add to the problem in many cases.

 

11) If you are dosing other supplements such as vitamins, amino acids, or others that contain a mix of supplements other than the basic alk., calcium and magnesium, I would stop these until you gain control of your pest. This includes many of the store bought products with unknown ingredients. Dosing Vodka or sugar to reduce your nitrates and phosphates would be an exception in my opinion.

 

12) Proper feeding habits. This can be the number one problem when trying to reduce your nitrate and phosphate levels. Use low phosphate fish foods.

 

13) IMHO, lighted refugiums may be a problem when trying to deal with an algae type pest problem. They are wonderful when it comes to reducing nitrates and phosphates. However, the light over most refugiums is conducive to the microalgae type pests. If the refugium becomes infested with a microalgae pest, I would clean it throughly of all pests as best as possible, remove the macro and turn off the lights until you gain control of your pest. Re-using the same macroalgae later may serve as a source for re-infestation of your pest.

 

14) Adding fish and other creatures that will eat your algae pest will help.

 

15) There are other items that can be added to this list if others care too share and some of the items listed may be disputed.

 

 

 

great info. I just did my weekly 10% water change, 30% a month. I will pick off the hair alg tomorrow by hand and keep in a eye on it as well as maybe a little less feeding, as that could be a issue as well. What do most of you feed you anenome's? Ive been using brine shrimp and using a long set of tweesers to get it to the animal so that I wont be stung and that my clowns wont eat it before it gets to it. Any other methods work for you ? please let me know.

[L8 2 RISE]

If the clowns are hosting the anemone then you really shouldn't have to feed it because the clowns will make sure it gets fed. Otherwise, you could feed a silverside a week. Some people still feed a silverside a week to anemone's even if they're being hosted. Also, you shouldn't really feed brine shrimp to anything unless it's just an occassional treat. Brine shrimp have very little nutritional value (basically potato chips in human terms). Try mysis shrimp or pellet food.

[zygote2k]

It looks like you have an Aquapod 12 or something similar, maybe larger. Probably didn't come with a skimmer either. You absolutely don't need one on a tank that small as long as you keep a light bioload. If this is an Aquapod 12, the stock configuration works best. Even more flow if you remove the flex pipe. Don't add another powerhead- they just add unwanted heat. Only feed the fish dry foods or nori. No frozen. Add a 2 part solution daily to keep calcium and alk at proper levels and all will be fine. As others have said, mechanical removal of the algae works great.

[Jason]

Everything is in a biocube 29

[Brian Ward]

Looks like some cyano and you said GHA, though I can't see it in the pics. water changes and manual removal of the hair algae, use a turkey baster to blow the cyano off the rocks and siphon it out of the tank. These are very common in new tanks, and just take it out as best you can. As the tank stabilizes and your husbandry skills improve, it will likely go away. Also, as mentioned, don't feed brine shrimp. Switch to mysis. I feed my anemones a cube of mysis every few days since I don't have silversides.

[steveoutlaw]

That looks like a Chondylactis anemone, correct? If so, I would watch out. Those things eat fish. Also, I don't think clowns percs or false percs will host a chondy (I'm not sure that any clowns will).

[zygote2k]

Looks like some cyano and you said GHA, though I can't see it in the pics. water changes and manual removal of the hair algae, use a turkey baster to blow the cyano off the rocks and siphon it out of the tank. These are very common in new tanks, and just take it out as best you can. As the tank stabilizes and your husbandry skills improve, it will likely go away. Also, as mentioned, don't feed brine shrimp. Switch to mysis. I feed my anemones a cube of mysis every few days since I don't have silversides.

Get your water chemistry stable before adding any kind of frozen foods. Your fish will do just fine on flakes and pellets. The anemone can live from photosynthesis alone.

 

 

That looks like a Chondylactis anemone, correct? If so, I would watch out. Those things eat fish. Also, I don't think clowns percs or false percs will host a chondy (I'm not sure that any clowns will).

Condylactis aren't fish hunters. They won't just eat your fish. All anemones will eat meaty foods like fish. They're perfectly fine in your tank and don't need to be fed.

[Hilary]

I had both cyano and hair algae in my horse tank (24 g). Hair algae was taken care of by a great cleanup crew (mostly the turbo snail, nerite snails and emerald crab helped). I just noticed today that remaining cyano was dead. I couldn't increase flow so added an air stone, and have been dosing Brightwell Reef Bio-Fuel (chemical vodka equivalent).