180g basement tank

[AlanM]

I'm going to try to start adding micro fauna soon.  Maybe buy some of those amphipods and copepods from Aquarium Depot.  I'd like a breeding population of mysids too, but not totally sure how to get it started.  I used to have lots in my current tank, but haven't seen them for a while.  

 

I got 3 vortech mp40s going now, so lots of flow is happening.  I don't know what everyone normally does with the spacers, but I found the medium size spacer to be too thick for my comfort.  I just put on the sticker that is intended for > 1/2 inch glass and it seems to be holding strongly and running the powerhead just fine.  With the medium spacer it wanted to fall off too easily.

[zygote2k]

get a few pieces of premium live rock and seed the tank. Don't add any grazers until the algae has completely cycled. see if you can go a full 90 days before adding snails.

[AlanM]

get a few pieces of premium live rock and seed the tank. Don't add any grazers until the algae has completely cycled. see if you can go a full 90 days before adding snails.

Ok. That's good advice. I put some sump rock from my existing tank in there, but it's not exactly premium. I don't have any rock upstairs with coralline and nice stuff that isn't covered in corals. I am going to make an attempt to avoid aiptasia for a while, too.

[AlanM]

Yep. I am definitely starting to get a hair algae problem.

 

[BowieReefer84]

Looks like my new tank as well!  It's a good thing!!!

[AlanM]

Hah. I just tried to siphon some out for fun, but it is on tight. Skimmer is drawing out dark green liquid so it must be coming out to some extent.

[sethsolomon]

That skimmer is SEXY!!!  

[AlanM]

That skimmer is SEXY!!!  

 

 

It's a beast for sure.  It will take me a while to get it performing well.  I'm feeding it 4000 lph of air between two RODC5500s pumps and still feel like it could use some more.  The body is so big.  It always takes a while to settle in to a routine with a new skimmer and this one is so big that it will take longer, I think.  

[AlanM]

Even longer! Where does it stop?

 

 

Wonder if morgunda's nudibranchs would like this stuff. It isn't just hairs. It does have kind of a fine fern structure almost like bryopsis, but not as wiry as I normally picture bryopsis being.

[aquamom]

That hair algae would rate as luxurious. Wow lol

 

 

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[WheresTheReef]

Wow that grew in fast. Are you going to start pulling it out by hand?

[AlanM]

Wow that grew in fast. Are you going to start pulling it out by hand?

 

I tried to siphon some out, and it wasn't coming off.  I grabbed some with my hand and pulled and the rock came with it. The holdfasts are really impressive.  I'm going to wait it out.  I haven't tested nitrate or phosphate, but it must be impressive if this is what is happening.  I had acid bathed and bleached the rock and then let it dry for a month.  After putting it in I dumped in a bunch of LRS, some old dry food, and other stuff.  

 

Ca, Alk, Mg look ok for a reef tank, so maybe there's a chance of some coralline starting to compete with it, hehe.  I'll probably start dumping in pods, maybe phyto too for the low end of the food chain.  I'll turn off the UV if I add phyto, rotifers, pods.  I had it on basically to see if it would clear up the cloudiness that I think was tons of individual algae cells now.  The skimmate is pretty bright green.  

 

I'm going to take Rob's advice and wait to add snails for a while.  

 

Edit: I'm tempted to try Vibrant that they're all taking about at R2R, but kind of don't want to pour in some unknown bottle of goo to try to get the algae gone.  I'm curious to see if it will go on it's own.

[YHSublime]

I'm interested how long it will take to work itself out. Glad to see this thing wet.

[WheresTheReef]

Yea I wouldn't add any snails etc yet either. Some won't even touch it once it's gotten that long. Testing for phosphates probably won't matter either as lots of it is bound up in the algae. Just figured you should treat it like other algae and remove some as it grows as a means of phosphate removal. Once hair algae has gotten that long, you can take a tooth brush and twist it around to "grab hold" of it. Use one hand to hold the rock and the other to pull out the algae with the toothbrush. Just a suggestion.

[AlanM]

I may put in some hermits to see if they enjoy the meadow. I'll see if the toothbrush removes it at all. Would be fun to see. I did scrape the front glass and put the drain going into a filter sock to catch the stuff scraped off.

[zygote2k]

hermits will cause issues later, just wait for now. seems like that rock is still full of phosphates if that much algae has grown that quickly. 

wait it out.

[WilRams]

Edit: I'm tempted to try Vibrant that they're all taking about at R2R, but kind of don't want to pour in some unknown bottle of goo to try to get the algae gone.  I'm curious to see if it will go on it's own.

The same way I get sucked into watching tv shows I bought a bottle. The hype made me do it! I didn't really have much of an issue to begin. Only a couple spots here and there. After a week I can say it's def doing something. Algae turns dark almost black and then starts falling apart. I't does feel like buying snake oil but hey it's working.

[AlanM]

The same way I get sucked into watching tv shows I bought a bottle. The hype made me do it! I didn't really have much of an issue to begin. Only a couple spots here and there. After a week I can say it's def doing something. Algae turns dark almost black and then starts falling apart. I't does feel like buying snake oil but hey it's working.

I may yet get some. If it worked on bryopsis it sounds like it would be much easier than raising Mg with Tech-M. This algae really looks like a delicate species of bryopsis. No idea if it is or not, but it is kind of pretty.

 

[AlanM]

Two days later and it's even longer. Amazing.

 

[khh27]

Dont remember if you said it or not but maybe you should take the photo period Away while your cycling

 

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Edited November 17, 2016 by khh27

[AlanM]

Dont remember if you said it or not but maybe you should take the photo period Away while your cycling

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You're right, of course. I'm curious now to see what will happen. It has to stop eventually. Just from a conservation of matter point of view...

[Origami]

Just think of all those nutrients that are getting taken up and held in the algae. Don't just let it die off. Harvest it to export the nutrients that it's locked up.

 

Is all that bryopsis? If so, how did it get introduced into the new setup?

 

Oh, and if it's all bryopsis, you should reach out to Dave (mogurnda). He may still need some for his solar slug project.

[AlanM]

Yes, I believe it is bryopsis. And an amazing crop of it. No idea how it got there, but I did an acid bath, then bleach, then soak in DI, then dry on rock that was all previously dry, so it's a real gosh darn mystery.

[AlanM]

I've been talking to Dave about it, he is going to stop by. Maybe I should just give him the whole system or dedicate it to raising slugs because I am really good at growing bryopsis, lol.

[AlanM]

OK.  I have a bucket of it to give to Dave today.  We'll see if his E. Crispata girls like it.  I stood in front of it with the vortechs off and pulled a lot.  May need to stabilize the aquascape a bit more once it's gone, but it surely was a ton of nutrient export, as Tom said.  So much was blowing around in the tank that it clogged the slots on my overflow and nearly caused a flood when I wasn't watching.  I'm glad that the Ghost overflow has a removable slotted weir.