madweazl July 12, 2016 July 12, 2016 Been in this hobby about 8 years and I have always had zero 'trates using only a fuge with plenty of cheato. I did a 50% water change once every 3 months. In the last year nitrates and phosphates have slowly risen to 10ppm and .2 respectively --and so has a a dark brown hair algae. I call it 'dog fur' algae. 50% water changes on my 29G don't seem to do much good. The time has come for me to add more filtration or 'trate export of some sort. There seems to be a perennial slime slick on the surface of my water. Could a skimmer eliminate that 10ppm of nitrates? What about nitrate reduction media? Vodka? I hate having to add it every day. What do I need to do here? Has the growth rate of the chaeto changed at all? Lighting changed (T5s needing replaced for instance)?
sen5241b July 13, 2016 Author July 13, 2016 Has the growth rate of the chaeto changed at all? Lighting changed (T5s needing replaced for instance)? Cheato is fine. I did add an AquaIllumination Prime some months ago which by the way is plenty of light for a 29G. . I've set the different color LEDs to the same level for 8 hours a day. At night I have set it to shine a lot of blue for several hours. I seem to recall the "dog fur" algae got worse at about the same time I put the Prime in. No one has ever seen an algae unaffected by a 4 day black out?
madweazl July 13, 2016 July 13, 2016 Dinoflagellates perhaps? Is dog fur algae different from green hair algae? Pics would probably help in the ID department. The lighting wouldnt be the cause of the algae but it may enhance its growth. Blacks outs wont correct the issue either.
sen5241b July 13, 2016 Author July 13, 2016 Dinoflagellates perhaps? Is dog fur algae different from green hair algae? Pics would probably help in the ID department. The lighting wouldnt be the cause of the algae but it may enhance its growth. Blacks outs wont correct the issue either. There was a pic earlier in this thread.
sen5241b July 14, 2016 Author July 14, 2016 Oh, the same stuff from back in May? yeah, doesn't look like dinos
madweazl July 14, 2016 July 14, 2016 This may be of some help. Looks like turbo snails actually munch on the stuff (provided this is the same type of algae you're battling).
kkaiser85 August 9, 2016 August 9, 2016 I am kind of new to the whole salt water aquarium world, but working for Hanna Instruments, I have found a love for it! Not sure if any of these would help you? Just a thought.... I've had great results. (although, granted, the easy access makes the decision easy for me) http://hannainst.com/categories/marine-aquarium-checkers.html
sen5241b August 9, 2016 Author August 9, 2016 I recently got 3 different kinds of snails, a short-spine urchin and a Serpent Sea Star and none of them will touch it. The urchin crawled under the rocks the moment I put him in the tank and I never saw him again except the occasional spine sticking out from behind a rock. I did notice the emerald will eat it but it doesn't seem to keep up with it.
treesprite August 10, 2016 August 10, 2016 (edited) Have you tested the water coming from your RO? Mollies eat algae - maybe they would eat that type. Very cheap and will produce free live food (if you have male and female). They are sold as FW fish, but can be acclimated to full reef salinity. They are live-bearers, and supposedly are more prolific in the higher salt concentrations of a marine aquarium. Just acclimate very slowly. Edited August 10, 2016 by treesprite
sen5241b August 10, 2016 Author August 10, 2016 have you tried using a uv sterilizer No. Have you tested the water coming from your RO? Mollies eat algae - maybe they would eat that type. Very cheap and will produce free live food (if you have male and female). They are sold as FW fish, but can be acclimated to full reef salinity. They are live-bearers, and supposedly are more prolific in the higher salt concentrations of a marine aquarium. Just acclimate very slowly. I use distilled water and it is zero TDS. About a year ago thy water in my reservoir got dirty. I could feel slime growing in there. I cleaned the whole thing out. Also, my cheato got so thick and I noticed a black, gel-like slime growing in it. I cut out the slime with scissors and the surface slime went away. I've had mollies in the past (in FW tanks) but I will keep that on my list. I recall they bred all the time.
elbowdeep88 August 11, 2016 August 11, 2016 I find pencil urchins to be the best algae munchers of the commonly available varities (longspine, pincushion, tuxedo).
treesprite August 11, 2016 August 11, 2016 Ah yes, I once had an urchin and it was great at eating algae.
Jon Lazar August 12, 2016 August 12, 2016 Foxfaces are my go-to fish for control of filamentous algae. They can grow to be large, but start with a 2-3" juvenile and you'll have him for a long run. Buy him for $40 and then sell, trade, or give him away a year later. They're a hardy fish, and not very aggressive. I've got a 3" foxface in our 34g RSM, and he appears comfortable. He doesn't race back and forth like a tang might. Good luck!
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