A.ocellaris August 23, 2018 Share August 23, 2018 (edited) I still need some help with brown/dark hair algae. It is growing on corals and tissue is receeding. For example, i bought a frag and during shipment, the corners were damaged, now algae is growing on the coral and hermits arent doing their job. I have a stary blenny and does not eat that much either. Nitrates are at 1ppm and Phosphates at .05. I lowered the photo period, but need like a tang to keep it at bay. My tank is 40gIM , so what are my options? Edited August 23, 2018 by A.ocellaris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CK Reef August 23, 2018 Share August 23, 2018 A lawn mower will solve your problem within a day or you can manually brush them off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris August 24, 2018 Author Share August 24, 2018 Can I have a Stary Blenny and a Lawn mower in the same tank? I try to brush it but it comes back. And it's very hard to brush from corals since I think I am going to damage the coral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WheresTheReef August 24, 2018 Share August 24, 2018 I wouldn't get a fish you really don't want. Hermits won't eat it if it's too long. Concentrate on manual removal for now. I had a similar issue when I upgraded. My dry rock was definitely feeding it until it eventually died away all of a sudden. The first year of a tank can be rough with all the algaes etc that seem to come in waves. You can use an old toothbrush around corals if you really want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malacoda August 25, 2018 Share August 25, 2018 If the rock the algae/corals are on can be removed from the tank, you could take it out an use a syringe, eyedropper, etc. to hit the algae with some hydrogen peroxide. Depending on what type of coral it is, the edges of the coral that come into contact with the peroxide might get a little damaged (some corals are very tolerant of it, others very sensitive). But if the algae is already starting to damage and over take the corals, it may be worth the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 14, 2018 Author Share September 14, 2018 Algae issues come back, even with .03ppm of Phosphate and .50 Nitrates. It is just dark hair algae. Here's the cycle that is driving me crazy... I see the algae, buy 10-15 hermits, then after a few weeks, hermits star dying and algae comes back from the dying animals.... Then I buy more hermits and so on... I need some type of tang that I can put in a 40G... Any suggestions?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 14, 2018 Share September 14, 2018 Why are the hermits dying after only a few weeks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokythemattman@gmail.com September 14, 2018 Share September 14, 2018 Try reef flux/fluconazole. Works wonders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokythemattman@gmail.com September 14, 2018 Share September 14, 2018 I was wondering the same thing... all the hermits I have gotten have lasted quite a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 14, 2018 Share September 14, 2018 BTW, your phosphates and nitrates are low because your algae is locking it up. I'm surprised that they're not even closer to zero. The nutrients are coming from somewhere and you may need to get that under control. That will be difficult to do if you're tank is overstocked or under-filtered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami September 14, 2018 Share September 14, 2018 Fluconazole works great if the root source of nutrients is identified and controlled, or if it knocks the algae out long enough for other controls (bacteria) to develop that offer effective competition. (I had an issue a few years back when stuff got out of whack and took that route and the results have lasted.) But you have to understand the source of the problem and fix that. Otherwise fluconazole is only a temporary bandaid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 14, 2018 Author Share September 14, 2018 (edited) I am not sure why the hermits do not last long. it's something that I noticed since the beginning and have not been able to explain why. I have tried acclimation, no acclimation and same results. They die inside their shells. I even got a ground probe, copper test, and nothing. I only have 2 ocellaris, 2 cardinals, 1 royal gramma and 1 starry blenny. I think I should get a new skimmer, but I don't think my tank is over-stocked. How does the fluconazole work? Is it reef safe? Edited September 14, 2018 by A.ocellaris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 15, 2018 Author Share September 15, 2018 Could it be possible I have a mantis and its killing the hermits? During the past week I’ve been hearing a “clap clap” continuously, specially during night time. I hope is something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rt502 September 15, 2018 Share September 15, 2018 Sound like a pistol or mantis shrimp. I have two tiger pistols in my tank and I often hear loud clacks in the middle of the night when they're hunting or fighting with each other. My larger snails and hermits have been okay, but they killed every small hermit and snail. If you purchased real live rock, you probably have a hitchhiker. There are various threads you can search on wamas for how to find and capture them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 15, 2018 Author Share September 15, 2018 Ill check! While reasing abour reef flix, I found Vibrant, seems less “toxic”. Does anyone have any experience with this one as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madweazl September 15, 2018 Share September 15, 2018 If it's a mantis killing the hermits, there will usually be a crack or hole in the shell (smasher species). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 15, 2018 Author Share September 15, 2018 Here are some pics of the algae I’ve been fighting for months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime September 15, 2018 Share September 15, 2018 I wouldn't get a fish you really don't want. Hermits won't eat it if it's too long. Concentrate on manual removal for now. I had a similar issue when I upgraded. My dry rock was definitely feeding it until it eventually died away all of a sudden. The first year of a tank can be rough with all the algaes etc that seem to come in waves. You can use an old toothbrush around corals if you really want. This. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 15, 2018 Author Share September 15, 2018 This. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yes. I just did that. The algae on the sand looks like a type of cyano (film/gel type), but brown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokythemattman@gmail.com September 15, 2018 Share September 15, 2018 (edited) So I am in a similar boat. I upgraded tanks and my rocks are definitely leaching phosphate. Like yours it isnt awful but it just pops up randomly. I have been afraid to do anything drastic because everything is alive and seemingly growing well. Maybe a little hindered by the high phos. For me reef flux will cut it back. But itll return. I wouldnt buy any livestock for it. There is no guarantee theyll touch it and theyll just add more nutrients. Over the past few months Ive upped the water changes and pull out what I see and the amount of GHA is going down. I imagine in the next month or two itll be largely gone at this rate. If you arent seeing any death or real issues I would just add some fluconazole and up the water changes. Edited September 15, 2018 by smokythemattman@gmail.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 17, 2018 Author Share September 17, 2018 Thank you all. I am trying Vibrant first, and if that does not work I will consider Flux (since it's medication, I am a bit worried on the effects on corals and fish). I did siphon the sand and brushed the rocks as much as I could. Unfortunately, when doing so a very small mushroom slipped thru the rocks and I decided to rescue it, but I ended up moving some rocks and not sure if I damaged one of my anemones :(. I will be so mad if I lose this beauty because I tried to rescue a $10 mushroom... The product is making the water so clear that I am impressed. I will continue to monitor it's progress with algae. I also performed 14% water change as I always do every 2 weeks. I will keep you guys informed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bues0022 September 18, 2018 Share September 18, 2018 How much do you feed? Depending on your nutrient export (skimming, turf scrubber, manual algae removal etc), bi-weekly 14% water changes might not be enough. Also, if you're adding a lot of hermits (even if they end up food for a mantis/pistol), that's still a lot of nutrients in the tank that need to get out somehow. As another said, you won't be able to pickup much on test kids for nutrients because the algae is consuming it. However, I think you have solid evidence that nutrient problems exist. What about increasing your frequency and/or amount of water change? a 30% water change on a 40 gallon tank isn't a big deal as far as effort or salt cost is concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neto September 18, 2018 Share September 18, 2018 lower your white lights helped me on several algae issues. Now on my 8x24w T5 unit, I have 5 blue, 1 pink and 2 white ones that only come on for 2 hours a day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 26, 2018 Author Share September 26, 2018 Quick update... Algae has been reduced around 50%, but some of it still grows around corals. It's not cyano, it is a hair algae that I have not seen before. It grows like a long hair and captures detritus too. Unfortunately, my starry blenny is gone and I could not find him, so nutrients went from 1ppm nitrate to 5ppm, and Phosphate to from .01 to .06ppm. In the same week I also removed 1 big rock and 2 small ones to make space for corals, so this might have reduced the bacteria I had. I also lowered the whites to a 6%. Here's some pics of this crazy algae . If someone know what is the name of it, I will really appreciate it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.ocellaris September 27, 2018 Author Share September 27, 2018 So after an extensive research I concluded that its dinoflagellates ugh. Anyone with experience is getting rid of this ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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