algae green hair and brown algae hair

[rngrjeremy]

ok i was cycling my tank with live rock, sand and a clown fish... the brown algae start first then it went to green algae in places and then some brown hair started up and now i am getting green hair algee wich is starting to become stupid... some of it looks like slim or grass other places it looks like tree branches... the water samples taken today show the levels all at the lowest levels so the water cant be that bad for all this madness can it. the test tested for ph, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia... the clown is healthy and happy and breathing fine, swimming actively, as well as eating normal. the water temp is 79 and the salt reading is 1.24. Just looking for some help or ideas i know something is out of wack just cant figure out what.. As far as lighting there on on during daylight hours... normaly off by 9pm till 9 am or so. thanks

 

[ralph atl]

<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">What test kits are you using? Nitrates and Phosphates need much better test kits than the average newbie buys and the lfs use.</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">The reason you have algae is that your level of nitrates and phosphates is too high! You must </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">export the same or more nutrients than you put in. Overfeeding, tap water, high phosphate foods, etc. </span></span>
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<span style="font-size: 13px"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">Phosphate reduction/ removal and high trates could be the answer. Wet skimming with a skimmer that is rated at least double your water volume. If you cannot get a fuge or sump (you can maybe make a "Rubbermaid sump with cheato in it for a few bucks) you can get a $35.00 hang on phosphate reactor for your tank and put some GFO in there. In the future, you'll most likely need a refugium with Macro algae. </span></span>
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<span style="color: black"><span style="font-size: 13px"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman">If you choose GFO, you’ll need to start VERY SLOWLY! Use 25% of the recommended media, slowly increasing every week. You need to acclimate your tank inhabitants over at least a 2 month period especially is you have any stony corals. Once acclimated you’ll need to change your Iron based media in the phosphate reactor more often. Your media will get saturated within 2 weeks or so depending upon how much is bound up in your rocks, tank, algae, etc. Use less media, change every 2 weeks. Use a great test kit like DD Merck, Hack, or colormeter. If you already have a fuge & reactor, be aggressive & change the media every 2 weeks.</span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">When you do your water change, take the end of the hose and suck all the algae down like a vacuum. It'll take a few water changes, but it works (especially after the phosphate remover kicks in)</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">Use a phosphate reactor with some phosar or ROWA or whatever, and something to lower nitrates like a fuge, AZNO3, Vodka, VSV or other carbon source. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">check out:</span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php</span></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
[IMG]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-09/rhf/index.php</span></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">[IMG]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/chem.htm</a></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
[IMG]http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php</span></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
[IMG]http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/eb/index.php"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/eb/index.php</span></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
[IMG]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm</span></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">[IMG]http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1349443">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1349443</a></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
[IMG]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/chem.htm"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/chem.htm</span></span></a>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px"> </span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman"><span style="font-size: 13px">VSV:</span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">[IMG]http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php">http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...nftt/index.php</a>


[IMG]http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1225324">http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...readid=1225324</a></span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana"> </span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana"> </span></span>
<span style="color: black"><span style="font-family: Verdana">[IMG]http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22849&highlight=vodka">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forum...ighlight=vodka</a></span></span>

 

[dakota9]

If you've just cycled, then I doubt nitrates is the issue. Just sounds like a new tank going through it's color phases to me. Manual removal of the green and brown during a water change, and cut back on the lighting a bit. PhosGuard in the sump will help too

 

[ralph atl]

sorry, but nitrates ARE the end result of cycling.

 

[dakota9]

mysterybox;491652 wrote: sorry, but nitrates ARE the end result of cycling.

Yes, but only become an issue after several months typically as it takes a very long time for nitrate to build up to problematic levels.

 

[ralph atl]

not true, Nitrates remain in the water column for the most part. You must be thinking of phosphates, which build up in the sand, rock, and everywhere else!

 

[dakota9]

Hm....... I've never, ever heard that nitrates remain in the water column. It's the substrate where you'll find the nitrates residing

 

[paindocc]

how do you all feel about other nitrate reductors like hermit crabs?

 

[brianjfinn]

PAINDOCC;491808 wrote: how do you all feel about other nitrate reductors like hermit crabs?

CUCs only reduce the amount of waste decomposing and creating nitrates. Water changes, macro algae, and nitrate removing media are the only way to reduce nitrates.

 

[brianjfinn]

Very nice, informative post, by the way Ralph!

 

[ralph atl]

Thanks!

 

[cr500_af]

It seems it's my turn to be "that guy"... please don't cycle your tank with fish. It's cruel, and you absolutely don't need fish to get the cycle moving.

 

[dwhatley]

Going through algae blooms is SOP when cycling a tank and they really don't stabalize for at least a year (and I would venture to say two to three years). Maintaining them until you get there can be challenging and the preferred natural methods are slow in producing results but IMO highly desirable over chemical additives.

Depending upon what you are going to put into the tank, a pencil urchin will do wonders for the hair algae. When you have corals, you may have to remove it as it ages as I have seen them nibble on soft corals. I have never been sure if this is part of the aging process or due to the lack of desirable algae as the tank matures but have noticed once they start nibbling, they will not go back to just grazing.

Also, as suggested above, when you clean the algae from your glass, use a sponge (rinsing often in saltwater) and/or a siphon and not an algae magnet. The magnet cleaner will simply put algae back into the water column.

Reducing your photo period by as much as half will help a lot too but is not a viable solution after you add corals so getting the algae bloom under control, phosphates down and keeping them reduce is important.

 

[spacepony]

^+1
my new tank is currently going thru most of those algae phases. As another point, make sure you are using RO/DI water.

 

[ricksconnected]

cr500_af;492031 wrote: It seems it's my turn to be "that guy"... please don't cycle your tank with fish. It's cruel, and you absolutely don't need fish to get the cycle moving.

thank you barry.
it took 11 posts before somebody actually said something.
sometimes it doesnt suck to be "that guy".