Algae Pictures.

[basscyn]

Can anyone help me with either of these algae problems?

These green clumps keep apearing on my rocks. I can blow alot of it off with a powerhead...but it grows right back. I guess they produce enough oxygen on there own to create these bubbles. Is there an critter that can control em? I really dont want to add a chemical to kill it, but if anyone knows of any tested safe product, I would be willing to try.

Kind of hard to see in the pic, but I beleive this to be the dreaded brown algea I have heard about that is turning my nice white sand brown. I have read that getting nitrates under control is the cure.

I have had a nitrate problem, but cured it with my sump and skimmer. For the last week or so my nitrates have been 0ppm and the algae seemed to be clearing up. Its back! I keep the lights on a about 11 hours per day.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
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[jason sartain]

Sorry to rob this thread but I've got the same brown stuff on the bottom of my tank,is it bad or will my clean up crew finish it off?

 

[jason sartain]

Thanks I don't have any fish in my tank just corals and clean up crew,but I do run my lights to long so I'll cut it back to just 8 hrs a day.

 

[derek_s]

Plus the young tank thing doesn't help. Time will also reduce the severity of the algae. And Barb is right, even when it's gone, cyano seems to pop back in to say hi! every now and again. Just not near as bad.

Dawgdude, I thought most corals had an almost non-existent bio-load? How much and what kind of waste do they typically produce? I was just curious, as I have never seen guidelines/suggestions on a coral limit on tanks.

 

[jtshack]

I just recently moved from a 95g to a 120g and was having the same problem. I used a product called ChemiClean and admittedly, it did a good job. HOWEVER, a couple of days later and it's beginning to come back. After reading this post, I think I know what a large part of my problem is - I feed at least three times a day and my lights stay on for almost 12 hours. DOH!! :doh: I'm really glad Basscyn got such good pictures and started this post...maybe now I can get a little better control over this crap. It's not bad now, but I don't want to keep using the ChemiClean. I'd rather take a more natural approach and get it to go away on a more permanent basis.

In addition to cutting back on how long my lights are on per day and cutting back on how much I feed, does it do any good at all to "tidy up" the tank by maybe taking a scrub brush to the live rock and the sides of the tank? Or does that prolong the process? :unsure:

 

[drnecropolis]

The way I got rid of the dreaded slime algae was completely cove the tank and run lights off for about 5 days (keep in mind, if covered about 80% of my whole tank) then when it subsided I did 20 gallon water changes every other day for about a week..

 

[jtshack]

Will running with no lights hurt any of my livestock? (soft corals, polyps, anemone, etc...)

 

[jtshack]

Crap sandwiches!! I was afraid of that! Cutting back on my lighted hours should help though shouldn't it?

 

[drnecropolis]

Barb my dear, I had Livestock and coral wheni did it, I was corrected by my lovely wife that it wasent 5 days, it was 3 and a half, I fed the tank though hoping to try and sustain life. Everything looked pretty rough and it took awhile to get back to normal but no cyano..

 

[jtshack]

It's not worth fussing over...I'll try cutting back how long I leave my lights on...if I don't see results, I'll cut my lights for 2 days and see what happens. My mom did the same thing when she started her tank (but for only 2 days) and it worked for her. She didn't lose any livestock that I can think of, but for the life of me I can't remember if she had more than fish when she did it. I'm just nervous about cutting the lights because I've got a LOT of money tied up in this tank. I'd rather die myself than see all of it waste away because I was in a hurry to clear out some cyano.

Just curious...would it be as effective to maybe cut the lights back to only 3 or 4 hours a day? Would that be as harsh on the livestock?

Don't fight...just curious

 

[jtshack]

Cool Beans! I'll try it and see what happens...

THANKS!! :thumbs:

 

[drnecropolis]

Barb,
Beautiful you are right, I should have been more clear on this JT, I killed the light for that long as a last ditch effort. I tried cutting it back a few hours but it didn't seem to work. Mind you I had a terrible outbreak. If I was you I would cut the lights back to about 6 hours a day and try some water changes and hopefully that will help, also reduce feedings if you are feeding to much. Where are you located? Can't see on my blackberry.. Do you have an RO unit? If not and your semi close I can make up some rodi water and schlup it to you if you need..
Barb, did your wrasse show up yet?

 

[jtshack]

Wow! I am SO not anywhere close to you...I live in Maysville (close to the SC border going straight up I85). I don't currently have a RO unit, but I'm beginning to see that it's the next "must" for my tanks. To be honest, I've been a lazy reefer up til now and have only recently started taking proper care of my tanks. Crazy part is I never had any trouble until I started doing it "right"! :confused2:
My outbreak isn't horrible, but I do want to gain some control over it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the cutbacks will do the trick... :up:

 

[drnecropolis]

Yeah, a wee bit to far to frag ro water. Look on ebay for a water general.. I got a 6 stage for $130 after shipping., 0 TDS

 

[jtshack]

Any particular brand I should be looking for?

 

[drnecropolis]

Sucks!!! Want me to take them out!?!?

 

[jtshack]

Hey, hey, hey!! Focus people!! LOL!!

What am I looking for? For real...help me out here!

 

[drnecropolis]

Sorry, barb wants me so bad!

I bought mine from Filters Direct, 6stage with 2 di's.. Search ebay for rodi unit 6 stage you will find it buy it now price is $105

 

[jtshack]

Thanks Doc...you can have him back now Barb!

 

[basscyn]

Thanks everyone! This is a big help.
Yes Barbara...I have indeed had a problem with water quality over the past month. In the process of plumming my new sump, there was a period of a couple of weeks (I had not intended for it to take that long)</em> where there was practically no water cycling through any filter at all. I was just doing 2-3 10% water changes per week and hoped
everyone made it while I was piping it in.

When I did get the sump up and running this added maybe...25 gallons to my 75 gal set up instantly. Could that have contributed in any way?

Doc, I do have an RO unit. I will try cutting the lights back a bit. For what its worth...right now, the only livestock I have in this tank are a damsel and gobie. I also have a xenia, shrooms and a few assorted polps.

Could this livestock survive a couple of days with out light? That seems like a good solution...but I want to be careful.