Algae question pls

[tgirl6868]

Hello all... Ever since I had that I had ich in my tank and having to turn off my skimmer to medicate. My tank has been over taken by algae.... It is on my sand and on my rocks. How many cleaner snails, hermit crabs should I have? and what types do you suggest because the algae is growing long like grass on some parts of my rock..... My perimeters are phosphate .5, nitrate .00, ammonia .25.
Thank you,
Tamara
>>))):>

[Jstdv8]

you shouldnt be medicating for ich in your DT.
You pull all the fish out of the DT medicate them in a quarantine tank (QT) and leave the DT (Display tank) fishless for 5 weeks, smae time as the medication lasts. then you will be ich free. so no need to take the skimmer out of commision, feed the tank just like you would as if the fish were still in there. maybe a little less.

[rayn]

Wait, Hold, Pause! Ammonia .25?!? How old is the tank?

[tgirl6868]

Originally Posted by rayn

Wait, Hold, Pause! Ammonia .25?!? How old is the tank?

Just retested the ammonia all ways gets me with the green color in it but it is .00. Had hubby look also.

And the ich has been gone for a while...

[Jstdv8]

the ich was not gone for a while. Its just that your fish were healthy so they were fighting it off. something stressed them out or the shear numbers of tomites (free swimming ich) got to them and the ich showed itself again. as long as there are fish in the tnak there will always be ich until you do as i posted on the 2nd post.

[tgirl6868]

Good morning....

My fish are free of ich they recovered and are doing good. That is not my question though.

My question is that I have algae growing on my sand, rocks and the walls of my tank. I can easly wipe down my walls but my sand and the rocks it is not that easy. I saw a thread about some algae remover that someone used but I can't find it. Maybe someone can send me the link.

But what I really want to know is how many and what types of snails/ hermit crabs do you suggest for me to have in my tank that would eat the long grass like algae growing on my sand and rocks?

Thank you,
Tamara
>>))):>

[Chris27]

At this point you have some excess nutrients in there that are fueling the algae. A couple of water changes can help in the short term along with some vigorous siphoning of any algae you can.

From that point on, regular water changes and some other methods of nutrient export should be used. Things like GAC, GFO, RDSB's, Fuge's and ATS are all good options that are proven to work well.

[Floowid]

You didn't say how big your tank is, so that makes it kind of hard to answer the 'how many' question. Some people say one crab and one snail per gallon, but this seems really high to me, maybe if you are fighting off a really bad hair algae problem it isn't.

In my experience, snails are good, and crabs are bad. This isn't always the case, I have had one blue leg hermit for a couple years who really tears up algae, but all my red legs do is kill snails and clean up a little detritus here and there.

So to try to answer your question, get 1 or 2 turbo snails per 10 gallons. Try to find some Trochus snails too, they are my favorite algae eaters. Stay away from Margarita snails, they are from the tidal pools and sea grass flats, not the reefs, and they don't do a very good job, they just lounge around at the water line of the tank most of the time getting a suntan.

Some people have good luck with Emerald crabs. I have never had a good one, mine always tear through the tank like crabs are known to do, so they never stay in there long.

In the meantime, do like everyone suggests. Get your water quality as sparkling clean as you can. Do frequent and excessive water changes. You may even want to take some of the worst rocks out and scrub them with a clean new toothbrush in a bucket full of tank water, then rinse them in a bucket full of fresh salt water, before putting them back in your tank. I had to do this once to an entire tank. It was a pain, but the hair algae disappeared. Keep at it, and keep us posted.

[tgirl6868]

[QUOTE=Chris27;17249697]At this point you have some excess nutrients in there that are fueling the algae. A couple of water changes can help in the short term along with some vigorous siphoning of any algae you can.

So how do you siphon sand with out taking it out of you tank with a siphon?

Originally Posted by Floowid

You didn't say how big your tank is,

Sorry, I have a 80gl fish & corals


Some people have good luck with Emerald crabs. I have never had a good one, mine always tear through the tank like crabs are known to do, so they never stay in there long.
I had an arrow crab and got rid of him because I noticed that my polyps where being pick on.

You may even want to take some of the worst rocks out and scrub them with a clean new toothbrush in a bucket full of tank water, then rinse them in a bucket full of fresh salt water, before putting them back in your tank. I had to do this once to an entire tank. It was a pain, but the hair algae disappeared. Keep at it, and keep us posted.

OMG!!! That does sound like a pain. How about the live rock? I have feather dusters growing from them.

[Chris27]

Originally Posted by tgirl6868

So how do you siphon sand with out taking it out of you tank with a siphon?

You're going to take some out when you do it, but you can put it back in later. Taking some sand out now seems like a bad idea, but if you are able to eradicate the algae you surely won't mind the small effort involved in putting the sand back in later.

[Floowid]

So how do you siphon sand with out taking it out of you tank with a siphon?

I use a gravel vacuum. I use it on my sandbed with every water change.



OMG!!! That does sound like a pain. How about the live rock? I have feather dusters growing from them.

So did I, and I still do. Somehow they made it through the scrubbing. Things like tube worms and even polyps can be very resilient. I guess I should have said, this method of HA eradication should only be a last ditch effort. You should try other means first. No one has mentioned it yet in this thread, but many have had success by raising their mag levels using Kent Tech M. Others have tried raising mag and seen no improvement, seems a rather safe means to try though.

[tgirl6868]

So I Siphoned my sandbed. Boy they were heavy (algae) I had to use my hand to pick some up that wouldn't siphon.... Sadly to say....

Originally Posted by Chris27

You're going to take some out when you do it, but you can put it back in later. Taking some sand out now seems like a bad idea, but if you are able to eradicate the algae you surely won't mind the small effort involved in putting the sand back in later.

Originally Posted by Floowid

So how do you siphon sand with out taking it out of you tank with a siphon?

I use a gravel vacuum. I use it on my sandbed with every water change.



OMG!!! That does sound like a pain. How about the live rock? I have feather dusters growing from them.

So did I, and I still do. Somehow they made it through the scrubbing. Things like tube worms and even polyps can be very resilient. I guess I should have said, this method of HA eradication should only be a last ditch effort. You should try other means first. No one has mentioned it yet in this thread, but many have had success by raising their mag levels using Kent Tech M. Others have tried raising mag and seen no improvement, seems a rather safe means to try though.

I am still new and I dont know some of your slang but besides that what is Kent Tech M.? I'll try anything as long as my tank is safe.

[tgirl6868]

Ok, my leather coral hates when I clean my tank. It always starts so shrink and it makes a slime coat over it and it always takes a week I would say to get over it. WHY????

[troyman]

you should not have a amonia reading at all look into that problem before the algae the amonia could be stressing out the fish a good cure all is a bad one