Green algae with bubbles-how to fix it?

Rosemarie · 02/27/2006, 10:15 PM

We have a 55 gallon tank thats been up for over a year but we lost everything from what we think was an old filter on the RODI.

So we're trying to start over again but we have a SEVERE problem with green algae on our live rock and some type of clear bubbles on the rock as well. Not sure if the clear bubbles are part of the green algae or not.

We've changed our filters for the water unit, installed a UV sterilizer, new Enheim canister filter, two new flow pumps(one on each side of the tank), and a protein skimmer. The water parameters are fine. We also added some more live sand to increase the bed size and have been doing water changes monthly. There's one fish in our tank right now and it doesn't seem like it's going to live.

What are we doing wrong? What is causing the algae to keep coming back? The light bulbs in our Coralife unit have all been replaced and the lights are only on for 6 hrs for the bright lights and 8 hrs for the acnic.

How do we get rid of the algae? Prevent it? What eats it? Should we turn off the lights and cover it with a blanket like on other poster did?

Thanks for your help!

cfarrow2 · 02/27/2006, 10:49 PM

an emerald crab will eat bubble algae, and other kinds of algae as well. But it sounds like your tank isn't fit for one right now. I'd remove that last fish and keep an eye on the water tests. It might be that something worse than ammonia or phosphates came through that bad filter you replaced. I'd take your RO water to the lfs to be tested in case your test kits are bad. Also, with the addition of that live sand, you've likely started a new cycle on your tank system. Other than that, you may seek advice from your lfs. If it's bad water in your pipes, other people may have had the same problem. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. keep at it

BurntOutReefer · 02/27/2006, 11:02 PM

what are your water specs

Rosemarie · 02/27/2006, 11:18 PM

We tested the water as well as the LFS and both tests indicated a slight elevation of ammonia in the water. The water problem began in September and we began using saltwater purchased from Petco from October thru January. The problem still occurred.

So it seems like no matter what water we use, store bought saltwater or RODI water, we still have the problem. The equipment has all been replaced. We're stumped!

zeblisik · 02/27/2006, 11:26 PM

rosemarie,

Am i correct in thinking that this is not bubble algae but green algae w/ bubbles?

ive got this happening in my little marine tank and in a cichlid tank; its not bubble algae but algae that is really quite active... plants give off oxygen, right?

so you have to look into how to control algae in general terms; do water changes, make sure youre not over feeding, is the tank receiving any light from a window? maybe you need to reevaluate your lighting needs? are you using a protein skimmer? is it working well?

check this link out
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/avoidingalgaeproblesm.htm

clnreef · 02/27/2006, 11:34 PM

Maybe its cyano????

cfarrow2 · 02/28/2006, 12:31 AM

cyano is pretty well unmistakeable. It's red slime that, when built up, hangs on your LR, etc., in sheets. It doesn't sound like cyano. How would you feel about totally draining your tank? If the water was that bad, it's probably leached its way into everything; LR and substrate. Have you thought about taking it to a water specialist? I'm not sure, but there should be places that test drinking water for stuff other that what a lfs would test for. You could have contaminants that got in with the bad filter that aren't being removed with water changes. It sounds like you've taken all the other steps that would clear up the problem.

Alaskan Reefer · 02/28/2006, 04:37 AM

How I Killed My Hair Algae (about 3 years ago)

1. Phosphate Sponge (just one brand, there are several) -- 2 media bags, changed every three days.
2. Added HOB refugium with chaetomorpha -- lights 24/7
3. Cleaning... Manually scrub rocks daily with toothbrushes, catch HA and remove with a net. Turkey baster and/or powerheads on LR to blow out detritus. After about half an hour (detritus settled), 20% water change, including siphoning detritus out of the sand. Daily. Yeah, it's a lot of water changes. Eventually you'll just be blowing out detritus daily (hair algae won't grow back fast enough), and that's a good thing.
4. Stop feeding phosphate rich foods -- like mysis.
5. Leave lights on LONGER. This helps the hair algae grow, and as long as you're removing it with your toothbrush and net, you are exporting phosphates.
6. Kalk drip -- kalk helps raise pH, which hair algae doesn't like. It also helps your skimmer specifically with phosphate -- which I believe is due to binding chemically and making the particles easier to remove. I'm not sure on the chemistry, but I know it works. The added bonus is that you have a nice calcium and alkalinity supplementation scheme along with topoff water already in place when you're done.
7. Of course, use RO for any water you put in the system.

Alaskan Reefer · 02/28/2006, 04:40 AM

Oh, and the bubbles could be valonia, which emerald crabs eat -- having said that, adding critters to eat your algae doesn't change why it's there in the first place (excess nutrients). If you remove valonia, be careful not to pop the bubbles as it will spread worse.

Rosemarie · 02/28/2006, 06:44 AM

It's definately not cyano, we had that before and were able to get rid of it. As far as overfeeding, the tank only has the live rock and sand with the exception of just adding one fish last week.

The one mistake was that we've been scrubbing the rocks with a toothbrush breaking the bubbles so we'll stop that. How do you do a calk drip?

The other question, can we remove the live rock, clean it several times over several days in separate buckets of saltwater then place it back in the tank after a week? I'm thinking of using one bucket to clean the rock, one to rinse, and one to store the rock. Does the rock need to have heated water too?

Thanks for all of your help! It's GREATLY appreciated!!

Rosemarie · 02/28/2006, 07:20 PM

Also, how do we know the live rock is still alive? Does "dead" rock produce toxins?
Thanks

Teremei · 02/28/2006, 07:28 PM

It sounds like Dynos. Or "Dinofalleges" (or something like that). I currently have some on my glass walls, but not my rocks or sand.

It's light green, and has alot of clear air bubbles. Does this discribe it? What I do is every week when I do water changes I take a plastic scrubber (which I bought specifically for the tank) and scrub the tank walls real good. If it's on your rocks I'd blow a turkey baster on it, that will get it off temporarily. But to really get it off, you're gonna need to scrub. And yes your idea of taking the rock out for awhile and curing it in seperate containers is a good idea. But since I haven't seen a picture, I don't know how much of a problem the "bubbles" are, in relation to maybe a more serious water chemistry problem.

Also, instead of monthly water changes, you should switch to 10% water change every week. I don't care if there's 1 fish or no fish, it's better for the tank. How much were you changing when you DO change your water once a month?

02/27/2006, 10:15 PM	#1
Rosemarie Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 59	Green algae with bubbles-how to fix it? We have a 55 gallon tank thats been up for over a year but we lost everything from what we think was an old filter on the RODI. So we're trying to start over again but we have a SEVERE problem with green algae on our live rock and some type of clear bubbles on the rock as well. Not sure if the clear bubbles are part of the green algae or not. We've changed our filters for the water unit, installed a UV sterilizer, new Enheim canister filter, two new flow pumps(one on each side of the tank), and a protein skimmer. The water parameters are fine. We also added some more live sand to increase the bed size and have been doing water changes monthly. There's one fish in our tank right now and it doesn't seem like it's going to live. What are we doing wrong? What is causing the algae to keep coming back? The light bulbs in our Coralife unit have all been replaced and the lights are only on for 6 hrs for the bright lights and 8 hrs for the acnic. How do we get rid of the algae? Prevent it? What eats it? Should we turn off the lights and cover it with a blanket like on other poster did? Thanks for your help!

02/27/2006, 10:49 PM	#2
cfarrow2 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Overland Park, KS Posts: 626	an emerald crab will eat bubble algae, and other kinds of algae as well. But it sounds like your tank isn't fit for one right now. I'd remove that last fish and keep an eye on the water tests. It might be that something worse than ammonia or phosphates came through that bad filter you replaced. I'd take your RO water to the lfs to be tested in case your test kits are bad. Also, with the addition of that live sand, you've likely started a new cycle on your tank system. Other than that, you may seek advice from your lfs. If it's bad water in your pipes, other people may have had the same problem. Sorry to hear about your bad luck. keep at it __________________ Happiness is contagious. What are you spreading? Current Tank Info: 55 gal. 216 W. T5s. Wet/dry sump w/ Mag 5 return. Softies, 3 fish, shrimp, urchin. HA factory for the time being.

02/27/2006, 11:34 PM	#6
clnreef Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Colorado Posts: 177	Maybe its cyano???? __________________ "As the blind man said as he was peeing into the wind 'I can see now, its all coming back to me'" Current Tank Info: 125 Reef: 3x250Watt XM 10K MH, 2x160Watt URI VHO. SPS and Clams couple of softies/lps

02/28/2006, 12:31 AM	#7
cfarrow2 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Overland Park, KS Posts: 626	cyano is pretty well unmistakeable. It's red slime that, when built up, hangs on your LR, etc., in sheets. It doesn't sound like cyano. How would you feel about totally draining your tank? If the water was that bad, it's probably leached its way into everything; LR and substrate. Have you thought about taking it to a water specialist? I'm not sure, but there should be places that test drinking water for stuff other that what a lfs would test for. You could have contaminants that got in with the bad filter that aren't being removed with water changes. It sounds like you've taken all the other steps that would clear up the problem. __________________ Happiness is contagious. What are you spreading? Current Tank Info: 55 gal. 216 W. T5s. Wet/dry sump w/ Mag 5 return. Softies, 3 fish, shrimp, urchin. HA factory for the time being.

02/28/2006, 04:37 AM	#8
Alaskan Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Eagle River, Alaska Posts: 2,360	How I Killed My Hair Algae (about 3 years ago) 1. Phosphate Sponge (just one brand, there are several) -- 2 media bags, changed every three days. 2. Added HOB refugium with chaetomorpha -- lights 24/7 3. Cleaning... Manually scrub rocks daily with toothbrushes, catch HA and remove with a net. Turkey baster and/or powerheads on LR to blow out detritus. After about half an hour (detritus settled), 20% water change, including siphoning detritus out of the sand. Daily. Yeah, it's a lot of water changes. Eventually you'll just be blowing out detritus daily (hair algae won't grow back fast enough), and that's a good thing. 4. Stop feeding phosphate rich foods -- like mysis. 5. Leave lights on LONGER. This helps the hair algae grow, and as long as you're removing it with your toothbrush and net, you are exporting phosphates. 6. Kalk drip -- kalk helps raise pH, which hair algae doesn't like. It also helps your skimmer specifically with phosphate -- which I believe is due to binding chemically and making the particles easier to remove. I'm not sure on the chemistry, but I know it works. The added bonus is that you have a nice calcium and alkalinity supplementation scheme along with topoff water already in place when you're done. 7. Of course, use RO for any water you put in the system. __________________ Unattended children will be given double shot espresso and a free puppy. Current Tank Info: 125g FOWLR -- Conversion Back To SPS In Progress

02/27/2006, 11:02 PM	#3
BurntOutReefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Granada Hills Posts: 4,376	what are your water specs

02/27/2006, 11:18 PM	#4
Rosemarie Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 59	We tested the water as well as the LFS and both tests indicated a slight elevation of ammonia in the water. The water problem began in September and we began using saltwater purchased from Petco from October thru January. The problem still occurred. So it seems like no matter what water we use, store bought saltwater or RODI water, we still have the problem. The equipment has all been replaced. We're stumped!

02/27/2006, 11:26 PM	#5
zeblisik Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Brooklyn, NY USA Posts: 393	rosemarie, Am i correct in thinking that this is not bubble algae but green algae w/ bubbles? ive got this happening in my little marine tank and in a cichlid tank; its not bubble algae but algae that is really quite active... plants give off oxygen, right? so you have to look into how to control algae in general terms; do water changes, make sure youre not over feeding, is the tank receiving any light from a window? maybe you need to reevaluate your lighting needs? are you using a protein skimmer? is it working well? check this link out http://www.wetwebmedia.com/avoidingalgaeproblesm.htm

02/28/2006, 04:40 AM	#9
Alaskan Reefer Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Eagle River, Alaska Posts: 2,360	Oh, and the bubbles could be valonia, which emerald crabs eat -- having said that, adding critters to eat your algae doesn't change why it's there in the first place (excess nutrients). If you remove valonia, be careful not to pop the bubbles as it will spread worse. __________________ Unattended children will be given double shot espresso and a free puppy. Current Tank Info: 125g FOWLR -- Conversion Back To SPS In Progress

02/28/2006, 06:44 AM	#10
Rosemarie Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 59	It's definately not cyano, we had that before and were able to get rid of it. As far as overfeeding, the tank only has the live rock and sand with the exception of just adding one fish last week. The one mistake was that we've been scrubbing the rocks with a toothbrush breaking the bubbles so we'll stop that. How do you do a calk drip? The other question, can we remove the live rock, clean it several times over several days in separate buckets of saltwater then place it back in the tank after a week? I'm thinking of using one bucket to clean the rock, one to rinse, and one to store the rock. Does the rock need to have heated water too? Thanks for all of your help! It's GREATLY appreciated!!

02/28/2006, 07:20 PM	#11
Rosemarie Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 59	Also, how do we know the live rock is still alive? Does "dead" rock produce toxins? Thanks

02/28/2006, 07:28 PM	#12
Teremei Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West Chicago (one hour west) Posts: 2,751	It sounds like Dynos. Or "Dinofalleges" (or something like that). I currently have some on my glass walls, but not my rocks or sand. It's light green, and has alot of clear air bubbles. Does this discribe it? What I do is every week when I do water changes I take a plastic scrubber (which I bought specifically for the tank) and scrub the tank walls real good. If it's on your rocks I'd blow a turkey baster on it, that will get it off temporarily. But to really get it off, you're gonna need to scrub. And yes your idea of taking the rock out for awhile and curing it in seperate containers is a good idea. But since I haven't seen a picture, I don't know how much of a problem the "bubbles" are, in relation to maybe a more serious water chemistry problem. Also, instead of monthly water changes, you should switch to 10% water change every week. I don't care if there's 1 fish or no fish, it's better for the tank. How much were you changing when you DO change your water once a month?