Need some desperate advice on what seems to be waffer algae???

spankey · 01/31/2009, 05:29 PM

I have brownish algae growing on my rocks. It appears to be waffer algae and seems to have small looking fuzz on it. It looks a rust color.

At first it was on a rock at the bottom of my tank and removing it wasn't an option. It is now spread thru out the tank in various spots...

No3 is zero and PO3 is zero. I run a very low nutrient sps tank. I am contimplating tearing it down this spring and rebuilding it.

Does anything eat this stuff?????

I am game to try just about anything...

Thanks for your help and suggestions.
Spankey

Klix · 01/31/2009, 06:15 PM

any pics to help us out?

143gadgets · 02/01/2009, 12:47 AM

Naso tang or sally light foots

spankey · 02/01/2009, 04:05 PM

Well after some research I found out the Sally Light Foot crabs devoir this stuff.

Sure enough I bought two and threw them in and here is a photo of one digging into it when I had my camera out......

Nothing would touch this, I tried a Naso tang which that was hit or miss I read.

My crabs and snails would bypass it.

These within two hours are hitting it.

Thanks.

john90009 · 02/02/2009, 04:27 PM

It grows in my tank to when i had a yellow tang it would take some bits out of it but if it grew to big id pull it off in like one big piece.

spankey · 02/02/2009, 04:34 PM

John I never tried to pull at it. I am contemplating if the sally's don't get it, I will be going at it with a jack hammer. That should take care of it for sure.

I am seriously thinking about tearing my tank down this spring and rebuilding it with new LR. I have two mature clarki clowns in there I just can't catch. Every time I go in to move a coral they think my forearm is a large shrimp and attack it. It's like they know that is the most sensitive part of the arm too! They have hit me so hard at times I have bled go figure that one out....Clown fish drawing blood. LOL.......

So this way if I rebuild, I will have new LR and NO MORE CLOWN FISH!!!!!!!!

john90009 · 02/04/2009, 07:10 PM

well the algea thats on the flat edges will be pieces of cake, as for the ones on the rock might be a different story if you cant get under a piece. I like it in my tank since there isnt that much for the ones that are on the rocks they grow like monti caps off the rock at some parts and my vlamingi goes for it when i feed less, which is lately because im trying to battle some hair algae which came from no where.

rigleautomotive · 05/14/2009, 11:28 AM

did the sallys work,i got it also

engine · 05/14/2009, 12:14 PM

The negative is that you will have a sally lightfoot in your tank, and im sure you know how aggressive they get.

rendogg · 05/14/2009, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by engine
The negative is that you will have a sally lightfoot in your tank, and im sure you know how aggressive they get.

I always thought that they could get to be a nuisance until I went over to a local reefers house and saw his incredible tank with the largest Sally Lightfoot I have ever seen (the thing was massive). He claimed it was a peaceful inhabitant and I saw there was no algae in his tank other than coralline..... I'm still skeptical, but i'll probably try one for myself.

rigleautomotive · 05/14/2009, 12:24 PM

yea but if i need to get him out i can or i could just nuke him with interceptor for a last resort.i gotta do something for thes algae or it seems like it will smother corals eventually

luther1200 · 05/14/2009, 01:25 PM

I can't beleive I found this thread. I have been batteling this stuff for over a year. I only have a 65 so a naso tang wasn't an option. But I am going to try the SLF crabs. Are they reef safe? If so I'm going to get like 3 of them. I have this stuff pretty bad. I do pull it out with tweezers but make little head way. I will be so happy if a SLF crab eats this stuff.

luther1200 · 05/14/2009, 04:26 PM

Does anybody have any bad experiences with sally light foot crabs?

Imzadi · 05/14/2009, 04:40 PM

OMG.... Bad bad bad bad bad experience... *raises hand* Me.

I hada little one... cuz I had a 33g at the time. He was about the size of a quarter. After a year or so... maybe longer he was about the size of the palm of my hand. He would grab at EVERYTHING that swam by him. Like a cat swinging at a bird, never gonna get it... but gonna keep trying. I assume that I just couldn't satisfy him with the culinary offerings that I gave him. My wife hates spiders... and it looks like a spider, so she hated it... but I had to get it out of the tank, after he DROPPED like a ninja on the back of a lawnmower blenny, and popped his eyes out like a melon baller!!! I saw this with my own eyes. He had to go. 6 hours of trying... I finally caught him. Took him to the LFS and they were shocked by the growth in a year...

Bad? Yea, I had a bad experience... (not as bad as the Blenny, though)

rigleautomotive · 05/14/2009, 04:41 PM

i have had them before with no problems but i hear when they get big they can eat snails and small fish.one good thing is that they can be captured with some bait or you can dose the tank with interceptor and kill them if absolutely necessary

rigleautomotive · 05/14/2009, 04:44 PM

compared to this algae smothering my corals i will probably have to take the chance.this algae grows like monti caps even with a low nutrient condition and shades even the hardiest LPS corals

luther1200 · 05/14/2009, 05:34 PM

Yes, I think I will take the chance also. I have done everything from taking all rock olut and scrubbing and rinsing it, to trying to scrape and pull it off. I will try almost anything to get rid of it. Hopefully if the SLF get to big I can get them out.

They are basically herbivores though, right?

01/31/2009, 05:29 PM	#1
spankey Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Eastern Pa Posts: 2,671	Need some desperate advice on what seems to be waffer algae??? I have brownish algae growing on my rocks. It appears to be waffer algae and seems to have small looking fuzz on it. It looks a rust color. At first it was on a rock at the bottom of my tank and removing it wasn't an option. It is now spread thru out the tank in various spots... No3 is zero and PO3 is zero. I run a very low nutrient sps tank. I am contimplating tearing it down this spring and rebuilding it. Does anything eat this stuff????? I am game to try just about anything... Thanks for your help and suggestions. Spankey __________________ 75RR. 6x54w T5. Vortech, Reef Octopus Recirc Skimmer, RKL Controller.. On a restocking Frenzy ;0

02/01/2009, 04:05 PM	#4
spankey Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Eastern Pa Posts: 2,671	Well after some research I found out the Sally Light Foot crabs devoir this stuff. Sure enough I bought two and threw them in and here is a photo of one digging into it when I had my camera out...... Nothing would touch this, I tried a Naso tang which that was hit or miss I read. My crabs and snails would bypass it. These within two hours are hitting it. Thanks. __________________ 75RR. 6x54w T5. Vortech, Reef Octopus Recirc Skimmer, RKL Controller.. On a restocking Frenzy ;0

02/02/2009, 04:34 PM	#6
spankey Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Eastern Pa Posts: 2,671	John I never tried to pull at it. I am contemplating if the sally's don't get it, I will be going at it with a jack hammer. That should take care of it for sure. I am seriously thinking about tearing my tank down this spring and rebuilding it with new LR. I have two mature clarki clowns in there I just can't catch. Every time I go in to move a coral they think my forearm is a large shrimp and attack it. It's like they know that is the most sensitive part of the arm too! They have hit me so hard at times I have bled go figure that one out....Clown fish drawing blood. LOL....... So this way if I rebuild, I will have new LR and NO MORE CLOWN FISH!!!!!!!! __________________ 75RR. 6x54w T5. Vortech, Reef Octopus Recirc Skimmer, RKL Controller.. On a restocking Frenzy ;0

05/14/2009, 11:28 AM	#8
rigleautomotive Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northeast Pennsylvania Posts: 3,705	did the sallys work,i got it also __________________ Dan Rigle President, * Reef Conservation Society TOTM December 2010 Coral Magazine Sept/Oct 2012 Current Tank Info: 180 gal SPS dominated display, 3 X 250 watt Radiums , lumenarc III minis , with VHO actinics, ETS downdraft skimmers, closed loops and 2 Tunze 6105 & 7095 controller,DIY calcium reactors DIY custom built sumps,since 1992

05/14/2009, 12:24 PM	#11
rigleautomotive Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northeast Pennsylvania Posts: 3,705	yea but if i need to get him out i can or i could just nuke him with interceptor for a last resort.i gotta do something for thes algae or it seems like it will smother corals eventually __________________ Dan Rigle President, * Reef Conservation Society TOTM December 2010 Coral Magazine Sept/Oct 2012 Current Tank Info: 180 gal SPS dominated display, 3 X 250 watt Radiums , lumenarc III minis , with VHO actinics, ETS downdraft skimmers, closed loops and 2 Tunze 6105 & 7095 controller,DIY calcium reactors DIY custom built sumps,since 1992

01/31/2009, 06:15 PM	#2
Klix Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 37	any pics to help us out?

02/01/2009, 12:47 AM	#3
143gadgets Moved On Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 3,151	Naso tang or sally light foots

02/02/2009, 04:27 PM	#5
john90009 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Brick Posts: 985	It grows in my tank to when i had a yellow tang it would take some bits out of it but if it grew to big id pull it off in like one big piece.

02/04/2009, 07:10 PM	#7
john90009 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Brick Posts: 985	well the algea thats on the flat edges will be pieces of cake, as for the ones on the rock might be a different story if you cant get under a piece. I like it in my tank since there isnt that much for the ones that are on the rocks they grow like monti caps off the rock at some parts and my vlamingi goes for it when i feed less, which is lately because im trying to battle some hair algae which came from no where.

05/14/2009, 12:14 PM	#9
engine Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Orlando Posts: 312	The negative is that you will have a sally lightfoot in your tank, and im sure you know how aggressive they get.

05/14/2009, 01:25 PM	#12
luther1200 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NJ, shore Posts: 4,376	I can't beleive I found this thread. I have been batteling this stuff for over a year. I only have a 65 so a naso tang wasn't an option. But I am going to try the SLF crabs. Are they reef safe? If so I'm going to get like 3 of them. I have this stuff pretty bad. I do pull it out with tweezers but make little head way. I will be so happy if a SLF crab eats this stuff. __________________ Matt, 65G reef tank Current Tank Info: 65g reef, mix of sps, lps, few softies. Hoping to upgrade within the year.

05/14/2009, 04:26 PM	#13
luther1200 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NJ, shore Posts: 4,376	Does anybody have any bad experiences with sally light foot crabs? __________________ Matt, 65G reef tank Current Tank Info: 65g reef, mix of sps, lps, few softies. Hoping to upgrade within the year.

05/14/2009, 04:40 PM	#14
Imzadi Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 1,038	OMG.... Bad bad bad bad bad experience... raises hand Me. I hada little one... cuz I had a 33g at the time. He was about the size of a quarter. After a year or so... maybe longer he was about the size of the palm of my hand. He would grab at EVERYTHING that swam by him. Like a cat swinging at a bird, never gonna get it... but gonna keep trying. I assume that I just couldn't satisfy him with the culinary offerings that I gave him. My wife hates spiders... and it looks like a spider, so she hated it... but I had to get it out of the tank, after he DROPPED like a ninja on the back of a lawnmower blenny, and popped his eyes out like a melon baller!!! I saw this with my own eyes. He had to go. 6 hours of trying... I finally caught him. Took him to the LFS and they were shocked by the growth in a year... Bad? Yea, I had a bad experience... (not as bad as the Blenny, though) __________________ If you don't agree with me, that's fine... just go, think about it some more, and come back when you do. Current Tank Info: 120g Freshie, 55g salty with a 2/3 BeanAnimal. BA METHOD - TESTIFY! I am a DIY Disaster, but I am saving money! Damsel FREE since 07/08/09!

05/14/2009, 04:41 PM	#15
rigleautomotive Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northeast Pennsylvania Posts: 3,705	i have had them before with no problems but i hear when they get big they can eat snails and small fish.one good thing is that they can be captured with some bait or you can dose the tank with interceptor and kill them if absolutely necessary __________________ Dan Rigle President, * Reef Conservation Society TOTM December 2010 Coral Magazine Sept/Oct 2012 Current Tank Info: 180 gal SPS dominated display, 3 X 250 watt Radiums , lumenarc III minis , with VHO actinics, ETS downdraft skimmers, closed loops and 2 Tunze 6105 & 7095 controller,DIY calcium reactors DIY custom built sumps,since 1992

05/14/2009, 04:44 PM	#16
rigleautomotive Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Northeast Pennsylvania Posts: 3,705	compared to this algae smothering my corals i will probably have to take the chance.this algae grows like monti caps even with a low nutrient condition and shades even the hardiest LPS corals __________________ Dan Rigle President, * Reef Conservation Society TOTM December 2010 Coral Magazine Sept/Oct 2012 Current Tank Info: 180 gal SPS dominated display, 3 X 250 watt Radiums , lumenarc III minis , with VHO actinics, ETS downdraft skimmers, closed loops and 2 Tunze 6105 & 7095 controller,DIY calcium reactors DIY custom built sumps,since 1992

05/14/2009, 05:34 PM	#17
luther1200 Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: NJ, shore Posts: 4,376	Yes, I think I will take the chance also. I have done everything from taking all rock olut and scrubbing and rinsing it, to trying to scrape and pull it off. I will try almost anything to get rid of it. Hopefully if the SLF get to big I can get them out. They are basically herbivores though, right? __________________ Matt, 65G reef tank Current Tank Info: 65g reef, mix of sps, lps, few softies. Hoping to upgrade within the year.