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Unread 12/20/2007, 02:54 PM   #1
UTTAngel
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Question What would cause all agae to just disappear?

Ok that seems like a strange question to me but I'm new at this.. So I just recently did a 40% water change on my tank, I only have 6.5lbs live rock currently and it'll be a bit before I can get anymore..

So here's the deal. I was having a bit of trouble with diatoms for a while and seemed to be getting them under control. I didn't have a large clean up crew so I bought some turbo snails which have done great getting all the algae off the walls.. I have a few fake plants that had a bit of diatoms on them and the snails never touched them. I also have a tiger conch which was also covered with diatoms.. I saw 1 snail get on the conch shell and the conch immediately scraped him off.. but now he has 0 algae on him at all... In about 3 days just about every bit of algae is gone.. and I mean every bit. The turbos had some coraline on them when I bought them and it seems like most of that has come off too. I had an older fake decoration that I put in there so the snails had something to munch on and in 3 days the algae is gone from it too.. and the snails wouldn't touch it.. I would put them on it and they would crawl off leaving the algae behind.. It's good that I don't have the algae problem anymore but now I'm worried about whether or not my turbos have enough to eat... I have some algae sheets in the mail and should be here tomorrow.. but what would cause the coraline on the turbos to disappear? well.. any help would be appreciated..

My tank parameters are:
Salinity - 1.022
phosphate - .5
calcium 380
pH- 8.4
alk - 3.0
NO2- 0
NO3- 20
Ammonia - 0
Temp 78*F

I know the NO3 is high... this was why i did the large water change (w/ di water from walmart) but it didn't seem to help any


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RBTA, Mushrooms, Green Star Polyps, 1 Fire Shrimp, 1 Flametail Blenny

Current Tank Info: 75g Reef -Remora Pro, 40 lbs LR- Yes I know I need more.
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Unread 12/20/2007, 02:59 PM   #2
SaltyDr
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I'd get the plastic plants out of there. The coralline should come back if you keep up on your parameters. What's your mag level?


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Unread 12/20/2007, 03:01 PM   #3
UTTAngel
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If I take all the plants out.. my fish will have no where to hide.. it's just temp until i can get some more LR.. I don't currently have a mag test, I guess that'll by my next step.. any suggestions on the NO3?


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Unread 12/20/2007, 03:39 PM   #4
papagimp
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How old is this tank? Is it the 29g listed in your current tank list? Been up since august? or is this newer?

all new tanks go through the diatom phase like that, they go away on their own, usually from being outcompeted by other types of algae, or they simply run through their food sources that's fueling the stuff to begin with. In older tanks, usually some type of problem will cause them to reappear, but as before, once they get through their foods sources or the cause of the excess nutrients is taken care of, they'll go away.

fwiw, I'm not 100% but I don't think turbo's feed on diatoms. Not every snail will, only certain species. Same with other types of algae, many species will munch on a wide variety, but their is just some stuff that will take specialized feeders to rid the tank of. Such as cynobacteria (not an alge i know) but alot/most snails/mollusks won't eat it but their are a few out their I know of.


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Unread 12/20/2007, 03:41 PM   #5
UTTAngel
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yeah it's the 29g, up since august.. only tank I have thanks for the info


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Unread 12/20/2007, 04:03 PM   #6
papagimp
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Quote:
Originally posted by UTTAngel
.. any suggestions on the NO3?
Yeah, if it's the 29g previously mentioned, that's an awful lot of fish in a tiny tank with very little live rock for filtration. You're lucky if that's all the nitrates you see. Any other type of filtration going on?


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Unread 12/20/2007, 04:07 PM   #7
UTTAngel
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CCS 65, i have the carbon filter that came with the tank goin also.... the damsels aren't a permanent fixture.. just to see if I could manage the tank.. they'll be going back to the fish store after the new year :P


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Unread 12/20/2007, 04:30 PM   #8
papagimp
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Should have specified, any other type of biological filtration going on. Skimmer won't biologically filter squat. Reason i ask, is with that many fish and that little filtration going on, would be pretty fortunate that you don't see ammonia and nitrites showing up. Minimum recommended amount of rock for a tank that size with a "standard" amount of bioload (fish) would be 29lbs. MINIMUM, you obviously have alot less as well as what I'd call a heavily stocked 29g. Keep an eye on all water parameters till you can get more filtration going on. Do you clean that carbon filter out regularly? Is there any other filter pads or whatnot in that filter?


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Unread 12/20/2007, 05:44 PM   #9
UTTAngel
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yeah i change the carbon filter once every other week, i plan on getting more live rock but it'll have to wait until after the holidays

thanks for the advice


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Current Tank Info: 75g Reef -Remora Pro, 40 lbs LR- Yes I know I need more.
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Unread 12/20/2007, 06:25 PM   #10
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Boy, I wish I had that problem.


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Unread 12/20/2007, 06:26 PM   #11
UTTAngel
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I know right! I thought I may have done something terribly wrong


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Current Tank Info: 75g Reef -Remora Pro, 40 lbs LR- Yes I know I need more.
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