Lets play name that algae!!!

browning_boy20 · 01/19/2010, 06:04 PM

Ok for the last 3 weeks I have been getting a redish brown algae or bacteria on my glass and my equipment. It is not like hair or a mat it is more along the lines of the green algae that will grow on the glass of a freshwater tank. Just wipe it and it is gone until tomorrow. It seems to be getting worse everyday. My setup is a 40G breeder, HOB filter, Aqua C remora skimmer and 175 GPH power head. My parameters are Salinity 1.26, ALK 9.5, calcium 430, phosphates 1, Nitrites 0, nitrates 10. I did a 7G water change a week ago and changed all of the filter pads. My lights are aquaticlife T5's 4 bulb. My schedule is Actinic 10:45am-7:00PM, White ones (what are they called) 11:30AM-6:30PM and LED's 7:00pm-9:30PM.

Heres the pics

Please let me know if you have any idea what it could be.

Thanks

DC_40gallon · 01/19/2010, 06:52 PM

Does this look familiar to your pic?

This is my tank around middle of October 2009. I found it a type of diatom algae. I had to scrape every 3 days, siphon off the surface of my sand every week, I added a phosban reactor and ran phosguard to zero the phosphates and I did 10-20% weekly water changes with RO/DI water with quality salt (Red Sea Coral Pro).

I'm not joking when I say that the very same thing you see in your pic and my pic went away only a week ago.

I went from diatoms for nearly 2 months to hair algae for a month then I went to cyano and only but about a week ago the cyano is gone and my tank is without algae now.

Patience is key with what you have and no sugarcoat, IT SUCKS A$$!

tengquen · 01/19/2010, 06:53 PM

I had the exact same looking algae. It showed up on the tank sides, the sand, and my rocks. I just scrubbed the sides, and bought 5 blue leg hermits. They took care of all the algae in a few days.

Although this was during my tank cycling, and it looks like you have an established tank...

DC_40gallon · 01/19/2010, 06:57 PM

Re-reading your params, your phosphates are TOO HIGH, that is what is causing the problem.

On a different note, I won't push it but FYI you will get people who will bust you for your fish.

2 clowns at most, you have at least 3 and the clown police around here will tell you how you can't do that and how they will tease and kill one another.

I say it's all about the fish personality. If you watched the fish and studied them long enough, you will see how they behave and act.

I have a yellow tang which is notorious for being a territorial fish in my 40 breeder and his name is Bashful because he is the sweetest and kindest fish I've ever seen. He plays with my scissortail gobies all the time and never does anything to cause a ruckus.

browning_boy20 · 01/19/2010, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC_40gallon

Re-reading your params, your phosphates are TOO HIGH, that is what is causing the problem.

On a different note, I won't push it but FYI you will get people who will bust you for your fish.

2 clowns at most, you have at least 3 and the clown police around here will tell you how you can't do that and how they will tease and kill one another.

I say it's all about the fish personality. If you watched the fish and studied them long enough, you will see how they behave and act.

I have a yellow tang which is notorious for being a territorial fish in my 40 breeder and his name is Bashful because he is the sweetest and kindest fish I've ever seen. He plays with my scissortail gobies all the time and never does anything to cause a ruckus.

All I can say is they can try and bust all they want. These clowns all get along great. They never peck each other and they all sleep side by side at night in the same Kenya tree. I will try to get a pic of them tonight. I also have a Clraki that lives in the Ritteri Nem and she is ok with them unless they get to close to the ritteri then she persuades them to go back on their side of the tank. Just one peck is all it takes. Like you say its all in the personalities.

So how should I go about killing this algae?

grinner30 · 01/19/2010, 07:30 PM

What do most people siphon with? Turkey baster? is the a siphon tool that is good to buy?

browning_boy20 · 01/19/2010, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grinner30

What do most people siphon with? Turkey baster? is the a siphon tool that is good to buy?

You use a baster to blow all of the debris off the rocks. Once you do that get a vacuum and clean your sand bed while you siphon.

browning_boy20 · 01/19/2010, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DC_40gallon

Re-reading your params, your phosphates are TOO HIGH, that is what is causing the problem.

On a different note, I won't push it but FYI you will get people who will bust you for your fish.

2 clowns at most, you have at least 3 and the clown police around here will tell you how you can't do that and how they will tease and kill one another.

I say it's all about the fish personality. If you watched the fish and studied them long enough, you will see how they behave and act.

I have a yellow tang which is notorious for being a territorial fish in my 40 breeder and his name is Bashful because he is the sweetest and kindest fish I've ever seen. He plays with my scissortail gobies all the time and never does anything to cause a ruckus.

After rereading my parameters myself I noticed I screwed up. My phosphates are actually 0.1 not 1. Sorry

DC_40gallon · 01/19/2010, 08:12 PM

Gotcha, look into a phosban reactor or go to bulkreefsupply.com and pick out a media reactor (same thing but "phosban reactor" is the name brand model).

Run phosguard or the phospate media and all should be gone soon. The media reactor is a good investment anyways (around $40) because it will allow you to run carbon or when/if you get a hair algae or cyano outbreak (or like this case, diatoms or such type algae nuisance) you can have it to rip the junk out quickly.

Or if you just want a quickie fix, you can by a media bag full of phosguard at most LFS for around $7-10. It will last around a month and rip the phosphates out of the tank.

I just kept up with ro/di water changes weekly with 10-20%, minimized my lighting which it appears you already are doing. Another thing is scrape the stuff off with a ice scraper and scrape from the bottom to the top. Turn off all your powerheads and water movement (except your skimmer, I would run it wet for a few hours while you are doing this) and when you get the ice scraper to the top, wipe the blade off with a rag.

What gets sent back into the tank will get picked up with your skimmer.

I also ran a huge 330 gph tetra hang on back powerfilter, like we use in freshwater tanks, and with new filters (change the filters monthly) and that was just THAT much more filtration I was getting to fight the junk.

Doing all this took me nearly 4 months to get rid of it all.

I'm putting 2 baby (more like minnow) clowns in a 10 gallon tank for our kitchen. I can't wait!

SnowManSnow · 01/19/2010, 09:59 PM

looks like diatoms to me ...

Have you had a snail die off or anything?

B

afernandez · 01/20/2010, 02:32 AM

po4 reactor +1
fuge (
put skimmer on full blast

honestly looks like diatoms.
high no3 level will do this, just need to export nutrients a bit better.
how old is this tank?
and last but not least it can b indicating the ending of your cycle

hope this helps

browning_boy20 · 01/20/2010, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afernandez

po4 reactor +1
fuge (
put skimmer on full blast

honestly looks like diatoms.
high no3 level will do this, just need to export nutrients a bit better.
how old is this tank?
and last but not least it can b indicating the ending of your cycle

hope this helps

I will look into the reactor.

Also I am running ferric oxide in a sock in my HOB filter.

THe tank has been established for a little over 1.5 years.

01/19/2010, 06:04 PM	#1
browning_boy20 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Mobile, AL Posts: 425	Lets play name that algae!!! Ok for the last 3 weeks I have been getting a redish brown algae or bacteria on my glass and my equipment. It is not like hair or a mat it is more along the lines of the green algae that will grow on the glass of a freshwater tank. Just wipe it and it is gone until tomorrow. It seems to be getting worse everyday. My setup is a 40G breeder, HOB filter, Aqua C remora skimmer and 175 GPH power head. My parameters are Salinity 1.26, ALK 9.5, calcium 430, phosphates 1, Nitrites 0, nitrates 10. I did a 7G water change a week ago and changed all of the filter pads. My lights are aquaticlife T5's 4 bulb. My schedule is Actinic 10:45am-7:00PM, White ones (what are they called) 11:30AM-6:30PM and LED's 7:00pm-9:30PM. Heres the pics Please let me know if you have any idea what it could be. Thanks Last edited by browning_boy20; 01/19/2010 at 06:11 PM.

01/19/2010, 09:59 PM	#10
SnowManSnow Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Georgia Posts: 956	looks like diatoms to me ... Have you had a snail die off or anything? B __________________ It's dark as the inside of a cow out here! - Mark Twain Current Tank Info: 120 MRC acrylic Tank (love it). Constellation T5s Mixed Reef

01/20/2010, 02:32 AM	#11
afernandez Never Quit!! Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: new york city! Posts: 1,505	po4 reactor +1 fuge ( put skimmer on full blast honestly looks like diatoms. high no3 level will do this, just need to export nutrients a bit better. how old is this tank? and last but not least it can b indicating the ending of your cycle hope this helps __________________ Arlin- Take your time and do it right. Current Tank Info: 120g Apex controller, (2) mp40w Es ,(3) Mp10W Es, Alfa vertex 170, 8 bulb ATI Dimable Sunpower,REEFOCTOPUS-BB-10000, Tunze Ato . 21G MINI-Reef, 250w MH, Mp10Wes

01/19/2010, 06:53 PM	#3
tengquen Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 41	I had the exact same looking algae. It showed up on the tank sides, the sand, and my rocks. I just scrubbed the sides, and bought 5 blue leg hermits. They took care of all the algae in a few days. Although this was during my tank cycling, and it looks like you have an established tank...

01/19/2010, 06:57 PM	#4
DC_40gallon Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,474	Re-reading your params, your phosphates are TOO HIGH, that is what is causing the problem. On a different note, I won't push it but FYI you will get people who will bust you for your fish. 2 clowns at most, you have at least 3 and the clown police around here will tell you how you can't do that and how they will tease and kill one another. I say it's all about the fish personality. If you watched the fish and studied them long enough, you will see how they behave and act. I have a yellow tang which is notorious for being a territorial fish in my 40 breeder and his name is Bashful because he is the sweetest and kindest fish I've ever seen. He plays with my scissortail gobies all the time and never does anything to cause a ruckus.

01/19/2010, 07:30 PM	#6
grinner30 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Tucson Posts: 177	What do most people siphon with? Turkey baster? is the a siphon tool that is good to buy?

01/19/2010, 08:12 PM	#9
DC_40gallon Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,474	Gotcha, look into a phosban reactor or go to bulkreefsupply.com and pick out a media reactor (same thing but "phosban reactor" is the name brand model). Run phosguard or the phospate media and all should be gone soon. The media reactor is a good investment anyways (around $40) because it will allow you to run carbon or when/if you get a hair algae or cyano outbreak (or like this case, diatoms or such type algae nuisance) you can have it to rip the junk out quickly. Or if you just want a quickie fix, you can by a media bag full of phosguard at most LFS for around $7-10. It will last around a month and rip the phosphates out of the tank. I just kept up with ro/di water changes weekly with 10-20%, minimized my lighting which it appears you already are doing. Another thing is scrape the stuff off with a ice scraper and scrape from the bottom to the top. Turn off all your powerheads and water movement (except your skimmer, I would run it wet for a few hours while you are doing this) and when you get the ice scraper to the top, wipe the blade off with a rag. What gets sent back into the tank will get picked up with your skimmer. I also ran a huge 330 gph tetra hang on back powerfilter, like we use in freshwater tanks, and with new filters (change the filters monthly) and that was just THAT much more filtration I was getting to fight the junk. Doing all this took me nearly 4 months to get rid of it all. I'm putting 2 baby (more like minnow) clowns in a 10 gallon tank for our kitchen. I can't wait!