itsyahboydanny Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 The addition of a hermit crab or two can also be helpful. They not only will eat the algae like the snails, but will also scavenge excess food and stir up the gravel helping to keep it clean. What kind of hermit? You've gotten some good advice but I wanted to add a few things as well. First off you indicate the snails pooping more than they ate, which is not possible, and also the snails might be adding to the phosphate issue, also not possible. See what you put into your tank STAYS in the tank until you remove it. Snails are nice because they eat ugly stuff and turn it into something that's easier to remove. No creature will be 100% efficient at turning food into growth, so when you feed the tank most of the food will end up as waste that must be exported. I do not agree with feeding less, fish need fed every day IMO, and feeding less to control an algae problem is not the best way to solve it. For a small tank I would be doing regular water changes, probably something like a gallon a day, in order to keep levels stable and control nutrients. Using a small gravel vac to help remove the waste will go a long way in helping keep extra crap (pun intended) out of the tank. So should I get another mexican turbo? I only have the 1 right now. And 1 gallon a day seems like a lot because the api test kits all show acceptable ranges. I was thinking one gallon every three days from now on. Thanks for posting the pics. Looks like good old fashioned hair algae. The way it's taking over will make keeping coral difficult. Definitely don't buy anything else until this problem is resolved. Flatten out your hand; that's how large a female Maroon clownfish will get. I'm thinking that (when fully grown), it would even be a little cramped in a 40 breeder. A five gallon tank is arguably too small for even an Ocellaris Clownfish. What's the specific plan for this fish? What's your plan for this tank? That said, I don't feel that the fish is causing the algae at this point. Feeding "might" be. Remember that food introduces phosphate. As far as phosphate is concerned, it doesn't really matter if it's all eaten or if some of it isn't. So it's the total amount of food that's important. Sure, left over food and fish wastes will also increase the nitrate level (another component for algae growth). Plus, your instincts about the rock might be correct. Your tank is a model of what can happen when you use rock that is leaching phosphate. First it's free of hair algae because there are no spores on the dry rock. Then you introduce a coral frag that has a little on it, and bingo... your tank is all fuzzy. Once you get a real phosphate test kit (like a Hanna ULR Phosphorous Checker), you could test one of your rocks to see if it's leaching phosphate. What else can you do? If you don't want to replace your rock, you might use a toothbrush and/or vegetable brush to scrub it off in a five gallon bucket of saltwater (a pair of tweezers might help too). Then rinse it off in another five gallon bucket of saltwater. After you have manually cleaned it off, add some Turbo and/or Trochus snails to eat what you couldn't get. In addition to manual removal and snails, you'll need to remove the snail and fish poop from the tank during water changes. The water changes will also serve to lower the nitrate and phosphate levels in your tank. Also, use a phosphate reducing media like Phosguard (in a media bag) in your filter or sump. I do plan on trading the fish in for another small one at my lfs in a few months or so. As for the tank, zoa garden was my idea. How do I test a rock once I get a good test kit? I was considering changing my rock for some nice live coraline covered rock at my lfs but in my last tank it gave me some nasty snails and gave my buddy bad bubble algae. Manual removal sounds like a major PITA that's not guaranteed to work.. Link to comment
amphipod Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 You've gotten some good advice but I wanted to add a few things as well. First off you indicate the snails pooping more than they ate, which is not possible, and also the snails might be adding to the phosphate issue, also not possible. See what you put into your tank STAYS in the tank until you remove it. Snails are nice because they eat ugly stuff and turn it into something that's easier to remove. No creature will be 100% efficient at turning food into growth, so when you feed the tank most of the food will end up as waste that must be exported. I do not agree with feeding less, fish need fed every day IMO, and feeding less to control an algae problem is not the best way to solve it. For a small tank I would be doing regular water changes, probably something like a gallon a day, in order to keep levels stable and control nutrients. Using a small gravel vac to help remove the waste will go a long way in helping keep extra crap (pun intended) out of the tank. I can only feed my freshwater aquarium 2-3 times a week or the frogs get morbidly obese. Kinda funny. But yes I do agree. Link to comment
seabass Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 How do I test a rock once I get a good test kit? I was considering changing my rock for some nice live coraline covered rock at my lfs but in my last tank it gave me some nasty snails and gave my buddy bad bubble algae. Manual removal sounds like a major PITA that's not guaranteed to work.. You can test it by putting in a bucket of new saltwater. Test the phosphate level, then wait 3 days, then test it again. If it's notably higher, the rock is leaching phosphate. Manual removal only goes so far, and only works with a decent cleanup crew and nutrient export. Peroxide treatments is your other option. Link to comment
GMay Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Read what hermits eat you algae at www.reefcleaners.org. They have lots of useful information that will help you select critter to help control algae. Good Luck! Link to comment
ndrobey Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Consider getting a lawnmower blenny to "mow the lawn." You should try vacuuming the gravel once a week to export poop. Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Hermits and blennys are band aids not solutions,fyi. You can only fix it with proper nutrient control. Link to comment
itsyahboydanny Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 Could I swap 100% of my rock for different fully cured live rock at one time? Link to comment
seabass Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Could I swap 100% of my rock for different fully cured live rock at one time? Sure that's possible. You still might have to build up the bio-filter (versus transferring all the livestock into a tank with newly cycled live rock). This could be done by slowly transferring portions of your livestock over time, or even by slowly building up the rock's bio-filter with ammonium chloride. I'm not a fan of dosing ammonia into a tank with live rock as it can be toxic to the (non-bacterial) beneficial life living on the rock. However, transferring the contents will probably still introduce the algae into the tank with new rock. If your tank still has nutrient issues, I'd expect the problem will come back. Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I really doubt it's your rock's fault. Link to comment
itsyahboydanny Posted January 24, 2015 Author Share Posted January 24, 2015 Thanks guys, I'm going to test this live rock out how suggested and I'll update when I figure it out, also I am considering taking my clown out. Thanks for all the input and advice, much appreciated! Link to comment
itsyahboydanny Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 So in less than 24 hours of having the rock in a bucket with a heater and powerhead, the phosphate reading went from a 0 in my display to .25 in the bucket. Any thoughts? Link to comment
seabass Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 So in less than 24 hours of having the rock in a bucket with a heater and powerhead, the phosphate reading went from a 0 in my display to .25 in the bucket. Any thoughts? Using what test kit? Obviously you weren't adding any food to the bucket. So, at first blush, it appears that the rock is leaching phosphate. Link to comment
itsyahboydanny Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 API at my LFS, i didn't think it would be high enough to measure it but sure enough hit .25 Link to comment
seabass Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I trust the kit enough to believe that phosphate is actually that high. Unfortunately, it only goes up in 0.25 ppm increments, which makes it pretty worthless for anything except what just happened. I've been told that rocks that are leaching phosphate could either (1) just be coated in phosphate and can be cleaned off with acid, or (2) be formed in a high phosphate environment such that no amount of surface cleaning will get rid of the phosphate. If yours is the latter, I would consider replacing this rock. Link to comment
itsyahboydanny Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Right, I think I'll swap it out soon, I got some store credit at my lfs, and a friend is going to a few stores in Orlando this weekend so idk what to do, my lfs doesn't have as good of rock as I originally thought, little to no coraline. I'm thinking I'll wait and see but idk of the rock would make it back the 2 hour trip plus how long it takes me to go get it from him Link to comment
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