Grass like growth in my sand

[dlaunde]

Hey all,

 

My 10 gallon nano is settling in nicely. 8lbs of LR, about 1-2" of sand on bottom. Contains 8 corals (mushroom, toadstool leather, colony polyps, astero, australian poly, giant green poly, trumpet coral, candy cane coral), a clown fish, a cleaner shrimp, an emerald crab, and 10 snails (3 astrea, 3 bumblebee, 4 nass). Been doing weekly water changes along with daily top off, all parameters stable and steady.

 

Just noticed some very very fine, grass like growth in part of my sand bed, mostly along the front of the tank. Odd thing is I just did the water change today and swirled the sand up with my vacuum hose a little. I can't get a pic as it won't show up clearly but the grass is very fine, almost like human hair, and spread out individually, not growing in giant clumps.

 

I am going to be stopping by my LFS this week to get a tank mate for my clown. Wasn't sure if there is a specific cleaner I should get to take care of this growth (whatever it ends up being diagnosed as) or if I just need to clean the sand bed a little better?

 

Nothing is growing on the LR, just in the sand bed in the front area of the tank.

 

Thanks!

[niQo]

I would manually remove it. Sometimes I've spotted algae and left it (because I didn't know what it was), then it spreads and you regret it!

[dlaunde]

Thanks. I was more curious if this might be a common/known type of algae that a specific cleaner crew member would be able to prevent from growing in the future/eat what is there now. The nass snails I have don't really sift through the sand as much as I would like...they are kind of lazy.

[Clown79]

Sounds possibly like hair algae. If so, you need to keep on it or it will spread quickly. What are your nitrates and phosphates at?

 

 

Look up photos on hair algae to see if thats what you're working with

[Canadianeh]

Sounds possibly like hair algae. If so, you need to keep on it or it will spread quickly. What are your nitrates and phosphates at?

 

 

Look up photos on hair algae to see if thats what you're working with

 

Aren't you supposed to have 0 level of Nitrates and Phosphates level anyway?

[dlaunde]

Just tested, Nitrates are between 5 and 10ppm. Phosphates read 0ppm but I'm using the API Reef Kit and don't yet have a low level checker.

 

It definitely looks like very very early stages of hair algae. I used my turkey baster to stir the sand up a little and noticed it's actually only growing on tiny pieces of waste (I think it's pieces of my colony polyp that the cleaner shrimp knocks off as it's filtering through the dead spots). Actually, there is a few pieces of hair like algae also growing on one of my Astrea snails...do they have a way of cleaning themselves or letting other snails clean them?

 

Wondering if it coincides with my over feeding since getting the clown fish last week and learning how much he likes/how much to feed. I just had a diatom bloom pop up two weeks ago as part of the tank cycle and die down last week right before purchasing the clown.

 

Oh and I make my own salt water using store bought distilled water.

[Mariaface]

 

Aren't you supposed to have 0 level of Nitrates and Phosphates level anyway?

 

 

You're 'supposed' to have nitrates between 0 and 5ppm (not non-existent), and phosphates between 0 and 0.03ppm (again, not non-existent). The nutrients are necessary for organisms' growth, but with the wrong balance can also fuel algae growth.

 

And there are plenty of tanks with much higher phos/nitrate levels that don't experience algae issues. But it's still something to look into.

[Clown79]

No. Actually small levels of both are not problem. When nitrates get above 10 you will see a difference and after 20 is an issue.

 

Phosphates at 0.03 is actuslly beneficial.

 

0 everything is a low nutrient tank which has other downfalls.

[dlaunde]

Is there a specific CUC member I should pickup to help keep any further growth in check or just try feeding a little less and maybe do a 2 gallon change weekly instead of 1?

[Clown79]

You want herbivores. Try some ceriths they go in the sand bed. I also like trochus snails.

 

Instead of stirring the sand try vacuuming it when you do water changes. It will remove the detritus in the sand. Blow your rocks off using a new turkey baster.

 

5-10 insn't very high but in a 10g it can get out of hand quickly.

The best phosphate test is Salifert. API isn't low enough.

 

Is your tank an aio or standard with hob?

 

I would feed the clown 1x a day and only enough that last no more than a mins.

[dlaunde]

You want herbivores. Try some ceriths they go in the sand bed. I also like trochus snails.

 

Instead of stirring the sand try vacuuming it when you do water changes. It will remove the detritus in the sand. Blow your rocks off using a new turkey baster.

 

5-10 insn't very high but in a 10g it can get out of hand quickly.

The best phosphate test is Salifert. API isn't low enough.

 

Is your tank an aio or standard with hob?

 

I would feed the clown 1x a day and only enough that last no more than a mins.

 

Thanks. The Salifert kit is on the way.

 

It's a standard 10 gallon tank (barebones) with a small HOB on the back that has some activated carbon (change it every two weeks) and a poly filter pad (I put it in right after doing a water change to catch all the stuff that is stirred up, rinse it once after the first day, and then pitch it after 2 days and use a new one at the next water change).

 

I only feed once a day, the issue I think I am having is my clown still seems to be settling in so he isn't eating a lot so I've been over feeding more flakes than necessary. I'm used to my FW fish where I can watch them actively eat as soon as the flakes are added, but Nigel (the clown) will only take a few in his mouth right now and spit them out so I've been paranoid and offering more food then he needs. Will use self control going forward and only put a few flakes in.

[Clown79]

Is it a pad or floss you use? Rinsing It doesn't remove all the detritus. If its the pad, switch to floss. Try just changing it out ever few days. Once it goes brown.

Floss is cheap, you can get a large bag for $10 and under. Cut it to size.

 

When you do your water changes, rinse the bag of carbon and replace. What carbon are you using? Most is good for a month, some longer.

 

Do you clean out the filter monthly? It helps keep the flow rate functioning because the impeller gets filled with gunk. It also reduces nutrient levels.

 

If he's spitting out food, maybe the pellets are too big.

 

I feed the spectrum thera A the tiny pellets and cobalt mysis flake. I alternate every other day. I feed frozen mysis 1x a week and very little.

[dlaunde]

Is it a pad or floss you use? Rinsing It doesn't remove all the detritus. If its the pad, switch to floss. Try just changing it out ever few days. Once it goes brown.

Floss is cheap, you can get a large bag for $10 and under. Cut it to size.

 

When you do your water changes, rinse the bag of carbon and replace. What carbon are you using? Most is good for a month, some longer.

 

Do you clean out the filter monthly? It helps keep the flow rate functioning because the impeller gets filled with gunk. It also reduces nutrient levels.

 

If he's spitting out food, maybe the pellets are too big.

 

I feed the spectrum thera A the tiny pellets and cobalt mysis flake. I alternate every other day. I feed frozen mysis 1x a week and very little.

 

I'm using pads because I have a huge amount precut for my canister filter on my FW tank and they fit perfectly in my SW HOB. I can easily pick up some floss (I see a lot of people recommend pillow stuffing at WalMart, is that OK?)

 

The carbon is BRSROX 0.8.

 

I haven't cleaned the filter itself yet (aquarium is just hitting 5 weeks old). Will do that this weekend during WC.

 

And the food is flakes, not pellets. Small flakes too. I was using Omega but just picked up a thing of Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes I will be trying tonight.

[dlaunde]

As soon as I added the Prime Reef Flakes Nigel went nuts and started biting at every piece...but he didn't swallow any of them, even the tiny ones. Just took them in his mouth then spit them back out again.

 

Should I be concerned I haven't seen him actually eat any flakes in over a week now? He swims around like normal, no labored breathing, looks healthy.

[Clown79]

He may not like flake? One of mine really doesn't care for flake but loves pellets and frozen.

 

Try some frozen mysis, clowns love it. What was the store feeding it?

[dlaunde]

He may not like flake? One of mine really doesn't care for flake but loves pellets and frozen.

 

Try some frozen mysis, clowns love it. What was the store feeding it?

 

I think he feeds frozen food (saw him using a turkey baster one day to put food in all the tanks).

 

I really wanted to try to stay with dry food (can pick up pellets and try them) for ease of use.

[dlaunde]

Picked up some plain old Poly Fil from WalMart and added it to my HOB in a little mesh bag (a few loose strands kept coming off). Will just plan on replacing it the day of water changes and halfway through the week.

 

Nigel doesn't like the pellets either.

 

Going to order some Rod's Food if my LFS doesn't carry it. From all of the reviews I have read, he CANT pass up Rod's food

[dlaunde]

Nigel LOVES Rods food! And my Trumpet corals heads have swelled up in just the two days I've fed it.

 

I did a 2 gallon change on Wednesday and got most of the sand bed clean but as of today there is still some patches of algae growing in just the sand...and only the front of the tank. No algae is growing in the back sand of the tank and no hair on the rocks.

 

I also turned my lights down from 12 hours a day to 8 hours a day to help control growth.

 

So I picked up a watchman goby and pistol shrimp today. Read they are a good pair for keeping the sand clean. Both paired up within 30 mins of adding. It's cool to see the goby standing guard by the pistols burrow.

 

I think two of my nass snails have passed so if I replace them with a couple of ceriths will they help eat and control hair algae if I can at least keep parameters right so it doesn't proliferate out of control?

 

Or is there a better/bigger invert that will do a better job with sand cleaning and control?

[Clown79]

Good inverts to help with sand are nassarius and ceriths. I'd get both.

Apparently Astrea snails will eat hair algae...fyi if the tip over you need to right them or they die

[dlaunde]

Good inverts to help with sand are nassarius and ceriths. I'd get both.

Apparently Astrea snails will eat hair algae...fyi if the tip over you need to right them or they die

I've had three astrea since day 1 and luckily none have tipped over.

 

I did watch my super nass stubbornly keep bothering my emerald crab. The emerald kept flipping the nass over and the nass kept righting himself and trudging towards the crab over and over.

 

Half of the fun I'm having is watching the CUC interact.

[Clown79]

You're lucky. I was always righting my astrea. Lol.

 

I agree. Cuc can be quite entertaining. I love watching my hermits, it comical.

 

My pom pom crab is hilarious. Always acting tough with his poms yet runs away as soon as anything goes near him.

[dlaunde]

You're lucky. I was always righting my astrea. Lol.

 

I agree. Cuc can be quite entertaining. I love watching my hermits, it comical.

 

My pom pom crab is hilarious. Always acting tough with his poms yet runs away as soon as anything goes near him.

 

I had a small flashlight the other night just to look in on everything late at night and found that my emerald crab loves to chase the light. When I shone it at or near him he kept reaching his pincers out for it and snapping. Like a cat chasing a laser.

 

I also love watching the emerald eat. It's cute.

[Clown79]

Thats cool!

[dlaunde]

Woke up early while the lights were still off due to the new schedule and saw the Pistol and Goby dart into one of several burrows under my LR...seems like they paired up OK.

 

It's amazing how many burrows the Pistol has already made. And the sand already seems a little cleaner/less algae. Not sure if it's because the Pistol is helping to aerate it or water parameters are already stunting the growth. Still going to get a handful of ceriths from my LFS just in case.

 

Side Question:

Has anyone ever had their cleaner shrimp get caught up/hurt in a power head? I'm watching my cleaner clean the power cord leading to the power head right now and keep wondering if he won't get caught in the suction...or are they that quick he has nothing to worry about?

[Clown79]

My cleaner shrimp literally hangs out by my powerhead 24/7. He love it.. he's never gotten caught in but his molts have.