My tank is a hellish nightmare ...

OK, so my ltittle 10g is now a 10+10 (10g sump). I finally got the sump and overflows working after 10,000 trips to HD and OSH.

Then I made a big mistake and I ordered some CaribSea Aragamax sand, which prompty (when added to the sump and some to the display tank) clouded everything up and now layers everything in a fine dust. Ugh, I can't get rid of it!

Now some weird crap is growing that I have no idea what it is. It's like some branhes or something. I hate it, it's everywhere!!!!

Plus, I did such a bad job of plumbing the overflow intakes, that it guggles and burps constantly! I am in the midst of trying to make some (two) Durso standpipes to quiet them down, but I'm thinking the standpipes will be hard pressed for space in the overflow box (external weir overflow).

Here is a picture of the hellish algae, which I officially name "Vincebane" unless someone know's it's proper name!

And here is a pic of the nightmare itself...

I call this "Blurping algae forest, in wintertime"

V

can't really tell from the pic but you may also want to stop at kmart for a turkey baster. one of the basic tools for reefing imo. they give a controlled and easy blast wherever. i'd blast the LR (not the sand tho X) ) to get the sanddust re-suspended. hopefully, you have a hob or mechanical filter to slowly extract the debris.

the filament 'algae' may have already been there but just unnoticed until the dust gave it form/shape. kinda like kevin bacon in "hollow man" and water.

learn to use chopsticks (long ones) or at least get a dowel rod, another basic must-have tool.

get a dowel rod that's at least 6" longer than the depth of the tank. the trusty dowel rod, it can be the arbiter of hermit fights, a "i've fallen and i can't get up" aid for astrae snails, brave squisher of unmentionables :x , and a substitute finger for those "wtf is that?!" situations.

edit: JAYSIS H. CHRIST! looks like arachnophobia! i just saw your 2nd post! definitely squirt and filter time.

Wow, what a mess. However, it’s not as bad as you might think. Nitrates and Phosphates will do this.

If you can take the rock out of your tank: make up a batch of saltwater in a bucket big enough for your largest rock, get a new soft bristle toothbrush, gently brush off all that crud into the bucket, then do water changes to get your Nitrates and Phosphates down.

If you can’t remove your rocks, you can still brush them in your tank; however, you’ll still need to remove the algae. An HOB filter with a cartridge helps in addition siphoning out as much as you can (leave the cartridge in just long enough to clear up your water).

I had a mess like that as well, ok not that bad, but it ####ed me off. I did just what seabass said, I took it out scrubbed it, then did a 3 gallon water change in my 7g bow. The next day I put in a package of goodies from ipsf.com in there, and the tank is awesome again. No probs at all. The snails have even eaten all the algae off the back glass, my magnet doesnt get a workout anymore.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm gonna do that.

I do have a turkey baster. it just blasts the dust to other rocks.

The algae is driving me nuts, I will take out the bloody stupid rocks and scrub that crap algae out.

And, yes I have some chopsticks and know how to use them!

Any ID on that freakish tree like algae??

V

Make sure you are using Ro water!!! Regular tap water will also make your tank look like that!

vince, it looks like you have a combination of hair and possibly caulerpa or bryopsis in there.

bryopsis:

http://www.hawaii.edu/reefalgae/invasive_a...sis_pennata.htm

http://omp.gso.uri.edu/doee/biota/algae/ch...chloro/bry1.htm

caulerpa:

http://www.surialink.com/HANDBOOK/Genera/g...pa/Caulerpa.htm

I had a nasty hair situation that got taken care of when bryposis took over the tank. the crap grew at an alarming rate and I was pulling about a cup out a week and it never looked like I pulled any out.

The branching algaes (bryosis, caulerpa) get those roots into everything and make it almost impossible to eliminate.

My solution? I broke down the 7 and upgraded to a 26.

Your solution? Do as suggested, take the rock out, toothbrush it, yank it clean and scrape down the tank. Rowaphos for phosphate removal, if needed (check for phosphates first. might not be the issue).

If there isn't any livestock in the tank, run the tank without lights for a few weeks after the scrubbing and do large waterchanges to rid the tank of any floating traces of the algae.

Keep us updated.

Thanks for the advice guys...

I was told by an LFS guy that Mark Weiss Coral-Vital was the key and that the only reason it was not sold as an algaecide is due to the need for FDA approval. What a load of crap! When I started putting it in (10 drops into a 10g), this stuff started to overrun the tank! IS this cause and effect or just coincidence? I don't know, but I stopped putting it in!

The only livestock that is in there is one big turbo snail, one small atraea, two blue legged hermits and whatever horrors came with the live rock (including some small feather dusters that may have been overtaken by the hair algae).

Last night, I took out a bunch of the rocks and gave them the toothbrush treatment. Originally, I didn't want to do this because I knew there were feather dusters somewhere in that pile plus some small hitchhiker snails and pods and stuff...but it is just too gross, so I pulled the fuzzy, hairy and otherwise infested rocks that didn't have a snail or crab clinging to it and scrubbed them down. It was cathartic!

Also, I've disabled one of my 36w PC bulbs, so the tank is running with just one of my two bulbs.

I wonder if sunlight is influencing the algae? The tank is near a window (with venetian blinds, so light leaks through). I will put a backdrop on the tank to help stop this.

This morning, I disabled my sump system (which I had not yet tuned to stop gurggling anyway) and put an HOB with floss/carbon in it to help get rid of the aragonite dust, and I put my skimmer (Prizm) back in the tank.

I don't know if it was just "algae time" or if the problem sprang from my attempt to add the sump. I will run it like I had it before and try the sump another time after the other problems are resolved.

I can see whay some people quit the hobby, it can be pretty frustrating!

I will do a big water change tomorrow night to catch whatever crap is still floating around in there. I'm running out of salt mix...grrrr....

V

"Burping algea forest in wintertime"

LMAO - Hey as long as your sense of humor is still there you will get it under control...

Well the burping noise is obivously from trapped air going down the pipe. In my experience this always happens with a bad combination of ridged PVC, elbows (or to many), & not a big enough pipe size. Can you remove the ridged plumbing and use a few barb fittings and vinyl hose? What size pipe are you using?

When I use 1" vinyl it eliminates the problem 98% percent of the time. Another thing.....is the drain line submersed in the sump water? If you dont want to use the vinyl tubing you can cut the pipe just above the water line in the sump so the air can escape. The only thing is you'll replace the gurgling sound with water splash.

Burping....

I was so fed up, I removed the sump lines and the overflow. I'm going to handle the algae first and let the HOB deal with the aragonite dust storm.

I think you are right. Here are my overflow specs...

1) THREE half inch siphons (two for flow, one for backup and flow backup) made by heating pvc over my gas stove and then bending. VERY UGLY as some of the plastic burned/melted, but works well

2) Inner and outer box are Lee's specimen boxes..

3) DIY bulkhead which consist of PVC connectors with jur rigged washers (since some PVC connectors get tighter as you screw them together, they don't make good bulkheads unless you make some washers so they close around the tank walls. I took elbow pieces and sawed off washers from them, since they are of large enough diameter to fit around threading.

4) I have TWO standpipes and tried two different techniques, and eventually changed diameters. The flow to the sumpis HALF INCH vilnyl tubing. Perhaps that is insufficient to the task, which is why I have TWO outputs. Anyway, at first I had half inch standpipes with two 90 degree elbows on them, with airlines attached. They were hellishly gulpy/burpy. So I went and bought some 3/4" pipe and elbows and built a DURSO standpipe. But before I could tune both standpipes, I got fed up and removed the whole system. I think I may diable one of the standpipes and use just one of them. I will increase the height of the second one so it can be a backup drain. Both standpipes stood in the outside box with no divider.

When the algae goes away (bwahahahaha!) I will try the sump again, but I may try using full one inch vinyl hose like you suggest and 1 1/4 inch pvc for the standpipe, ala Durso's original standpipe (though MUCH shorter). Thank God that PVC is cheap (but maybe not in the massive quantities I seem to be buying it in!!!)

Thanks for the tip!

V

Update:

it is now Jan 8/04 and there is NO hair algae in the tank. I will eventually post a picture!

I redid the overflow to use a single "stockman overflow" and figure out the flow and noise problem. I used a "real" U tube (smooth acrylic U tube, not skinny PVC) and lifted it up a bit, it now handles about 400-500 gph.

Trochus snails (only 2!) a single red legged hermit (no longer with us) and few blue legs and patience (!!) killed the algae.

I added a DI to my RO unit

I've built a kalkwasser mixer ("Nilsen Reactor") and I added a CaCO3/CO2 reactor as well.

There are some LPS, SPS and softies living in it now.

I have cyano like nuts, but it is fading.

I am now building a 70w MH pendant.

Bottom line, I stuck out the nightmare and moved some rock to the sump so I could access the wall with a magnetic cleaner... and now my tank is almost nice!

... will post a pic from home for contrast with the algae forest!

V

Wow that is a nightmare! I am getting all my stuff to set up a 29 gallon and that gives me all kinds of new worries!

Hey Dawn, the nightmare subsided (check the dates of the first post and my last one!) And the stupid hair algae has not returned!

The cleanup crew and sheer patience (ie; it finally cycled itself out) fixed it up!

V