fboye Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 OK, here's the stats: 12g nanocube running since Feb 29. Cycled for 1 week with LS Cycled for 2 weeks with LR (2 Bases and a Bridge) Last week added 2 percs, 3 crabs, 2 snails. I was told to leave the tank alone and let it cycle, now I have large amounts of GH Algae on the Bridge LR and minor amounts on the Base LR. The algae has been there way before adding the inhabitants. Today, I took out the Bridge LR, scrubbed it and replaced it back in the tank but as some of us know, this does not remove all of the GHA. I've been reading some posts and found that this is quite a problem. Should I: a. - Toss the GHA Rock and get another? Will this have an impact on my inhabitants? b. - Buy more Algae eating species? c. - [Fill in your own option here] Is there a way of 'starving' the algae to death while not hurting anything else? Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment
drewmd. Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 you need to check your water parameters first off. and if your using regular tap water you really need to switch to ro/di water. tap water contains high levels of nitrates and other harmful chemicals that you don't want in your tank. with prestine water conditions and regular water changes your hair algae will go away in time. Link to comment
nano-nemo Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 what is your photoperiod like? try 6-8 hours at most Link to comment
ReeferMonkey Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 IMO the percs went in way too early and you don't have enough clean up crew for a 12g. Do some water tests, then depending on your readings do some water changes. If your NH4/NO2/NO3 levels are sky high, do a good 50% or so WC. If they're not so high, still do a 20-30% WC. Go very easy on food for the percs. Do weekly or bi-weekly WCs to keep the chemistry decent and maybe in a week or three add a few more snails of varying types. Like nano-nemo said, you can also lower your photoperiod since you don't have any photosynthetic inverts in the tank yet. From my experience scrubbing doesn't help at all. I don't know how others feel about this, but you may want to think about picking up a Lettuce Nudibranch. Mine has torn through the remaining hair algae in my Minibow. Link to comment
fboye Posted March 25, 2004 Author Share Posted March 25, 2004 Thanks for the responses. My water is distilled and not tap and it's at 1.023. I did have my photoperiod at 12hr on and 12hr off which my LFS said was too much. I cut back to 6hrs/day when I picked up the inhabitants. Hopefully, between all these changes, the stuff will go away. Link to comment
fboye Posted March 25, 2004 Author Share Posted March 25, 2004 I do remember someone saying that 1 snail/gallon is a good ratio. Is that a fair statement? Link to comment
gabbeyshell Posted March 25, 2004 Share Posted March 25, 2004 check your phosphates as far as cycling you will probably have elevated nitrates due to cycling. if you don't have any corals(i doubt if you do this early in the game) turn your lights off for a wk the fish can do w/o it. make sure ur tank is not getting sunlight. after ur hair algae had died off make sure that you get some sort of turkey baster and suck up the dead or it will just recycle it self and reproduce. Link to comment
Nautica-db Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 What kinda water flow do you have? Link to comment
alexcarioca Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 I'm having the same problem... I just start a new tank last sunday and now the algae is starting to grow.. Is that normal when the tank is cycling? The lights are running 8 hours per day, should I turn it off? Thanks, Alex Link to comment
gabbeyshell Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 i never had an algae prob while cycling. but i was using ro/di water from the get-go. hair thrives on light, nitrates, phosphates, silcates. you have to find the root of the problem or it will just come back. youmight want to get a test for phosphates. check your water, then check your tank. if water is 0 and tank is above that my guess is your salt mix has phosphates in it. just had this problem w/ my 2nd bag of io. 1st was fine. 2nd has phosphates. might want to consider a fuge to transfer nutrients away from ur main tank. Link to comment
alexcarioca Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Correction: my lights are running 12 hours a day, now I'm turning it off... My readings for amonia/nitrites/nitrates is close to "0" maybe I do have to much light, I will buy a phosphate test... Thanks Link to comment
fboye Posted March 26, 2004 Author Share Posted March 26, 2004 Nautica-db, I have the Nano-Cube 12g with the stock 106gph pump. I use Instant Ocean for the salt. I have my lights off and will try this method for a few days. Link to comment
fboye Posted March 26, 2004 Author Share Posted March 26, 2004 To add-on, My tank is close to a window (3ft), so there is no real way of completely eliminating light from entering the tank. Unless I cover the tank? Link to comment
drewmd. Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 i wish you would have said that in the first place. that is probably your problem. in fact i'm almost willing to bet on it. move it from getting any direct sunlight and your problem should resolve. Link to comment
alexcarioca Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 I guess this is my problem too.. A lot of light exposure.. Another question: I placed cured Fiji LR 13lbs plus 10lbs of LS after a week the readings for amonia/nitrites/nitrates are close to "0" and ph is around 8.02 can I consider the thank cycled? Link to comment
drewmd. Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 it depends...how long has your tank been up and how long have the readings been 0? alot of times if your tank hasn't been up for a good amount of time and you add new things to it such as live rock and live sand they will consume most of your ammonia and nitrites and release them again. i've seen it happen several times. but thats not to say your tank is not cycled though. i'm not there to check it so i would have to say that it is basically your judgement. but if i were you i would wait for one more week and if everything is still at 0 then you can consider your tank safe and start adding to it. just my opinion. Link to comment
alexcarioca Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 Thanks Drewmd! I was planning to add just snails by now in order to get rid off the green hair algae that is starting to grow..what do you think? Link to comment
fboye Posted March 26, 2004 Author Share Posted March 26, 2004 drewmd, I'll block the light from the window and check the tank every day or so. I did notice this morning that my crabs are now spending a lot of time on the rock with the hair algae. With the percs being omnivores, I've also seen them grabbing a bite as well. I'll feed them every other day, maybe they'll eat some more algae. Many thanks for the advice and info! Link to comment
drewmd. Posted March 26, 2004 Share Posted March 26, 2004 no problem fboye. alexcarioca i would add some astrea snails and a couple of hermits. hermits will eat it up real quick. your on the right track though and good luck to both of you with your problem. Link to comment
fboye Posted March 26, 2004 Author Share Posted March 26, 2004 alexcarioca, I have 2 of those astrea snails and they really did a job on my other algae. Other than the GHA problem, my tank is pretty clean. Link to comment
alexcarioca Posted March 27, 2004 Share Posted March 27, 2004 Update: Phosphate at 0.5 I think the cause for my GHA must be to much light exposure! Link to comment
pyrrhus Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 i dont know thats a pretty high level of P04 it should be at .3 or less for reefs its ok to be higher in a swim tank but it will fuel algal growth big time. Link to comment
birdman204 Posted April 5, 2004 Share Posted April 5, 2004 Originally posted by pyrrhus i dont know thats a pretty high level of P04 it should be at .3 or less for reefs its ok to be higher in a swim tank but it will fuel algal growth big time. A lower phosphate level than .3 is needed if you are fighting Hair Algae ,otherwise nusiance algea will continue to grow. Some measureable phosphate is almost unavoidable due to the phosphate cycle, but our test kits are so weak, that one should shoot for a reading ot 0.0 Originally posted by drewmd. that is probably your problem. in fact i'm almost willing to bet on it. move it from getting any direct sunlight and your problem should resolve. Ummmm, No..... Sunlight is not the problem, excess nutrients is the problem. People farm corals all the time, in full blast of the sun, in greenhouses, in partially lit windows. An algae problem won't be caused by sunlight, in fact, indirect can be very beneficial for your tank. Link to comment
Quash Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 I think you mite wanna get some turbo snails man. Mexican turbos they are called, the astrea wont do much, but get like 4 turbos and they should take care of the stuff. If you can get your hands on a cowrie, Ive read they take out hair algae in a week http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/showthread...ighlight=cowrie Link to comment
fboye Posted April 6, 2004 Author Share Posted April 6, 2004 I've reduced the amount of time my light is on to about 4-5 hours a day. This has reduced the hair down tremendously, however, there is still some remaining and I need to consider increasing the light time for the sake of the other inhabitants. I've got three Dwarf Red Tip Hermit Crabs along with the astrea, if I add more snails, wouldn't this make the nano cube a bit 'crowded'? I'm also fighting an Ich problem with one of my clowns. It's just the standard beginner problems which I'll overcome with patience. Link to comment
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