help problem solving.

[Seaside Fish Lover]

Hi. My g/f's dad has a 250 Gallon reef tank that has succumb to green hair algae over the years due to lack of maintenance. Anyways...we are interested in revivng this tank and making it something to be proud of again.

 

We can eliminate the hair algae completely for a short amount of time, but then all the snails and other members of the clean up crew that we once had die off, and the algae returns again.

 

Now, a little more info on the tank. There is a good amount of live rock, but very little aside from the algae growing on it (i guess it chocked out all the coraline?). It has good enough water current (2 closed circuits and some other circuit with at least a skimmer, chiller, and mechanical filter)

 

I was wondering if a solution would be to set up a refugium under the tank and add some snails to the tank and a couple to the refuge for breeding purposes...

 

please suggest snails that are capable of breeding in the aquarium and any other suggestions to the problem we are having..

 

Also would adding maybe 70 pounds of live rock with additional substrate help to get things working in the tank again?) low bioload for a 250 gallon (5 fish, 1 anemone)

[tinyreef]

it could be as simple as your/her maintenance schedule, too much food, not enough nutrient export, lighting spectrum, etc.

 

i think some more info is needed to adequately answer your problem. while a refugium is almost always a good addition it shouldn't be seen as a silver bullet solution.

 

your thinking is to use it as an algae scrubber/filtration, which it can be but it may not be the best solution to your problem, especially the root of your problem (whatever it is). some more info on your system (a pic would be great) should allow people here to give better suggestions.

[onthefly]

I agree with tiny, that in a larger tank there are more variables that might be causing the bloom.

 

Lighting and skimmer are some that come to mind.

 

As for a good crew, I like turbos, asterias, and stomatella for snails (the stomatellas will breed like sheep!). Also, blue leg hermits and baja red leg hermits can make quick work of algae! Sea bunnies as well.

 

Check out www.ipsf.com . They have good clean up critters for sale.

[ricky1414]

I would stop feeding the tank for a couple of days; do a large water change with ro/di water, like 50%; turn off the lights for a day or two(if possible). Skim, skim, skim. Introduce fish of a herbivoric nature, ie: a tang, sailfin blenny, etc.

[pyrrhus]

all the ideas are good ones. i tried them all with a 300g tank that i do service on, none worked except short term. i was doing 20g WC's 2x a week, feeding was cut back, as was light as far as possible without detriment to the inverts. the only thing that worked for this tank was to set up an ecosystem filter with 24/7 lit caulerpa and scrubbing every rock with a toothbrush (took 30+ man hours to do so) since having done that not a spec of hair has been present in the tank.

[Undertheradar]

It is rather obvious that the fish arent the source of the nutrients that the algae is blooming from. Sounds like the tank has been set up a while. Unlike in most nanos, large tanks tend to build up large pockets of detrious that becomes a nitrate and phosphate factory. Simply having a thick sand layer in the bottom is not enough and needs to be maintained. The mulm can end up ruining a tank over the years. I would guess this to be a possible culprit.

 

Without more info available on the tank, heres a list of what to make sure you have taken care of...

1. light. Lots of light. A 250? I would have at least 1600 watts of metal halide over it, if not just over 2000. Bad algae can grow under any light, but for good algae to compete, it needs more.

2. Forget the scrubber for now...it is too late IMO. Maybe when the tank gets established again, but for now it is just more problems.

3. If you have a thick bottom layer...like 2"plus of sand...of just lots of detrious...either remove it (syphon hose and bucket) by taking out most of the sand, or if you can, simply blow the crap around until it gets filtered out. Get a detrivore pack of animals that will deal with the waste down the road. A bunch of serpent & brittle stars, sand sifting stars, and other waste particle munchers.

4. Get the heavy duty algae eaters. Bicolor, Lawnower, and red-lip blennys...a few of them..will go nuts on all the long algae, eating it down to a shorter height that snails can deal with. For other algaes, a yellow tang and a few emerald crabs will take care of it. As for snails, the Astreas do a good job and will constantly keep the nasties down. Hermit crabs too. The red-legs seem to be the best for algae control.

5. Add corals that can outcompete algae for nutrients. GSP, shrooms, xenia. Give them lots of light and flow, and watch them cover the rocks while keeping the nitrates down.

6. Make sure the flow is high. At least 2500gph overall to keep the live rock healthy and processing waste material before it decomposes into algae food.

I have set up heavily stocked tanks before with nothing but mega lighting and high flow (a 50breeder with 2x250wattDE halides and 1200gph flow) and no other equipment. The flow and light kept the corals and rock in peak condition to filter out the water without extra equipment or water changes needed.

[Undertheradar]

For further suggestions, you would have to give more details about your tank. Test results for nitrates, ammonia, phosphates, pH, calcium, organic content. Current lighting. Substrate composition (fine sand or coarse crushed coral, 1" thick, or 6"?)...dirty or clean? What kind of algaes? Red, bubble, hairy green? Overall gallons per hour of water being moved. A pic helps as well.

[onthefly]

UTR just hit that tank with the "M.O.A.B" of anti-algae advice!

 

NICE!