**will this kill my tank***

[Spark326]

I have this green hair and red hair algae growing in the tiny compartment of my Aqueon QuietFlow20 filter. Started growing about 1 month ago from nowhere. I have a 10 gallon tank that’s been running for about 4 months. Nitrates and nitrites are low but have not tested phosphate levels.

Everything in it seems to be doing well and the hair algae is not growing anywhere else in the tank. But the water did start to develop a greenish tint but I think that may be due to an overdue water change.

 

I have about 10 snails in addition to a green emerald and fire shrimp for my cleanup crew.

[Thrassian Atoll]

I would give it a good cleaning.  You need to make sure you keep up on your water changes.  You have a pretty big bio load for a ten gallon.

[Clown79]

Hobs should be cleaned every few months, media should be taken care of properly as well, and detritus should be sucked out every few weeks to reduce issues.

 

Algae that grows should be wiped off.

 

Why is the water levels so low in the tank?

[mcarroll]

On 2/29/2020 at 9:04 PM, Spark326 said:

I have about 10 snails in addition to a green emerald and fire shrimp for my cleanup crew.

That's a lot of snails -- how many of what kind?

 

Fire shrimp are not really considered part of your CUC.   True it will scavenge, but you need to assure that it's eating as if it were a pet like a fish.  (Fish will scavenge too, after all.)

 

Your filter is working like an algae scrubber....pretty natural since it's right up there by the light, closer than anything else.  Nothing wrong or harmful about it per se....might even turn out to be pretty handy.  Just clean it off periodically.

 

Are you getting any algae growth in the main tank though?  I worry about all that cleanup crew.  The tank looks almost spotless in the photos....not good.

[Tamberav]

Clean the filter and do a water change. 

 

Looks like your filter is basically acting as an algae scrubber which can turn the water green and make it smell funky without regular maintenance or carbon. 

 

 

[Steemax]

3 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Looks like your filter is basically acting as an algae scrubber which can turn the water green and make it smell funky without regular maintenance or carbon. 

 

 

This is giving me ideas... might actually be viable by adding an appropriate surface to the output of the HOB.

 

Onto OP's question, Snails produce a ton of waste let alone 10 in a 10 gallon. That's way to much. I have 2 snails in a 20g and that's more than enough. 

[A.m.P]

41 minutes ago, Steemax said:

This is giving me ideas... might actually be viable by adding an appropriate surface to the output of the HOB.

 

Onto OP's question, Snails produce a ton of waste let alone 10 in a 10 gallon. That's way to much. I have 2 snails in a 20g and that's more than enough. 

To be fair, snail poop's easier to get out of the tank than most algae lol. (I'm at 5 blue legs, three trochus, two astrea, three ceriths, and a small army of dwarf ceriths in a 20 long * and they won't stop spawning*)

 

Apart from that there's not much to add to what has been said above.

[Steemax]

13 minutes ago, Amphrites said:

To be fair, snail poop's easier to get out of the tank than most algae lol. (I'm at 5 blue legs, three trochus, two astrea, three ceriths, and a small army of dwarf ceriths in a 20 long * and they won't stop spawning*)

 

Apart from that there's not much to add to what has been said above.

True true! My blue legs also lay down droppings every few steps 🤣

[mcarroll]

3 hours ago, Amphrites said:

To be fair, snail poop's easier to get out of the tank than most algae lol.

My amphipods follow the snails around huffing poops all day long....their poops never even have a chance to settle.  🤪

[Spark326]

On 3/2/2020 at 12:13 PM, mcarroll said:

That's a lot of snails -- how many of what kind?

 

Fire shrimp are not really considered part of your CUC.   True it will scavenge, but you need to assure that it's eating as if it were a pet like a fish.  (Fish will scavenge too, after all.)

 

Your filter is working like an algae scrubber....pretty natural since it's right up there by the light, closer than anything else.  Nothing wrong or harmful about it per se....might even turn out to be pretty handy.  Just clean it off periodically.

 

Are you getting any algae growth in the main tank though?  I worry about all that cleanup crew.  The tank looks almost spotless in the photos....not good.

What’s an algae scrubber? Should I just get rid of it as it grows? I though it could be acting like a mini refugium and housing the good bacteria.. lol

[Clown79]

3 minutes ago, Spark326 said:

What’s an algae scrubber? Should I just get rid of it as it grows? I though it could be acting like a mini refugium and housing the good bacteria.. lol

I'd remove it personally as it grows, any loose pieces will go into the tank.

 

Or place a snail on it for them to eat.

[Matteo]

Two too many fish in that tank mate. 

[Tamberav]

2 hours ago, Spark326 said:

What’s an algae scrubber? Should I just get rid of it as it grows? I though it could be acting like a mini refugium and housing the good bacteria.. lol

It's basically something some people set up to grow GHA to reduce nutrients. The GHA needs to be removed regularly as export.

[Seadragon]

On 2/29/2020 at 9:04 PM, Spark326 said:

I have this green hair and red hair algae growing in the tiny compartment of my Aqueon QuietFlow20 filter. Started growing about 1 month ago from nowhere. I have a 10 gallon tank that’s been running for about 4 months. Nitrates and nitrites are low but have not tested phosphate levels.

Everything in it seems to be doing well and the hair algae is not growing anywhere else in the tank. But the water did start to develop a greenish tint but I think that may be due to an overdue water change.

 

I have about 10 snails in addition to a green emerald and fire shrimp for my cleanup crew.

 

That GHA will not kill your tank.  The massive water evaporation and salinity swings might though.  If it looks ugly to you though, it's not that hard to turn off the HOB filter, take a paper towel, and rip it off from the plastic it's attached to.

 

My reef tank seems somewhat similar to yours, but I'm at 5 months and 3 weeks.  If that greenish tint continually gets worse and turns into green water/an algae bloom, I'd look into a UV Sterilizer.  I keep mine on for 12 hours during the day and my tank is crystal clear now.  At one point in the past, it got really bad with the algae bloom to the point where you couldn't even see past an inch.  It has other benefits too besides crystal clear water -- UV light rays are effective in controlling free flowing bacteria, yeast, molds and other pathogens.

 

I also have a Ruby Emerald Crab, Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, and a Porcelain Anemone Crab.  I feed the two shrimp and the Porcelain Anemone Crab + the fish every day, once a day.  The Ruby Emerald Crab just likes to pick at the algae on the rocks and also eat the Pineapple Sponges for some reason.

 

I'd treat the GHA like a haircut... if it looks ugly, wipe it off.  And focus more on the water top offs and keeping salinity in the right range + keeping the critters well fed so they don't die from starvation.  Nice tank though, I love the mini arch!

 

[naothan]

On 2/29/2020 at 6:04 PM, Spark326 said:

I have this green hair and red hair algae growing in the tiny compartment of my Aqueon QuietFlow20 filter. Started growing about 1 month ago from nowhere. I have a 10 gallon tank that’s been running for about 4 months. Nitrates and nitrites are low but have not tested phosphate levels.

Everything in it seems to be doing well and the hair algae is not growing anywhere else in the tank. But the water did start to develop a greenish tint but I think that may be due to an overdue water change.

 

I have about 10 snails in addition to a green emerald and fire shrimp for my cleanup crew.

i am a  newb myself. but i would want more flow in there also...  imo