FluxRX, Pistol Shrimp and Elysia crispata (Sea lettuce), Tuxedo Urchin

[Steves reef]

Hi,
I have 90 litre mixed reef and have to finally admit defeat with hair algae and think it's time to give FluxRX a go.
I have some critters I'm concerned about though, can anyone say if my pistol shrimp, sea lettuce slug (Elysia crispata), peppermint shrimps and Tuxedo Urchin as well as various snails be OK if I dose FluxRX?

Thanks for your help.

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, Steves reef said:

Hi,
I have 90 litre mixed reef and have to finally admit defeat with hair algae and think it's time to give FluxRX a go.

You can't tune in and on post #4 state you're giving up!!    No fair!!!   😉

 

All I can say about that drug is that it's not an algae cure – it's an anti-fungal medicine.  

 

There are fungi among the reef's critters that you don't want to eliminate or hurt.

 

Plus, algae *will* come back when the med is gone, sometimes worse.  

 

AlgaeFix is almost certainly a better chem for the purpose if you're really feeling dedicated to the chemical solution for any reason.

 

Remember that algae is not a disease, so it needs no cure. 

 

Hair algae is part of the reef just like corals.

 

It also likes exactly the same conditions as our coral; but are much more hardy and able to spread than most corals.  So the approach to control algae is important.

 

1 hour ago, Steves reef said:

I have some critters I'm concerned about though, can anyone say if my pistol shrimp, sea lettuce slug (Elysia crispata), peppermint shrimps and Tuxedo Urchin as well as various snails be OK if I dose FluxRX?

Thanks for your help.

If you're willing to give it another shot, there are ways to handle hair algae just like it gets handled on a reef.  

 

It's not auto-magic though....so it will still take some doing on your part.   (You are the #1 member of your cleanup crew!)

 

Most folks try to starve algae, or let their little snails/crabs do all the work....none of the usual ways actually work.  At least not well.  

 

Some of what needs to be done may be slightly counterintuitive as well.

 

If you feel like it, post a full tank pic with a brief history of what's happened so far, and a complete set of water test results, especially NO3 and PO4.

[Steves reef]

Hi @mcarroll and thanks for your reply.

 

Hahaha, I'm not giving up as such, just want to win the battle with algae 😬

 

I'll post a picture later/over the weekend.

Tank has been set up for a year, parameters are:
90 Litre all in one tank
Protein skimmer 24 hours a day
Reactor with carbon and Rowaphos (not ideal I know but no room for seperate reactors)
Lights on 10 hours which includes ramp up and down of an hour each and using AB+ spectrum.
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.0
Alkalinity 8.4
Nitrate 0.4ppm - Hanna checker
Phosphate 0.04ppm - Hanna checker (I've read this and nitrate readings are likely to be low due to being used up by algae)
Calcium 380 - Hanna checker
Magnesium 1360ppm - RedSea test kit
CUC - Tuxedo urchin, 2 Cerith snails, 4 Nassarius snails, 2 Turbo snails, 1 Elysia Crispata (Sea Lettuce slug) and 3 money cowries.

Mixture of mainly LPS with a few SPS, all corals doing well.

 

Pics of algae:

[debbeach13]

For me it has never been a quick process. I never tried chemicals, just to scared of them killing way more than the algae. I have always had to start by manually removing as much hair algae as possible. Every day pull out as much as you can. Then some turbo snails. You might have to rehome the snails when the tank is clean. I kept just one in my 20L and he still alive and it has been years now. Turbo snails have a reputation of being bulldozers. So, glue down everything you don't want to end up on the sand. Doesn't work every time but it did for me.

Did you watch the BRS video on removing hair algae? It's been years since I did but start there.

 

[Steves reef]

Hi @debbeach13, thanks for your reply.

 

Exactly, I'm not a fan of chemicals if I can help it.

 

I've tried pretty much everything else.

Manual removal every week with water change, cut down on amount of food and type, cut down light duration etc. etc.. I feel like the algae grows back quicker than I can manually remove it.

I won't give up but I had to admit it is annoying me now.

 

I think I've watched pretty much every algae video on YouTube 😬

[debbeach13]

30 minutes ago, Steves reef said:

I feel like the algae grows back quicker than I can manually remove it.

Yes, it is very frustrating. If it is at all possible, even 5 to 10 minutes try to remove some in between the water changes. Are there some corals on every rock? If there are any you can pull out and give a scrub with a toothbrush. I only had a couple that I could remove. After I brushed off every bit I could. I dipped the toothbrush in hydrogen peroxide and that killed the algae in the groves that the brush couldn't reach.  In time with your efforts the hair algae can be defeated. 

How long has the tank been set up?

[mcarroll]

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Tank has been set up for a year, parameters are:

Is the algae a recent thing, or when did it start?

 

Get ready for some of that counterintuitive stuff I warned you about... 😉 

 

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Reactor with carbon and Rowaphos (not ideal I know but no room for seperate reactors)

Remove the reactor OR take out the contents and store it in a ziplock bag in the refrigerator until the algae is done for.

 

In particular, the phosphate remover is working against you.

 

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Lights on 10 hours which includes ramp up and down of an hour each and using AB+ spectrum.

Plenty of blue spectrum, not too much of anything else?   Should be a solid 20,000K.   Lower K (whiter, redder, greener) light will be more likely to grow algae.

 

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.0
Alkalinity 8.4

These are fine.

 

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Nitrate 0.4ppm - Hanna checker
Phosphate 0.04ppm - Hanna checker (I've read this and nitrate readings are likely to be low due to being used up by algae)

You can't starve algae, and you can't grow corals (and everything else) while you try to starve algae.....the algae will win....or worse you may get a dino bloom instead.

 

So contrary to what most feel like they need to do here, you need to increase nutrient levels, so things OTHER than algae have fuel to grow.

 

CUC is the antidote to hair algae.

 

...and YOU are the #1 member of the cleanup crew.  🙂

 

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Calcium 380 - Hanna checker
Magnesium 1360ppm - RedSea test kit

These are fine.   Ca is a little low, but that doesn't really affect anything.

 

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

CUC - Tuxedo urchin, 2 Cerith snails, 4 Nassarius snails, 2 Turbo snails, 1 Elysia Crispata (Sea Lettuce slug) and 3 money cowries.

An urchin in a tank this young is a pretty mixed blessing – they don't just eat algae, they strip the rock right down to the rock!   That's fine in a mature tank...not so much for you.   Any chance you can swap him for some more turbos?

 

The lettuce slug is going to be very hungry,  very soon.   Do you have a plan for him once the algae is gone?

 

Wish I knew more about the Cowries....all I know is that I've never seen anyone rely heavily on them for algae control, so I have no idea how much they can do.

 

The Nassarius are dedicated (carrion) scavengers.  You shouldn't need this many if you're feeding right.  

 

Seems like you could have more room for Turbo's and Cerith's.

 

16 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Mixture of mainly LPS with a few SPS, all corals doing well.

This is the good part!   👍

 

 

12 hours ago, Steves reef said:

Manual removal every week with water change

Gotta be every day, and consider not doing water changes until your nutrient levels recover.

 

12 hours ago, Steves reef said:

, cut down on amount of food and type,

Either you were overfeeding before or you are starving your fish now.

 

Whatever the case was, make sure that now you are feeding your fish well and not over feeding.

 

Your flow should be good enough to keep food items moving around the tank almost indefinitely.  If you find lots of food settling to the rocks and substrate, you could need more flow.

 

12 hours ago, Steves reef said:

cut down light duration

I wouldn't mess with the lights....risk of throwing off your corals, with are much less adaptable to changes.  Go back to your standard config.

 

12 hours ago, Steves reef said:

I feel like the algae grows back quicker than I can manually remove it.

Algae doesn't sleep and you were only hitting it once a week.   Not a surprise.

 

Something to consider is that YOU are the only cleanup crew member capable of removing the long algae.   Snails can only control new growth – but they are very very good at it.  They are also very small, so your do need to get their numbers up.

 

12 hours ago, Steves reef said:

I won't give up but I had to admit it is annoying me now.

 

I think I've watched pretty much every algae video on YouTube 😬

Most things are Tube are cr**.....gotta cruise with your BS filters set on HIGH all the time.

 

Here's one of the good ones...

...remove algae the way he does, but ignore the other advice which doesn't apply to you.

 

Work in small areas at a time – 1-2 square inches at most – until that area is totally clean.  

 

Then move to a new area.  

 

Repeat until large "snail proof" algae is gone.

 

If you see areas you've TOTALLY CLEANED like that growing new algae, that's a positive indication you need more snails.

 

When you add more, don't add too many (hope you have a LFS).   And give then at least a week or so to gauge their progress before you decide if you need more.

[mcarroll]

Regarding what snails can do.....not this:

 

Thanks to the internet for that! 

 

What snails really have to eat algae is the most bad*** tongue you've ever seen.

 

Here's a turbo snail tongue:

 

😉

 

For real this time...and their tongue is called a radula:

From: https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/index.php.  <----great read.....by Dr Ron Shimek

 

So all they can do is "lick" the algae up from the substrate.   Yes, they have a "ginsu tongue" that's 300% harder than human teeth...but it's still just a tongue.   And a very small one at that. 😉