ACBlinky Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 My tank is very new, just five weeks old. I started with fully cured LR and experienced virtually no cycle, the algae began to grow very quickly and shows no sign of abating. I've been told that it's common for tanks to go through a bloom of brown diatoms, then green algae/hair algae, followed by cyano (this last one made me wonder - I hope they're wrong and cyano isn't inevitable). I'm curious if this is the norm, and if so is there a time frame or do you just ride it out until it's over? The reason I ask is my tank had a horrid diatom bloom, now I seem to be cultivating both green diatom-like algae ('dust' on the glass) and long (>1cm) hairy/wavy algae along with shorter, denser, grasslike green algae in areas of high flow. Conditions have been stable all along, here are tonight's numbers just in case it helps: NH3 0 NO2 0 NO3 0 (okay, undetectable, they're never really 0 are they? PO4 0.1 KH 7.6dKH Ca 500ppm pH 8.3 Salinity 1.0245 Temp: 84F (too high I know, but fish/corals look fine) The 'cleanup crew': 5 blueleg hermits (doing a good job on the shorter green algae) 4 hawaiian zebra hermits (eating some algae but generally lazy) 1 Trochus snail (valiantly battling the algae on the glass and losing) 3 bumblebee snails (useless as can be, but pretty) 1 emerald crab (picks at the rocks a bit but actually has hairy algae growing on his legs and doesn't bother with it) plus a few miniature snails, a tiny bristleworm and some teeny tiny brittle stars. I've been cleaning only the front pane of glass (otherwise I literally have trouble seeing into the tank) and have a bag of Phos-X in the refugium. I think I just need some reassurance that this isn't going to go on forever, it's really awful! Link to comment
Daemonfly Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Tanks are always maturing and many experience the beginning algae blooms, etc... as the tank matures all the way up to 6-months to a year. Link to comment
dianne Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Maybe try adding a few ceriths or astreas. I have astreas, and they have done a great job keeping things clean. I only have to wipe the glass every 2-3 days. Link to comment
steelhealr Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 AC..where is that phophate coming from??? Are you using RO water? Everyone goes thru some sort of algae bloom, particularly diatoms. Many avert the hair algae with good water params. Don't want to curse myself, but, I haven't had it. I DID have cyano tho'. I would have used some astrea snails in the cleanup crew. JMO. I've been disappointed with hermit performance. Margarita's, IMO, are great ....clean the glass. It will stop as the tank matures. You should see improvement at 3-4 months out, but, don't let up on good water maintenance. I would definitely look into where those phosphates are coming from. Even 0.1 is enough to help out algae. I use RO and my phos has always been zero. SH Link to comment
ACBlinky Posted July 14, 2005 Author Share Posted July 14, 2005 I wonder where the PO4 is coming from as well... I use distilled water, so I know it's not the source. I'd guess it's from feeding frozen foods, but honestly the PO4's been stupidly high since day one - even when it was just rock and a shrimp who got one tiny pellet every other day, it was measuring as high as 0.25ppm. Tomorrow is water change day, I'm going to try to get some of the algae out of the tank manually. I'll also see if I can grab some snails at work on Saturday. I had some Caulerpa in the refugium, but it made me very nervous (the whole 'going sexual' nutrient-dump tank crashing thing) so I removed it. I've been looking for some Chaeto (pssst! Anyone want to sell me some Chaeto?) to replace it, I'm sure it will help a lot with the PO4 levels. If it's going to plague the tank for up to a year, I guess I'd better just do my best to remove most of the algae and make peace with what remains Link to comment
dianne Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 I had some Caulerpa in the refugium, but it made me very nervous (the whole 'going sexual' nutrient-dump tank crashing thing) so I removed it. Wow. I have some Caulerpa behind the rocks (just pruned it two days ago) that's going in my refugium when it gets here. Please explain the nutrient-dump tank crashing thing: I hadn't heard of that, and if I need to get rid of the caulerpa, the store will take it back. Link to comment
ACBlinky Posted July 14, 2005 Author Share Posted July 14, 2005 Okay, I'm no expert and haven't experienced it first-hand (which is a good thing), but here's what I gather from all the reading I've done: Caulerpa sometimes tries to reproduce sexually, and there's no certain way to prevent this. When it 'goes sexual' it turns white and dumps a toxic soup into the tank that can crash it. Many people run their refugium light 24/7 in order to try and prevent this (I think because no dark=no sexual reproduction). I had mine running this way, and the stuff was growing like crazy, but it made me jittery knowing it was a bit like a time-bomb. I believe Caulerpa's unreliability is why many people recommend Chaeto as the macro of choice for refugiums. Link to comment
ktownhero Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 I got a ton of hair algae at the end of my cycle. I just got a good cleanup crew and manually removed the stuff that started getting long enough to easily pull it. 4 weeks later, about 85% of that hair algae is gone. I still have more than I am comfortable with, mostly on the sand, but it is under control. It is within the coverage that you might find "acceptable." As in, it kinda makes the tank look nice and natural. I also have a few different types of caulerpa and other macros growing in the tank that I just let go. I don't mind my hair algae except what is on the sand. I wish I had a nice bright white clean sandbed, but the only way I'm going to get that now is if I get a sand goby (forget it, I like live sand) or if I suction out a few pounds of sand, which I may do some time down the road after the tank is mature. Link to comment
DiverDave Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 Food is almost always a source of PO4. Additionally, even though the live rock was cured, it may have come from an area high in PO4, and is slowly putting it back into solution. The algae, of course, are using this, as well as the nitrates in your tank to grow. Two things to consider with regards to your test readings. 1) Nitrate will quickly be used up by photosyntesizing organisms which include macro, micro, and unicelular algaes. You may not be reading a detectible level, even though it is being made available. 2) PO4 can be organic, or inorganic. Our tests will detect one of these (can't remember which). Phosphate can be released back into the water from the substrate, live rock, or any other medium in the tank. I recommend ROAPHOS to assist in the removal of the PO4, regular water changes with GOOD water to asist in removing PO4 and Nitrogen compounds, and harvest/remove as much of the algae as possible. Your clean up crew will assist in keeping your tank noticablly 'free' of algae, but as they eat it, so too do they release the nutrients back into the tank. Best Wishes DD Link to comment
mirkus Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 I buy ocean water from LFS has phosphate in it. from .01 to .03! Link to comment
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