Algae I've had Enough

[MINIATUS]

I need some good advice on the topic of Algaes. My tank is being over run with the crap. Green feather algaes, blue algaes, you name it. Also the raceamosas, grapes and there kin are growing out of control. I prune it pull algaes out by the hands full. and it keeps comming back with a vengenance.
Ive been doing water changes weekly, using Phosban, blowing the rock off, vaccumming the sand bed. And the poor snails are so covered in it they look like live clumps of algae moving around the tank. Is there anything Im missing and/or what can I do to eraticate it. I need some major advice here.

HELP! HELP! HELP!

MINIATUS

 

[Ritsuko Nashida]

With the discription you just gave...tear it down, and start again. Not what you wanted to hear I am sure. I am assuming that you had macro-algae in your display, that its hold fast are entrenched in your live rock and sand and that you now cant beat it back into submission. Would this be correct? If this is the case then tearing it down and starting it back up with some new live rock, and some new live sand would be the quickest and surest way to go after "killing & drying out" your existing sand and rock. I know a couple of reefers here that eventually took that route after having macro-algae in thier display take it over. Hopefully someone will chime in with a much better answer than the one I have.

 

[mfinn]

Not sure what size tank you have, but is it big enough for a tang?

 

[Witfull]

toothbrush, micron socks and a UV. daily attacks and removal.

 

[mojoreef]

Yea Min algae with hold fasts is a tough one to beat. I had some razor calurpa et in mine once and it was a 3 years battle, I took the rock out plucked, scrubbed it, put it in dark drums for 6 weeks, even took a blow torch to the stuff and the stuff came back anyway. Thats one of the reasons I am not a big algae fan. Having gone through the battle I am leaning towards Ritsuko Nashida idea.


Mike

 

[MINIATUS]

Im not sure where the Calerpera , grape, raceamosa came from, I sure as hell didnt buy it. LOL.That along with all the undisirable stuff like hair algae etc, etc.Im going nuts. If I didnt have to wait for the Star board for the new tank I would start the new tank sooner, but wouldnt I just be tranfering the problem to the new tank.

What does putting the LR in a dark container do. If it removes or kills off the algaes then would it not kill offf the Coralline stuff as well.

As to the other question it is a 90 gal tank and I had a Kole tank that mysteriously died along with 4 other fish. Reason unknown.Between him and about 40 snails, blue leg crabs they fought a losing battle.

This tank has been a curse ever since I had a sea cuke nuke on me.

MINIATUS

 

[Curtswearing]

It's rough but it can be done. I got rid of my razor and grape caulerpa as well as my Halimeda by being vigilant. Instead of doing periodic big harvesting, I practiced daily small harvesting for a while.

 

[MINIATUS]

If this is the case then tearing it down and starting it back up with some new live rock, and some new live sand would be the quickest and surest way to go after "killing & drying out" your existing sand and rock.

I have about 25 lbs of new rock on hold till I solve this problem. Is it possible to remove the rock and clean it and store it in a dark container then keep the corals it the tank by themselves, until the new tank is ready for setup.

MINIATUS :idea:

 

[Curtswearing]

Im not sure where the Calerpera , grape, raceamosa came from, I sure as hell didnt buy it. LOL.That along with all the undisirable stuff like hair algae etc, etc.

From spores that were there all along. The rock not only came with these spores....it came with the Phosphates to feed them.

What does putting the LR in a dark container do. If it removes or kills off the algaes then would it not kill offf the Coralline stuff as well.

This is called cooking the rock. You will likely lose some coralline but the bacterial turgor will do a lot of cleaning for you.

Here's a good thread which is just starting now. Back to Basics....Live Rock.

 

[MINIATUS]

I was reading that. Now what about keeping the corals in the tank without live rock. What effect would this have on the corals since the LR helps to filter and clean the water.

MINIATUS :idea:

 

[Curtswearing]

No worries Min....you only have one fish right now and you are just starting to add corals. Watch your Phosphate inputs carefully and make sure your exports are sufficient.

 

[WaterDogs]

...even took a blow torch to the stuff and the stuff came back anyway...
Mike

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[MINIATUS]

I have a mix of about 4 full size corals and about 15 frags.What do you mean watch my exports.
One thing I have noticed that everytime I take out a wack of the algaes especially hair algae and such, my skimmer goes nuts for a few days and takes out the stinkiest black sludge Ive ever seen.

MINIATUS

 

[MINIATUS]

One more thing concerns me, if you boil the rock as you say then return it to a tank would it then not start the cycle over and maybe put you back to the start of the algae problem again.

MIIATUS

 

[Curtswearing]

Waterdogs...I don't understand why you take pleasure in someone else getting algae. I have had algae before and I try my darndest to help others with this problem.

Min...this is a good thing. Your macro's are taking a lot of nasties out of the water and when you yank them out, your skimmer takes over. Once all of the Caulerpa's are gone, your skimmer has proven it can do the job.

 

[MINIATUS]

And people said Turbofloatars weren't that good, as I will beg to differ. Dang good skimmer in my opinion.

Back to the other question though, about the tank recycling again, see above post.

MINIATUS :exclaim:

 

[Curtswearing]

"Cooking" the rock means putting the rock in a dark bucket for a while with a powerhead and heater. Most bacteria will do just fine with this and it won't cause more than a minicycle. Please see the previous link.

No worries Min.

 

[MINIATUS]

Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated.

MINIATUS

 

[wrightme43]

In the resource library a section titled deep sand beds has some very interesting articles. One especialy on vacuming your sand bed. I thought it was the right thing to do as well. To boil down what was said, when you do it you interupt stability of the organisms living in the bed. They have to recolonize the area disturbed and as you know, its a process dependent on the creatures that are already in place. When you remove one needed for the existance of another you wipe out both or more. It goes into great detail about nutrient cycles and how to use them to your advantage. When your dsb is operating properly it cycles the nutrients 8-9 or more times to use up all avalible energy. Another article talks about diatoms using silocone, and using nutrients to grow. The diatoms grow quickly on the glass and sand. Bad thing? Maybye not. You can use snails to clean the sand and when you scrape your glass your corals eat what they can of the diatoms (building tissue) to tie up the nutrients in themselves. It goes on to say that diatoms are easily skimmed out because of the way they are built. I dont think IMHO that boiling your live rock would be the wisest course of action. Yes it would kill that algae, along with every other critter in it. However you could do that by putting in the yard. If I was in your position I would physically remove the algae, like I think it was Curt said every day if you have to. Algae cant win over a determined human. On the flip side I bet it keeps phosphate nice and low. LOL. I hope it helps you. It is only my humble opinion. Steve

 

[NaH2O]

Steve, you pose some good arguments. What people have to remember is the functionality of the sand bed. It sinks endproducts down until it hits the bottom of the tank. Then it builds up - the bacteria are still at work, but everything starts getting saturated. Sand critters need to be replenished quite often in order to maintain a good population/diversity. Cooking rocks is a good thing when they start to get saturated, too. You'd be surprised at what survives on the rock. Siphoning the substrate is necessary to prolong the life of a sand bed. The wastes that accumulate need to be removed, so they don't cause issues later on (unless looking a hobbyist enjoys the algae growing). Mike coined a term that discribes accumulating waste in a sand bed very well - aquarium composting.

Hope this makes sense