Let's Talk About ~Algae Control~

[Paul B]

Morgan, I am saying let it grow in your water but outside your reef like in a lighted refugium or as I do in an algae trough. It is much easier than to fight with it. Of course I am not saying to let the thing go to hell or overfeed.
You still need maintenance. You still have to remove the algae from wherever it is growing which will also remove the nutrients that the algae need to grow. I would not remove all the algae in a refugium at once, leave some so more can grow easier.
Paul

 

[burning2nd]

i have some, ive scrubed, a little, i think im gonna up the snails, and wait, maybe a crab, thats an idea, the ms's loves the hermits tho, if she were to see one of them get a leg riped off. the crab would be going down the tolet

 

[gregb]

I use coral sand from the great barrier reef.

 

[JasonD]

Marine Mollies

I was having some hair algae problem during my tank swap. I did some reading on mollies in reef tanks. Turns out that are an excellent algae eater. It has been two months and they are doing excellent. They are still cleaning algae off the glass and pumps. They don't seem to go near the corals though.

To acclimate them, put them on a saltwater drip in a 5 gallon bucket. Over a couple of hours, turn the freshwater to saltwater. Then they are ready to be reef fish. I purchased the pair out of a brackish tank, so the adjustment to saltwater would not be so severe. They are active live breeders. The fry can be raised in saltwater, as long as they are not eaten by corals and fish.

Reef Mollies:

Saltwater Sail-Fin Mollies
By Carol E. Keen
Edited By Elizabeth M. Lukan, 7/14/99
http://www.marinefiends.com/issues/1999/fnc0799.htm

Mollies (Poeciliidae)
http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/mollies.htm

 

[Krish]

LOL...You did do it

 

[burning2nd]

this little thing has doubled in size now, what should i do?


IF i would have not touched it but now its way bigger then you see here

 

[NaH2O]

Its hard for me to see the shapes of the "leaves". Are they fern like? Is the algae wirey or soft? Could you siphon it out with a water change?

 

[SWPlantedTank]

I think it is gorgeous!

I really agree with Paul: We can eaither spend a lot of energy, time and money fighting algae or we can utilize it to the benefit of our reef. Here's my reef's refugium:

http://www.swplantedtank.com

I've found I can grow algae elsewhere in my system, and my reef stays nuisance algae free.

 

[burning2nd]

update,

i pulled the rock out cleaned it in a bucket with brush and ro water. it stayed away for about 2 weeks but it is comeing back.

hold on

i pulled it, it came back twice as big, then i cleaned in the bucket, and now there a bush on the powerhead, but the good part is this.

im gonna leave the bush in the new spot cause its less visable, and i figer if the new bush is takeing the stuff outta the water over there, the old one (pic up there) will not be able to thrive as well,

i think i f ed that all up

 

[shallowreef]

I never did a fuge until i got my new tank and i must say it works like a champ at keeping bad algae down.

 

[burning2nd]

i also, just set my self up a sump/fuge, im intend is to grow what ever wants to grow down there, and hopefully have a clearer cleaner tank

 

[H2O]

Hello,

Maybee I can help with the algae controll thing. First off let me say that there are 2 things in the water that you cannot stop from growing:

-bacteria
-algae/plants

The only thing you can do is limit/slow their growth. Everything living needs to eat.What happens when bacteria grow? Well, nitrate,and phosphate start to build up in the water. What happens when algae grow? Nitrate and phosphates drop, somtimes silicate(diatoms).

Where do theese foods come from? Well bacteria eat detritus,leftover food, anything dead. Plants eat the remains of bacteria processes(nitrates, phosphates). Elimiate bacteria, you will not have algae, eliminate algae and you would not have bacteria.

You have to balance the 2 of those processes. Between algae and bacteria. If you have too much food for bacteria(dead materials) then algae cannot keep up with them.Bacteria will grow as fast as the food is available.

If you have too much nitrates and phosphates bacteria have too much dead material to eat. Either you keep up with bacterial processes with algae/plants or nitrates/phosphates build up.

You cannot stop algae/bacteria only slow their process

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF H2O! Thanks for your input here

 

[brady816]

I have been very blessed not to have any of these problems yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[taekwondodo]

algae from hell...

What is this and how do I get rid of it (The purple brillow-pad algae from hell)?

It's in a 20G. I've tried a royal urchin, mexican turbo snails and a sea slug. Nothing is touching it.

0 P, 0 NO3. Weekly 20% changes (Oceanic).

Thanks,

- Jeff

 

[Krish]

Couldn't say I have seen that one before, but if you don't get much replies here, I would start a new thread in the general forum because this thread hasn't been visited all that often lately, however some people still have it checked as a subscribed thread so you should get some sort of reply.

BTW, Welcome to RF if I haven't welcomed you already

 

[burning2nd]

standerd algae, fighting opperation. water changes, light, food.

 

[Scooterman]

This thread should be live & well, please use it, I think it is a sticky thread just for the purpose. Now I've seen that before I just can't remember, it may be a pain but I think you can get it under control. I would harvest as much as you can, physically remove it, & proceed to the above practices to help resolve the problem.

 

[taekwondodo]

I would harvest as much as you can, physically remove it, & proceed to the above practices to help resolve the problem.

I mow it once a week when I do a 25% wc (5 gal) - very tough stuff. I could tow my car with it if I could weave it together. Right now I am doing almost no feeding in the tank and am running a sump with chaeto-only in it.

It started off as this pretty little patch of purple and when the pretty patch got too big, I pulled as much as I could off of the rock and little pieces went into the current... within a week it was everywhere.

Any ideas (in addition to "standard" WC, feeding) would be appreciated.

Unfortunately if I do a search for "purple AND algae" I get 500,000 "Purple-up" threads :doubt:

Thanks,

- Jeff

 

[MarineTeng]

i like emerald crabs, they've worked well for me on stuff i can't get anything else to eat, they love picking at rocks they just can't get to glass which is a shame