Newbie in Training.

[StanleyLove]

Hi there!

Not only am I new to the forum, but i am also semi-green on the reef keeping area as well. I have owned and operated a CPR 3 gal Nano Pico-C Tank for over 6 months now and I couldn't be happier with my results. Housed in my Pico is LR, various polyps, mushrooms, and one HUGE Aptasia ( i know they're bad, but it's so pretty and it's not spreading) I also have a teeny Clown goby (his name is Stanley, hence my username) and four little snails hard at work. I just wanted to join a forum where everyone has the same love for this very interesting and beautiful hobby. I wish to learn about new products and ideas as well as share the small amount of info I've learned in reef keeping. Either way, i'm glad to be here. (i'm sorry if this is not the correct place to put this thread, i just wanted to throw myself out there!!!)

 

[Krish]

Welcome to RF!!! Glad you can join us here! I'm sure you will enjoy the forum. Tons of friendly people here!
P.S...Got any pic of your pico?

 

[StanleyLove]

I have none at this time, but i can probably get one taken within the next week. Thank you for the warm welcome and i look foawrd to posting in the (very near) future

 

[Krish]

Sounds good

 

[LakeEd]

We are happy you found the Forum here StanleyLove!!!

WELCOME TO REEF FRONTIERS!!!

Looking forward to reading more from you in the months and years to follow!

 

[StanleyLove]

My buddy just took a couple of photo's of my lovely little tank.

My Pico Tank. I put a "framed" picture of Stanley's "mom" on the tank so Stan can always remember: wherever she may be, MAMMA LOVES YOU!

If you look closely, you can see Stan the Man!

I also wanted to ask about the algae that is growing all over my tank in an array of colors (green and red) any ideas on how to biologically remove this stuff without chemicals? (i won't risk putting chemicals in my teeny tiny tank.) I have awesome yellow polyps that are being overrun with this stringy algae.

Una Mas!

 

[LakeEd]

I also wanted to ask about the algae that is growing all over my tank in an array of colors (green and red) any ideas on how to biologically remove this stuff without chemicals? (i won't risk putting chemicals in my teeny tiny tank.)

Looking at your setup, I would suggest you add more Live Rock, and once that has fully cured in your tank, start removing the Bio-material out of your filter area. The Bio-material tends to be a good place for Nitrates to build up, and higher nitrates fuel algae growth.

You can also try manually removing that red & green algae, but until your Nitrate level comes down it will continue growing.

I'm sure more people will jump in here soon... so I have faith help is on its way for you and your tank!

 

[Krish]

Nice tank!! To add to what Ed posted, algae will usually grow when there are excess nutrients in the tank (eg nitrates, phosphates etc) which usually come from over feeding, allowing waste/detritus to settle in the tank too long before removing etc. For starters, are you using ro/di water? Also, how often do you do water changes (and how much each time) also, what are your water parameters like (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc). The best way to beat any algae is to limit it's food sources (excess nutrients) and by doing this, you will starve the algae. Also, I don't really see much in there for flow and algae will usually grow where flow is limited so I'd possibly pop in a very small powerhead in there (seeing the tank is so small) to get some better circulation in there. From the looks of the pics, the algae in there looks like cyno.

 

[StanleyLove]

Nice tank!! From the looks of the pics, the algae in there looks like cyno.

Thanks for the props. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my little pico.


about the cyno....is that bad?

 

[ronj]

i would toss the blue bio material as well....LOTS of nitrate builup(fuel for algae!!!!!)..remove a small amount every week before water changes..if you aren't already doing weekly water changes, it would help, especially in smaller tanks......as Krish mentioned, are you using RO/DI???if you are using tap water, this could be a major factor for algea growth ...

 

[LakeEd]

Thanks for the props. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my little pico.


about the cyno....is that bad?

Cyno is a type of Algae. Typically, any unwanted algae is concidered "bad". Algae in general does have good properties, but Cyno is showing a build-up of nutrients you don't want in your tank... so most will act on it being in our tanks as a bad thing.

Adding a little more flow as Krish suggested, along with removing those build-ups of nutrients will take care of the Cyno, and let your tank continue to mature.

 

[Krish]

about the cyno....is that bad?

It all depends on if you think algae is cool or not It is sort of a nuicance for some people, but can be easily controlled if certain measures are taken. You definately want to eliminate any excess nutrients like I had mentioned before and increase water flow. Also, the way most "algae's" work is by binding up phosphates and nitrates (which is basically how they grow) so what you'd want to do is export these excess phosphates and nitrates out of your tank (so it won't be in your system any longer) and this is done by physically removing the algae. So what I did when I had cyno growing during cycling, was siphon it out of my sump (which is where it grew) everyweek when doing a water change and as my tank matured and things stabalized, the cyno eventually stopped growing.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Nice write up on cyanobacteria:
http://www.pbmas.org/readarticle.php?article_id=3

 

[Meche]

Welcome to RF Stanleylove.

Thats a pretty cool little tank you have there. I'm looking for an excuse to set up my 6gal Bowfront; your tank may be it.

 

[returnofsid]

Welcome to RF. I'm fairly new as well and have found LOADS of help and great people here!! I'm sure you'll find the same experience. I now have 3 reef tanks and 2 freshwwater tanks going. Where before, I had 7 freshwater tanks...lol. About your algae issue. It looks to me like cyano bacteria, which is actually a bacteria instead of a true algae. A couple ways to combat it are by increasing your flow and reducing your nitrates and phosphates. Phosban is a great product for removing phosphates. More live rock, less detritus (waste caused by overfeeding, fish waste and such) will reduce your nitrates. Use RO water if possible. I'd manually remove as much of the cyano as possible whenever you see it. I had a huge problem with cyano awhile back. I added a couple more powerheads, directed them at the area that had the cyano problem, removed what I could by syphoning it up and haven't had a cyano problem since. Other than the cyano, your tank looks great...but I agree with the above suggestions and I'd add more live rock and DEFINATELY get rid of your bio media. The live rock alone will do all the biological filtration you need.

 

[StanleyLove]

Thanks for all the helpful hints, guys. I really appreciate it. I'm also glad to be an inspiration to future Nano reef keepers.

 

[Krish]

Here's something you may find very interesting and also could possibly give you a few ideas. The filtration on page2 is really cool as well
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18633

 

[lavenderfish]

Is it just me or is that bio material begging to be replaced with chaetomorphia?

 

[4251cpd]

Is it just me or is that bio material begging to be replaced with chaetomorphia?

Good idea. Plus you may want to get a small, troch or astrea snail, when first introduced tend to mow down the cyno.

 

[StanleyLove]

Well, I have a feeling i figured out the cause for all that algae. I must admit: i tend to overfeed Stan. When I bought him he was skinny and severely lacking in color (i'm a bleeding heart) so I took him home and started a feeding frenzy! Now he looks great! but he's also a little piggy! I am going to cut down on his brine shrimp intake from now on to see if that helps lower the amount of algae.