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#26
02/02/2007, 01:07 AM
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Nice tank Randy. You have the brown worse than I do and in different locations. Mine is on the rock and parts of my sand bed. Do you have any in your fuge ? I just noticed its starting on the sand bed in there. Let us know about the Turbos, mine dont touch the stuff. Good luck and keep in touch.
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#28
02/02/2007, 08:40 AM
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I'm always amazed by how we can be "beaten" by common problems no matter how much equipment we run and how "perfectly" we do everything. And then you see people who have the least equipment doing almost no water changes and doing few things "by the book" and yet they have gorgeous tanks without our problems...
 Gotta love our hobby...For what it's worth, I checked TDS in my RO/DI water last night and it was 19. Same reading as pre-DI. So, something happened to my DI. Just a couple weeks ago when I last checked it was working perfectly. Strange... So, I'm going to buy a 2-stage refillable DI unit from The Filter Guys. I'll use the high-silica removal media, and once my water gets back to 0 TDS I'll see if it helps to control or get rid of the algae. -Joe |
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#29
02/03/2007, 02:52 PM
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How true. I have literally been" perfect" concerning my tank for the last 6 months. With little or no results battling the brown. Patience only last so long, I need to see some results. My hobby has turned into an obsession, but I love it . If anything new occurs will update.
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#31
02/06/2007, 11:28 PM
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Well, my brown fuzzy algae looks like it may be at a standstill. I haven't really noticed any new growth. However, I'm getting some weird brown color on parts of my sandbed. It has a few small bubbles in it, so it's definitely algae. But, it's nothing like any other sandbed algaes I've seen before. So, I'll have to look into it.
I'm skimming pretty wet right now and will order a new DI system this Friday. TDS is now at 3, so I think my previous sample was contaminated with tap water residue or something... But, I still want it at zero, and I want the best possible silicate removal. Finally, I've resorted to cleaning out my sandbed during waterchanges. I take my sand vac and pinch off the hose to slow down the flow and then I go to the problem areas on the sandbed and suck out the silt and any other nasties that I can. It's amazing how gross a sandbed can get. I have 2-3" of oolitic sand, and I was hoping it would provide some natural nitrate reduction and other benefits. But, it looks like it may be trapping more stuff than my sand sifters can handle. So, that might be part of my problem. As such, I'm cleaning out and slowly reducing my sandbed in hopes that it might help remove something that could be feeding my algae woes. Until next time, Joe |
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#32
02/07/2007, 01:47 PM
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Thats really weird Joe, I did the same thing yesterday during my weekly water change. I figured I've attcked every part of the system except the sand bed. Cleaned about 50% or so of it. Will go after it again next week. I guess all we can do is stay on top of it and be patient. Good luck, Mike.
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#34
02/07/2007, 07:19 PM
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Actually, I'm starting to occasionally see some hermits/turbos/etc sitting on the one rock in my tank that has pretty good coverage of the fuzzy brown algae. So maybe they'll slowly learn to eat it...or the rest of the edible algae is gone from the tank... Either way I'm not complaining if they're eating (or at least picking at) the stuff! :-)
As far as sand cleaning, the stuff I'm pulling out is quite gross. Sulphur smell, dark color, etc. So, I think I'll continue cleaning part of the sand during each water change. -Joe |
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#35
02/13/2007, 06:46 PM
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Hello guys, just an update. I noticed today on my water change that the FBA (fuzzy brown algae) is at a stand still on the rock. However, it seemed to spread on the sand bed quite a bit more than the previous week. I vacuumed some serious FBA out today and with every other avenue of attack being implemented, I hope to get a handle on this soon. I hope my cleaners learn to eat it . Good luck with your alga issues.
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#36
02/14/2007, 09:11 PM
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I've also seen a little bit on my sand bed. However, it seems to form on "clumps" of sand. That makes sense, since it is really good at getting wedged into the rockwork. Also, I added a cuke to my tank, and a really active little fighting conch. They seem to be helping with my sand bed algae problem I wrote about a little bit ago. I'm still working on slowly reducing my sand bed (the parts I can reach, at least) to 1" or a bit less. It'll take a while, as I'm doing it slowly. But, I think that might help a little bit. To make up for losing my "semi-deep sand bed," I'm making a large remote DSB/'fuge. It'll go next to and above my tank and gravity feed into the display tank. That should maybe help a little bit, and at least give me an even better place to grow 'pods than my current hang-on 'fuge.
'Til next time, Joe |
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#37
02/14/2007, 11:07 PM
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I have a similar green hair algae prolem. It's like grass growing all over my tank choking out anything it comes in contact with. I've tried everything to get rid of it with no results. I litterally have to removed manually at least every 2 weeks if not weekly.
Lawnmower blennies don't eat it. Emerald crabs don't eat it, although they have managed to completly eat some of my macro algae. I added some macro algae (some fire engine red stuff) which is beautiful and growing quite vigorously but it has not managed to slow down the growth of the hair algae which is why i bought it in the first place (I ready it would use up the exess dissolved nutrients thereby starving out the hair algae, it hasn't). I have noticed that this dreaded green plague does not seem to grow over anything where the purple coralline algae is growing. I've decided that in addition the constant manual removal of the green algae that I should perhaps encourage more growth of this coraline algae and simply irradicate the issue that way. I've read some things on this being a way to rid yourself of the plague. I've decided that a bottle of purple up is in order. Any opinions or am I just dreaming. I'm desperate at this point and will try anything.
__________________
Vicky, Wisc |
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#38
02/15/2007, 12:33 AM
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Green hair algae is not the problem the rest of us here on this thread have been battling. We've got a few ungodly nasty strains of brown algaes. However, most of our methods should be able to help you out as well. There are countless threads on RC and elsewhere online about battling marine algae, so the best thing you can do is to read them all and see if any of the available suggestions help you out. Also, identifying exactly what species of algae you have can help you to search for ways to specifically get rid of or manage your type. With lots of reading online, I'm sure you can beat the green hair algae. If only some of us could find the "magic cure" for our brown hair/fuzz algaes...
-Joe (p.s. I'm in Eau Claire, WI. Not sure which part of WI you're from...) |
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#39
02/15/2007, 07:09 PM
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Joe, I put in a remote DSB/ fuge about 3 months ago. Reversed lighting schedule, poly filters in the baffles and chaeto in the fuge. I really believe that it has helped. I also reduced my sand bed depth to about 3/4 to a 1/2 inch over the last 8 weeks. So it looks like we are heading down the same path. Will keep up dated when warrants, good luck.
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#40
02/15/2007, 11:39 PM
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TwentyTwenty,
What skimmer are you running? PolyFilter makes my EuroReef RS-80 foam a lot, so I don't like using it. I installed my new DI today. I had been using a horizontal cartridge, but now I have a refillable vertical unit that holds more and changes color so I can monitor how it's doing. So, I'll see if that might help a bit. And once I get my remote 'fuge going, we'll see if that can do anything. And as the sand bed keeps getting reduced... So many fronts I'm working on...one of them has to start fending off the algae... Joe |
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#41
02/16/2007, 01:28 AM
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I have an Aqua C remora. Works pretty well, I have a low bioload. I really do not know what to do next. Hopefully a combination will come through for us. One question, might be a long shot this really all started when I switched from IO salt to IO reef crystals. What salt are you using Joe ?
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#42
02/16/2007, 02:30 PM
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I'm using IO, but I see no reason to change. Of all the millions of people using IO, I don't hear of any "algae plague" or anything like that. I know it can't be my salt or you'd hear lots of people having problems getting algae to go away, and they would all have IO in common... So switching salts to IO probably won't help/hurt you at all. They all seem pretty close to the same formula, which makes sense.
I'm sure that battling the algae on all possible fronts, I'll find a way to beat it. It's not that bad right now, probably because of my limited feeding and focus on improving water/tank quality in all possible aspects. Will keep you posted, Joe p.s. I'm using the promo ER RS-80 on my 75gal +25gal sump. It's a bit undersized, but I don't overfeed or abuse my system so it works out just fine. Plus with the new "Mega Chaeto Fuge" I'm working on, that'll probably pull out more than the skimmer!  Oh, and do you have problems with excess foaming when you put PolyFilter in vs. not having it in?
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#43
02/16/2007, 04:33 PM
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I figured as much with the salt, but just wanted to hear it from someone else. I have no foaming issues what so ever when the poly filter is in use.
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#44
02/18/2007, 10:53 PM
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Well, my new chaeto fuge is nearing completion. A few more days and I'll have it running. We'll see if that helps at all, but I'm rather "glass half empty" these days when it comes to this %$&* brown algae...
If there's any good news, the tank has to be moved in a little over a year, anyway... So it'll have to be completely broken down then, and I'll be starting over. That'll give me a chance to cook my rocks for several months and get rid of this crap... -Joe |
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#45
02/20/2007, 05:27 PM
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Just did my weekly water change. This stuff just does not slow down. I see more of it now on my sand bed than the rock. I vacuumed out a ton of this stuff today. I do not know what is feeding it. My water quality is perfect and inhabitants are healthy. I do not think it poses any real health issues. I just hate the way it looks, but I think I'm going to have to live with it. If anyone comes up with a fix please advise. Good luck, Mike.
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#46
02/21/2007, 11:59 AM
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Well, my hermits and turbo snails have finally turned to eating this stuff, but probably not because they want to. They only nibble on it a little at a time, but it's better than nothing. It doesn't spread very quickly in my system, so I'm glad for that. Also, it's really a problem on one side of my tank. I don't know if that's for any certain reason or if it just started there and has yet to spread to the other side... But, my 14K Phoenix on that side is getting a bit old, so I may swap that out for a new bulb. Probably won't help, but a new bulb is needed anyway just as part of the regular maintenance. Who knows.
New 'fuge is ready to go, I just need to get my second bucket of water in there to fill it. Then the powerhead gets turned on to feed it, and I have to figure out how to get my lighting going above it. Then I'll get chaeto from two local reefers to start growing. I'd pull chaeto out of my hang-on 'fuge, but it's not growing very well these days. I'm not sure if it's because I've starved the tank of so many nutrients lately. But, I'll see if stronger lighting over the new fuge will help with chaeto growth and nutrient export. Worst case it's a good place to put some chemical filter media and increase my system volume. Hopefully I can get some macroalgae to take off in there. OK, I'm done babbling now. Still battling my brown slime in the sandbed, so I think I'm going to need to "recharge" my sandbed through IPSF and maybe get another cuke and fighting conch. Until then I'm still reducing sand bed depth and trying to take out as much of the algae down there that I can. I've accepted the fact that I just have to live with my algaes and work to control them as best as possible. I guess it's truly "natural" that way. No tanks are ever really free of any algae... -Joe |
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#47
02/21/2007, 12:01 PM
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Hmm... I'll clarify. Brown fuzzy algae is only on one side of my tank. I can't find any of it on the other side unless it's on a hermit/snail shell who's wandered over to that side of the tank. So, the only way it's present over there on the right side is if was taken there by something that got it on the left.
-Joe |
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#49
02/21/2007, 04:55 PM
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I do wish to add more flow to my tank, which may help the sand algae problem, but the fuzzy brown algae doesn't care about flow. It seems to anchor itself anywhere on the rockwork it wants to, regardless of flow. I still am in the process of adding more flow, though. I'm one of many fans of the "can't have too much flow" approach. I've got a Koralia #3 on the way, which will be directed to get more flow into the lower front part of the tank. More will be on the way in the future, but I'm only trying one right now to make sure I like the design/quality/performance of the Koralia pumps. Adding more flow to combat algae isn't my main concern; I'm doing it for my sps who will surely appreciate it. :-)
Thanks for your input, Joe |
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#50
03/06/2007, 05:00 PM
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Hi guys, it has been 2 weeks since touching base. An update is in order. There is hope, I have the upper hand on it now. Its growing very slowly and only on a few spots on the rocks. The sand also has a few spots. I have 3 poly filters going, 1 in each baffle in the fuge. This is the only change in my battle against the Brown. Also, my Chaeto is a huge ball now instead of a tennis ball. Growing rapidly, eating up any bad stuff still in there. So, maybe this is a new direction for anyone who is fighting it out with this stuff. Good luck and be patient, Mike.
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