Algae problems AGAIN

haywood2 · #1 09/07/2007, 07:33 PM

The tank is a 75 gallon that has been setup for somewhere b/w 6-8 weeks. Anyways, I currently have 60lbs live rock, 3 chromis, 7 turbo snails, and 4 cerith snails. My one biggest piece of live rock began growing this green slimy looking algea and it just kept growing and growing. Today I decided to just pick it off with my hands. How can I prevent it from coming back, or how can I get rid of the rest? Also, my sand keeps turning brown every few days. The tank unfortunately is in a sun room so it does get some direct sunlight, and I run 130W of light about 2 hours every night. Should I get some more snails or maybe a starfish?

tinmanny · #2 09/07/2007, 07:47 PM

what doyou have for a set up do you have a skimmer how long do you keep the lights on what are the chemical tests like
ph
nitrate
amonis
manny

capn_hylinur · #3 09/07/2007, 08:04 PM

sounds like cyano--a bacteria
Usually indicates I high level of phosphates and dissolved organic compounds.
what is your tank turn over rate per hour
How often are you doing water changes.
Do you have any power head in the tank. If so direct them at the cyano
cut down on your food drastically.
Can you put a piece of cardboard up against the front glass for three days?

haywood2 · #4 09/08/2007, 01:03 PM

The tanks parameters I haven't checked in about 2 weeks. I haven't done a water change on the tank yet either. The skimmer is a bermuda aquatics rogue wave. The other filtration is a penguin 330, along with 2 maxi-jet 1200's, so I guess the total water turnover rate is somewhere around 1200 GPH. Hope this helps some.

Paul B · #5 09/08/2007, 01:06 PM

The tank is very new and I would be surprised if it were not growing some sort of algae. It will abate eventually. In the meantime, feed very little. A fish stomach is about as large as it's eye and it does not have to be filled up to capacity all the time.
Paul

aquarius77 · #6 09/08/2007, 03:02 PM

Pauls advice is dead on.

Sk8r · #7 09/08/2007, 03:08 PM

DItto. Food for thought: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1078532

haywood2 · #8 09/08/2007, 07:26 PM

I usually only feed my three chromis 1/4 of a cube of frozen brine shrimp one day, then the next I feed them one flake of spirulina thats about the size of a quarter, but I crush it up. Is that too much, or too little? I am really thinking putting the tank in the sunroom was the biggest mistake, but it was there or the basement(where nobody would see it). Maybe I need to use RO/DI water. Can anyone point me in the direction of a unit for that, or can I just buy jugs of it from the store? Thanks for the help so far, keep it coming please.

capn_hylinur · #9 09/08/2007, 09:25 PM

are you rinsing the frozen foods---I use a small brine shrimp net. There are nitrates and phosphates in the frozen foods from the producers tanks.

YES, use r/0 water--lots of phosphates in regular water.

Myka · #10 09/08/2007, 09:45 PM

Algae has little to do with light, and lots to do with dissolved nutrients in the water. Particularly nitrates, phosphates, and silicates. Starting off with RO or RO/DI water is hugely beneficial as most tap water has at least phosphates in it.

Yes, you need more snails. On your 75 I would look to have the following:

15 Nassarius
10 Trochus (or Astreas...or your "dreaded" Turbos....sorry don't like em)
10 Cerith (the big black ones)
2 Cleaner shrimp
1-2 Peppermint shrimp

No hermits. They kill snails. The shrimp take their place.

Mavrk · #11 09/08/2007, 10:55 PM

Myka is right.

Astreas cannot right themselves, but are very good at their job. I still don't know if mine are astreas or margarites (margarites are from colder waters so I hope not). Trochus are great and can be identified from looking at the bottom with the foot retracted. They have a hole in the center.

Ceriths are small and look sort of like ice cream cones, so I am not clear what would be big black ones (can you please explain this Myka?).

haywood2 · #12 09/09/2007, 09:07 AM

Yeah my cerith snails have a long body with this long antenna thingy that they stick out of the sand when they are burrowed in it. Their body and shell are both an off-white color.

haywood2 · #13 09/09/2007, 03:42 PM

So where can I get an RO unit, or can I buy jugs of RO water from say shop rite and then mix the salt in there???

capn_hylinur · #14 09/09/2007, 04:28 PM

with a 75 gal tank--its going to be expensive in the long run to buy jugs.
Since I don't live in your area can't recommend an r/o unit but I am sure someone will.

vultao1 · #15 09/09/2007, 04:41 PM

big als online has some nice ro systems

haywood2 · #16 09/09/2007, 06:17 PM

Are most RO systems in the $200 range??

liriel · #17 09/09/2007, 08:32 PM

Lowe's has a pretty nice RO/DI system for $150 that also has a storage container. I buy water from my local fish store right now, but hope to upgrade to an in-home system soon. Home Depot and Walmart might also have systems, I haven't looked there yet.

jasonh · #18 09/09/2007, 08:37 PM

The systems I've seen at HD, etc are junk. thefilterguys and melevsreef sell RO/DI units for under $200