Algae Issues Thread
- Thread starter griss
- Start date
brandon429
Well-known member
Likely spirulina
But ID doesn't matter in algae threads, the action matters
Can we see the sandbed, that's where the catchments are
Depth, pigmentation in the bed, any extra growths and other small details matter in my opinion. Looking great so far! For sure that rock lift out it, clean that off, rinse well in sw, put back. Be the grazer this round
But ID doesn't matter in algae threads, the action matters
Can we see the sandbed, that's where the catchments are
Depth, pigmentation in the bed, any extra growths and other small details matter in my opinion. Looking great so far! For sure that rock lift out it, clean that off, rinse well in sw, put back. Be the grazer this round
brandon429
Well-known member
I see the telltale whiskers of a lysmata shrimp
Very sensitive, they're our mine canaries for bad water. That's good water you've got/ small clues from the pics. Actions taken need to account for sensitivity with those expensive shrimp.
Very sensitive, they're our mine canaries for bad water. That's good water you've got/ small clues from the pics. Actions taken need to account for sensitivity with those expensive shrimp.
brandon429
Well-known member
I can see edges of the sandbed on the side of the rock in the full picture
It's got coverage, it has the extra growths and impacted waste possibly unless you've been dedicated cleaning it the whole time. This is classic old tank syndrome
I wrote a work thread on reversing old tank syndrome, by rip cleans of course
www.reef2reef.com
In this thread the university of Florida I think it was uses rip cleaning to rehab and skip cycle rebuild just after a hurricane loss of power crash. There's several examples of tank handling done our way saving them from loss
Notice the recurring themes:
We don't ID anything
We didn't ask for parameter readings
We never used bottle bac: keeping the cycle intact means we just cleaned the tank, it's not a start over. A start over is a new cycle on new rocks with new corals and fish. By surgically cleaning your tank vs guessing with dosers and test kit levels you skip the risk of giving your tank full blown dinos or an alternation of generations into a gha forest.
Your tank will simply look brand new 24 hours later and you keep all your current sand, rocks corals and fish. We need all new water matching temp and salinity only for the job.
R2r is where my examples are because of the rate of entrants = high but we want to build new work threads here, live time fix jobs. At fifteen years you've got beyond common time and invest into that system. It's 1% on the site to have a nano that old. There's a lot on the line.
Only choose a method that works in others tanks by pattern.
**side warning
Anywhere I make work threads that eventually become logs of tanks worked with outcome tracking, at the start there's haters. I have to endure it lol to get my outbound reef work. It's noise, static in the line, rf multipathing one must deal with. Ignore the trolls
Consider just the actual reefs: what did surgical skip cycle full cleaning all at once do for the tanks, were the owners happy?
It's got coverage, it has the extra growths and impacted waste possibly unless you've been dedicated cleaning it the whole time. This is classic old tank syndrome
I wrote a work thread on reversing old tank syndrome, by rip cleans of course
Old tank syndrome is vanquished in reefing now
the cause of old tank syndrome is compounding whole waste particles that blanket the interstitial sand grain zones and plug up the channels in live rocks- in some cases it's sheer overgrowth allowed from various invasions that plugs up the surface area on live rock combined with a thin veneer of...
www.reef2reef.com
In this thread the university of Florida I think it was uses rip cleaning to rehab and skip cycle rebuild just after a hurricane loss of power crash. There's several examples of tank handling done our way saving them from loss
Notice the recurring themes:
We don't ID anything
We didn't ask for parameter readings
We never used bottle bac: keeping the cycle intact means we just cleaned the tank, it's not a start over. A start over is a new cycle on new rocks with new corals and fish. By surgically cleaning your tank vs guessing with dosers and test kit levels you skip the risk of giving your tank full blown dinos or an alternation of generations into a gha forest.
Your tank will simply look brand new 24 hours later and you keep all your current sand, rocks corals and fish. We need all new water matching temp and salinity only for the job.
R2r is where my examples are because of the rate of entrants = high but we want to build new work threads here, live time fix jobs. At fifteen years you've got beyond common time and invest into that system. It's 1% on the site to have a nano that old. There's a lot on the line.
Only choose a method that works in others tanks by pattern.
**side warning
Anywhere I make work threads that eventually become logs of tanks worked with outcome tracking, at the start there's haters. I have to endure it lol to get my outbound reef work. It's noise, static in the line, rf multipathing one must deal with. Ignore the trolls
Consider just the actual reefs: what did surgical skip cycle full cleaning all at once do for the tanks, were the owners happy?
brandon429
Well-known member
We could plan the surgical cleaning for your tank here in sections it will seem crazy but that's one of fifteen threads all doing the same thing. One of them is sixty pages long of tanks/9yrs running.
The reason it's so fun is because we're breaking all current laws of reef care and cycle control, while updating the current rules with better ones
The results are too bright and shiny to ignore, that's why it's fun. You'll be rinsing for hours/ catch up tank calories time/ but the outcome is already known.
We then keep your current light settings/ no whites, but lower the power just a bit and ramp back slowly over ten days while feeding the newly clean tank nicely. You will get a coral boost; we'd be giving them ultra clean water with no allelopathic compounds in solution, all corals like that. The rip clean removes all the invasion and the waste impaction in the sandbed and rocks: 1st paragraph.
Supplies needed
Totes with lids to contain jumping fish
A substrate rinse bucket
75 cents bottle of peroxide
All new water readied +10 gallons extra for unplanned needs, extra side rinses. This is a tap water job 98%--> you're only getting enough saltwater to fill your tank plus ten gallons so when it's time to refill you don't run short. we start the tank back with all new water in every job
This is an affordable venture for as much return/ it de-ages your tank while preserving coral maturity.
The reason it's so fun is because we're breaking all current laws of reef care and cycle control, while updating the current rules with better ones
The results are too bright and shiny to ignore, that's why it's fun. You'll be rinsing for hours/ catch up tank calories time/ but the outcome is already known.
We then keep your current light settings/ no whites, but lower the power just a bit and ramp back slowly over ten days while feeding the newly clean tank nicely. You will get a coral boost; we'd be giving them ultra clean water with no allelopathic compounds in solution, all corals like that. The rip clean removes all the invasion and the waste impaction in the sandbed and rocks: 1st paragraph.
Supplies needed
Totes with lids to contain jumping fish
A substrate rinse bucket
75 cents bottle of peroxide
All new water readied +10 gallons extra for unplanned needs, extra side rinses. This is a tap water job 98%--> you're only getting enough saltwater to fill your tank plus ten gallons so when it's time to refill you don't run short. we start the tank back with all new water in every job
This is an affordable venture for as much return/ it de-ages your tank while preserving coral maturity.
Last edited:
SantaMonica
Well-known member
A basic algae control reminder:
What do all algae (and cyano too) need to survive? Nutrients. What are nutrients? Ammonia/ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and urea are the major ones. Which ones cause most of the algae in your tank? These same ones. Why can't you just remove these nutrients and eliminate all the algae in your tank? Because these nutrients are the result of the animals you keep.
So how do your animals "make" these nutrients? Well a large part the nutrients comes from pee (urea). Pee is very high in urea and ammonia, and these are a favorite food of algae and some bacteria. This is why your glass will always need cleaning; because the pee hits the glass before anything else, and algae on the glass consume the ammonia and urea immediately (using photosynthesis) and grow more. In the ocean and lakes, phytoplankton consume the ammonia and urea in open water, and seaweed consumed it in shallow areas, but in a tank you don't have enough space or volume for this, and, your other filters or animals often remove or kill the phytoplankton or seaweed anyway. So, the nutrients stay in your tank.
Then, the ammonia/ammonium hits your rocks, and the periphyton on the rocks consumes more ammonia and urea. Periphyton is both algae and micro-animals, and is the reason your rocks change color after a few weeks from when they were new. Then the ammonia goes inside the rock, or hits your sand, and bacteria there convert it into nitrite and nitrate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.
Also let's not forget phosphate, which comes from solid organic food particles. When these particles are eaten by microbes and clean up crews, the organic phosphorus in them is converted into phosphate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.
So whenever you have algae or cyano "problems", you simply have not exported enough nutrients out of your tank compared to how much you have been feeding (note: live rock can absorb phosphate for up to a year, making it seem like there was never a problem. Then after a year, there is a problem).
So just increase your nutrient exports. You could also reduce feeding, and this has the same effect, but it's certainly not fun when you want to feed your animals
What do all algae (and cyano too) need to survive? Nutrients. What are nutrients? Ammonia/ammonium, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and urea are the major ones. Which ones cause most of the algae in your tank? These same ones. Why can't you just remove these nutrients and eliminate all the algae in your tank? Because these nutrients are the result of the animals you keep.
So how do your animals "make" these nutrients? Well a large part the nutrients comes from pee (urea). Pee is very high in urea and ammonia, and these are a favorite food of algae and some bacteria. This is why your glass will always need cleaning; because the pee hits the glass before anything else, and algae on the glass consume the ammonia and urea immediately (using photosynthesis) and grow more. In the ocean and lakes, phytoplankton consume the ammonia and urea in open water, and seaweed consumed it in shallow areas, but in a tank you don't have enough space or volume for this, and, your other filters or animals often remove or kill the phytoplankton or seaweed anyway. So, the nutrients stay in your tank.
Then, the ammonia/ammonium hits your rocks, and the periphyton on the rocks consumes more ammonia and urea. Periphyton is both algae and micro-animals, and is the reason your rocks change color after a few weeks from when they were new. Then the ammonia goes inside the rock, or hits your sand, and bacteria there convert it into nitrite and nitrate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.
Also let's not forget phosphate, which comes from solid organic food particles. When these particles are eaten by microbes and clean up crews, the organic phosphorus in them is converted into phosphate. However, the nutrients are still in your tank.
So whenever you have algae or cyano "problems", you simply have not exported enough nutrients out of your tank compared to how much you have been feeding (note: live rock can absorb phosphate for up to a year, making it seem like there was never a problem. Then after a year, there is a problem).
So just increase your nutrient exports. You could also reduce feeding, and this has the same effect, but it's certainly not fun when you want to feed your animals
