I have a 6 week old 100g tank, I have been running lights about 4 hours a day until this week now 8 hours. I have 20 lbs of live rock 2 damsels, blue regal tank, tomatoe clowm. 2 perrpermint shrimp and a dozen crabs. Any suggestions on getting rid of brown like fuzzy algae on bottom, crabs are stuck to live rock!!! I have not done a water change my lps says 8 weeks on a new tank, the algae is not extremely bad but it doesnt look good. Help would be appreciated.
Algae on bottom
- Thread starter Raland271
- Start date
kau_cinta_ku
New member
sounds like detritus a good variety of snails will cure that prob.
Time frame is right for a diatom bloom too. Diatoms are usually filmy looking though, not fuzzy. Are you using RO/DI water or tap? Tap can have PO4 and cause algae to grow. You probably want to have some more LR or add some base rock that will become LR. You usually want to aim for a pound/gallon.
I was told that the diatom feeds off of the silicates in the water. Tap water is full of silicates. In my 30 I had a algae bloom, killed the lights (no inhabitants), got my clean up crew once nitrites were good. Hermits mowed the algae down, snails went around and sucked up the rest.
The tank was starting to look real good, did a water change. Bam! More of it showed up. Once I get through this algae bloom Im sending back the hermits and getting a good group of snails. The 3 Nas snails I have are all over the place. Thinking about getting some more of them.
The tank was starting to look real good, did a water change. Bam! More of it showed up. Once I get through this algae bloom Im sending back the hermits and getting a good group of snails. The 3 Nas snails I have are all over the place. Thinking about getting some more of them.
Around here you can buy RO/DI water at the lfs for about 50 cents a gallon. Also, the discount, grocery and drug stores often have water machines that dispense RO water for 30 cents a gallon.
You can buy base rock for a LOT less than LR and add it to your tank. In time it will become LR. The old coral heads that I'd kept from when I had FO back in the 80's are developing coralline only 4 months after I started my reef tank. I imagine that they had the beneficial bacteria long before the coralline started growing. Finally, you might look for local clubs, yahoo groups etc to join. I picked up my LR for $3 a pound from a guy who was getting out of the hobby.
You can buy base rock for a LOT less than LR and add it to your tank. In time it will become LR. The old coral heads that I'd kept from when I had FO back in the 80's are developing coralline only 4 months after I started my reef tank. I imagine that they had the beneficial bacteria long before the coralline started growing. Finally, you might look for local clubs, yahoo groups etc to join. I picked up my LR for $3 a pound from a guy who was getting out of the hobby.
It sounds like just about everyone gets diatoms (assuming that's what you have) around that time frame. It's just a question of how bad the bloom is. Good luck getting rid of it anytime real soon. The good news is, I had a pretty bad bloom about 2 1/2 months in, covering my sand completely and a good portion of my rocks. It lasted 3-4 weeks, but everything got through it quite well. I reduced my lighting and my feeding, added some more hermits (my blue legs wander the sand as well as the rock), and waited it out. My cabbage leather and mushrooms didn't do much growing during the bloom, but they didn't seem any worse for wear at the end of it. My clownfish and tang didn't seem to mind it one bit.
You're going to want some snails and more crabs, so you may as well pick some up. I'm a big fan of cucumbers for sand cleanup, but I guess some can be very toxic if they die on you, so be careful. My brittle star is also seems to be a very good detritus eater, and I'm very happy with him. If you're not planning on keeping corals, you probably don't need the minimum 1 lb of live rock per gallon everyone seems to suggest.
You're going to want some snails and more crabs, so you may as well pick some up. I'm a big fan of cucumbers for sand cleanup, but I guess some can be very toxic if they die on you, so be careful. My brittle star is also seems to be a very good detritus eater, and I'm very happy with him. If you're not planning on keeping corals, you probably don't need the minimum 1 lb of live rock per gallon everyone seems to suggest.
I agree that the use of tap can be the root of many problems. Try this site Melev's Reef
The snail you are talking about is a Nassarius snail.
The snail you are talking about is a Nassarius snail.
Mike and Tori
New member
Just ride it out with a good cleanup crew. More liverock might help. 20lbs isn't much for a 100. Try http://www.reeftopia.com/ for good cleanup crews.
I got away with about 25 lbs of live rock in my 55g aquarium for quite awhile, and my nitrites were 0 and nitrates between 5-10 ppm. It really depends on your bio load, but it doesn't seem to me that if you have a decent skimmer you necessarily need quite as much live rock as suggested to keep fish. Realize I'm pretty new to this as well, but I'd probably start off with half the recommended amount, add your fish slowly, and if your nitrates start to increase, add more rock as necessary. Unless of course you have more money to spend than I do. I'm still probably just shy of 1 lb per gallon, and both my nitrites and nitrates have been undetectable for months.
