Algae Problem need a Tang

S

Shelby2u

New member
I am in the market for Purple Tang. I have added a few things to my tank after it was cycled and now I am having a little trouble with algae and I am wondering if a Tang would solve the problem.

Does anyone thing that will help solve my problem.

Can old PC Bulbs cause this?


Shelby
 
Sounds like you got some excess nutrients in your water. Before you add a tang, I'd test for nitrate and phosphate first. A purple tang will require a good size tank. How big is your tank?

Tomoko
 
At least 75 gallon tank is needed for a smaller tang like a yellow or kole tang. They need at least 4 feet span for swimming around. The more the better. A purple tang does not get huge like a Naso or a Regal tang, but they all are strong swimmers.

Tangs are great herbivores. They seem to eat a variety of algae.

Mexican Turbo snails and sea hares are also great algae eaters, too.

Tomoko
 
I got a Lawnmower Blenny and Emerald crabs and they are really at work. My sea hare did great too until........he lives no more:(
 
You know the pet store in athens told me about the foxface but I guess I have my heart set on a purple tang.

I have snails and 3 emeralds and even a Dragon Goby (that seems to be eating it) that work all the time but they just don't seem to be keep up with it.

I am just not sure why I am getting it. I have stopped using the old PC Bulbs that I had in hopes that it would solve it.

Shelby
 
Shelby,
You could possibly keep a purple tang in your tank, although it would be better if you had a bigger system. The tang will certainly help control algae, but it should definitely not be one of the first fish added to a fairly new tank. For one thing, they require the stable water parameters of a mature system in order to thrive. For another, they are very aggressive fish. Any fish added after the tang is added will likely not be tolerated by the tang -- add everything else first, otherwise the tang will see new additions as intruders in his territory.
HTH,
Mariner
 
If you are getting algae when your test kits tell you you have no excess nitrate and phosphate, I suspect that you have a small amount of phosphate that is fuelling your algae. The algae may be sequestering NH3/nitrate as soon as they are generated from the fish waste. If this is the case, the common hobby grade test kit would not catch any of it.

Some people use a phosphate remover to remove PO4. Some people recommend a fuge with macroalgae.

What test kit are you using? Even a Salifert PO4 test kit does not accurately detect a minute amount of phosphate. Algae needs nitrate and phosphate at a 15:1 ratio. This means that they only need very very small amount of phosphate to thrive.

Mariner is absolutely right about the purple tang or actually tangs in general. Be prepared about marine ich, too. They are very prone to having a bad case of ich when introduced to a new tank.

I think you need to find out what is causing your algae problem first and eliminate or reduce the problem to a manageable level.

I recommend having a variety of snails since snails have preferences on what type of algae they eat. Similarly each individual tang and rabbitfish also seems to have its own preference for certain algae. So it's not a bad idea to be armed with a variety of herbivores.

Tomoko
 
...Tomoko, if I understood what you just said (and we all know my record on that) getting snails and sea hares just removes the algae, it doesnt actually fix problem that caused it.

How do you get phosphates out of a tank?
How did they get in there, anyway?
What can I do to stop introducing new phosphates?


3 more stupid questions brought to you courtesy of our sponsor, Appalachian State University, 2-time national Football Championship Series winners.

now back to our regularly scheduled stupid questions.

If fish make ammonia/-ites/-ates, does adding more livestock also contribute to other ammonia-ites-ates problems?

thanks,

tim
 
For removing Phosphates you can try some Phos-X by Hagen (I am using it currently) or something like Rowa-phos. I had a bad diatom problem which my cleaners could not not keep up with. 5 days after adding the Phos-X the diatoms were almost completely gone. These products usualy also remove other nutrients such as silica and such that we usually don't think about. Hope it helps

P.S.

What about keeping your snail in a observation tank (i.e. rubbermaid container or something) if your afraid of him polluting the tank. Oh, a water change could also help your situation
 
Herbivores are great to keep around, but you have to eliminate the underlying problem or reduce it to a more manageable level first. Otherwise you have a catch 22 situation on hand.

There are many ways to reduce NO2, NO3, NH3/4 and PO4. Fish are the worst when it comes to generating ammonia. Snails and sea hares also poop and pee, but they at least eat the algae for you and the amount of their waste is pretty small in comparison. We hobbyist tend to overfeed our fish, too, because fish are quite a ham and they know how to beg. You can foul up tank water by overfeeding really quickly.

Frozen food and flake/pellet food contains a good amount of phosphate. If you rinse them with RO water and throw away the water, you can reduce the amount of PO4 going into your tank with the food.

Tomoko
 
I use Salifert PO4 test kit. Tthe target for PL4 level should be less than 0.1 ppm. It's very hard to read the very subtle differences between 0 to 0.2 with the Salifert's test kit, though.

Tomoko
 
Ok so the snails & hermits should be keeping up the algae?

I have no Algae eating fish at moment. I have a test kit and all levels are coming out fine. I even retested!

PH - 0
Nitite - 0
Ammonia -0
Nitrate - Slightly higher than 0.


I Think I might have been over feeding the fish so I have limited it to every other day and just enough for them to eat now (have been doing this for a week now).

The Skimmer is not going crazy.

Shelby
 
pH 0?

Do you mean phosphate/PO4?

In my aquariums, snails and crabs keep up with algae very well. My 15 gallon aquarium is fed heavy handedly for the size and the bioload is not really low, either. No algae eating fish. No skimmer here but I do water changes regularly (every 1 to 2 weeks). Ah yes, the overhead refugium with a bunch of chaetomorpha.

My 120 is maintained differently (a big skimmer and a bag of phosphate remover), but here again, my snails and emerald crabs seem to keep up with algae as well. My foxface rabbitfish no longer eats any algae now that he found other food more palatable. My lawnmower blenny eats mainly film algae and not any other algae.

Tomoko
 
Im beginning to believe nusance algae is just part of a new system.I have read countless causes and solutions,bad bulbs,bad flow,bad water,bioload,yada yada,ect,ect,but it seems that no paticulal solution works.You just try and try different things until one day something"works"or is it that its been a wile and your coralline has covered everything and your system is mature.
If you are starting a system I would suggest investing in a turkey baster...lol..Ive worn one out!



O.K...this is where everybody rips me to shreads!:rolleyes:
 
Last edited:
Buzz,
I don't think you'll be ripped to shreds. Nuisance algae IS often just part of the maturing process of a new system. Starts with diatoms, progresses to hair algae and cyano, and then when/if coralline starts to take hold, things improve. That said, mature systems do normally require good herbivores, nutrient export, good water chemistry, etc. in order to keep from having nuisance algae return and take hold permanently.
Mariner
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. I am going to have to order the reef test kit. Does anyone know which is best affordable kit?
What do you guys think about the red sea kits?

Shelby
 
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