Algae question

ReefKnot

ReefKnot

New member
So my tank cycled about 5 weeks ago, I added live rock, and I was having some good algae growth. Now heres where it confused me, my live rock had some good green coraline algae on it, and I was almost positive it was spreading. It sure looked like it was. On the weekend I rescaped my rock work, and accidentally stirred up the detritus, which took about 24 hours to settle. There is a slight ammonia spike, my livestock has been fine, but now my rock is getting a brown fuzz (algae?) and its pretty ugly since its starting to cover the green that developed...... so anyone know whats going on?
 
It sounds like you are having a diatom algae bloom. Is it a rust color and comes off easily if you point a powerhead or brush it? If that is the case, it is nothing to worry about and happens to about every tank when first cycled.
 
You should not get an ammonia spike no matter how much you stir things up,if the tank is truly cycled.And if there's that much detritus on the bottom,you're lacking flow.
My guess would be that what you may have mistaken for green coralline was something else growing.Green coralline mostly appears on the glass first and can take months to get established.
 
I believe the problem might be the water quality. Are you using RO/DI water? Maybe the lighting, if it is to strong, or for to long. Many factors can affect this, so play around with the lighting time, amount, and with bringing about RO/DI water. Also, the best way to prevent algae, is to use a polyfilter pad type. It is white, and looks like cotton balls. This signficantly reduces algae.
 
Actually there was a pretty significant water flow problem with how I had the rock set up before, which is why I was rebuilding. There probably shouldn't have been an ammonia spike, but there was, although everything seems to be dealing with it. My tank was fully cycled, that I know for sure.

I am not using RO/DI water, I have no idea what that is.
 
yeah, i've been using tap water, I was told that wouldn't be a problem.... Where would I get this water and how much does it cost? I dont have alot of money to spare for my aquarium.... So I've been using tap water... I'm pretty new to this, so is there a big difference? Besides to ammonia spike, which was caused by my own stupidity, my water parameters and quality have been great...
 
Ok heres a picture that shows both. The green is what was developing before I made a mess of my tank. That started growing 3-4 weeks after live rock was added. The green covered most of that half of the rock, and was super bright and vibrant. There was no green on that rock when I added it to the tank. There is also a slight green tint to my glass... However when I stirred everything up, the dark brown crap on that rock started growing, and has been slowly increasing.... Is it diatom bloom? It isn't growing nearly as much on the rest of my rocks....

http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i411/Michael_Wrenshall/?action=view&current=IMG_1040.jpg
 
at the very least, do you treat your tap water with a dechlorinator like "Prime"?

all the excess nutrients in your tap water is feeding the bad stuff growing in your tank. you want the purest water you can get, since everything in your tank is living in the water. if you don't have the cash for an RO/DI filter, you might consider using store bought RO water for your tank for now.
 
you can buy a TDS meter to check your source water from home depot or something. RO/DI water has close to 0 ppm TDS (total disolved solids). store bought RO water varies, you can read the labels, often TDS < 3ppm for example. i just checked my buddies tap water in newmarket and it was around 180ppm, just to give you reference. i dunno what its like in sudbury. the london ont. tap water is supposedly a lot better than toronto water. in the end, i bought an ro/di filter, its definitely worth it.
 
Sudbury tap water is actually better than most of Southern ontario's water. My LFS said it would be fine, and I cant afford to buy premium water for my tank. I'm just a university student, who is quickly realizing he is in way over his head financially with this tank... I'm spending what I can on it.... But I do use a dechlorinator...
 
ReefKnot said:
yeah, i've been using tap water, I was told that wouldn't be a problem.... Where would I get this water and how much does it cost? I dont have alot of money to spare for my aquarium.... So I've been using tap water... I'm pretty new to this, so is there a big difference? Besides to ammonia spike, which was caused by my own stupidity, my water parameters and quality have been great...
Click to expand...

nobody ever told you not to use tap water?...Pick up a book man
 
You can use tap water, if you live in NYC, lol, where the water is pretty clean, compared to everywhere else in the U.S. But still, you should use RO/DI water. RO/DI water is water that is filtered through reverse osmosis and it is dionized. In most cases, it is 95-99% pristine water, which the quality is very high. With this type of water, you can ensure the health of your livestock in the aquarium. You may purchase bathces of ready made RO.DI water from your lfs, or purchase ready made saltwater that went through RO/DI, that is ready to put in your Aquarium. These can be found in Petco, and various online retailers. But looking in your picture, the algae bloom doesn't look so bad. But like I said before, to ensure better water conditions, use a polyfilter pad, it is like cotton, and it traps most debris that are very small in size, and stops algae growth in the aquarium.
 
ChicagoReefer88 said:
nobody ever told you not to use tap water?...Pick up a book man
Click to expand...

OK one, "pick up a book man" I'm a 4th year psychology student, so just about all I do is read books, I apologize if I dont have endless amounts of time to read up on this hobby, I rely on people's advice for that...

And speaking about endless amounts of stuff, I'm a 4th year psychology student, I have a debt that could buy your house, including your entire tank set up. Again, I apologize for not being able to purchase some special, miracle water that is the secret cure for cancer, or some fancy machine to convert my average, joe-blow water, into crystal clear water, so pure, you could drink it, and have it leak out of your *** in mountain spring quality.....

On top of that, I dont live in some dirty *** city, I live in a town, in the middle of the forest, which has over 300 lakes within the city limit, Sudbury, Ontario, look us up. I get perfectly fine water. I've been using the same water for over 2 months, and this springs up yesterday, and its my water, and I'm the *******? I'm making do with what I've got and what I can afford. I dont come onto these forums looking for some belligerent (is that word too complicated for you? It means someone looking for confict) american (I apologize to americans, this dude just fits the stereotype) who thinks he knows everything, to tell me I am doing things wrong. I come onto this forum for advice for dealing with problems using the tools and finances I have available.

And dude, its a flow problem not my crappy water, and this was a thread asking how to deal with the algae not for people to point out the stuff going wrong and how little control I have over changing the circumstances in which brought about these little dilemmas.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INPUT!
 
reefsforme said:
You can use tap water, if you live in NYC, lol, where the water is pretty clean, compared to everywhere else in the U.S. But still, you should use RO/DI water. RO/DI water is water that is filtered through reverse osmosis and it is dionized. In most cases, it is 95-99% pristine water, which the quality is very high. With this type of water, you can ensure the health of your livestock in the aquarium. You may purchase bathces of ready made RO.DI water from your lfs, or purchase ready made saltwater that went through RO/DI, that is ready to put in your Aquarium. These can be found in Petco, and various online retailers. But looking in your picture, the algae bloom doesn't look so bad. But like I said before, to ensure better water conditions, use a polyfilter pad, it is like cotton, and it traps most debris that are very small in size, and stops algae growth in the aquarium.
Click to expand...


Polyfilter pad, I'll look into that. But I cant spend the money on water every time I do a WC so I'm just going to have to deal with it, or give up and throw away my tank and find a new hobby..... I think I'll go with dealing with it.....
 
nsmith_mma said:
You need to lose the hostility. This is a mellow hobby. Plus they were just trying to point out that even the most inexperienced of pet shop workers will likely tell you that tap water is simply not the best option for a saltwater tank.

It is not special miracle water and it does not cure cancer. You asked, we answered. A pet store in my area sells RO/DI water for $0.50 a gallon without salt and $1.00 a gallon with salt. So it's not that expensive unless you have an enormous tank or are dirt poor. It's not that we are saying your tap water is any dirtier or cleaner than anyone else's, just that tap water in general has a pretty significant TDS number and a lot of species of algae feed on the materials present. To remove this problem, it is best to use water that has very low dissolved solids present so as to starve the algae.

Also, a lengthy light cycle could contribute to the problem.

By the way, if for some reason you don't like the tone of my response, I am a pre-med student so your 4th year psych education does nothing for me.
Click to expand...

Well I would hope not, but my mom's a respirologist, so I can relate to med students. Actually I took that tone because I had stated on numerous occasions earlier in this thread that I do not have the finances to purchase a machine or water when I have a free source that I test before using it to mix a water change, and dose with a dechloronizer.

Also I was told by a close friend, who owns the only saltwater fish store in town, that Sudbury's water is perfectly adequate for the tank. It's not perfect, and I realize everyone on here is a purist, so tap water is sin, but I just gotta deal with it.

Getting spoken to like I'm an idiot because I cant use ideal materials or being told I'm doing things wrong because I cant conform to everyone's ways because I dont have the money they do, really is demeaning. Like getting told to read a book......

Sounded alot like "Mind as well give up since you cant afford to do things the only right way"
 
That's the best part of the polyfilter pad. You don't need to change it frequently! You just rinse it, and your done. It's the best filter media out there, as it's so simple to use, and it has pretty much endless life-span. The only time you change it, if you seriously can't rinse it anymore. But i don't believe flow rate has a great impact, unless truly it is low. The intensity of your light might also be a factor. Another simple way to beat the algae, would be a saltwater plant, such as macroalgae. Yes it is a type of algae, but most of it benefits your aquarium, as it provides a food source for your inhabitants, and most of them lower your nitrates. They kill off other algae, by taking the nutrients that is feeding the undesirable algae. So both of these are cost effective. Another way to conquer algae, would be through live coepods and live brine shrimp. They are very small in size, but will eat that undesirable alage in your tank, and they will produce in numbers. They benefit your aquarium, by adding a live food source to your inhabitants.
 
reefsforme said:
That's the best part of the polyfilter pad. You don't need to change it frequently! You just rinse it, and your done. It's the best filter media out there, as it's so simple to use, and it has pretty much endless life-span. The only time you change it, if you seriously can't rinse it anymore. But i don't believe flow rate has a great impact, unless truly it is low. The intensity of your light might also be a factor. Another simple way to beat the algae, would be a saltwater plant, such as macroalgae. Yes it is a type of algae, but most of it benefits your aquarium, as it provides a food source for your inhabitants, and most of them lower your nitrates. They kill off other algae, by taking the nutrients that is feeding the undesirable algae. So both of these are cost effective. Another way to conquer algae, would be through live coepods and live brine shrimp. They are very small in size, but will eat that undesirable alage in your tank, and they will produce in numbers. They benefit your aquarium, by adding a live food source to your inhabitants.
Click to expand...

OK awesome thanks man, that really helped! One of my friends in the biology dept has a huge tank of brine shrimp. I'm going to look into the filter, and snag a bunch of brine shrimp... that will really help
 
I've only got a reef, I'm avoiding any sunken ships. But to be honest, after spending over $1000 on the tank to get it to where it is, that was my spending money/ short term savings for at least 8 months..... I'm literally down to nickels and dimes after rent, bills, school/books, school debt, and food.... I think I have less than ten bucks left for the month (of February) to spend on myself..... so as sad as this is, buying 4 gallons of water once a week for WC is really not an option..... I'd rather buy the fish food and use tap water, than RO water, and they starve....

I am realizing now how unrealistic I was being in deciding to take on this hobby, but I'm enjoying it.....

I appreciate everyone's advice to use RO but alternative options would help..... having 6 people tell me that after I have said its not possible does absolutely nothing to help me.... so all the trying to help means nothing if its just the same advice
 
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