Long Term Project- Hair Algae Reduction Pics
- Thread starter JasonF
- Start date
. It helps the clean up crew if it's not so long they can't munch on the ends. Doesn't seem to affect the urchin so much as the turbos and sea hair.
Prater
New member
I left my tank alone, let the algea grow like wild for about three months then it jsut died out and never came back. i am sure a few of you saw my little 35 gallon tank running in the back of the shop. My 75 gallon is doing the same and I will just let it go through its pace of algea.
captbunzo
Premium Member
I definately agree with the concept of letting nature take it's course as a method of dealing with algae, such as GHA and Cyanobacteria, as well as other problems. In fact, letting nature do it's thing is important in relation to algaes as any tank will go through an algae cycle as it is being established, which can includes phases of GHA and Cyano annoyance. Furthermore, I am HUGE on the concept of using natural as a model for our aquarium systems.
However. If your plan is to "let nature take it's course", then shouldn't you do the best you can to create a natural system? The largest piece that is missing from the discussion above is water flow. In nature, the water of a reef is CONSTANTLY churning at a rate greater then what is implemented, on average, in a tank. A rate as low as 10X turnover per hour is incredibly low and astonishingly UNNATURAL. This water flow is very important for the functions it serves in nutrient suspension, export, import, etc.
Now, I am not do not believe in any way that I am going to change your mind on the subject of needing more flow. The concern I have is that folks would read through this and get pulled into the true (and very cool) concept of the "letting nature take it's course", but then miss the issues that exist concerning the need to make a system that actually IS natural.
Anyhow. I apologize if I have come across harsly or badly in some manner. I just think this is an important point to be made and don't want any mis-education to occur. Sorry for any offense.
However. If your plan is to "let nature take it's course", then shouldn't you do the best you can to create a natural system? The largest piece that is missing from the discussion above is water flow. In nature, the water of a reef is CONSTANTLY churning at a rate greater then what is implemented, on average, in a tank. A rate as low as 10X turnover per hour is incredibly low and astonishingly UNNATURAL. This water flow is very important for the functions it serves in nutrient suspension, export, import, etc.
Now, I am not do not believe in any way that I am going to change your mind on the subject of needing more flow. The concern I have is that folks would read through this and get pulled into the true (and very cool) concept of the "letting nature take it's course", but then miss the issues that exist concerning the need to make a system that actually IS natural.
Anyhow. I apologize if I have come across harsly or badly in some manner. I just think this is an important point to be made and don't want any mis-education to occur. Sorry for any offense.
dugg
New member
I haven't seen one mention of growing macro algaes in the sump under 24/7 lighting. I battled hair algae for years, and nothing ever worked worth mentioning until i started growing macro algae in my sump. I have not had one single hair in my tank since. I still get an occassional cyano outbreak if i don't keep up with my changes, but i haven't seen hair algae in my tank in over 3 years. I grow calerpa and cheato, and keep it harvested regularly. I don't have a separate refugium. I have a 30 gallon sump, with no baffles. It has live rock stacked above the water level in the first half of the sump around the skimmer to catch all of the micro bubbles, then the other half is full of macro algaes. I keep a powerhead ( mj1200) blowing into the macro to keep it from getting clogged up with detris, and a needlepoint backing screen wrapped around the return pump to keep it from sucking up the macro and blowing it into the display. The macro growing around the return pump is so full of pods, that my fish are like colorful little golf balls most of the time from eating the pods that venture too close to the pump. This also keeps me from having to add food to my tank. I usually feed when i first get a new fish, until he learns to hunt and catch pods, then ween them off to pods only after a month or so. If i put food in my tank, the fish just taste it and spit it right back out and go back to the returns awaiting the next pod dinner. This method may not work for everyone, depending on the type of fish you keep, but it has made reefing fun and algae free for me for 3 years running now.
As far as turnover I think you are correct in that it is low compared to a reef. The difference of opinion I have is in that the corals rocks ex cetera are not blasted with the kind of flow we use in our tanks. The difference is that powerheads and my sea swirl for that matter are more laminar in how they output flow. It goes in one direction in a slowly expanding cone until it dies off. The seios and tunzes go a long way to words replicating that flow, but I will not have a powerhead in my main tank for previously stated reasons. I just feel that we are using too much flow to make up for that lack of random motion in our tanks.
The reason I like the sea swirl better is that the changing direction of the flow makes up for that laminar pattern of the return. I don't like the random controller of the powerheads or the oceans motions system because it just blasts the coral on a timer essentially. The moving return allows for that more chaotic water movement that you get on the reef. No you most definitely don't get the same volume of water change as on the reef but your not going to get that in a home aquarium anyway.
You also have to look at the type of coral and where it's placed on the reef. My stuff by an large only gets whatever current there is (a few knots at most) and then gentle wave action at 20 to 30 feet. I noticed when I had powerheads that things like frogspawn and my clam were not opening much compared with when I used the sea swirl and less overall flow, but more random. If you actually watch the motions of various things in my tank it's easy to tell that things move similar to that of the reef.
I have even considered adding a second sea swirl on a closed loop but the cost consideration is getting in the way for now. One baby, another on the way and being in school can do that for you. This tank has had to evolve with what I could work with in my apartment and while I like the end result it is not my ultimate ideal. That tank will have to wait until I can design what I want from the start. That would be a limited flow through the sump and return with the rest made up from a closed loop on sea swirls or the WavySea set up. With my current tank two sea swirls with about 1200gph to 1500gph would be my ideal, but I don't want that much flow going through the sump
(noise and inefficient skimming being the primary reason).
I assure you I know where your coming from on the turnover issue and particle suspension but between the random nature of my return, the occasional turkey baster job, my fish picking at the rocks, and my clean up crew I feel things get moved around enough for now.
Edit: Dugg, that is one of the main thing that I miss about my aquafuge is being able to grow macro. A lot of my considerations for this tank revolve around sump limitations. It's the Oceanic Natures View tank and stand which was not designed for a sump. The only thing I can fit in there is a ten gallon tank and that is only through the top of the stand when the aquarium is off it. I simply have no room in my sump for any kind of refugium (another thing I would love to change with a new tank along with it being drilled).
dugg
New member
I also don't have a cleanup crew. I have banished all of the crabs to the sump area. My corals do much better not having them climbing all over them constantly. I only have about 6 astrea snails, and one zebra turbo to keep up with the glass work that i am too lazy to do lol. I have a Yellow watchman to keep the sand sifted, and about 20 nassaurius. I also don't do powerheads. I think they look like %#*& in a reef. I have a 650gph flow rate in my 30 gallon, with 6 returns.
Only crabs I have are a couple of micro hermits and occasionaly an emerald.
I generally just keep a few trochus but added the turbos for this project. I'm not fond of the mayhem they can cause with rockwork and corals but I needed the lawnmower action for now.
Same with the urchin.
About the same, I have a yellow headed sleeper goby that can move the whole sand bed in a few days (named doofus out of frustration with him burrying my zooanthids and brain) and assorted nassarius that breed so who knows the numbers.
I also keep a cucumber that I've had for years named mister hankey for his resemblence to a certain Christmas Icon.
Update
Update
With my chiller being difficult I've had other worries than hair algae lately. Here is the current status of my attempts at a grazer based solution.
The tubos and the urchin have been doing a pretty good job at cutting back the algae but for some reason leave the center front of the tank alone.
Looking at the flow curves on my Mag 5 during my chiller problems spurred me to change my return setup around a bit. I have a Eheim 1262 and a 3/4" sea swirl to add to the existing 1/2" sea swirl and will have the return going through the chiller instead of a second pump returning the chiller water to the sump. I'm still limited by my overflow to around 700gph but I should be much closer to actually achieving that flow rate than I had with the Mag 7 going to the 1/2" sea swirl. Hopefully this wont put too much flow through the sump.
Update
With my chiller being difficult I've had other worries than hair algae lately. Here is the current status of my attempts at a grazer based solution.
The tubos and the urchin have been doing a pretty good job at cutting back the algae but for some reason leave the center front of the tank alone.
Looking at the flow curves on my Mag 5 during my chiller problems spurred me to change my return setup around a bit. I have a Eheim 1262 and a 3/4" sea swirl to add to the existing 1/2" sea swirl and will have the return going through the chiller instead of a second pump returning the chiller water to the sump. I'm still limited by my overflow to around 700gph but I should be much closer to actually achieving that flow rate than I had with the Mag 7 going to the 1/2" sea swirl. Hopefully this wont put too much flow through the sump.
