the 1700g stingray reef
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zemuron114
In Memoriam
energy
how the new fishes doing??
how the new fishes doing??
JNS- If you got my fish "the Choats wrasse" you'll be my newest hero. The echino is great. Travis and Lunch - The coral's I lost were frags given to me by Derek and Capman from the club. They were pretty nice especially the bright yellow milli, but that's the way it goes. Kent E - as far as contaminants- well anything is possible. We have been doing some construction so there is sheetrock dust floating around the house every now and then. But the corals survived a complete demolition of the basement walls and being buried under mounds of dust with little problems when they were in the basement. It would have to be a chemical introduced by some other means which could always happen when I'm not around. Zemuron114 The fish you sent me were awesome with great packaging. Thanks again. I picked up a new dendronepthyia which seems to be doing O.K so far. It's probably to early to tell if it's going to make it but it's a beatiful non-photosynthetic coral that have a low survival rate. It's perfect for under the ledges where I hung it upside down to mimic a reef cave. So far I have fed it some chromaplex to which it seems to respond.
Updates- I've put in a thousand snails, a thousand hermits and three hundred emerald crabs to control the hair alage. It's finally manageable but not shrinking. Spazz's skimmer is kicking butt and taking names. It actually pulls out chunks of floating hair algae. The stuff collects on the riser cone. I'm thinking of getting some urchins but hate the idea of having the acrylic surface scratched. I was also debating on rainford gobies but they seem pretty small to be effective. I might cut back on feeding the tangs but I hate to do that and end up underfeeding the other fish. Any suggestions on good algae eaters? BTW I'm still doing the search for the Choats leopard wrasse. So if anybody knows where to get one it would be much appreciated. I might be able to work something out with massman but just in case It's always good to have a back up option.
Energy,
Have you put in any Mexican Turbo's? I always had awesome results with them. They are bigger(about golf ball sized) but one of them does about four times the work of an astrea turbo snail.
I have to get a few for my tank soon. I kinda wait until I have a problem before I get them as they are such good eaters they end up starving themselves if they do not have enough to eat. I doubt that will be a problem in your tank. Or mine if I ever get it set up.
I am leary of the urchins myself.
Have you put in any Mexican Turbo's? I always had awesome results with them. They are bigger(about golf ball sized) but one of them does about four times the work of an astrea turbo snail.
I have to get a few for my tank soon. I kinda wait until I have a problem before I get them as they are such good eaters they end up starving themselves if they do not have enough to eat. I doubt that will be a problem in your tank. Or mine if I ever get it set up.
I am leary of the urchins myself.
NRG (Energy 
) , I missed the cause of your hair algae outbreak? if you have an additional skimmer now, and it is a monster skimmer as well, what changed in the system lately that you have so much hair algae now? did you change the feeding regime? water changes are less?
Where are all the nutrientes for the algae coming from, since you didn't have hair algae before? or what made the situation worse, if you already had some before, but not out of control?
Thanks,
Hon
) , I missed the cause of your hair algae outbreak? if you have an additional skimmer now, and it is a monster skimmer as well, what changed in the system lately that you have so much hair algae now? did you change the feeding regime? water changes are less? Where are all the nutrientes for the algae coming from, since you didn't have hair algae before? or what made the situation worse, if you already had some before, but not out of control?
Thanks,
Hon
dgasmd
New member
Dude, I am telling you. I hate to be the voice of disagreement here, but trust me on this one when I say URCHINS! You can add 6 thousand snails and crabs there and it will not go away. Being there and done that. They are very inefficinet scavengers, however, they do have their place and function. Getting rid of hair algae is not one. You may even regreat tremendously adding that many, if any, emerald crabs. They will grow large enough eventually to eat fish regularly and some corals too.
Just like not all fish and corals are the same, neither are urchins. I would not add any diadema (long spine) urchins as they are likely not to eat the hair algae, and even worse if it is bryopsis. The only ones I would recommend are the Tripneustes gratilla and the Mespilia globulus. Neither will bother your acrylic, especially if there is plenty to eat elsewhere. This is an exagerated misconception as there are many in RC. Try it and if you see any minor damage they are extremely easy to take out as opposed to the emerald crabs you just added. I have 8 of these in my tank and I am yet to see one in the glass once. They will mow your tank in no time. Also, I would second the mexican turbo snails for other algae like the red velvety algae that coats rocks. These snail are much more effective than the trochus, but they are by far the worst when it come to knoching down loose corals and such. If you glue your corals down like I do, then that should not be an issue at all.
Your new and more efficient skimmer will eventually catch up with the levels of nutrients in your tank. ALso, some form of PO4 remover will be very welcomed if you do not use one already. Water changes will also help, but they together are not going to make the algae you have there disappear completely as there will always be new introduction of nutrients with fish feedings and feces. You first need to get rid of it as you also clean the water as much as you can to prevent it from recurring, which may happen later down the road anyways as they do in any active ecosystem. Manual removal is also another important, as I am sure you know, aspect of complete erradication. Hope that helps some.
Just like not all fish and corals are the same, neither are urchins. I would not add any diadema (long spine) urchins as they are likely not to eat the hair algae, and even worse if it is bryopsis. The only ones I would recommend are the Tripneustes gratilla and the Mespilia globulus. Neither will bother your acrylic, especially if there is plenty to eat elsewhere. This is an exagerated misconception as there are many in RC. Try it and if you see any minor damage they are extremely easy to take out as opposed to the emerald crabs you just added. I have 8 of these in my tank and I am yet to see one in the glass once. They will mow your tank in no time. Also, I would second the mexican turbo snails for other algae like the red velvety algae that coats rocks. These snail are much more effective than the trochus, but they are by far the worst when it come to knoching down loose corals and such. If you glue your corals down like I do, then that should not be an issue at all.
Your new and more efficient skimmer will eventually catch up with the levels of nutrients in your tank. ALso, some form of PO4 remover will be very welcomed if you do not use one already. Water changes will also help, but they together are not going to make the algae you have there disappear completely as there will always be new introduction of nutrients with fish feedings and feces. You first need to get rid of it as you also clean the water as much as you can to prevent it from recurring, which may happen later down the road anyways as they do in any active ecosystem. Manual removal is also another important, as I am sure you know, aspect of complete erradication. Hope that helps some.
jnarowe
New member
Energy, did you change lamps? Maybe missing a fish? I can't imagine that changing a skimmer would cause a nutrient spike. Is your RO/DI system running properly?
The best way I have found to combat nuisance algae (and I have FW Panted tanks) is to give a 1 hour light break in the middle of the day. I call it a Siesta! I may have already posted this here but it bears repeating. Algae are very simple organisms that take a long time to ramp up photosynthesis. Plants start to repirate very quickly but not algae. If you interupt the light period, it will have a major effect on algae.
I run my planted tanks with a siesta as a regular SOP. Even with that, when I change lamps I need to lower the photo period to avoid a bloom. Of course you have a lot of bio-mass in your tank so there are other issues as well. I can't remember what your sand bed is like if you have one at all, but if you do, it may be time to change out the sand.
I am late to the game but want to offer suggestions just in case you haven't thought of them already. A small reminder: When you remove large amounts of algae, that does not solve the problem. In fact it can boomerang on you because then the nutrients will build up and you can get an even worse bloom. Be very careful about using animals to solve algae problems. You may get a sense of victory as they mow down the alga,e but it could easily turn into a nightmare of repetative unstable water conditions.
The best way I have found to combat nuisance algae (and I have FW Panted tanks) is to give a 1 hour light break in the middle of the day. I call it a Siesta! I may have already posted this here but it bears repeating. Algae are very simple organisms that take a long time to ramp up photosynthesis. Plants start to repirate very quickly but not algae. If you interupt the light period, it will have a major effect on algae.
I run my planted tanks with a siesta as a regular SOP. Even with that, when I change lamps I need to lower the photo period to avoid a bloom. Of course you have a lot of bio-mass in your tank so there are other issues as well. I can't remember what your sand bed is like if you have one at all, but if you do, it may be time to change out the sand.
I am late to the game but want to offer suggestions just in case you haven't thought of them already. A small reminder: When you remove large amounts of algae, that does not solve the problem. In fact it can boomerang on you because then the nutrients will build up and you can get an even worse bloom. Be very careful about using animals to solve algae problems. You may get a sense of victory as they mow down the alga,e but it could easily turn into a nightmare of repetative unstable water conditions.
jnarowe
New member
Adding light is always a possible algae bloom IMO so I do it very carefully, but the algae really is a canary in the coal mine deal. Blooms tell you that the nutrients are too high so it still goes back to water quality. If there were no nitrates and phosphates, then the algae couldn't bloom. It goes back to the original "canary" which was a RTN coral I believe. Some corals are extremely sensitive to nutrient levels and let you know right away.
It's imposible to armchair quarterback it though. You have to go through the step-by-step analysis of the water starting at the source and ending at the bloom.
It's imposible to armchair quarterback it though. You have to go through the step-by-step analysis of the water starting at the source and ending at the bloom.
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