The "How to go Barebottom thread."

[Weatherman]

Or, it could be this stuff (some kind of algae). Astreas will eat it real fast:

 

[NoSchwag]

Yup, I had the same stuff. It lasts a few days, will disappear, and show up some place else. It made its way around my whole tank.

It's mostly gone now.

 

[NoSchwag]

I also have like 5 of these on the overflow. Please tell me it's not hair algae...

Please ignore the micro bubbles. I just got a beckett and my sump baffles are still curing. Damn the person who started the rubbermaid sump craze.

 

[tsquad]

Pick that stuff off and feel/look at it. Is it soft or hard?

 

[Weatherman]

I also have like 5 of these on the overflow. Please tell me it's not hair algae...

Of course, it is.

But, if you have to literally take a magnifying glass to see it, you're in excellent shape.

 

[NoSchwag]

It's soft and flowy

 

[NoSchwag]

I don't know about magnifying glass, but I did have to use that macro feature on my digi cam.

Should I remove it?

I hope that with my new skimmer and sump flow it goes away

 

[tsquad]

Sounds like GHA to me. You could take it out, but 5 little patches like that should pose no problem. Maybe your pipes or starboard are leaching phosphorous and that's what's fueling the GHA and the brown stuff on your starboard. I say give it a week or two.

 

[Weatherman]

It's soft and flowy

Like this?

 

[NoSchwag]

^^^

LOL, nah. That's like an epidemic compared to mine

 

[Weatherman]

I had to search around to find that one.

Itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s like a lonely little Ocotillo growing in the middle of a desert.

 

[kimoyo]

Diatoms or Detritis, I doubt Diatoms as you have no silica source. Get a big pump and keep that stuff off the bottom.

Its can't be detritis (I hope) because my rock is all base rock and I just put fish in today :lol:. Not sure about the diatoms.

I'd bet it's cyano.

All cyano needs is some phosphate. If you got a starboard with a plastisizer (phosphate) that's what's feeding it. It should leach out of the starboard real fast and be gone in a few days.

If it goes in a little while that would be good. Should I wipe it? Whats strange is that the starboard has been in water before but just not rodi or salt added. It must have been the coralline or bacteria cultures I added on Friday.

Thanks!!

Paul

 

[NoSchwag]

<--- had to google Ocotillo :/

 

[NoSchwag]

Its can't be detritis (I hope) because my rock is all base rock and I just put fish in today :lol:. Not sure about the diatoms.

I thought "Detritis" was a generic term for crap.

 

[easttn]

I thought "Detritis" was a generic term for crap.

It is. I think bomber nailed it, its what I meant to say as I ate dinner in front of my Ion bombardment chamber.

 

[larrycivic]

great info

 

[kimoyo]

Or, it could be this stuff (some kind of algae). Astreas will eat it real fast:

Yeah this is the stuff. I couldn't see your pictures before but that's it. Do you know what this is?

I was also wondering about something. I've heard a lot of people say that their siphoning slowed down as the bb tank matured. Why is this? I'm asking because my kole tang poops all the time, its like a pooping machine! And with this guy I see my siphoning schedule staying the same.

Damnit, there he goes again. Just pooped while I was typing.

 

[Travis]

I think the siphoning slowing down statement is due to people's rocks cleaning up after a while. Your fish are still going to poop and if you aren't getting that poop to the overflow, you are going to have to siphon it out.

I was siphoning about 1-2 tablespoons every 2-4 weeks when I started my tank. At that time I had about 5 fish. A year later I am still siphoning the same amount with 4 times as many fish.

I think the stuff that is needing to be siphoned in my tank isn't detritus anyways. I think it is sand being produced from boring critters. Because it is heavier than detritus it doesn't stay in suspension long enough to get to the overflow.

 

[kimoyo]

Thats makes sense. Actually maybe the stuff I see on the starboard is sand and snail poop. Because I'm noticing that my tangs poop actually stays in suspension and floats up. But the stuff I'm talking about accumulates on the bottom. Thanks.

 

[Weatherman]

Yeah this is the stuff. I couldn't see your pictures before but that's it. Do you know what this is?

I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t know what it was. But once the astreas found it, there was nothing but a few little specs of it left after about a week.

I was also wondering about something. I've heard a lot of people say that their siphoning slowed down as the bb tank matured. Why is this?

I agree with Travis on the siphoning slowing down as peopleââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s live rock cleans up. With sufficient flow, the lighter stuff should stay in suspension so it can be removed by a skimmer or a frequently-changed filter sock. Only the heavy stuff should remain in the tank.

About the only thing I ever siphon out are little piles of sand. My 180 has five urchins, which hitchhiked in on the live rock over two years ago. They started out the size of peas and are now bigger than golf balls. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢ve already seen two little urchins in my 120.

Urchins produce a lot of sand.