marine aquarium algae control
Mike D.
little damselfish in it, and now I have algae growing like nobody's
business. I would truly appreciate any tips for controlling the algae,
including any good animals that might eat it. I was going to try to put a
plecostamus in there, but the fish store guy said it won't live in
saltwater, LOL. He did give me a good idea for dealing with algae on the
substrate though, I just stir the gavel (crushed shell) up until the algae
is hidden under the gravel, but it grows back in days, and I still have
algae on the tank decorations and they are not easily cleaned. I have been
cleaning the glass manually, but it is becoming necessary to clean it twice
a week, and that isn't easy to do, especially if the tank has delicate
organisms in it(we want to get some invertebrates or other possibly less
hardy fishes). Thanks, Mike.
Hennie van Dalen
news:b4udnc_SSc6...@comcast.com...
Less light => less algea.
Reduce the lighting-time to 10hrs/day or less and prevent sunlight from
entering the tank as much as posible.
Changing the gravelcolor from light to dark helps too (algea tends to prefer
to grow on light surfaces if present)
P.s. this helps preventing, it doesn't remove algea allready present in the
tank
--
Hennie van Dalen
www.chello.nl/~h.vandalen11
Elaine T
Bluer light also => less algae. You should have half actinic.
Feed less, and use scavengers for food that escapes the damsels.
Protein skim to remove DOC from the water before they become algae food.
Test your tank, tapwater, and carbon for phosphates and correct
phosphate excess.
By stirring algae into the gravel, you are keeping all the nutrients in
the tank. The algae dies, breaks down, and feeds more algae. That's
why it's regrowing so fast on the substrate.
If it's bluegreen or red slime algae, it's a normal part of cycling a
marine tank. Siphon it out and increase current where it's growing the
worst. It should go away when it exhausts what it's growing on - likely
phosphate from your tapwater. Golden-brown diatom blooms are also
common in a new tank from silicates in tapwater and they should go away
on their own.
If it's green algae, tangs are fond of green algae as are turbo and
astrea snails. I prefer astreas myself, but you need more of them.
It's a bit soon to add a tang, but you could try the snails. If you
have live rock, tiny blue-legged hermit crabs are good at scavenging any
stray food your fish miss, as are serpent stars. You could also add
macroalgae to your tank, a sump or a refugium to use up excess nutrients
in the water.
--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
Ray Martini
last year the first animals that went in were cleaners. 3 Emerald Mithrax
Crabs, 12 Astreas Snails, 12 Nassarius Snails, and 24 Cerith Snails. Also
included in the "clean up pak" was 1 Serpent Starfish, 12 Blue Legged Hermit
Crabs, and 6 Scarlet Hermit Crabs. As they die off I replace them. I also
added 6 Bumble Bee snails and 3 very large Mexican Turbo Snails. The only
algae I have now is the Algae I want (Coraline). For a 90 gallon tank,
you'll probably need a little bigger of a crew but definitely get a clean up
pak. Not to mention they're fun to watch!
Also, good luck with the Damsels. Eventually you'll probably want them out
of there since they're the terrorists of the fish world. They don't call
them Blue Devils for nothing. Post here when you're ready on how to catch
them without having to tear up your tank.
"Mike D." <mik...@comcast.net> wrote in message
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Mike D.
ambient natural light that illuminates the tank, but this is not direct and
not very bright. Mike.
"Hennie van Dalen" <h.vandalen11***removethis***@chello.nl> wrote in message
news:90R9e.1877$184.132@amstwist00...
Mike D.
regular fresh water green slimy algae(it wipes right off with a cloth). Are
you telling me that if I stop doing water changes with tap water and use
distilled that the algae will possibly die off? Mike.
"Elaine T" <eetmai...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
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Mike D.
picking on a big tang or trigger. They seem to have a pecking order, from
largest to smallest. Mike.
"Ray Martini" <keyz...@comcast.net> wrote in message
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Elaine T
> It is a brownish algae on the substrate, and on the glass it looks like
> regular fresh water green slimy algae(it wipes right off with a cloth). Are
> you telling me that if I stop doing water changes with tap water and use
> distilled that the algae will possibly die off? Mike.
Yes. Those are classic new tank algaes. They should run their course
as long as you're not overfeeding. Changing water with distilled should
help since so many municipal water supplies have nitrate and phosphate.
Keep wiping the green slime off so that it doesn't poison your fish
(SW slimes are sometimes toxic) and siphon what you can of the diatoms
off the substrate.
Also as I said, test for phosphates and make sure any carbon you use is
phosphate free. To test carbon, set up your test kit with distilled
water and then drop some carbon in the vial and shake well. You'll see
color if it releases phosphates.
Ray Martini
Maybe the fish will tolerate some tap water but if you're doing a reef tank,
tap water is a huge no-no. I bought a used RO/DI unit for cheap money on
eBay, best investment I've made in the tank.
"Mike D." <mik...@comcast.net> wrote in message
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Ray Martini
themselves. But when I added a Royal Gramma and a small Clarkii Clown they
kicked the bejezzus out of them. And these were the yellow tyail Damsels.
They're supposed to be the mellower damselfish. Go figure. I eventually
trapped them and brought them back to the LFS.
"Mike D." <mik...@comcast.net> wrote in message
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Mike D.
Anyone know? Mike.news:f6X9e.3880$J12....@newssvr14.news.prodigy.com...