jason7504 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 This pic is from the thread http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10826 The algae in this picture is NOT calurpa. If this is the algae that you are asking about, then it is not just a pull carefully from rock situation. Someone said calurpa early in this thread and everyone jumped on the calurpa bandwagon. It looks like bryopsis or hair algae. NOT calurpa. You need to reduce nutrients, remove phosphates, use a skimmer (or skim more), remove manually, reduce photoperiod (3-4 hours a day would be OK for a little while), and/or raise magnesium levels. You have a battle in front of you. I am fighting the evil bryopsis in my new anemone tank. You can win if you do all that is needed. dsoz i know that isn't calupra and i think thats hair because its wavy and fine but doesn't look like the usual feathery or fan like bryopsis..my test kits say nitrates and phosphates are 0 and i use phosban to help with the phosphates if there are some. I am skimming and using a fuge. can i lower my photoperiod to 3-4 hours a day with corals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 With that picture ^. I would say you need to lower the amount of food you are feeding. Even skip one day a week to allow the tank to catch up. Reducing lighting period should help. well im feeding around 3-4 days a week now. Are your bulbs old? How old? no there new..only a month old What kinda clean up crew do you have? Be specific on what you have. I only have 7 ceriths and 2 nass snails at the moment. i might some astrea or nerite snails too..(remember each snail i got kept dying because i found out my salinity levels were way low thanks to my salinity monitor but i can guy some now that its back up) im also planning on getting a cleaner shrimp Skimmer? What kind? Increase the skimmers output even if it means you will need to add more water. i have the solana stock skimmer..it seems to be a pretty good skimmer RO/DI unit? How old are the filters? yeah i have an RO/DI filter and the filter's have only been used for almost 2 months but i had the filter just laying around for a year before i started my tank There are more but answer these and it will help. ^^^^ (whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 You can turn the lights off for 3-4 days completely, and the corals will be OK. There are a lot of people that do that to get rid of cyano. I am going to do a similar thing to my anemone tank once the clones heal from their force split. I am just waiting for another week to let the healing be complete. In the meantime I have reduced the photoperiod to 5 hours, and it is still not enough. Michael brings up a good point. What is your water source? When I first started I used tap water. Everything went OK until about 9 months in. Then I got a crop of wire hair algae that was bad. I started to use RO water, phosphate remover, and a larger skimmer and the algae went mostly away within a couple of months. When my RO membrane started to go bad then the hair algae started coming back. It was my signal to get a new RO filter. I think part of my problem with my anemone tank is that I am using used sand that is nutrient rich. Now I have the bryopsis and cyano both going nuts. Several water changes, heavy skimming, phosphate remover and decreased lights are my weapons to win this war. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 You can turn the lights off for 3-4 days completely, and the corals will be OK. There are a lot of people that do that to get rid of cyano. I am going to do a similar thing to my anemone tank once the clones heal from their force split. I am just waiting for another week to let the healing be complete. In the meantime I have reduced the photoperiod to 5 hours, and it is still not enough. Michael brings up a good point. What is your water source? When I first started I used tap water. Everything went OK until about 9 months in. Then I got a crop of wire hair algae that was bad. I started to use RO water, phosphate remover, and a larger skimmer and the algae went mostly away within a couple of months. When my RO membrane started to go bad then the hair algae started coming back. It was my signal to get a new RO filter. I think part of my problem with my anemone tank is that I am using used sand that is nutrient rich. Now I have the bryopsis and cyano both going nuts. Several water changes, heavy skimming, phosphate remover and decreased lights are my weapons to win this war. dsoz would turning the lights off for 3-4 days or lowering the photoperiod to 3-4 hours be enough to get rid of the algae? i use a ro/di filter along with a skimmer and chemi pure elite..maybe i should change out my DI resin since i heard if its stored for awhile while being exposed to oxygen it can still go bad. wow that really is a war with bryopsis and cyano!! :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 You might get someone with a TDS meter to check your water. Or you may want to buy one yourself (they aren't all that expensive), that way you'll always know when the DI is "spent" and you need to replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TankIt Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Algea I think part of my problem with my anemone tank is that I am using used sand that is nutrient rich. Now I have the bryopsis and cyano both going nuts. Several water changes, heavy skimming, phosphate remover and decreased lights are my weapons to win this war. dsoz I also had some algea problems with a tank I bought used. It had been setup for like 5 years by the previous owner. When I got the tank resetup at home i went to clean the sand bed for the first time and it was bad! about 3 mths later and into a pretty bad hair and caulerpa uprising I decided to disassemble my tank scrub what rock I could with a wire brush, and thoroughly rinse it in clean water. While it was apart I put in all new sand and went with a much shallower sand bed, about 1". After that I have not really had any trouble with any algea, except in my fuge of cource! just my 2cents. How long has your tank been up and running? How old is your sand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Lights out for a couple of days has had good results from others, but I have never tried it. It shouldn't hurt your corals. Remember they go with little to no light for a few days during shipping from their collection areas. I would add more snails to your CUC. Maybe a few hermits too. The cleaner shrimp really won't help all that much. They are a scavanger not really a cleaner as the name might suggest. But I would check your water with a TDS too just so you know what the water coming out of the RO/DI unit is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 I also had some algea problems with a tank I bought used. It had been setup for like 5 years by the previous owner. When I got the tank resetup at home i went to clean the sand bed for the first time and it was bad! about 3 mths later and into a pretty bad hair and caulerpa uprising I decided to disassemble my tank scrub what rock I could with a wire brush, and thoroughly rinse it in clean water. While it was apart I put in all new sand and went with a much shallower sand bed, about 1". After that I have not really had any trouble with any algea, except in my fuge of cource! just my 2cents. How long has your tank been up and running? How old is your sand? its been up for almost 2 months now..my sand is 2months old too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 Lights out for a couple of days has had good results from others, but I have never tried it. It shouldn't hurt your corals. Remember they go with little to no light for a few days during shipping from their collection areas. I would add more snails to your CUC. Maybe a few hermits too. The cleaner shrimp really won't help all that much. They are a scavanger not really a cleaner as the name might suggest. But I would check your water with a TDS too just so you know what the water coming out of the RO/DI unit is. why haven't you tried turning your lights out? well im trying to stay away from hermits..yeah but then they also get rid of the detrius and uneaten food...yeah i should get a TDS meter..it was 0 when i checked it last, about a month ago,with Scott's TDS meter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I never had to really battle algae like your picture shows...(knocking on wood). So I have never tried lights out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 here are some pics... its kind of hard to get a good pic of it but it was longer, i pulled some off yesterday though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 here is what it looked like before i pulled some off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Looks more like Byropsis but still hard to tell. But I'm in no way sure. If it is people have had luck with putting their magnesium up to 1500 ppm and keeping it there for several weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 The other picture has been removed. Was trying to compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Looks like chaeto... obviously it isn't, but it sure looks like it. I've never seen that stuff before; hopefully John will chime in, he's very knowledgeable about macro algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Reef Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Well you definitely have some tiny patches of hair algae mixed in there. I'd call the rest of it some sort of bryopsis if it had actual fanning to it, but it doesn't and I'm no expert when it comes to identifing macro algaes. :( You could always try out a small tang (1-2 inches big starting size) from the Zebrasoma genus if you didn't want to pull out your rockwork and scrape it off yourself. You could always trade him or sell him to someone else who wants one if he gets to big. Possible candidates if you wanted to go down this path: Yellow Tang (Strongly recommended) Sailfin Tang (May get too big too fast) Desjardini Sailfin Tang (Strongly recommended) Black Tang (Scopus, could get aggressive) Purple Tang (No, it costs way to much) Ricky Soutas Jr. -Soutas Saltwater & Reef Inc.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Well you definitely have some tiny patches of hair algae mixed in there. I'd call the rest of it some sort of bryopsis if it had actual fanning to it, but it doesn't and I'm no expert when it comes to identifing macro algaes. :( You could always try out a small tang (1-2 inches big starting size) from the Zebrasoma genus if you didn't want to pull out your rockwork and scrape it off yourself. You could always trade him or sell him to someone else who wants one if he gets to big. Possible candidates if you wanted to go down this path: Yellow Tang (Strongly recommended) Sailfin Tang (May get too big too fast) Desjardini Sailfin Tang (Strongly recommended) Black Tang (Scopus, could get aggressive) Purple Tang (No, it costs way to much) Ricky Soutas Jr. -Soutas Saltwater & Reef Inc.- yeah but i heard that even small tangs need a big tank because there very active swimmers.and will i be able to get the tang out if he did get too big? and where can you even find tangs that are 1-2 in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Looks more like Byropsis but still hard to tell. But I'm in no way sure. If it is people have had luck with putting their magnesium up to 1500 ppm and keeping it there for several weeks. i thought that byropsis was more feathery and soft, mine kind of seems harder almost like chaeto but a little less than chaeto... if i bumped up my Mag to 1500+ for several weeks would that kill any macro or algae too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Lights out for a couple of days has had good results from others, but I have never tried it. It shouldn't hurt your corals. Remember they go with little to no light for a few days during shipping from their collection areas. I would add more snails to your CUC. Maybe a few hermits too. The cleaner shrimp really won't help all that much. They are a scavanger not really a cleaner as the name might suggest. But I would check your water with a TDS too just so you know what the water coming out of the RO/DI unit is. what kind of snails should i add? astrea? and i checked my RO/DI water and it said 0 nitrates and phosphates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 1 to 2 inch tangs are found at WAVES for one. That is where I got mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 THAT TANK IS TOO SMALL FOR ANY TANG!!!!! I had that same type of algae on some rock I got a couple years ago. The scribbled rabbit fish will eat it all. But the bad news is that a rabbit fish will out grow that tank also. So really, try raising your magnesium to 1500 and keep it at that level for at least 6 weeks. You should see your algae diminish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 THAT TANK IS TOO SMALL FOR ANY TANG!!!!! I had that same type of algae on some rock I got a couple years ago. The scribbled rabbit fish will eat it all. But the bad news is that a rabbit fish will out grow that tank also. So really' date=' try raising your magnesium to 1500 and keep it at that level for at least 6 weeks. You should see your algae diminish.[/quote'] yeah thats what i thought! i heard the smallest tank you should have them in is a 55g and even thats pushing it.. will that kill all of the algae or just macro? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidalsculpin Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I still think a rabbit fish would do the trick. Get a young hungry one, 2 1/2 inches. Foxface are great fish. Scribbled Rabbits are more money but good. People will buy this fish later for algae issues when it grows out of the tank in two years. Look into magnesium as others suggest. If you do not want to go with another fish quarantine the rock that has the algae and trim it. You could spike the magnesium in the qt tank just as easily as the main tank. Don''t have a qt? Get a rubbermaid and an extra heater and powerhead. That'll do for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Reef Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 yeah but i heard that even small tangs need a big tank because there very active swimmers.and will i be able to get the tang out if he did get too big? and where can you even find tangs that are 1-2 in? Interesting. When I was 12 years old I had a tank set up for nearly a year at my house. It was approximately 32 gallons. I had one small desjardini tang (1.5 Inch), a algae blenny, 2 green chromis, and one hector eye goby. I never had any problems with them towards each other. I never had any algae or bacterial problems. They all ate well, and thrived. I decided to take the tank down after about a year. The desjardini tang still resides in our store to this day, and grew to about 3 inches during the time I had him. He is way bigger now if you can imagine. The rest of the fish went to good homes. I also know numerous customers who have/had tangs in their tank that are the same size or slightly smaller/bigger. They are mainly yellow tangs, desjardini tangs and scopus tangs though. One customer told me that their sailfin tang grew way too fast for their tank, and I agree. That's a fish that I would avoid putting in a tank that small. Either way we stock tangs in many different sizes. Like I said though, if your worried about putting a tang in there just take out the rock and scrape the algae off. It's a pretty easy thing to do if you have the right tool. The magnesium method should help as well. Ricky Soutas Jr. -Soutas Saltwater & Reef Inc.- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason7504 Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 Interesting. When I was 12 years old I had a tank set up for nearly a year at my house. It was approximately 32 gallons. I had one small desjardini tang (1.5 Inch), a algae blenny, 2 green chromis, and one hector eye goby. I never had any problems with them towards each other. I never had any algae or bacterial problems. They all ate well, and thrived. I decided to take the tank down after about a year. The desjardini tang still resides in our store to this day, and grew to about 3 inches during the time I had him. He is way bigger now if you can imagine. The rest of the fish went to good homes. I also know numerous customers who have/had tangs in their tank that are the same size or slightly smaller/bigger. They are mainly yellow tangs, desjardini tangs and scopus tangs though. One customer told me that their sailfin tang grew way too fast for their tank, and I agree. That's a fish that I would avoid putting in a tank that small. Either way we stock tangs in many different sizes. Like I said though, if your worried about putting a tang in there just take out the rock and scrape the algae off. It's a pretty easy thing to do if you have the right tool. The magnesium method should help as well. Ricky Soutas Jr. -Soutas Saltwater & Reef Inc.- tangs need lots of swimming room though..was your 32g longer? because i dont think they would be able to swim that much in a 34g cube..length is more important for them than gallons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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