Need help eliminating algae!

[THiNKFiRE]

What are your thoughts on coraline?

Some, moreso that not, say its good for your tank, also helps with nutrient control?

Others say it is a nuisance. I am hoping to get ahold of someone with some neon green coraline to add more color, but thats after I get control of this algae.

[allendavant]

You're going to get Coraline weather you like it or not. I've never seen it in bright green but it might exist. It looks nice on your rocks, but it does get annoying cleaning it of the glass.

[Duncmac]

Coralline is calcium based. The algae itself isn't necessarily beneficial, but setting it is a good thing. Coraline grows best in stable water conditions with healthy levels of calcium. I kind of view it as a sign of a maturing tank. Unless you have a lot of sps, water changes should supply more than enough Ca. Just keep your eyes peeled, itll show up.

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[Duncmac]

Seeing it*

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[CUNAReefer]

Originally Posted by Duncmac

Coralline is calcium based. The algae itself isn't necessarily beneficial, but setting it is a good thing. Coraline grows best in stable water conditions with healthy levels of calcium. I kind of view it as a sign of a maturing tank. Unless you have a lot of sps, water changes should supply more than enough Ca. Just keep your eyes peeled, itll show up.

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+1 Coralline will grow if your calcium alk supplementation exceeds the demand of your coral population.

James

[dputt88]

personally i like the coraline grwoing all over, its better than a bunch of white rocks. anyways its a good thing i like it because youre never gonna get rid of it. its a good thing, tells you youre doing things right.

[Duncmac]

agreed, it is beautiful to look at... so long as you keep it off of your front glass.

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[E-quality]

Do smaller water changes than 40 gallons at a time unless you know the temperature and PH are the same. Try 10-20 gallons every 1-3 days until things get better.

Don't stir the sand bed!!! It'll make things worse. You'll only release all the crap in the sand, not a good idea.

I agree with having a fuge in the sump, grow algae down there to reduce the amount that grows in the main tank. It'll help raise the oxygen levels of the tank also.

I agree with pulling algae out by hand but you also need more algae removal, see the second to last paragraph below.

I agree with cutting the light back while you figure things out.

Is that crushed coral in the tank? If so, it'll do more bad than good in terms of nutrient cycling. It can't support the type of life in the quantaties necessary to cycle nutrients. CC generally leads to elevated levels of nitrate and sometimes phosphate.

I don't understand how you have ammonia but no nitrite and fairly low nitrate, what test kit are you using for ammonia and how old is it?

The phosphates are an issue for sure. What kind of test kit are you using to test phosphate?

How often were/are you doing water changes? I didn't see that in your posts.

what brand of GFO are you using and how often are you switching it out?

You only have two snails eating algae, you need a lot more herbivores for a 90gal. tank. Get a urchin or two, get a lot more snails get some emerald crabs. Seriously, you need more herbivores. They'll help control the algae, You still need to get the other issues resolved but you will have algae if you don't have enough herbivores. I'd recommend more than 2 snails for a 5 gal. tank.

Be patient with this because it'll take a little time to fix but it's easily doable with some perseverance.

[THiNKFiRE]

Update:

PO4 Tank before water change .5
PO4 New water before going into tank 0 (thank goodness)
PO4 Tank after water change 2 hours later .5

I'll do a full test set in the morning and post back. Yes, with the crap API kit.

Replaced PhosBan GFO media right after water change. I moved the overflow tube from the skimmer into the waste bucket instead of the Phosban return when I did the initial recalibration of the new media...a little worried about that...I didn't realize I had the wrong tube in the waste bucket until after I got all the air bubbles out and whatnot...should I be worried?

Have any of you found a use for used PhosBan media? Flowerbed/Garden? Or with the media hurt it more than help it?

Also, I know when I was a kid that my mom would dump the water changes of the freshwater tank into the flowerbeds for fertilizer (boy did she know her plants well). Anyways, will it have the same affect with saltwater or will saltwater hurt it more than help? I've just been dumping it out in a sand pit near the house. Wasn't sure if saltwater was good for the septic or not.

Once a month I would do a sizable water change, 20% of total.

Right now I figure I have nearly 200 gallons of water, so 20% is 40 gallons.

I never did get to the local/long distance LFS today for a different test kit, so these results are from an API kit I bought 6 months ago. I also haven't gotten any macroalgae or a light for the refugium yet.

Tomorrow going into to town for some grocery shopping, so I'll be swinging by to grab that stuff. I live out in the boonies.

[THiNKFiRE]

Originally Posted by E-quality

Do smaller water changes than 40 gallons at a time unless you know the temperature and PH are the same. Try 10-20 gallons every 1-3 days until things get better.

Don't stir the sand bed!!! It'll make things worse. You'll only release all the crap in the sand, not a good idea.

I thought 20% was the norm?

Already stirred 20% of the bed, restirred that same 20% while sucking it up during the water change.

I agree with having a fuge in the sump, grow algae down there to reduce the amount that grows in the main tank. It'll help raise the oxygen levels of the tank also.

I agree with pulling algae out by hand but you also need more algae removal, see the second to last paragraph below.

I agree with cutting the light back while you figure things out.

Is that crushed coral in the tank? If so, it'll do more bad than good in terms of nutrient cycling. It can't support the type of life in the quantaties necessary to cycle nutrients. CC generally leads to elevated levels of nitrate and sometimes phosphate.

It's mostly sand. Tiny amounts of crushed coral and lots of old snail shells that came with it

I don't understand how you have ammonia but no nitrite and fairly low nitrate, what test kit are you using for ammonia and how old is it?

The phosphates are an issue for sure. What kind of test kit are you using to test phosphate?

API, it's old, he gave it to me with the setup. Except the P04 and Calcium test, thats also API but only 6 months old, if that.

How often were/are you doing water changes? I didn't see that in your posts.

what brand of GFO are you using and how often are you switching it out?

You only have two snails eating algae, you need a lot more herbivores for a 90gal. tank. Get a urchin or two, get a lot more snails get some emerald crabs. Seriously, you need more herbivores. They'll help control the algae, You still need to get the other issues resolved but you will have algae if you don't have enough herbivores. I'd recommend more than 2 snails for a 5 gal. tank.

Once a month, 20%

Bulk Reef Supply GFO

I have about a dozen snails. 2 large ones that seem to be eating all the time. 8 medium ones that hide in the substrate most of the time but come out to feed. And about 10 really small ones.

I noticed I have a couple of asterinias! I saw 1 a few weeks back but haven't seen it until today and there are now 2...some sites say to be worried and remove them, others say only if they have a black dot or X amount of legs. 1 has 3 legs, other looks like 3 full legs and then 4 smallish legs in comparision. Both pure white.

Be patient with this because it'll take a little time to fix but it's easily doable with some perseverance.

I've been 9 months patient. What's another month, so long as this works.

[Duncmac]

Definitely more snails. Go to reef cleaners website or talk to Chris in mothers reef. some say a rough estimate is a snail per gallon

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[THiNKFiRE]

Yep. Mothers Reef is where I am heading. I've talked to Chris several times, very impressed with his vast knowledge and no restraints to jump in, get to know your system and give out advice AND most importantly explaining the reasoning behind his said advice. You can tell that he has a LOT of passion for what he does.

[E-quality]

Originally Posted by THiNKFiRE

I thought 20% was the norm?

It's not bad if you test and confirm that the temperature and PH are the same. It's bad if those are far off. I'd say do 20 gallons twice unless you confirm that they're the same.

Originally Posted by THiNKFiRE

Already stirred 20% of the bed, restirred that same 20% while sucking it up during the water change.

It's mostly sand. Tiny amounts of crushed coral and lots of old snail shells that came with it

Can't go back in time. Stirring it is horrible so avoiding it from now on would be wise. Using a vacuum is reasonable for crushed coral but it becomes a chore. It's not a good idea if you have sugar sized sand because you'll vacuum p some of the sand and the critters in the sand that would cycle nutrients. How deep is the sand? Can you see much life in the sand?...worms, pods, etc.? We really need to know what kind of a sand bed you have to make the best recommendation on how to maintain it.

Originally Posted by THiNKFiRE

API, it's old, he gave it to me with the setup. Except the P04 and Calcium test, thats also API but only 6 months old, if that.

I'd get new test kits all around. The PO4 is what I'm most curious about right now and the API isn't going to be accurate. Try getting a salifert PO4 test kit so we can have a better idea of where your phosphate level is. At least. take some water to be tested by someone that has a better PO4 test kit.

Originally Posted by THiNKFiRE

Once a month, 20%

That's ok to do with a tank that's doing well and has very good means of nutrient cycling and export. You'll need to increase that greatly to get the tank in order though. 10% twice a week or more for now will help quite a bit.

Originally Posted by THiNKFiRE

I have about a dozen snails. 2 large ones that seem to be eating all the time. 8 medium ones that hide in the substrate most of the time but come out to feed. And about 10 really small ones.

The ones in the substrate eat detritus. You need to get a serious clean up crew. 2-3 dozen various algae eating snails, 6 emerald crabs, a couple royal urchins, etc. at least. Start with that and see how things go.

Originally Posted by THiNKFiRE

I noticed I have a couple of asterinias! I saw 1 a few weeks back but haven't seen it until today and there are now 2...some sites say to be worried and remove them, others say only if they have a black dot or X amount of legs. 1 has 3 legs, other looks like 3 full legs and then 4 smallish legs in comparision. Both pure white.

Asterinas are fine. They split and end up with different numbers of "legs", they're the same. I've never heard anything regarding black dots being bad, sounds like bogus information.

[THiNKFiRE]

Today's results after last night's water change.

Salinity 1.025-1.024
pH 8.4
Nitrate 0-5
PO4 .25
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0-.25

This is with the API kit.

I will take some water into Mother's Reef when I go.

I'm looking to put together an order for cleanup crew on ReefCleaners and some macro algae. Do you go by the tank size as far as gallons? Which is 90, or total? Which is about 200.

As far as macro algae. I've decided, from what I read, to get some Red Mangroves, Ulva and Chaeta. Does that sound right? And a regular grow light will work for these. Does that sound right?

My cart looks like this so far: (subject to change depending on what I can pick up from Mother's Reef. I don't think he carries that much snails, and not sure on macro-algae stock he carries)

1 x Chaeto
$3.00

1 x Ulva
$4.00

1 x 1 Penny Macro Algae
$0.01

1 x 5 Red Mangroves
$5.00

15 x Nassarius Vibex
$6.00

10 x Dwarf Planaxis
$6.50

15 x Florida Cerith
$7.50

10 x Nerite Snails (Small - Medium)
$4.50

10 x Nerite Snails (Large)
$6.50

65 Products
$48.01



My Frogspawn and mushrooms this morning are not at full "bloom" or whatever you call it. They seem to be about half the normal size during daytime lighting.

EVERYONE. I know I haven't responded directly, but rest assured, I am soaking in the valuable information to making use of it. I will continue to post updates here. To help me log, and people can chime in if I seem to go off track, give input, etc. And mostly for all, anyone else with Algae issues can read the experience, watch the progress I make, and use that info.

It's hard when you read tutorials and they throw all the technical information at you, to try to know where to start and what to do etc.

I think watching someone else progress and watch what they actually do is an easier way to learn as you go.

[THiNKFiRE]

About the Coraline. Should I worry getting some scrapings now or later?

I've read/been told that purple/red is dominant. Usually one color will dominate the others, so if there is a particular color you want, you should get scrapings and try to get it to take off so that color dominates.