Algae Control

[Rudy]

Hi All.

Outside of frequent and regular H2O changes, what is the best way to control algae accumulation on tank substrate, e.g. sand, etc?

Happy Thanksgiving, Rudy

[mogurnda]

Happy Thanksgiving back at you.

Here's what's happening in my tank. I won't guarantee that any of them are the reason for my minimal algae growth, but each probably contributes.
1. A good skimmer. I am using a CPR bakpak 2R on my 20. Removes organics before the microalgae can get them.
2. A refugium with a heavy growth of chaetomorpha macroalgae to act as a sink for nutrients.
3. A large cleaning crew of hermits (blue legs, scarlets and ?) and snails (astrea, cerith, strombus)
4. Lots of corals, which will also compete with microalgae for nutrients.
5. 20-25% water changes, using RO water with the salts, every 1-2 weeks.

What kind of algae are you getting? How big is the tank, and how long has it been set up?

[Rudy]

Dave,

Thanks for the reply.

For the past 6 months I have been running a basic 10g (believe it or not) system set-up consisting of a power filter, powerhead attached to biowheel, 1" deep of sand, and several largely decorative (not live) rocks. As far as fish I have limited it to two inhabitants a Yellow-tailed Blue Damsel and a Scissortail Goby. I know it is sounds pathetic, but this tank is a set-up with a purpose.

1, To serve as a way of fostering a rapid cycle to my 125 gal upon set-up next spring. I will use some of the sand and scrape the bio-wheel for bacteria.

2, Following completion of my 125 g set-up it will serve as a quarantine and/or hospital tank.

Don't worry when my 125 is ready to go it will have all the other neccesities, e.g. protein skimmer, etc. I have already made my own w/d and it should work well. Currently have tank stand framed out of 2 x 6 lumbar and in the process of designing access doors and then finish work. As much as this little tank is serving as a means to an end I still wan it to be a nice albeit little tank, and the long and short green algae is becoming a problem.

Thanks for the help and interest.

Rudy

[mogurnda]

Without some way of exporting them (macroalgae, live rock, etc) nitrate and phosphate will climb, causing the algae growth you are seeing. Some hermits will probably help a bit, along with hand removal, but your setup is probably going to have significant algae problems no matter what. The good news is that it doesn't hurt the fish, although hair algae will rapidly overtake and suffocate corals.

[Rudy]

I had a feeling that would be the case. Fortuantely I have no iverts in the tank. Which hermits will help? They are cool and I would not mind a couple in this tank as I do not want to add an more fish. I was under the impression crabs were carnivores, not herbivores or omnivores?

What about a few snails, e.g. Turbo Grazer type?

[mogurnda]

I haven't seen snails eat much hair algae, but they wouldn't hurt and might take care of other types. I have had better luck with astreas, margaitas and ceriths than turbos, though.

I was under the impression crabs were carnivores
"Crabs" are a very diverse group, with a lot of different dietary preferences. I am partial to blue leg and scarlet hermits. Although they also scavenge, they definitely graze. Scarlets will even eat cyano.
Again, they will probably help, but not cure the problem.

[Rudy]

Dave,

Thanks agin for the advise. I will look into getting one (crab) for my tank this weekend and maybe a snail or two.

BTW, what is your avatar all about and what is that Edward Scissor hands looking guy suppose to be holding? LOL
:laugh:

[mogurnda]

It's Kai, an animated corpse, holding Squish, the cluster lizard that saves the light universe from His Devine Shadow. It's from the show Lexx, an oddball sci-fi series that ultimately degenerated into one man's sexual fantasies.

You might get a few hermits.

[tricksterpup]

Other Crabs that may help are Emerald Mythrax Crabs and Sally lightfoot crabs both excellent alage eaters.
But to help with your tank, for other critters. I highly recommend the site from Indo-Pacific Sea Farms (http://www.ipsf.com/). They sell lots of bugs and other critters that will help eat the alage and help the tank in the long run. Something to help out eventually also with the 125 in the future.

[liquafaction]

I recently had a bad case of algae. It looks like hair algae, and a red velvet looking algae (about 1/4" tall). I did not do anything about it, because I wanted to get a yellow tang. I was told the tang would graze on any green algae. The tang grazes, but on everything except the neucance algae. Do tangs actually graze on neucance algae? I was also wondering how you keep your sand bed clean? Do you guys vacume? When I had a crushed coral bed, I never had algae growing on that, but my sand bed looks like a red green and brown shag carpet. I have 80 some odd hermits a couple of turbos, and some other mixed snails already, but they cannot keep up.

[Rudy]

liquafaction,

If I were to guess, and I am not an expert by any means, I would try more frequent water changes. This may work to keep nitrates lower and less ideal conditions for such proliferation of algae.

However, you may want to manually remove some of that "shag carpet" (good one) :laugh:, intially to give this technique a chance.

If you are already doing frerquent H2O changes then I pass to somebody else.

[liquafaction]

Really and truely, I do not do frequent water changes (once a month) My nitrates are 2.5 ppm almost consistanly.