new algae

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

Superstar Fish
#1
Jun 12, 2004
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Hello. 'k i had coraline spreading nicely...then 2 days ago i noticed very dark green spots everywhere on my rocks and glass...almost impossible to scrub . Encrusting algae that stopped (?) the coraline progression. Also found hair algae in my only dead spot...i removed it. In one night only it spreaded like hell. I don't overfeed, ammonia is 0 , nitrites and nitrates too. I looked at wetwebmedia and couldn't find what it was.

Did you guys had this algae ??


I was in a 12 hours light schedule....now back to 9.

I do 10-15 % water change every weeks.

First little fatalities in my tank : An astrea snail was sucked into my powerhead and jammed it and a turbo snail ran over my biggest feather duster and killed him.
 

A

aresgod

Superstar Fish
#3
Jan 14, 2004
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it is most likely from excess phospahtes, do you have a phospate test? what do you use for water, ro, di? or just regular tap? I was haveing algea problems when i moved because the place i moved to puts lots of stuff in their water, plus it was a very sunny room the tank got moved to, so i bought a tap water filter for like 70$ which works great and it doenst take up any room in my 1 bedroom apartment
hope this helps, more info would help narrow it down
Brahm
 

S.Reef

S.Reef

Superstar Fish
#7
Dec 1, 2003
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#7
I dont think it is phosphates. If it was you would have a lot of Cyano growing...especially this season. If its a micro algae which it sounds like, then I wouldnt be too worried. Do watch out for hair algae however.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#8
Oct 22, 2002
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#8
as same mentioned, the small hard stuff is pretty normal, in fact it is very similar to the pink stuff, it just grows more in lighted area. ive got some myself. as far as getting it off the glass, you can use a razor blade

hair algae, on the other hand, is not so good...what kind of cleanup crew have you?
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

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#9
Jun 12, 2004
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a weak one. Only 2 astreas ( i tought he was dead but he's ok now ) and 2 turbos. The turbo do the job very fast...but they kill every little creature. I had a 1 month old tube worm now it's gone + a feather duster. Better buy a lot of astreas. Or tell me please what other cleaners i should get.

The problem is that the algae took over my coraline...i had a big snail shell covered with coraline and now it's dark green. Also my skimmer's tube is covered with it.


My water change is tomorrow. I'll clean the skimmer too.

Yep the razor blade will be handy. I have a Marina pad that can't scrub that.
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#10
Oct 22, 2002
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#10
hermit crabs are an essential component of a cleanup crew...not sure how big your tank is, but i would go for probably one small variety for every gallon...and the two turbos are probably enough snails for up to a 70 or so i would think...

just my recomendations, im sure others have other thoughts
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#14
Oct 22, 2002
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#14
not ideal for a reef though ;)

i would look into getting some dwarf blue leg hermits or some red legged hermits...can always start with ten and see how that works for you. personally, i love emerald crabs so i would get one of those to take care of the hair algae. they do an awesome job on that stuff

for once, live aquaria actually has some valuable info so if you check out each species it will tell you if it is reef compatable and what specific type of algae it eats. your LFS should have most of that stuff available

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?siteid=20&pCatId=501&TopCatId=501
 

1979camaro

1979camaro

Ultimate Fish
#16
Oct 22, 2002
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#16
are you serious? are you sure it wasnt Neon/Electric Blue Hermits? those are often kind of spendy and considerably bigger

the most expensive ive ever seen is $2

might be worth ordering online then if there is some sort of fancy pants fish or coral you want that is unavailable at the LFS as well...most places are going to have a minimum order of $25 or so, and shipping is going to be another $20 i imagine so you need to but a lot to make it worth it...unless, of course, the LFS is on the crack and wants $20 for a hermit
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

Superstar Fish
#17
Jun 12, 2004
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#17
yep i'm serious. It's crazy. Yeah the cheapest way is to order. I called another store...12.99. Geez. Cheaper than the first but still a rip-off. They buy that for like 50 cents ( USD ) and even if the USD is worth 25 % more than the canadian, they triple the price of everything...but 20 $ + tax for the hermit ( and we have a 15.6 % tax here ) is worth 40 times the price.

Man i'm moving to Florida ;-)

I wish.
 

KahluaZzZ

KahluaZzZ

Superstar Fish
#19
Jun 12, 2004
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#19
yeah....and for live rock...i bought the cheap one 5.99 / pound plus a load of base rock ( 2 $ / pounds ) . The indonesian is 12 $ / pound and i saw a place 17 $ / pounds.

But...freshwater is almost the same price in the usa and in canada. Only SW is so pricy.
 

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