renman303 Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 For some reason, I now have a LOT of brown hair algae growing over the rocks and starting to smother some of my corals? The water is all RO/DI and I'm running activated carbon and Rowaphos. Water changes are weekly. I have 8 fish and feed one cube, once a day (usually plankton/shrimp with seaweed for the tang and angel). I have about 30 snails and about as many blue leg and red leg hermits. I'm also getting some bubble algae forming in spots and I think if I get an Emeralm Mythrix or two that should take care of the Bubble Algae. But what eats brown hair algae? My Pincushion Urchin does a good job but can't keep up with a 225 gallon tank. Perhaps another one would do better battle? Pics aren't very good as these were done with my IPhone. Anyone??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Wow...how fitting. I'm fighting the same thing in my fuge, but not my tank. I asked Bruce @ Aquatek the same ? and he pretty much told me nothing. He said turbo snails will if they are starving and there are plenty of the around so that competition for food is fierce. Let me know if you find the answer! P.S. Have you tried varying your lighting cycle? I've heard that can sometimes help along with using Kent Phosphate sponge to quickly knock down the phosphates. Rowaphos is rumored to be good for keeping levels low, but not dropping them quickly. again my source on this one is Bruce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 I just put some Phos Ban in to see what would happen over the next few days. In the meantime I tested the water for Phosphates. Phosphates=zero. I went in the house to look in the tank and my Yellow Taro Tree went into sever shock! I noticed on the Phos Ban that "some corals may be adversely effected by Phos Ban". GREAT!!!! So, I removed it immediately. Especially since the phosphates were at zero. Now I'm thinking cleanup crew.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I see no reason why you can't add another urchin, your tank is large enough to sustain two. We used to run rowaphos but it wasn't doing the job for the size of my tank.....we opted for phosguard (We didn't see no ill affect on tank inhabitants). You could use poly filter, it works real well, place it in one of your chambers of your sump before it goes thru the skimmer, or anywhere else the water is passing through. Check your nitrates & phosphate levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 I like the idea of another urchin. Anyone know if they are all compatible? What about 3-4 Mythrix Crabs?. Phosphates are reading zero. Nitrates are reading zero. Nitrites are reading zero. Two of the four Actinics turn on at 7am, the next two turn on at 7:30am. These go off at 7pm and 7:30 pm respectively. The MH's: One turns on at 10am the other two turn on at 10:30am. They turn off at 6pm and 6:30pm respectively. Things that make you go hmmmm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Well, I have 2 tuxedo (blue) urchins and a radiata urchin in the same tank, and their doing fine. I would give it a try with the poly filter and as for the bubble algae, sometimes if their large enough you can manually remove them. Do you any tangs, most of the ones we have (purple tang, scopas, dussumieri and regal tang) they tend to all type of algae.....including the bubble. They been so good about tending the reef. What is your water change schedules and %? It might be going through a cycling period and maturing itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 My urchin is the more common "Pincushion" type though I may opt for a Blue Tuxedo just to add some color. The thing eats algae like there is no tomorrow but, can't keep up by itself. The Bubble Algae is only in 5-6 spots and is large enough that I am going to try and extract it myself...about the side of a pencil eraser or larger. I have a Sailfin tang that eats algae and a Swallowtail Angel that does the same but, again too much tank for two fish. Water changes have been weekly at about 5% volume (tank and sump included=~300 gallons). I feel that at least replentishing nutrients little by little on a weekly basis is better than a shock once a month. However, I have just increased this to 10%...changing out 30 gallons just a few minutes ago. The tank has only been up since July 2nd so, I've gone through the diatom stuff and this from what I have researched is more than likely "Green Algae". Could just be maturing but I could use some cleaners. The entire back wall is covered with 1/2" algae. Looks beautiful and natural but might be the culprit that I let get a bit out of hand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted September 28, 2008 Author Share Posted September 28, 2008 Could the Phytoplankton that I feed to the critters be causing this? Funny thing, it started about 3 weeks ago when I started using phytoplankton. Prior, I was just using Clyclopeeze. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 1/2" algae...that's pretty thick Do you have enough macro algae in your sump? If so, I believe you don't need it in the main tank. Get some astrea snails, their pretty good at taking care of the algae. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 Could the Phytoplankton that I feed to the critters be causing this? Funny thing, it started about 3 weeks ago when I started using phytoplankton. Prior, I was just using Clyclopeeze.Dave I believe that if you have enough of a fish load you don't need all that stuff to feed your corals, the fish waste will do enough to feed your corals and other criltters. What are you feeding specifically with the phytoplankton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 I was feeding a Philippine Sea Apple and I heard from the guy at Aquatek that I should use it for the corals and clams as well? I've had clams for more than two years and never used it before? I was not sure about the corals as this is the first time I've tried SPS types and the like. I'll bet there is a bunch of gunk in that Phytoplankton! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted September 29, 2008 Share Posted September 29, 2008 I was feeding a Philippine Sea Apple and I heard from the guy at Aquatek that I should use it for the corals and clams as well? I've had clams for more than two years and never used it before? I was not sure about the corals as this is the first time I've tried SPS types and the like.I'll bet there is a bunch of gunk in that Phytoplankton! There's gunk in there, but as for the sea apple.....I've read phyto is their main source of food, before you started using phyto, was it doing okay? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 The Sea Apple has been doing fine for about 2 months now. I know that they can be volatile so I have my QT set up right under the main tank in the stand. Prior to the Phytoplankton I was only using dried Cyclopeze. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted September 30, 2008 Share Posted September 30, 2008 Try this: No lights I started it on my tank tonight after I noticed some cyano showing up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ Stephens Posted October 8, 2008 Share Posted October 8, 2008 I have read in a few places that flame angels eat gold diatom, wich is what most "brown hair algae" is. Also i was told by aqua tek that cerith snails will also eat it. From what i have researched it lives on phosphates and silicates. But also seems to pop up when you use flake food for your fish. You might try reducing your fish feedings if you are using any flake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted October 9, 2008 Author Share Posted October 9, 2008 Got 37 Astrea Snails to add to the tank and cleared a lot of the algae out by hand. It's like trying to weed a garden. Some of those guys are impossible to pull out! Also got an "Algae Urchin" aka: Math Sea Urchin. Great at eating Algae. It's only about 2 1/2" across so, it has lots of room to grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 New critter arrivals: I made a purchase from Reeftopia. Critters were a bit tiny but I bought some extras so we'll see just how good they do. I probably needed more for my tank anyway other than the 30 or so Astrea's, Certh's and 20 odd hermits. Here is what I got: Total Reef Care Special #2 75 Turbo Snail [astrae],, -36 Cerith Snail, 12 Tegula Snails, 18 Nassarius Snails, 4 Emerald Crabs, 75 Small Blueleg Hermits and 12 Nerite (tesselatta) Snails. Free Shipping & Box via FedEx Priority Overnight. You may purchase additional items along with this special and get free shipping & box for those items as well. Only $149.00 I also purchased in addition: 2 dozen additional Turbo Snails for $20. Seems like a nice price. I could have gotten an additional 100 Turbo's for $48 but that seemed like a bit too many considering I was already getting 75 of them with the initial pack. Watch This Space, to see just how well they perform on Hair Algae. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Posted One Week Ago... OK Kids, here's the poop... Brian from Kingfish was kind enough to stop by today and look at my tank. Here is what we agreed on: Salinity: 1.026 No Prob... Magnesium: 1450 No Prob... Calcium: 400 ppm No Prob... Phosphates: zero No Prob... dKH: 5 Ahhhh...Problem. Lots of Diatoms, Green Hair and some Cyano Bacteria. This was even effecting the mantle of my Derasa Clam. We hit him with a Fresh Water Dip. Found the culprit.... My RO/DI unit !!!!! "Replace the RO membrane and deionization resin. RO membranes should typically block 99% of incoming TDS. The TDS of a properly working membrane should be anywhere from 0 to 10. Anything over that and the membrane is not working properly. DI resin takes that water and polishes it to a reading of 0 TDS. While TDS of 0-5 is not harmful, the DI’s active life is over when the TDS begins to read anything greater then 0." -Brian The water coming out of the RO/DI was reading about 45! The water coming out of the RO alone was reading 21! So, because I did not own a TDS I did not know this? Not that if I did own a TDS I would have known this???? This is certainly a learning experience! We are going to replace these units and bring the Alkalinity (sp) back into the 10-12 range. That along with some help from the cleanup crew and a few major water changes after the new stuff arrives and we should be golden! See, all it took was a little knowledge...and not by me! Thanks Brian!!!! UPDATE: Except for the "Clumps" of algae that still remain, and there are only about 5 or so...All of the diatoms and cyano are gone as is about 95% of the hair algae. Here is where the water sits today: Salinity: 1.026 No Prob... Magnesium: 1450 No Prob... Calcium: 400 ppm No Prob... Phosphates: zero No Prob... dKH: 10!!!! Now I need to get rid of my Pulse start ballasts for electronic ones as these keep tripping my circuits. I was told by the maker that they draw up to 10 times the power on startup. Even staggered on time to start they still pop. Working on that issue... Other than that, everything looks much healthier, anemones are just expanding, LPS is huge and bursting with color! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Holy smokes, that is one serious filter! Glad you found the cause of the hair algae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Dave, Boy.....you got yourself set up NICE! Like the rack of shelves......good storage area. Good to hear that corals are much happier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Thanks all. BTW, I have a 6'x24" Metro Rack on casters that I'm selling for $100 if anyone needs some serious storage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 I thought this was a really cool idea. Using algae to "scrub" your system! Seems sound in principal but not sure if anyone has ever tried this? Algae Scrubber Now, I'm not condoning the dumping of your equipment but, what about suplimentation of your equipment with this? See, I just got rid of algae, and what do I want to do???? Grow more!!!! It seems like a very logical solution for phosphates and nitrates? After all, don't most of us use Chaetomorpha in our sump for that purpose? I'm not too keen about 86'ing the skimmer but I'm intrigued with the whole process ! It was just a few years ago when "Bio-Balls" were all the rage in Wet/Dry filters, then it was "86" the Bio-Ball's, use live rock. I'm just thinking, things change...people find new and innovative and sometimes inexpensive ways to get the same results. We are trying to create an "ocean" in a small enclosed box. I think it's a good learning experience... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I'm up for trying it. Anyone with me? I won't be dumping my equipment just yet, but why not throw it in the sump, see what happens and then decide what to do about the "old" equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamp Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I am hooking one up in my sump. Just finished today. It will dump into a fuge, wich flows into my skimmer chamber. I am hoping it will help with a little bryopsis that has sprung up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 I am hooking one up in my sump. Just finished today. It will dump into a fuge, wich flows into my skimmer chamber. I am hoping it will help with a little bryopsis that has sprung up. Let me know how it goes. My nitrates won't go under 10ppm so this would be interesting to see if it could really drop them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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