tennisjad3 Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I have a ton of cyno and green hair algae. Cyno on the rocks/sand, hair on the tank walls. What inverts will conquer this? Also, damsels won't kill inverts right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Damsels won't kill inverts. As far as the algae. You can fix it without a cleanup crew. Of course I'm not saying not to get a cleanup crew but instead look at how the algae originated. It's usually a water problem. Unless the tank is brand new. If it's new, I wouldn't add fish. Throw in some snails. A few hermit crabs. And let the tank cycle for 4-6 weeks. The. Add fish slowly. If you keep up with water changes then you should not have an algae issue. One of the biggest causes of algae in an established tank is over feeding or overstocking Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 I have some nessarius snails you can have Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Nassarius snails are meat eaters and detritivores. They won't help 1 bit with cyano or hair algae. Also, hermit crabs are omnivores so if there's other food in the tank, they aren't going to touch the algae. They will help clean up extra food that isn't being eaten so in that respect they help clean up stuff. . You need turbos, astrea, trochus, conch, cerith, and maybe get a tuxedo urchin or 2. Those will actually eat hair algae. Not much will actually eat cyano. You can suck it up using a turkey baster, and help prevent it from coming back by adding some more water flow. I've even added some bacteria additives that has helped with cyano so that may be something to look into. What are your water params? Specifically your nitrates and phosphates? Likely that's the problem. If either of those params are high, then you should definitely add some of the CUC, but also consider some substantial water changes. That will help quickly get your params in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Reefcleaners.org has a list of CUC categorized by what they'll eat. That should narrow your search a little. Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennisjad3 Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Well its a 29 gallon and I have 3 small fish, so I doubt I've overstocked. However, I do travel 4 days a week for work, so I do feed them a good bit the 3 nights I'm home. Could bulk feeding for 3 days cause this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Well its a 29 gallon and I have 3 small fish, so I doubt I've overstocked. However, I do travel 4 days a week for work, so I do feed them a good bit the 3 nights I'm home. Could bulk feeding for 3 days cause this? If all the food is not eaten that could be a problem. Especially if it gets lodged in crevices and just sits there. Have you tried blowing off things with a turkey baster to make sure stuff is not accumulating? I'm with Dan, you need to make sure you have your nitrate and phosphate in reasonable range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennisjad3 Posted August 26, 2016 Author Share Posted August 26, 2016 Well its a 29 gallon and I have 3 small fish, so I doubt I've overstocked. However, I do travel 4 days a week for work, so I do feed them a good bit the 3 nights I'm home. Could bulk feeding for 3 days cause this? If all the food is not eaten that could be a problem. Especially if it gets lodged in crevices and just sits there. Have you tried blowing off things with a turkey baster to make sure stuff is not accumulating? I'm with Dan, you need to make sure you have your nitrate and phosphate in reasonable range. Oh man the build up is unreal haha ew. I imagine my nitrate and phosphate are high, how do I fix them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Water changes are a good way. You should probably measure nitrate and phosphate just to be sure what you are dealing with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Most tanks bothered by cyano and excessive algae will register normal tests results unless the amount entering the tank is much greater than the nutrient uptake. GHA and cyano have a nutrient uptake greater than any coral or algae that I have seen, which is why people are trying to use it as a filter. If you feed super heavy then it may take a long time for the decaying food to run through the cycle. Also, the rocks may leach PO4 for several weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.