High Tide Aquatics

Getting rid of Algae

nudibranch

nudibranch

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This Algae is like hair algae but it forms clumps and none of my stuff is stopping its growth. Presently I have a Sally Light Foot, ~12 Hermit Crabs, 3 Astrea Snails, and some nerites and trochus snails, a limpet( that what it was called at my LFS), and a coral banded shrimp all cleaning my tank. But the algae still is alive does anyone know anything that will get rid of the algae without hurting my tank. I really do not want have to keep a sea hare because of all the feedings.
 
Ridding a tank of Algae starts with ID'ing what is causing it in the 1st place, simplely adding more animals to graze on it has the double effect of adding a higher bio load which can in fact fuel algae grow....
 
nudibranch said:
At my LFS when they heard about the Algae and they had me switch to RotiFeast.
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Why? What would swithcing to RF do for algae? What LFS?

nudibranch said:
I think it might be Sludge Algae.
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OK I think you just invented a new common name. Pictures are your friends....post one or find one using google. No ID = no real help
 
Before I began feeding RF I was feeding my tank with PhytoFeast.

Here is a photo.
Algae_mess_id_WWM.JPG


It looks similar to that.
 
RF and PF feed entirely different things. RF is for corals and some zooplankton (NOT copepods). PF is for filter feeders like clams, zooplankton, etc. Very few corals will actually consume phyto, but most will consume roitfers. You micro fauna will not consume rotifers but they will consume phyto.

What LFS, they need to be corrected as that is bad information being passed to you.

That one is a mix of diatoms, some HA and some bacteria. NOT a result of feeding PF.

FWIW CB Shrimp are not really a part of a clean up crew IMO.
 
nudibranch said:
Sorry I messed up I was feeding DT's Marine Phytoplankton not PhytoFeast, if that makes a difference.
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Not really, except DTs is mostly Nannochloropsis by the time you use it.

A couple of things you can do:

Get a filter sock a bucket and a siphon hose, clip the filter sock to the bucket, start a siphon and place one end of the siphon hose into the sock, take the other end of the siphon hose and suck out as much of the offending algae as possible, repeating the process until you are satisfied with the results

or

do a massive water change (around 75%) making sure that all of your parameters match up i.e. you make up water to your tank water

or

do a 25% water change followed buy the addition of Purigen or Cemi-pure elite (I prefer Purigen)

Stop feeding anything that is not ABSOLUTELY necesssary, cut you light cycle back to a minimum, and if necessary get out yer tooth brush and change your mechanical media like crazy.
 
You really have to find the root cause of this algea.
I was battling for a while and almost everything Jeremy recommended will indeed solve your immediate problem, but they will come back eventually if you don't attack the root.
I've tried all sorts of animals too, from crabs to slugs to fish and nothing really takes care of the root and stuff will always come bite you in the rear after a while.
The last part of Jeremy's recommendations is what you have to pay attention.
"Stop feeding anything that is not ABSOLUTELY necesssary"
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In my case was overfeeding and bad design on my mechanical filter system, which was DIY... lol.... Not always I have good ideas... :(

Good luck.
 
nudibranch said:
I am starting to feed less.
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not sure If i missed this info...do you have any fish presently in the tank? If you don't, then why are you feeding the tank?
If you do have fish, you will be surprised how little food they can get by on. Seriously, I feed my tanks maybe 2x a week, and I feed a few pellets at a time so all are consumed, then feed a few more a few minutes later. This way, no food is wasted and helps to minimize the damage to the tank.
 
kvosstra said:
nudibranch said:
I am starting to feed less.
Click to expand...

not sure If i missed this info...do you have any fish presently in the tank? If you don't, then why are you feeding the tank?
If you do have fish, you will be surprised how little food they can get by on. Seriously, I feed my tanks maybe 2x a week, and I feed a few pellets at a time so all are consumed, then feed a few more a few minutes later. This way, no food is wasted and helps to minimize the damage to the tank.
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Wouldn't that depend highly on the fish, for instance a tang eats almost constantly, and poops a lot, this would normaly seggust they get very little nutrition from the food they eat, and thus should be feed more often then say a yellow tailed damsel with eats occasionaly (I understand that most if not all fish will eat everything you feed, I'm refering more to natualy habbits)
 
Roc's dead on. An herbivore needs to graze/eat through out the day. One feeding a week is no way to keep an herbivore.
 
Well there you go, it's the gramma's fault!
Seriously though, all the advice is good. Clean up the algae food (the problem) and the algae (symptom) will go away. And noone mentioned sea hares for the hair algae. Where's the harey love?!
 
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