Lessening Bio-Load?

[bookfish]

Sandbeds that have stored a bunch of nutrients will slow down the process of getting a tank cleaned up. IDK if you have sand...
Same same for live rock.

 

[Euphyllia]

The algae growth doesn't seem to stop, and it there are now more different types. There is a macroalgae that grows on the rocks that looks like a maroon colored chateo. Can anyone ID that?
Could there be another reason why there is so much algae growth? I haven't added anything to the tank for over a month. I've actually been removing lots of stuff and giving it a new home in my 14g. I just removed lots of the small frags of common zoa types, half a colony of hammer coral (3 heads, each head 1"), an acan, a few other LPS, and some frags of softies. I've been running the skimmer 24/7 for about 2 months now and I do small water changes (a few gallons) every few days with water that I've mixed.

red algae on the rocks that looks like cheto is most like red turf algae or as I call it pube algae, it's next to impossiable to remove, and giving the chance can and will overrun corals.

As far as trying to see lots of changes ina month, well thats barely a spec of time in what it takes to see changes in a tank, think about how long it takes for thing to grow in the oceans 100's of years, you should just keep up with your water changes and over time you should see some changes

I accepted the fact that I'll probably never be able to get rid of it, so I decided to remove as much as possible every day. If I remove as much as possible, then hopefully it won't over run my tank, but it will still be there, and I guess a little of it is a lot better than a tank that is covered in it!

Sandbeds that have stored a bunch of nutrients will slow down the process of getting a tank cleaned up. IDK if you have sand...
Same same for live rock.

I have a 2"-3" deep sandbed of live sand that I purchased when I set up the tank over 16 months ago. My live rock structure reaches up to about 3" below the water surface. Hopefully over time algae growth will slow down.

Thanks for the replies!

 

[yardartist]

Mathew I have had three different outbreaks of algae. It comes and then after some time goes. Even a burst of red stuff that was difficult to hand pull from the rocks. I understand what Jim is saying about rocks loading nutrients as three rocks are covered in algae in my tank now and the others are nearly free save coraline. Keep at good practices and I hope change is on the way.

Also in the recent fuge tank switch the sand, a little over a year old, was thick with debris. It accumulates quickly at times. I washed the sand before adding to the new fuge to give me a head start again. No sand in my display allows me to vacuum siphon it each week to pull out debris.

 

[Euphyllia]

I haven't added anything except 2 frags since May! :bigsmile:
I can tell that the algae growth has slowed down a lot.

 

[GreshamH]

Excellent news!

 

[eldiablosrt8]

Good to hear

 

[nudibranch]

Algae is impossible to completely eradicate so you should be prepared to live with it. For myself, battling bryopsis is neverending. Do you have a refugium connected to you tank? If not, you should get one--it will be the best thing you can ever do for your tank.
do

I have heard that lettuce sea slugs will eat that.

 

[Euphyllia]

I do horrible with creatures like sea slugs and sea hares...
They all either died or disappeared. :~

 

[GreshamH]

Algae is impossible to completely eradicate so you should be prepared to live with it. For myself, battling bryopsis is neverending. Do you have a refugium connected to you tank? If not, you should get one--it will be the best thing you can ever do for your tank.
do

I have heard that lettuce sea slugs will eat that.

They suck the juices out but do not "eat" the actual algae

 

[Euphyllia]

Does the algae die? :~

 

[yardartist]

Matthew, I just borrowed, well rented a sea slug for about two weeks. It cleaned up most all the the green algae in my tank in 14 days and then I took it back so it did not starve in my tank. Consider using one like this in the future if you have one at all.

It was much easier to siphon the debris from the tank bottom each day than it had been to pull the algae by hand. The NO3- are lower and I will be checking to see how the algae grows back. I have been brushing off the rocks about every five days or so to encourage the algae to stay back as the refugium keeps using the available nitrates.

Good luck, and know that with water changes and less food going in, the tank should become less maintenance for you.

 

[GreshamH]

Matthew, I just borrowed, well rented a sea slug for about two weeks. It cleaned up most all the the green algae in my tank in 14 days and then I took it back so it did not starve in my tank. Consider using one like this in the future if you have one at all.

It was much easier to siphon the debris from the tank bottom each day than it had been to pull the algae by hand. The NO3- are lower and I will be checking to see how the algae grows back. I have been brushing off the rocks about every five days or so to encourage the algae to stay back as the refugium keeps using the available nitrates.

Good luck, and know that with water changes and less food going in, the tank should become less maintenance for you.

Given he does horrible with them I would suggest not renting one as odds are it'll perish. Some tanks are just not suited for them.