70l Nano Journal

[JaminRat]

Sounds like you got lucky in the fact that you never burnt the house down but has given me food for thought as far as skimming goes. Glad to see you stuck with it though. STM have their own range of skimmers that I have been looking at as I've heard some good things about them.
Update
I have sucked up as much of the stuff on the sand as possible with a battery powered gravel vac. It did a pretty good job but I think I'll need to keep some spare sand if I'm going to be doing it alot. I tried vacing some of it off the LR with no success. I have also re-tested using a different test kit and Nitrates are @ 5ppm with Phosphates @ 0.25ppm.
Tomorrow is WC day so a 10% change is on the cards I figured while I'm doing this I'll remove the LR to the bucket with the old water in and give it a scrub with a toothbrush to try and remove some of it. I have not seen anything but algae on the rockwork so I don't think there will be any problem removing it for a few seconds to change containor and then back. Also tomorrow I think there will be a shift around of the equipment. I think that now the levels are getting back to normal the bloom should settle but don't think I'll beat it without some manual removal. As always any input much appreciated.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, unfortunately you're encountering the wonders of calcium carbonate built rock. Both the porosity and the chemistry of te LR that we use allow it to bind large amounts of phosphates and other smaler organics. It can unfortunately take months for the phosphates to leech completely out of the tank, especially when they were at high level like yours were. It may take weeks to get your tank back to normal, I know mine didnt go back right away but the algae bloom is under control now

 

[Nalaundi]

all in all it sounds as if you have got it all under control though... just a bit faster going than you expected... I love the way you aquascaped your rock... I hope mine will look half as good I keep looking at my rock expecting some change ( it has been in there less than 12 hrs lol) I look forward to more pictures.. hint hint

it is good to hear all this as I am just starting mine.... so I can reference here from your posts... hehehe fun fun.. what size of aquarium do you have (was it an 8g with 5kg (im un the usa hopin im getting the abbreviations right hehe) it has been fun using a metric converter online so I can get some reference of all these numbers ... anyway cant wait to see more!

 

[JaminRat]

Ski as you say the same stuff that makes this hobby easier is also its downfall but hell I'm getting their now. WC has got to wait til tomorrow as I have been told to de-xmas the house today and 'not play with the damn fish'. I have however been over to my LRS today to ask about feeding as one of myh clowns is being a bit picky. I advised me to feed mysis shrimp and carry on with the frozen mix as well so I'll see how that works out.

Thanks for the complement Nalaundi believe me no matter what you do you'll never be 100% happy. I had mine where I was 95% happy then moved it around to tuck the heater back behind the rockwork and now although the heater is out the way which I like I'm only 85% happy with the scape. Never mind I've got to move it around to clean some of the algae from the rock. It never goes back the same The tank is 70L which is roughly 18 USG with 10.5kg or 23LBS of LR (just double kg to get lbs roughly anyway)

 

[JaminRat]

Update time PO3 had crept up a little so swapped out the Rowaphos during the weekly WC today. Took out most of the diatoms a few days ago with a battery vac and the grow back is much slower than previously. I've also moved the rock a little for aesthetics only. So all much of a muchness really. I forgot to buy a new toothbrush to scrum some of the algae but will pick one up tomorrow and use the battery vac to take some of it off.

Now the good stuff found something else to try and ID and got you all a few more pictures.
OK first the new find

and a close up

and some more of it over here.

The obligatory FTS

 

[SkiFletch]

Best guess, red macroalgae. I know that helped narrow it down a lot

 

[rhysiboy]

apparently there is more red algaes then green and brown combined so could be a bit of a task iding it. i think it looks quite kl unless it spreads a lot

 

[JaminRat]

I think it probably is some kind of macro algae and an interesting fact above.

So a little update. Had a day of testing and found SiO2 level to be 0.5ppm in the tank and 0.2ppm in the di however founds levels higher than 10ppm in my lfs's RO (they have never tested for it) so I'm wondering if the SiO2 fueling the diatoms is leeching from the LR. If the water the rock was cured in was high in SiO2 it would explain where it is coming from. Either way still waiting it out to see if it starves itself out, going to get another sample tested in a week or so to see if the level is falling.

Also added a few new critters. An Emerald Mithrax Crab and a Money Cowrie. The crab promptly disappeared into the LR and has not been seen since and the cowrie fell off the LR and disappeared into his shell at which point one of the peppermint shrimp starting having a go at him. Very odd behaviour for the shrimp they're normally quite timid. I've moved him away from the shrimp and has been left alone since but is still hiding. I'm a little concerned about him but will see what the morning brings both were acclimatised over 1 1/2 hours which I thought would be sufficient but now I'm wondering. The tank lights have been off since they went in but the lights have been on in the room so I'm wondering if he is waiting for dark to make his move

 

[adam.crouch]

I'd love to no what the red algae is to, i have to growing all over my snails shells, i thinkit looks cool but i dont want it to spread all over my tank.

 

[JaminRat]

Bad news folks the Money Cowrie didn't make it so has been returned and credit given and the Emerald crab has gone into hiding. I' haven't seem him since I put him in.

 

[@ombomb]

I wouldn't worry too much about the crab just yet, I go days without seeing mine

 

[steelhealr]

That appears to be a red version of bubble algae. Look up Botryocladia. If indeed this is it, it, like most bubble algae, it may become a nuisance. SH

 

[Mr Miagi]

That appears to be a red version of bubble algae. Look up Botryocladia. If indeed this is it, it, like most bubble algae, it may become a nuisance. SH

Agreed with that ID, you beat me too it SH! I got the ID form my textbook before I read your post! Id keep it if it were myself, but best to research it before you allow it to over run anything.

 

[JaminRat]

Thanks for the info guys. I just had a look at some pics of red bubble algae Botryocladia and although very similar the Botryocladia comes from a central stem this macro is growing straight from the rock each 'growth' is independent of the surounding growths. I have also noticed one of the larger growths is slitting into three forks. I'll try and get a photo later.

It'll be staying unless it spreads like mad. At the moment it is limited to 2 small areas so no worries. I still have the other macro / nem whatever it may be I have noticed one more of these spring up but no silly numbers so I'm letting it be for now.

 

[JaminRat]

No updates for a while so I thought I'd let you all know whats been going on.

Diatoms are now receding YAY

but cyano is now taking over BOOO

I've been pulling it out with a gravel vac easily so am still waiting for the algae blooms to die back but at least it's moving in the right direction. All stats are stable and I've had the same Rowaphos in for about 3 weeks nows with no increase at all so the phosphates leaching from the LR must be almost diminished.

The 'red bubble algae' thing turned out to be far more interesting I'll post a few pics shortly but you wouldn't now it was the same growth. Also had a little shift around with the LR to give me a few more flat surfaces for when I begin to add coral.