Nano Tank Diary

[Flumpus]

Well, we've recovered somewhat. We ended up losing one snail, but the corals have come back to full strength or better the past couple weeks. We also just hit the tank with some Joe's Juice in places, and it's doing well. Here are some updated pictures:

Now I've got one question... What is this stuff?

 

[Ami]

Absolutely gorgeous Flump!

Glad it's picked up again after the probs you had the other week. Looking very nice.

Oh, and the green slimey thingie looks like ectoplasm, other than that I have no idea!

 

[steelhealr]

It looks like a type of valonia or bubble algae; keep an eye on it..if it is very close to the rock and bubble like...it can be an unwanted hitchhiker. SH

 

[Aquascaper]

Looks like some harmless bubble algae to me, I have the ocassional lump appear when my Nitrates get a little high but it soon goes away when there's little or no Nitrates left. You can pop them if it's getting rather unsightly as they are only filled with water but I feel it's better to leave it as it is, after all, using up excess Nitrates.

Oh, and they can create some really cool shapes if left long enough (but that does mean you've got a slight Nitrate problem so it's not advisable)

 

[Navarre]

Sorry to hear about thelosses you incurred.

After the mishap i would remove all sponges from the filtration system.. now is the best time before it gets too colonised and the filtration system becomes too reliant on it rather than the liverock you have sitting there.

I applaude your attention to high filtration but mechanical filtration in a marine tank really does have many pitfalls. I would recomend you put more reliance on your liverock. To improve its filtration capacity i would increase the flow (try moving up to about 15-20x tank volume per hour) as this will force more water through the rock and create a larger bacterial colony. If you insist on using an external filter then use it for flow and perhaps leave the canister empty or add a little liverock and allow sponges and tunicates to thrive here in the darkness. Put more trust in your liverock, its really does do a far better job than we can ever create. I have a 220 gallon system with only enough liverock to fill have the tank, its still enough rock to house a large number of tangs butterflies and angels with no nitrate at all. I have no external filtration, no canister and not even a sump yet. Liverock really does rock!

 

[steelhealr]

Hmm..I thought popping them releases tons of spores into the water?? SH

 

[Navarre]

Yeah its not a good idea to pop them.. however i dont know how creatures like emerald crabs can eat them without popping them either. When removing themi take em out the tank on the rock and then remove them then

 

[Aquascaper]

Hmm..I thought popping them releases tons of spores into the water?? SH

All the type that i've seen in my own tank has just been water filled the same as some types of seaweed. I can't say yes or no the them containing spores but i've never had an outbreak after popping one
They just deflated and eventually fell apart and got munched by the regal tang or other fish. Interesting point though and worth looking into before you pop any just in case.

I'll have a root aound my books and see if anything turns up.

 

[Aquascaper]

Ok this is what i've found so far:

Valonia Algae is a Micro algae, not a Macro algae and therefore considered a nuisance algae in the aquarium. I've found info on four main types:

Valonia aegagropila - Forms light green tubes
Valonia macrophysa - Forms dark green bubbles
Valonia utricularis - Forms non-uniform dark green clumps
Valonia ventricosa - Forms large light green spheres

As the bubbles contain spores it is recommended not to pop the bubbles inside the tank but to deal with it in one of the following ways -

1) Remove the rock that the bubble is on. Place over a container and burst the bubble then rinse off the rock with tank water. Do not return this water to the tank but throw it away. Replace the rock in the tank.

2) Inject the bubble with a hypodermic needle & syringe and suck out all the internal liquid which will contain the spores. Remove the algae 'bag' from the rock.

There is a few mentions of people popping them and seeing no ill effects (it's not just me then ) so it's up to the individual as to how you deal with it................popping them is more fun though

 

[steelhealr]

I popped 1 or 2 while trying to remove them once and thought I saw others pop up elsewhere. However, that is excellent research and it appears that the photo on the other page shows valonia aegagropila. Apparently this species can take over rocks in a carpet-like fashion. I'd remove it. SH