New Tank / Journal With Pics

[Gordon_46]

Hi Big C
Thanks again, I used the toothbrush technique today and it looks a little better, couldn't really get all of it but I did get a large majority off of the rocks!!! How often should I do this?
Big C how long did your outbreak last?
I am going to test my tank again in a minute for readings, if all are ok I might pop to the LFS tomorrow to get my first fish!!!!! What do you think?
Also I am being told by some other people to get a skimmer and it will definetly help get rid of the algae, what are your views on this? I am doing 15-20% water changes every week with RO water!!
I am going to also try and start lighting my chaeto 24hrs aswell see if that helps!!!

Just one more thing, I have some liverock in my sump which gets a fair amount of light from my display tank yet it has absoloutly no trace of algae on it Why could that be???

Thanks again great help

 

[BigC]

Hi Gordon,
Bear in mind I'm a newbie to salties as well and have gleened a great deal of info from the Gurus on here.
I would scrub my rockwork once a month, more regular in the early days. (once a week before waterchanges) This really did help as the CUC could not or did not keep up to the task. The Turbos are doing a better job. I knew I would need a sump at one point and I only wished I'd drilled the tank before I set it up. Anyway things are easier on hindsight. I have been assured that a sump filled with Cheatomorpha, with a water turnover of at least x10, good lighting on 24hrs per day. (18w 6500k daylight energy saver bulb) will cure the nusience algae in the main tank. I also plan to have a V2 120 Nano Skimmer in the sump as well. Going by what I've read and the many Aquarists I've been speaking to all say that this will do the trick. i had/have hair algae but nowhere near as bad as yours infact it was confined to one piece of rock and it always grew there even to this day. See my nano journal for the rockwall I built as a background. You'd expect that to get covered in algae. I can honestly say none has ever taken hold on this.
What I have learnt about marine tanks as opposed to the freshwater aquariums which I've kept many is with a marine tank you are always at it, cleaning, scraping, testing and waterchanging to name the most common tasks.
Keep on top of it, is my advice for what its worth.
I originally wanted just a tank to house soft corals and no fish, then I guessed I'd need something to interest me and decided on a pair of clowns (they will be the only fish in my tank) I took the advice of stealhealr to go with the fish first approach to let the tanks natural bacterial colonies keep up with the increased bioload and take readings to see how things were going. The fish have been in one week and are really thriving, readings are much the same as normal except for a slight rise in nitrate nothing to worry about. So I would go with that and get your fish first before the corals. Try and get your algae under control first as feeding the fish and fish waste will also add to the neutrient levels which the algae can use.
The liverock in the sump is getting nowhere near the light intensity as the main tank.
Hope this was of some help to you.
Regards
BigC

 

[SkiFletch]

BigC has some great advice. Only thing I'll add is that the tank looks as if it might be big enough for a Tang... If so, one would gobble up that algae real quick

 

[Gordon_46]

Big C your a hero !!! All this advice is really helping. I will see how the algae progresses where I brushed it off in the next few days. HMMMM a tang I thought that they needed alot of swimming space?? Or maybe I could get a small tang and give him back once he has eaten the algae and got too big for my tank?? What do you think? Do all tangs eat any algae?

Well I have just tested my tank again and the KH seems to be levelling off around 10 but will test again tomorrow! My PH still fluctuates about .4/.5 during the day due to all the photosynthesis thats going on. Will go to some LFS tomorow and see what fish stock they have. Looks like I am going to be battling this algae for a while with the toothbrush!!!!

More pics tommorrow!!!

Thanks for all the info

 

[BigC]

Looks like I am going to be battling this algae for a while with the toothbrush!!!!

You are not alone!
Good call from Ski though regarding the Tang. But still the underlying problem will persist untill you iron out all the causes.
Regards
BigC

 

[Gordon_46]

So if I find a small tang tomorrow it will be my first fish. Are there any species of tangs which don't eat algae or will they all eat algae? I havent read that much about them as I will not be keeping one long-term? I like the look of the yellow ones?
Anyhelp will be appreciated


Thanks

 

[SkiFletch]

Some individuals are picky but most species should eat that type of algae. Yellows will likely do so. BigC is right, the underlying nutrient problem (which is likely left over decay from original dieoff) will still be there, but in your case, the problem is really only one that requires time and some scrupulous use of a refugium and GFO.

 

[Gordon_46]

Well I have had a good day today!! Firstly I have a small yellow tang as my first fish and she/he is settling in nicely!!! Will get pics later on. Also I got a job at the place where I got the tang from!!! WOOO! I also have my chaeto now lit with an 18W 6,500K freshwater lamp!!!! Hopefully I will now start seeing the benefits of the chaeto and an algae eating fish!!!!
Thanks

 

[BigC]

WTG Gordon,
Lets see the pics of the Tang and the effect it has on the algae bloom
Congratulations on the new job by the way.
If I call in I'll expect your staff discount.
Regards
BigC

 

[Gordon_46]

Well pics will have to wait till tomorrow as he/she is stilll quite shy! Yer I have a job at Swallow aquatics, hopefully starting next week. Going to buy some true turbo's tomorrow aswell, probably five. My KH is still about 10 today so looks like it might have settled down. I have just noticed aswell that I actually have some indirect sunlight coming in through the back of my tank!!!!!!! So I am also painting the back of the tank tomorrow!!
Its finally all coming together!

Ski I think I may need your help for this, skimmer or not? My system is about 51 UK gallons with sump, I do 15% water changes every 5-7 days, will this be enough? I am not looking to get alot of fish! Maybe three or four small ones.

Thanks

 

[Gordon_46]

Also another thing, just been doing some research and I think I have some bryopsis growing, to add to the other algae's!!!! Is this stuff bad?

Thanks

 

[SkiFletch]

Byropsis is a little more nefarious because less organisms like to eat it. Really the only two I've seen go for it on a regular basis are sea hares and urchins which both have their drawbacks in the home aquarium. Tangs, algae blennies, and other algae-eating fish are hit-or-miss with byropsis. Turbo snails are unlikely to eat it but have done so, all other snails/hermits seem to ignore true byropsis...

Depends on the skimmer. Are you planning on a tank with lots of hard corals? If so, I'd reccomend the skimmer. If not, it might not be necessary. Your algae outbreaks are a little troublesome but yoru tank is still young so I can't really say yet if a skimmer would help the algae problems or not.

 

[Gordon_46]

Hmm interesting, thanks Ski. I will hold out for a little while and see how my water changes, tang, chaeto, snails and toothbrush cleaning help this outbreak. To be honest I haven't really researched corals to a great extent, I know I would like to have some mushrooms with some zoas and a pulsing xenia, then once I have tried my luck with them invest in some nice SPS and LPS, not lots though.
I was looking at the pin cushio urchin today but have decided to wait a bit to see how my snails do as if all this algae disappears I might need to take some of my astrea turbo's back. At the moment though they have plenty to eat!!!!!
Should I supplment the Tangs diet with meaty foods as some sites say yes some no??? At the moment it will never starve, soo much algae!!

Also I have been reading about supplementing the chaeto with Iron and things, is this necesary? Also it needs nitrates and phosphates to grow yet both of these are undetectable in my tank?

Thanks sorry about all the questions again

 

[SkiFletch]

Suppliment away. Tangs are usually voracious and can/will/should eat anything you give them.

Remember, your green hair algae is growing so fast that it is consuming all the nutrients, thus not making them available in the water column. As such, your test kits read 0. The growth rate of the algae indicates the presence of the nutrients, wether you can test for them or not.

 

[Gordon_46]

Well, sorry I havent put any new pics up yet, my yellow tang is still very nervous and hides when he/she see's me! Things do look to be getting better, the algae growth has slowed right down since lighting my chaeto 24hrs. Just wondering though is best to light 24hrs or reverse?

I am hopefullly going to do a water change tonight and really scrub the rock in the old tank water and get rid of as much as possible. The PH has started to level off around 8.3 and the KH around 10. However my calcium levels have dropped to about 350ppm so I will see what they are my water change and may start supplementing.

Last night I decided to have a good look at my tank under the moonlight lighting I have for it and OMG!!!!! There were hundreds of copepods on the front glass all moving around, I don't know how many mature tanks have but blimey I had alot and I have only had my tank running 3-4 weeks. My concern now is that I might kill alot of them off if I tank the rock out and scrub it, what do you think??
Thanks
Really would like to know the answer of my last question before tonight when I am going to do the water change.
Thanks alot