Algae Harmful?
- Thread starter wen tom
- Start date
flower
Well-Known Member
Wendy, after reading your post
My hair algae story:
I had a beautiful little 30g long, seahorse and soft coral tank. I had read that seahorses like turtle grass....so I mixed some miracle mud with my sand substrate, so the grass would have enough nutrients. Fast forward 1 year. The tank was beautiful, the seahorses were happy. A storm came, and it knocked out the power for 4 days. There wasn't a generator within 100 miles to purchase or rent. I couldn't even find those battery operated air pumps...nothing.
24 hours a day, my mother and I took turns taking a plastic bowl and scooping up water from the tanks (I had two, the other was a 90g) and allowing the water to cascade back into the tank to keep everything alive. Day 3 I fell asleep, and within 4 hours I lost 3 fish out of the 90g...including a Hippo tang I had raised from 1/4Th of an inch to 5.5...I was heart broken and cried over that fish.
Seahorses won't eat in the dark, and they can't go without food. So on day 2. I opened the curtains to allow natural light in hit the tank so they would come out to eat. By the time power was restored I had a little tuft of hair algae...just a tiny bit of it. I did daily water changes, and still the HA (Hair algae) continued to grow, and in just a couple of days it was out of control. Within a week it was covering EVERYTHING. My 30g was in my bedroom, and I actually had a dream that the HA grew out of the tank and covered my bed and me.
I couldn't figure out why, no matter what I did the stuff kept growing like crazy. I even upped the magnesium like I was told to, and still the HA grew...I was pulling it out by the fistful every day. I broke down the tank, moved my seahorses to my now 56g tank and moved the coral to the 90g.
When I set up the 56g, I realized why the HA could not be checked....I read the label, the miracle mud is pure fertilizer.
By changing the sand-bed on the 56g (no miracle mud) the new tank never had a problem. I now have prolifera coulerpa (it looks like turtle grass) and it does not need a nutrient rich sand-bed to live. I also purchased 4 battery operated air pumps, and a generator that runs both tanks so I never have to worry about outages anymore. We had one storm were the power went off for a day and a half since, so it passed the acid test.
Moral of the story...LOL...So quoting you, "sounds like if I like green, I need to find some other organisms that are green!"
My hair algae story:
I had a beautiful little 30g long, seahorse and soft coral tank. I had read that seahorses like turtle grass....so I mixed some miracle mud with my sand substrate, so the grass would have enough nutrients. Fast forward 1 year. The tank was beautiful, the seahorses were happy. A storm came, and it knocked out the power for 4 days. There wasn't a generator within 100 miles to purchase or rent. I couldn't even find those battery operated air pumps...nothing.
24 hours a day, my mother and I took turns taking a plastic bowl and scooping up water from the tanks (I had two, the other was a 90g) and allowing the water to cascade back into the tank to keep everything alive. Day 3 I fell asleep, and within 4 hours I lost 3 fish out of the 90g...including a Hippo tang I had raised from 1/4Th of an inch to 5.5...I was heart broken and cried over that fish.
Seahorses won't eat in the dark, and they can't go without food. So on day 2. I opened the curtains to allow natural light in hit the tank so they would come out to eat. By the time power was restored I had a little tuft of hair algae...just a tiny bit of it. I did daily water changes, and still the HA (Hair algae) continued to grow, and in just a couple of days it was out of control. Within a week it was covering EVERYTHING. My 30g was in my bedroom, and I actually had a dream that the HA grew out of the tank and covered my bed and me.
I couldn't figure out why, no matter what I did the stuff kept growing like crazy. I even upped the magnesium like I was told to, and still the HA grew...I was pulling it out by the fistful every day. I broke down the tank, moved my seahorses to my now 56g tank and moved the coral to the 90g.
When I set up the 56g, I realized why the HA could not be checked....I read the label, the miracle mud is pure fertilizer.
By changing the sand-bed on the 56g (no miracle mud) the new tank never had a problem. I now have prolifera coulerpa (it looks like turtle grass) and it does not need a nutrient rich sand-bed to live. I also purchased 4 battery operated air pumps, and a generator that runs both tanks so I never have to worry about outages anymore. We had one storm were the power went off for a day and a half since, so it passed the acid test.
Moral of the story...LOL...So quoting you, "sounds like if I like green, I need to find some other organisms that are green!"
wen tom
Member
Wow! how awful! I'm so sorry for you (heartbreaking). But thanks so much for the story. I slowly am getting rid of algae, I got confused because my reef supplier told me the ugly brown would turn to pretty green and if I went reef it's virtually impossible to keep it all away (like behind rock) so. . .
I slowly but surely just keep after it. Now I only have two smaller rocks with thick little tufts on them. It actually looks a bit different and may be.
Anyhow, thanks again for the info and story.
Do so appreciate your time.
Wendy
I slowly but surely just keep after it. Now I only have two smaller rocks with thick little tufts on them. It actually looks a bit different and may be.
Anyhow, thanks again for the info and story.
Do so appreciate your time.
Wendy
robynsnest
New Member
? dont know what is wrong with tank,Watter look"s green or brown so does sand and rocks.
All readings are correct.fish store says watters perfect, using phosphate killer stuff, three weeks {what to do}
All readings are correct.fish store says watters perfect, using phosphate killer stuff, three weeks {what to do}
J
jstdv8
Guest
you could try running some carbon to clear up the water color.
dereklawler123
New Member
IN GENERAL, I would say that a little algae is fine and that many of the reasons we want to keep it at bay are aesthetic. We spend a lot of money on tanks and fish, so we want to be able to see them. I have a 5 gallon tank that sits by a window and grows algae like mad. The water params are always good and the fish in it are healthy. I do have to clean the algae off the plants in it though or they have a hard time getting enough light if they get coated with algae. I just scrape the algae off the front glass so I can see the fish. I scrape the other sides too, but not nearly as often.
Backyard fish pond leaks repair-pondpro2000.com
Backyard fish pond leaks repair-pondpro2000.com
geridoc
Well-Known Member
I wish I had $.05 for every hobbyist who complains that they have "perfect water conditions" (no nitrates, no phosphates) and an algae problem - I would have many much larger tanks. They can't understand how, in the absence of nitrate and phosphate the algae are thriving (indeed, taking over) in their tanks. The answer is simple - the algae are growing by using all of the available nitrate and phosphate an nutrient to support their growth, so there is little or none free in the water. It isn't about the measurable concentrations in the water, but about how much nitrogen and phosphate are added to the system on a daily basis. If the tank is overfed or water changes are too infrequent algae will thrive, and the water measurements will tell you nothing useful. This is the basis of algae turf scrubbers and macroalgae in sumps - to sop up nitrogenous waste and phosphates faster than the in-tank algae can, starving them into submission. Please send the nickels to me via PayPal, or donate to the Blue Seas Foundation
flower
Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeriDoc http:///t/395247/algae-harmful/20#post_3520092
I wish I had $.05 for every hobbyist who complains that they have "perfect water conditions" (no nitrates, no phosphates) and an algae problem - I would have many much larger tanks. They can't understand how, in the absence of nitrate and phosphate the algae are thriving (indeed, taking over) in their tanks. The answer is simple - the algae are growing by using all of the available nitrate and phosphate an nutrient to support their growth, so there is little or none free in the water. It isn't about the measurable concentrations in the water, but about how much nitrogen and phosphate are added to the system on a daily basis. If the tank is overfed or water changes are too infrequent algae will thrive, and the water measurements will tell you nothing useful. This is the basis of algae turf scrubbers and macroalgae in sumps - to sop up nitrogenous waste and phosphates faster than the in-tank algae can, starving them into submission. Please send the nickels to me via PayPal, or donate to the Blue Seas Foundation
I always try to explain about the false negative readings you get if algae is growing like crazy. However...the water is perfect. The fish are happy, even if the tank looks like crap from so much hair algae (HA). The problem is that HA is UGLY, and it grows super fast. The problem with HA in a reef is that it kills the coral by overgrowing all over it and choking it out. That green water is feast city for the corals, but as I mentioned, algae covers everything, and that is the problem.
Personally...I can't do much about the phosphate and nitrate in my system...seahorses a very messy eaters. I selected the macroalgae that I wanted, and let that grow, absorbing the PO4 AND NO3 from the water. I harvest the macros, and it's all good.
The ideal thing is to have a refugium with macroalgae, so that the HA is starved out. The macros can feed happily on the PO4 and NO3 in the system, and keep the DT water pristine. which is actually the same thing an algae scrubber does.
Hey....I just noticed something! The spell checker is doing an auto on thing, and underlines all the words the computer thinks are misspelled, just like Microsoft word. So I won't forget to hit the spell checker...all suspect words are underlined in red already for me to glance and double check....Cool!
So far my post is spelled correct, but doesn't like the words macroalgae or refugium. Finally, a useful upgrade.
Originally Posted by GeriDoc http:///t/395247/algae-harmful/20#post_3520092
I wish I had $.05 for every hobbyist who complains that they have "perfect water conditions" (no nitrates, no phosphates) and an algae problem - I would have many much larger tanks. They can't understand how, in the absence of nitrate and phosphate the algae are thriving (indeed, taking over) in their tanks. The answer is simple - the algae are growing by using all of the available nitrate and phosphate an nutrient to support their growth, so there is little or none free in the water. It isn't about the measurable concentrations in the water, but about how much nitrogen and phosphate are added to the system on a daily basis. If the tank is overfed or water changes are too infrequent algae will thrive, and the water measurements will tell you nothing useful. This is the basis of algae turf scrubbers and macroalgae in sumps - to sop up nitrogenous waste and phosphates faster than the in-tank algae can, starving them into submission. Please send the nickels to me via PayPal, or donate to the Blue Seas Foundation
I always try to explain about the false negative readings you get if algae is growing like crazy. However...the water is perfect. The fish are happy, even if the tank looks like crap from so much hair algae (HA). The problem is that HA is UGLY, and it grows super fast. The problem with HA in a reef is that it kills the coral by overgrowing all over it and choking it out. That green water is feast city for the corals, but as I mentioned, algae covers everything, and that is the problem.
Personally...I can't do much about the phosphate and nitrate in my system...seahorses a very messy eaters. I selected the macroalgae that I wanted, and let that grow, absorbing the PO4 AND NO3 from the water. I harvest the macros, and it's all good.
The ideal thing is to have a refugium with macroalgae, so that the HA is starved out. The macros can feed happily on the PO4 and NO3 in the system, and keep the DT water pristine. which is actually the same thing an algae scrubber does.
Hey....I just noticed something! The spell checker is doing an auto on thing, and underlines all the words the computer thinks are misspelled, just like Microsoft word. So I won't forget to hit the spell checker...all suspect words are underlined in red already for me to glance and double check....Cool!
So far my post is spelled correct, but doesn't like the words macroalgae or refugium. Finally, a useful upgrade.