algae, lighting, and inverts

[krazy]

recently my local pet store decided to close up shop and run right after they set me up with my aquarium. i purchased a majority of the equipment that i needed and set up the system. the tank ran through the cycle fine but now i am having difficulty with an algae problem. the algae is like a fine brown dust that grows at an amazing rate. my water conditions fit into the spec but my liverock is starting to choke from this and i am having a problem keeping my fish alive. my tanks conditions are salinity 1.022, ph 8.01, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate .7, calcium 415ppm, phosphate 0, temp 80, tank 29L, seaclone skimmer, skilter w/ carbon filtration, 37 lbs fiji live rock, 4 damsels, actinic lighting, 10000k trichromatic, powerheads. i was told to time my lighting so that actinic ran at night and the others ran during the day. i have no cleaning type inverts such as hermit crabs or snails and i also have about a million gray and pink bristle worms. i mastered fresh water with amazing success adn i am beginning to become a little frustrated with the salt although the joy and satisfaction of the end product outweighs this in my mind.

 

[jess]

I had the very same problem with my tank. I would scrub the brown alge of the glass but the very next day there would be just as much, or more. I no longer have an alge problem. This is what you can do. You can first lower your lights to around 8 or 9 hours a day. Then buy some snails, they really do make a difference. Buy 1 snail for every 10 gallons. I also you use a product called PHOS-ZORB which elimanate all phosphates and kees them out. Alge eats phosphates so the more you have the more alge you will have. But the most important things that you will really see a differance on is with the snails and the lights. Hope that helps

 

[harris]

Jess is right. Cut your lights down to about 10 hours and throw in some snails. The snails will keep the glass clean. If you throw in some hermit crabs they will pick the algae off of your live rock. But be careful some can do more damage then needed. Scarlet Reef are my favorite. But to eliminate alagae you need to look at the source- Phospahates and light. Since we are cutting down on lights, look at your H20 source, if you are using tap water that may be the source of your phospahges, try to use some good ro water instead. Good luck.

 

[my]

i am also having an algae problem, however, i also have a sick trigger that i am treating with copper so my question is can i still put in snails and hermit crabs??
As far as the lighting goes - I only turn the lights on when i get home from work - so they are on for maybe about 5 hours or so.

 

[krazy]

Thanks for the help. Next question. Ok, so I cut my lighting back during the day, should I run my Actinic bulb at night or is it OK to leave them off. Also are the worms that are plagueing my aquarium ok.

 

[rg]

well I am new to this as well but what I have found out by reading diffreant things on this site and books is that the brown is normal and it will turn to green at least mine did. Lights as I was told and read should only be on for 8-12 hours a day, as your fish need to sleep to. I also had a worm problem, so what I did is I found out that they were mostly living in one rock that I had so I took the rock out and put it in a salt soultion of 1.026 for about 2 minutes and then put it back in my tank. It killed all the worms and still kept the rock alive. as far as medication for the fish you should put them in a hospital tank, but if you do not have one someone here on the site had recommended "Melafix". It is safe with inverts, I found it at Petsmart. But like I said I am learning to, so I hope this helps?

 

[the rock]

the rock says.....
who is giving you this info, keeping your actinic lights on at night? And the other person is only keeping the lights on for five hours, that is so unfair. fish prefer about 8-9 hours of lighting, corals desire and require 10-11. actinic lighting should be kept on with your other lighting it is what feeds your corals and anemones. a light timer only costs about 10 bucks and you can pick it up at any hardware store and you won't have to worry about turning them on and off anymore. algae blooms are normal and you will never be able to get rid of the dusting of algae on the glass of your tank, snails certainly help though, but you will always need to continue to clean it off every few days, algae throughout the tank light the micro algae you are talking about can be caused by a number of different factors and a protein skimmer, RO water, and keeping your stocks at the proper level will help to deter it, and of course algae on the substrate and rock work can be controlled by crabs. scarlets are great as are blue legs, sally lightfoots, emeralds, peppermints, they all will keep the algae at a minimum.

 

[krazy]

Thanks for the info. I have added some snails and a scarlet crab. The algae has started to subside a little. Hopefully it will continue. As for my info, it came from my local con artist of a pet store owner who as I stated packed up shop after he took my hard earned money. I have found a new source of information, all of you quys. Thanks for the help it is greatly appreciated.