Algae problem in 12 gallon Nano

[barnacle jack]

A friend recently gave me a fully established 12 gallon Nano. It has about 20 or so pounds of live rock sitting on a 2" bed of crushed coral. The tank is light by the standard dual daylight and dual actinic which are lit for about 10 hours per day. There are 6 Candy Cane corals in the tank, a six headed Duncan, a small bed of brown Zooanthids, a small brain coral and a half dozen mushroom corals. In the two months I've had the tank, the mushroom corals have been showing signs of multiplying.
I had been doing water changes religiously using Real Ocean Water from *****. Everything seemed to be doing fine until I started using Instant Ocean to mix my own saltwater (using filtered water). I now have green and brown algae growing everywhere. Everybody seems to still be alive but are not opening as fully as they had before. I've checked ph, nitrates and phosphates, all tests show everything in the acceptable range. Is this a lighting problem? Too much? Old bulbs? Or is it simply a case of the jackass that now owns it (me) doing something different than what he saw with his own eyes work?

 

[chaseter]

Filtered water does not remove all the nutrients from tap water. Start using RO water.
You even admitted your mistake!
"Everything seemed to be doing fine until I started using Instant Ocean to mix my own saltwater (using filtered water)."

 

[jemshores]

A 12G is a really tough tank to keep, due to its water volume. One little event to throw numbers off and you got a bring problem getting it back on track. (I have one!) Anway, do you have a test kit? And a refractometer to check salinity? Instant Ocean is a great salt and have used it for years, along with ONLY RO/DI water-and needs to be mixed well. Getting a CUC and cutting back on lighting is a great start, but the water chemistry is so important in a small tank!

 

[barnacle jack]

Thanks for the replies. I agree on the 12G being tough to keep up. I had several salt water tanks about 20 years ago, the smallest being 55G. All were set up using Instant Ocean. The larger tanks were a bit more forgiving of mistakes. These were also fish only type tanks and weren't as demanding as coral tanks seem to be. As I'm planning to setup another larger tank, I'm investing in a good RO/DI unit and will avoid tapwater like the plague in the future. In the meantime, how can I get rid of the algae? Should I do more frequent water changes and keep a closer eye on water chemistry until it's gone?

 

[btldreef]

Decrease lighting for a few days, not so much that your coral suffer. Use RO/DI water and more frequent water changes. You may also need better flow and to siphon out some of the algae if it's really bad. What type of CUC do you have in this tank?

 

[barnacle jack]

CUC = Clean Up Crew? If so, there is none. A friend suggested some snails or shrimp but was a little vague as to how many. My only experience with snails was with a freshwater setup years ago and the snails seemed to multiply faster than rabbits. I don't want to overcrowd the tank as I'd like to add a fish or two(max) once I've gotten the algae issue under control.

 

[jemshores]

Nassarius snails....costa are really good or just plain black nass (10), turbo snails 2-3), Shrimp are OK; I have them for onamental purposes but I guess they do their job! And Chemi-Pure(elite if possible) will remove alot of those xtra 'bad' nutrients floating around. I use a full bag (10 or 11 oz I think) for my 12 and a bag and a half for my 24. Water is pristine! That goes in my 1st chamber (alone) then a phos sponge, reg. sponge, polishing pad and floss, in my 2nd, and last a Rio 1400 and heater (winter time only). Thats my set up in both tanks. Had to augment my intake to handle the upgrade on the return pumps though, but really makes a difference. Also K1 in 24 and a k Nano in the 12. Hope this helps you! Best of luck

 

[barnacle jack]

Thanks again for all the responses. I did a 25% water change using "Real Ocean Water" and added a small bag of Purigen to one of the compartments in the rear of the tank. I've also added 6 snails as suggested. They've moved around quite a bit and have already made a small but noticeable dent in the algae. My Duncan is wide open again as are the zoanthids and mushroom corals. Everyone seems happy (including the snails) and look to be fine. I will NEVER use tap water for a water change again! Thanks again for the advice.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by Barnacle Jack
http:///forum/post/3158457
CUC = Clean Up Crew? If so, there is none. A friend suggested some snails or shrimp but was a little vague as to how many. My only experience with snails was with a freshwater setup years ago and the snails seemed to multiply faster than rabbits. I don't want to overcrowd the tank as I'd like to add a fish or two(max) once I've gotten the algae issue under control.
Yes, CUC=Clean Up Crew.
A CUC will not overcrowd your tank. It will HELP your tank and in my opinion, are necessary for a successful Nano tank.
Since you've already added snails before I could answer this post, what type did you add?
I highly recommend Ceriths, Nassarius (if you have a sand bed), Astrea and/or Trochus and some hermit crabs. Here's why:
Ceriths eat detritus. They don't do the greatest job with algae, in my experience, but once you have fish, they'll help clean up any fish "debris".
Nassarius will stir your sand bed. They do not eat algae. They will eat any left over fish food and other meaty debris on the sand bed.
Astrea's and Trochus are the best two I've added to my tank for algae control.
Hermits will eat left over fish food and pick on your live rock (mine don't touch the sand).
In my 14G I had 5 Mexican Reef Hermits (they stay smaller than some other hermits that will get too big for this size tank over time, such as scarletts and blue knuckles) as well as 5 Trochus Snails, 2 Ceriths and 1 Nassarius. I also had a Skunk Cleaner Shrimp with two Ocellaris Clowns and a Green Clown Goby. The CUC did a great job in my tank.
If you end up with a Bubble Algae problem, add an Emerald Crab, but otherwise, keep it out of a 12G, they tend to starve to death in Nano tanks.
Good luck

 

[barnacle jack]

I added 5 Astrea snails and 1 Turbo snail. I'd like to add a few fish (2-3 MAX) in the next week or so ,so I'm considering some hermit crabs as well.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by Barnacle Jack
http:///forum/post/3160048
I added 5 Astrea snails and 1 Turbo snail. I'd like to add a few fish (2-3 MAX) in the next week or so ,so I'm considering some hermit crabs as well.
I wouldn't add fish until your CUC can control the algae. Once you add fish and start feeding them and they're producing waste the algae will have food. Get as much of it gone first.

 

[nano wave 9]

i did have the same problem with my nano wave 9gl, but it was the green dusty algae. to solve this problem i did water changes every week at list 1.5gl and clean the glass with a scrubber and rinsed with RO water and cut down the time on the lights. i hope this can help
here is a pic of my nano

 

[phil47952]

Nano,
Good looking nano. What lighting do you have? I have an AP12
Phil