Algae problems

drichards36

drichards36

New Member
I've had my tank setup for about 3 weeks, I just added CUC as I saw this algae starting to take over (I believe its called Diatom?) The tank is the JBJ 28g nano HQI, also, another problem is these bubbles are forming on the rocks and running around the tank. Is this a serious problem? The threads on diatom say many things, but, its the bubbles that concern me.
My CUC
10 hermit crabs
2 Red leg hermit crabs
2 Emerald crabs
1 peppermint shrimp
1 skunk shrimp
2 narc snails
2 turbo snails
Haven't seen the snails much though. I do a 5g water change weekly, should I grab more snails? Or just leave the tank alone and just wait it out?
 
S

saxman

Guest
IME, you're WAY overstocked on hermits, and they've likely eaten your snails. they do this anyhow, but in a new system, they'll be starving, and i've never seen a hermit that doesn't love snail meat.
as for the diatoms, they will indeed burn themselves out. clean the panels, but leave the rest.
as for the bubbles, it sounds to me like you need some more water in your "sump". when our gets a bit low, it makes bubbles. the other thing that causes bubbles in these tanks are the bubbles from the water going over the falls to the pump bays getting sucked into the return pumps and being shredded into microbubbles. i stuck a small, flat piece of sponge againt the walls where the water falls and it stopped this.
HTH
 
drichards36

drichards36

New Member
Haven't seen them eat the snails yet, they are busy eating all the diatoms in my tank. The tank was fine 4 days ago but this algae outbreak has covered most of my rocks. I'm just worried its getting too out of control.
 
drichards36

drichards36

New Member
I cannot say for sure, the bubbles seem to form off the algae covering the rocks. I turned the big light off and they basically stopped producing with the LED night lights on. The tank is new so I thought it was a diatom bloom but it might be something more.
 
xcali1985

xcali1985

Active Member
Look at this thread:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/vb/s...inoflagellates
A lot of people confuse dinoflagellates with cyanobacteria. Spreads very fast and forms the bubbles. I had it. It slimed all over my sand. Increased flow, decreased feeding, and reduced lighting to 4 hours full spectrum a day till it died off. Turbo Snails will help but not much. Place them in the middle of it and let them pretty much remove all of it in its path. But they wont stay on it for long.
 
S

saxman

Guest
another problem is these bubbles are forming on the rocks and running around the tank.
since the tank is only 3 weeks old, and has not gone thru it's diatom bloom (it's apparently doing so now), AND there is a complaint about bubbles in the water column, there's a pretty good chance that the bubbles are being generated by the system and merely sticking to the surfaces (not to mention we own one of these tanx and i've seen all of it's little "problems")
3 weeks in an empty tank is pretty far-fetched for a dino bloom...
i'm not saying i'm absolutely right, but the odds are pretty good...
to the OP: any chance of a photo? dinos and diatoms don't look the same.
 
drichards36

drichards36

New Member
I believe Xcali1985 has the right idea. The picture looks the same and the fact that the night light stops the bubbles completely also helps. I'll try his suggestion and if I still have the problem I'll bump the thread.
@saxman
The only camera I have is in my phone and that really won't help you much.
 
S

saxman

Guest
if you suspect it's dinos, you can leave the lights off for a few days and put a cover around the tank. since the tank is empty, it won't matter if they stay off. in fact, while cycling a tank, lights aren't necessary at all. if you siphon the stuff out befor the dark treatment, it will be even better.
altho i've never tried it, some peeps bump their pH up to kill them off.
 
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