Algae Question

[sandy]

That green hair like algae that grows in tufts...
It is located only on the rocks on the right side of my 50 gal long. IMO it looks kinda neat. Since I don't have corals or anything like that, is there any reason why I should not allow it to grow? I can add a lawnmower blenny when I need it controlled, right?
Also, I'm adding a decent protein skimmer soon, so water quality will prob. improve a great deal. It's okay now, except for nitrAtes. Lighting is only florescent 1 38" 50/50 Coral life (30 watts) and 2 18" 100% Super Daylight (15 watts each) -- Not good enough, but okay for my FOWLER for now.
Oh, question #2: Would a lawnmower blenny be okay with my yellow-head sleeper goby and two scooter blennies? Not worried about the clowns or the gramma.

 

[carrie1429]

It may look neat now with just a little bit but you just watch it will take over everything, all you coraline algea grow over everything even your snails and hermit crabs and once it gets that way its very hard to get rid of it you can't just go out and buy a fish to do it, it takes more than that. But since you said that you got a skimmer it may not be as bad, but from experience I can tell you its hard to get rid of and its ungly once it gets over everything.

 

[sandy]

yes, actually, it is on my larger snails... they look kinda fuzzy. Think the skimmer will do it or should I scrub it off a bit at a time during water changes?

 

[carrie1429]

I would scrub it off because although the skimmer will help it will probably not get rid of all of it. Some people use a toohtbrush (clean of course) and scrub it off.

 

[twoods71]

I kind of like the way it looks in small areas also. My mistake however was letting it grow. It soon covered about 1/4 of my rock.
Yes you can leave it in your tank and there will not be any ill effects. However I feel it is important to keep it under control or you will be in for a big algae fight.
The skimmer will help to slow the growth of the algae but from experience it will not stop it. I reccomend you do some manual removal from time to time to keep it in check.
Also from experience a lawnmower blenny will help very little. The one I had very seldom would touch the stuff.
Yes the lawnmower should get along fine with your listed fish.

 

[sandy]

Thanks so much for the reponses and sharing your experience. Should I do the take out of tank, submerge in quality saltwater and scrub method? Or will just a little air exposure be detrimental? Seems like it could be a little mess doing the toothbrush method in-tank. Whaddya think?

 

[aileena]

In my experience a UV steralizer kills a lot of that free floating algae that later develops into nuissance algae. It helps keep the water very clear and can kill free floating parasities and bacteria that plaque fish. Its a preventative measure against fish problems in a reef tank where you cannot treat with copper. Problem is that it kills indiscriminatly bad and good things, but overall I am impressed with the life that still flurishes in my tank with the UV.

 

[twoods71]

I scrubbed my rocks inside the tank. If you follow this method though you must be careful not to spread the algae all over the tank.
I use a bottle brush and scrub and twist the algae around the bristles and pull it out.
The method works good for me and leaves very little free floating algae.

 

[sandy]

Did you scrub/bottle brush inside the tank b/c of the die off that could occur removing the rock (even if only for a few seconds?)
I ask b/c the rocks w/ the algae are easily accessible for removal.

 

[twoods71]

If you wish to scrub your rock and have no problems removing it then by all means do so. It is a safer method and eliminates the chance of spreading the unwanted algae around.
I would just tranfer the rock into a container of SW and scrub away.
I scrubed inside the tank because some of the rocks were not easy to get too and would have required a major effort to get them out.