is something wrong?

J

jamiegrl

Guest
Ok I started my tank about 5 months ago and i've had a few bumps along the way
I finally got a hold on things and my tank lev els have been great
The tank is a jbj lighting 24G nano cube deluxe. I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 phosphates, 0-0.5 nitrates, ph of 8, and temp of 80. I put lights on for around 8 hours a day and sometimes less.
I put some chaeto in the tank to lower previously high nitrates and it has done the trick but my tank is swamped with hair algae and red algae right now
i have like 8 hermit crabs and 4 fish: a clown, a 6line, a firefish, and a scooter blenny
any suggestions? im curious how it could look so nasty
also i have had mushrooms in the tank for at least 2 months now and they just look horrible... once my phosphate levels were down they started to do better but they are not getting any better now... they are still shrivelled and not growing
 
J

jamiegrl

Guest
water changes every 2 weeks
about 20 %
i feed pelets everyday but only as much as they will eat
i add about 1/2 cap full of ZOO Marine (heavy spirulina formula) every 2 days and spot feed the mushrooms and flame scallope
could i be feeding the mushrooms and the scallop better stuff?
 
J

jamiegrl

Guest
any does anyone know what I could feed a scooter blenny?
i see him eating but i want to make sure he's getting enough
i tried to feed brine and mysis but it's just to big and too fast for him
any ideas???
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
The reason why your phosphates are low is because your hair algae is sucking it all up. Do a TDS test on the RO/DI water that you are using. Feed less.
What type of powerheads/water flow do you have? Remember, it should be around 10x the ammount of gallonage in your tank. For smaller aquariums, I recommend getting a couple of larger powerheads because there is a lot of head loss around the corners of a small tank.
 
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rcreations

Guest
They say that phosphates are the number one cause of algae outbreaks. Any small amount of phosphate can cause this, even an amount that's not detectible by the average test kits. In my opinion reducing the lights is a temporary solution and it's bad for the corals you have. You should buy a phosphate filter.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Scooter blennies only eat copepods and other microfauna. You should have learned about this before buying the creature.
 
xeniaman

xeniaman

Member
The tank is still pretty new and will go through different algae stages. I had the same problem in my 90 gallon reef. I slowly lowered the temperature to 77 and took out the liverock one at a time and using a flexible scrub brush and a bucket of fresh saltwater I removed all of the hair algae. I then replaced the live rock. I wouldn't add any zooplankton to your tank, that could be compounding the algae problem. I don't feed my mushrooms anything, they get all the food they need from light and trace elements through water changes. How much live rock do you have?
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
phosphate reactors cost a ton of money and don't solve hair algae.
Suck up as much hair algae as you can, pick some out manually with your fingers and dip your fingers in fresh water before you put them back in the tank.
Do water changes with absolutely pure water and salt mix. After doing this for awhile, your problem will go away on it's own without the use of an extra piece of equipment.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
adding a little more cured live rock, as well as adding additional flow and doing some water changes will help. BUT, you are going to have to pull some of it out and add a cleanup crew that will get rid of some of it.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
I meant regular phosphate filters, not reactors. Under $10.
 
xeniaman

xeniaman

Member
be patient and practice good maitenence and reduce feeding. It will take time, hair algae and red slime don't go away overnight
 
J

jamiegrl

Guest
I tested the RO/DI water and it is 0 across the board.
I had a powerhead in there but they are soooo bulky for a tiny tank
i have 240 GPH and do have ok circulation
I did research the scooter blenny before i bought him thank you and he is eating fine but some people suggest beefing up the diet with occasional mysis or brine it was just another suggestion/opinion question
As for feeding the mushrooms i agree but feeding them was a suggestion by a few people in the trade
I might try to make a fuge so im not killing my very limited tank space
As for a clean up crew im stuck in a hard place because i have a very aggressive clean up crew... i have no idea what kind of hermit crabs they are (kind of look like zebra but have only one white band on the legs and a large white claw)... i was told they are hawaiins but they do not resemble any type i've seen online.... anyway they are very aggressive and kill anything additional i put in the tank to help them
I will switch the formula im adding to the tank... i need to spot feed the flame scallop so i'll switch it to something else.
Thanks so much for the suggestions!
 
J

jamiegrl

Guest
i also have 24 lbs live rock and have phosphate filters in there as well
i had a crashing tank before because i have bad tap water so the switch to RO/DI has been awesome
hopefully with your suggestions i can get rid of all the uneccessary algae and the mushrooms will again start to grow
thanks again!
 
paintballer768

paintballer768

Active Member
I dont know about your mushrooms, but mine wont accept any food thats given to them. Theyll live and open up all the way and be happy just off of the zooxanthelle (Sp?).
For a powerhead, I would suggest to you the Koralia 1. Just make sure your tank has no dead spots, in terms of flow.
Phosphate sponges are 7$ at my LFS, so they cant vary too much from there. I suggest putting one in the filtration compartment, as it solved my cyano problem. Products such as Red Slime Remover and things of that nature only mask the appearance of the algae, but WILL NOT eliminate it. I used my phosphate pad in conjunction with the red slime remover to knock mine out hard.
And concerning the hermits, as much of a waste as it might seem, try trading them into the LFS for blue leg hermits. Mine wiped my tank clean of algae after my cycle was balanced in 2 days. My tanks a 24 gallon Aquapod as well.
 
turbohaulic

turbohaulic

Member
About 1 1/2 months ago I had a red slime problem until I bought some red slime remover from my lfs. I sucked as much of the red slime off the rocks as I could then added the slime remover. Within three days it was gone. I then did a 20% water change five days later. Now I have no problems with red slime.
 
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jamiegrl

Guest
see my LFS told me the blue legs are aggressive and kill other hermits... i had a mix of the blue legs and this mistery hermit and all the blue legs were killed off except for 1 or 2.... my LFS said scarlets are the best because they wont kill additional hermit added to the tanks later on..
anyone know if this is true??
i mean i bought 4 scarlets and every single one was ripped to shreds even the larger ones!
 
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