Two questions

[surf23]

First off my tank has had a lot of brown algae growing on the rocks sand and glass. what is this caused by and what is the best way to get rid of it. also my tank has a lionfish and copperband butterfly is it safe to put that live sand in a bag stuff in to the tank while they are in it? only one bag.

 

[procain]

algea growth is a good sign of a maturing tank. It may be unsightly but it actually helps water quality. As your tank matures and you start running a skimmer this algea will not be a bad. Also, adding a cleaning crew will take care of most the rest of the algea growth. Are you using RO/DI water? The glass in most cases will need to be manually cleaned, I recommend one of the magfloat cleaners, they work great. I'm not sure what your talking about concerning the dirt in the bag? You should never add the water the fish was shipped in or trasnsported in.

 

[surf23]

ohh sorry for the confusion its called arag alive or something and its supposed to have millions of bacteria and its sealed with a slight amount of water. says it helps cycle tanks and things like that.

 

[procain]

if your tank hasn't cycled I would highly recommend not adding any livestock to your tank. The chances of their survival are greatly decreased. Death occurs in most situations. What kind of setup do you have so far, and how long has your tank been running? What are your water parameters?

 

[procain]

since you have algea growth, your tank has probably cycled already, why seed the tank?

 

[fire30b]

hey surf, I was getting all the brown algae. I went and purchase a cleaning crew. Now the brown algae is not that bad any longer. Every so often you just have to use your mag float and clean the glass.

 

[surf23]

yeah maybe i just need a better clean up crew its just that this is a relatively new tank and it grows far more algae then either of my other tanks. as far as the new sand i wanted to put more in because its not very deep at all in the back only about an inch so i thought it would be good to put stuff with bacteria but wasnt sure if it would hurt the shrimp or fish?

 

[dark angel]

your talking about adding live sand to your tank right?? Well Im still new to this hobby too, BUT... we change over to LS, the same kind with the water in with the sand, and i personally would advise taking your fish out first. We did not remove our fish during the change over, and it stress out the fish really bad, they ALL got ich, and ALL died.... but now that were starting over with new fish, a month later, i have to say the live sand looks awesome in there. :joy: GL

 

[procain]

surf, as your tank matures the brown algea should change over to red and then green. I'd clean the glass with a mag float, as far as the rest a good clean up crew will take care of that. Also, algea can be helped by a good skimmer, RO/DI water changes, and tank maturity. LMB are great at cleaning algea, also I found that fighting conch's are great for your substrate, much more efficient than snails. Adding the additional sand shouldn't hurt your tank, but I would put your livestock in a seperate tank during the process. Good Luck to ya
Cheers

 

[surf23]

alright thanks guys.