who is ready for THIS algae challenge?

[dburr]

Yeah, a combo.
Wow I can see the slime.
As posted, how much do ya feed. RO/DI? How much water turn over?
Well I would pull as much as possible, syphone off the slime, add more currant to the bottom where the slime grows. Add a teaspoon of sugar. Don't laugh

, it works, it breaks up the slime.

 

[birdy]

Do you have a picture of your sump? it is very possible you could incorporate a refugium in it.
I think with a 125gal tank you could put a yellow tang and not be too worried about aggressiveness, but of course that is up to you, Definetly start pulling that stuff out as fast as you can. And yes FL rock comes with a lot of macro growing on it, I don't think the tang will make too much of a dent in that, but once you get it to a smaller level it would help keep the algae in check.
Sorry I didn't mean to imply that you added the macro, I just hear Bob tellling everyone to put them in the display and I hope they will all see your thread and see how it can get out of hand.
Anothere option with a refugium is to set up a small tank next to the display, they can be neat looking also. I really do think that plant life is important to a saltwater tank, I just don't think it needs to be in the display choking everything else out.
once you get rid of some of that algae your cyano problem may go away, I always have had some slime in my refugium, because the macro slows down the flow in the tank, Looks like you have one large 125gal refugium right now.

 

[timo]

For the cyano, Chemi-Clean made by Boyd Enterprises has worked for me. Be sure to follow the instructions. Clears the water, too. Otherwise, use carbon and change it regularly.

 

[cindyski]

Tim -- q#1 the tank to the left is supposed to be my QT, but i have considered turning it into a fuge as long as its not UGLY cuz its in my dining room.
dburr -- so far i only feed flake and pellet changed to every other day, my husband is like a kid feeding fish and i had to tell him to slow it down. i use distilled water in the jugs and top off at least a gallon per day. sugar? are there any other opinions on this? have not heard that one yet.
birdy -- i will try and post a pic tomorrow of my sump. btw i emptyed my skimmer 2x today and could probably do it again!
no offense taken on your comments at all i just wanted to make sure you and everyone else knew i didnt plant this stuff
tim -- q#2 i am not crazy about using additives, was hesitant on adding ph buffer today (hope that wasnt a mistake) if i could get a couple more opinions on the chemi-clean would be nice also. my water is crystal clear, the pic gives it a green haze because of the see though room divider set up i have and lighting. i will try and get a better pic though
thanks ALL OF YOU i knew i was gonna get into a sticky-wicket sooner or later:nervous:
as i said i will try and get more pics tomorrow

 

[nasirg]

I have started to get brown colored algie in my 5 week old tank. An y sugestions :thinking:

 

[birdy]

Start your own thread :joy: , But do a search on diatoms, normal for a new tank.

 

[cindyski]

TimO
if your still out there i forgot to tell ya what is eating the pellet and flake-- all i have is 2 yellow tail damsels, 3 blue/green chromis and a pair of false percs and a LMB + the inverts which i think i have already mentioned

 

[shrkbait]

One thing I didnt see mentioned...Have you thought about reducing your lighting time? How much time are your lights on now? :thinking:
Using the purest water possible is a must(IMO). Distilled? Like from the grocery store? Reverse Osmosis/ De-Ionized water from a water store is the way to go.

Manual removal...bit by bit...and scrubbing portions of your rock at a time will help out tons. If your too worried about hurting valuable stuff in there, then isolate the areas you can go to town on and destroy the algae there. Also if you cant see any good stuff...its probably too late anyways. In four months what could you have in there that is worth keeping? Just curious. You have a tough battle on your hands. I feel for you. My tank is two months old and it could be on the same track that yours is.

Only time will tell. I have set up a little refuge. (Its better than nothing I suppose). And I plan on putting macros into it in a week or so when I get my order in. I would do some research and try to incorporate one...even if its only 10 gallons or so. Do you have any astrea snails in your tank? I find that they like to eat a lot at times. If your snails aren't diversified...you could help the tank by adding many varieties of snails. Just a thought. Good Luck.

 

[shrkbait]

Just curious...What is an LMB?

 

[timo]

Yea...I keep running words with those initials....?lol
As for the feeding, it is recommended that you observe and feed only as much as they eat. I'm sure you knew that!
Oh, and PH buffer is a great thing to add when needed,. it also helps with alkalinity. Just stick with trusted brands...I use Kent.
OHHH...Lawn Mower Blenny? got it

 

[timo]

Shrkbait...I also am a land surveyor. Enjoy!

 

[rbmount]

LMB is a Lawnmower Blennie

 

[dburr]

my husband is like a kid feeding fish and i had to tell him to slow it down.
Tell your husband their stomach is the size of their eye.
The sugar came from Randy Holes-Farly. He is a scientist and fellow reefer here in MA. Very well known for water chemistry. Well it seems the German way is dosing Vodka, yes alcohol, for getting rid of the slime. Sugar is just a more pure source. My friend tryed it and well, it worked.

 

[cindyski]

Originally posted by dburr
Tell your husband their stomach is the size of their eye.
The sugar came from Randy Holes-Farly. He is a scientist and fellow reefer here in MA. Very well known for water chemistry. Well it seems the German way is dosing Vodka, yes alcohol, for getting rid of the slime. Sugar is just a more pure source. My friend tryed it and well, it worked.
i will go dump a tsp in now if its gonna help. i am gonna do some water testing later do you think it will affect my results?
lighting: my timers are so hard to use i was trying to avoid that
my blue's come on at 9am white at 10am white go off at 9pm and blue off at 10pm
ro water-- i cant seem to find any around here thats why i get the grocery stroe distilled. we do have a store that has a water machine outside, i asked them if it wa ro water and of course they didnt know. are all of those machines ro water? i think its actuall cheaper than distilled too!
thank again everyone!

 

[timo]

I will avoid vending machine water as one here almost wiped out a tank after a 4 gallon change...
With a tank like that (size) a RO-DI filter makes sense to have your own. Check out E-Bay.

 

[cindyski]

i am gonna have to stick with distilled till after i catch up with uncle sam unfortunatly i have to pay him, he dosnt pay me

we just pulled out a ton of algae, i'll have to post a pic when the water clears up. my poor pods are probably gone now

 

[cindyski]

shrkbait
yea, i have lots of snails and hermits, maybe i should get more and thinking of adding another emerald, but i have not heard much good about them other that eating the bubble algae. someting ate my corals (yellow star polyps & button polyps) maybe it was that guy.

 

[bang guy]

Hi Cindy,
Manual removal will probably not work long term. Caulerpa just finds a way to stay in the impossible to find cracks & crevices.
Do you have a reef tank? If so you need to be very diligent about keeping the algae away from the corals. Caulerpa will kill a coral faster than anything I've seen.
You didn't list anything in your cleanup crew that can eat Caulerpa. I'll second the recommendation for a Tang.

 

[cindyski]

Bang Guy,
which one is the calupra? that viney feathery stuff?
yea i have a reef, lol thats another thing getting out of hand, my pulsing xenia, it has split more than i can count, i have only had that since november and looks like it is gonna split again!. but i love them, who needs plants with stuff like that? also i have a rock covered with brownish mushrooms, kinda ugly, nothing like the pictures you guys post. and a ricordia which dosent seem to be doing much of anything. he detached from the rock he was on now he is setting on the top of a rock just dosnt seem to have grown or anything since i've had him that was in december sometime.
:happyfish
oh what do you think about putting a tsp of sugar in the tank like dburr recommended?

 

[bang guy]

Caulerpa grows in what look like vines.
I don't know about the sugar. I've never heard of that so I have no opinion.