Algea.............................

[minichops]

Hey Ive got a new 12g nano cube nearing its second week of cycling. Ive got a lot of diatom and hair algea all over, so should I leave it alone, wait 4 more weeks and get a cleaner crew, or can I use algea kill at this point?

[MizTanks]

If you have no livestock or corals I'd turn you lights off while it's cycling. Diatoms will go away on it's own. The hair algae is a bigger pain. You gotta starve it out. You could also add Phosban, which will eliminate the phosphates feeding the hair algae.

[jojo22]

I would hold off, the diatom bloom is part of the cycle and is in a way a good thing. The hair algae I would just pick out what you can and when you add your clean up crew make sure to get a critter or two that likes HA.

[jojo22]

If you have no livestock or corals I'd turn you lights off while it's cycling. Diatoms will go away on it's own. The hair algae is a bigger pain. You gotta starve it out. You could also add Phosban, which will eliminate the phosphates feeding the hair algae.

I think a better solution would be to find the cause of the phosphates and get rid of them, band-aids are never a good idea in this hobby and should only be used as such, never a solution to the problem.

But I suspect they will go away with a few WC's

[tazzy695]

what are you using for your sorce water if you are just using tap water then you are adding phos and other things that can feed the algae

also are you runing a sump or fuge of any kind if so get one started with macro algae as the macro will usualy outcompeet the ha if that is what it is

but I agree shut the lights off durring cycle no need to run them the algae die off will actualy help the cycle by creating dead material in the tank producing ammonia wich then processes through nitrite and nitrate


or can I use algea kill at this point?

dont waste your money on these products as they can quite often be very detrimental to a tank and also a lot of times contain copper wich will prevent you from beeing able to keep corals later on

[Mike]

Diatoms you just have to wait out. I use onpy R/O DI water and I get them whenever I start a new tank.

[minichops]

Thanks everyone for your input! I really appreciate it! I am using RO water, with no sump, just the included filtration space.

I have a couple of small pollips that came on the live rock and something that might be a small ennnmmeneini. Will turning the lights off kill them?

[tazzy695]

do you have some pics of them if so please post also do a search on glass anemone or aptista to make sure it isnt one of those if it is kill it

turning the lights for 4 weeks may kill the coral polyps though

[jojo22]

It could (if you left them off for a long time) but black outs are used in extreme cases of algae in established tanks as well.

I have a feeling that your cycle may kill them anyways depending on how you set up the tank and are cycling it.

[MizTanks]

Dont mean to highjack this thread but as it pertains to the subject I gotta add my little mishap here.
Hair Algae issues but no phos readings? No readings cause the algae's eating it all up? Where's the phos/nitrates coming from? Hmmmm ahdah! Could it be the LR rubble I added to chamber #2 of my biocube? The LR rubble I got from the LFS and didn't even clean it, but just put it right in there from the bag. Thinking I was doing something cool? Something IN! NOW what do I do? Anybody????

[jojo22]

Well if it is just from the rubble (which I doubt) the HA will die off once the Phos is gone. Have you tested your source water, if the problem persists that is an indicator that you are adding something on a regular basis that has a reading of some type, or that something in your tank is leaching it into the water. After all ti doesn't just show up. But finding the source can be a real pain some times.

[tazzy695]

first off most phos tests arent verry accuret

another thing is check your source water or anything else in the system

[igot2gats]

Yes, I agree - turn off your lights when cycling. How bad is the hair algae? If it's just "here & there", don't worry too much about it. If it's consistently accumulating, I'd pick it out until you start to add a CUC.

[minichops]

Thanks guys. I turned off the lights for two days and the ha is almost all gone. Now Ive got a few other issues. What are the little white aafid things on the glass? Will a six line wrasse eat them? Also does anyone know what the little pink invertabrates are with the little white extentions that come out in the dark? When the lights come back on they retract and look like a little pink bump. I have a bunch that came on my LR. There is a glass anemone in my tank that just killed the crap out of one:/

[tazzy695]

ok for the ids first thing I would guess it is a copod cant be sure without pics

the second I would have to guess bristle worm again cant be sure without pics

and lastly kill the glass anemone they will kill any corals and several other things in the tank
easy way to kill glass nems is take a dosing seringe and a coffee cup full or water as hot as you can get it (without burning yourself) suck the near boiling water into the seringe and burn the glass nem it will literaly melt away

[graphixx]

agreed that your little bugs are "pods" and a bristleworm.. these are "good guys" that means that your tanks is slowly starting to get established. your nitrobacter and nitrosomas should be being established as well.

in your cycles have you had your nitrite and nitrate peak yet? I would almost assume that you have since your 4 weeks into your cycle.

[igot2gats]

Thanks everyone for your input! I really appreciate it! I am using RO water, with no sump, just the included filtration space.

I have a couple of small pollips that came on the live rock and something that might be a small ennnmmeneini. Will turning the lights off kill them?

Do you have any wave makers running? This will def help with the hair algae...along with keeping your lights off for the cycling.

GL & keep us updated.

[softiegirl]

2nd thing with the pink extensions sounds like spaghetti worms to me. good for the tank if so.;)

[minichops]

Im using ro water and Im still getting quite a bit of algea in my tank. Ive got a frog spawn coral, a button pollip, a 6-line wrasse, and a cleaner shrimp, so would a blackout be out of the question? I guess I need an active hair algea eater thats not a sea slug, and wont eat snails....golly

[Werdlone]

the second thing you are describing sounds like mini anemonies. they have a pink base with clear tentacles with little white balls on the end of the tentacles. Only get to about the size of a dime at most. Usually hide in crevices or underside of rocks...they are harmless filter feeders. They don't like light so you typically won't see them unless the lights are out and you look with a flashlight.

[MizTanks]

Moved my post to: Algae anyone?

[Sir Patrick]

How is the algea issue going minichops??

[MizTanks]

Just another thought on my HA issues~I've been using pillow stuffing for my filter floss~making sure it's the kind that hasn't been treated with any type of flame retardant~could this be a source of phosphates? Not sure but I'm going to discontinue using it~will use a carbon fiber instead~one made for tank filtration.

[Corvette Reefer]

Hair Algea in my opion are the worst because its hard to get away i had it for about 3 months, i did WC and alot plus i would use the water i took out and take out the rock and scrap it off with a hard bricle brush to get all the algea off

[MizTanks]

Trust me scraping your LR with anything to ride it of HA is a big no no~did it and it came back with a vengeance~I recently started using a product called *Chem-Marin Stop Hair Algae*~so far it's working wonderfully~there's been no adverse effects on any of my corals or live stock.

[Corvette Reefer]

really its a no to scrape LR didnt no that, it seemed to help my tank allot doing it tho, probably different depending on the tank or setup

[tazzy695]

the no no to scrape depends largly on the algae and how it is scraped / rinsed afterwords