From Diatom bloom to this? Help

[cabbage0709]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a178/cabbage0709/IM000626.jpg


This is what has recently showed up in my tank. Prior to all the rusty/brown coloration from some diatoms. What youre looking at is a green color starting to form everywhere. Some of it looks like grass almost and some of it is just blotchy. I can see the grass like pieces in my flow just flailing about. Anyone know what i need to do in this stage of my tank? It was just started about 1.5 to 2 weeks ago. Thanks

p.s. I have, what look like tiny ricordias growing also. They have only continued to get a little bigger with more tentacle bubble things on them. And i found two more growing this morning! Does this mean my tank is doing good or what? Ive had them in there from day 1 from the old sump i got with this tank.

[DetectiveTofu]

Looks like green hair algae to me; and it is a naturally occurring event in newly established tanks. If you don't have a clean up crew already, you may want to look into getting one. Also, I am a strong advocate of a water change never hurts =)

[cabbage0709]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10232907#post10232907 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rhythmicfire
Looks like green hair algae to me; and it is a naturally occurring event in newly established tanks. If you don't have a clean up crew already, you may want to look into getting one. Also, I am a strong advocate of a water change never hurts =)

What are your suggestions on my cleaning crew? And ive been told that i should put any livestock in here, but no body has told me for how long i shouldnt. The tank is a 30 gal. And does it matter what part of the tank i get my water from when i do a water change? I have 3 gals of mixed water ready im just hesitant on which would be the most effective way of changing it.

[drummereef]

Is your tank new? If so, this is completely normal for newly cycled tanks to go through a diatom and hair algae bloom. Just let the tank do its thing and it will go away on its own. If you aren't already, continue to use RO/DI water for water changes and top off. ;)

[DetectiveTofu]

I forgot to also ask what your water parameters are; ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? In my own experience I had had luck with Astraeas snails, and red legged hermits. I hear emeralds are good at eating hair algae (as to whether they are reef safe may be another story)

[cabbage0709]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10232956#post10232956 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
Is your tank new? If so, this is completely normal for newly cycled tanks to go through a diatom and hair algae bloom. Just let the tank do its thing and it will go away on its own. If you aren't already, continue to use RO/DI water for water changes and top off. ;)

I have RO water in there. Not sure if its DI though. I havent done one water change. Can you suggest a good schedule of it? I was thinking 3 gals a week. Thats 10% of it. Thanks. Drummer...any suggestions on CC?

[cabbage0709]

Not really, i just did a 3 gal water change though lol

[cabbage0709]

Anyone have a good suggestion on a cleaner crew for a 30 gal long? My diatoms have started to sprout green hair algae and i was told that a cc was going to be needed soon. Anyone?

[cplklegg]

I have 6 ceriths and 10 nassarius in a 20H and they are happy laying eggs all the time.

[demonsp]

More flow will help. Is this in a corner or all over ? Also with new setup you dont want full light. Few hours a day at first and adding time weekly. Cleanup crew will help along with omnivore fish like coral beuty or tang.

How new is this setup and do you have any stock ?

[jimicasper]

def green hair algae, pick up a tang!

[drummereef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10232995#post10232995 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cabbage0709
I have RO water in there. Not sure if its DI though. I havent done one water change. Can you suggest a good schedule of it? I was thinking 3 gals a week. Thats 10% of it. Thanks. Drummer...any suggestions on CC?

Good deal. I'd investigate if you have a DI stage on your RO unit. If not, you can add one on. Click the link below. I prefer nasssarius, cerith, astrea, and turbo snails for my cleanup crews. 10-15% weekly water changes with RO/DI is preferred. ;)

http://www.thefilterguys.biz/di_systems.htm

[cabbage0709]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10237745#post10237745 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drummereef
Good deal. I'd investigate if you have a DI stage on your RO unit. If not, you can add one on. Click the link below. I prefer nasssarius, cerith, astrea, and turbo snails for my cleanup crews. 10-15% weekly water changes with RO/DI is preferred. ;)

http://www.thefilterguys.biz/di_systems.htm

Thanks drummer and everyone else. Now that i think of it. About half of the water or more is RO/DI. The first 15gal or so was from a family member's house that is just RO. The rest was from Meijer at their 50cent filling station thingy. But yeah my tank is only 1.5 to 2 weeks old. Is it normal for stuff to appear this quick? Also this isnt just in one corner of my tank. Ill put picks up on my gallery so everyone can see all of my pics. Thanks for feedback.

[cabbage0709]

How new is this setup and do you have any stock ?

The setup is about 1.5 to 2 weeks old. Although i bought it with sand and everything in it off of someone else. But i also do not have any stock in there besides the (What i think are) ricordia mushrooms that are growing on some rubble i found in the guy's sump. They have been in there from day 1 and are still living and growing slowly. This morning they were spread out to almost the size of a nickle but closed almost 10 mins after turning my light on.

[mr.maroonsalty]

Likely they are majano which would be goo to identify for sure now before they scurge or tank; post a good picture if you can.

[ZLTFUL]

And ignore the peanut gallery suggesting you get a Tang.
A 30 gallon tank that is only a couple of weeks old is far and away a dead Tang waiting to happen. 1. too small by far and 2. not nearly established enough.

As far as cleanup crew, just get an assortment of snails(cerith, astria, nasarrius, etc) and maybe a few crimson hermits. I have a fighting conch to stir the sand around for me and between the crew, they do a great job of keeping the algae at bay. I also have a couple of emeralds wiping out my bubble algae. But then that was because I got rock that already had it on it and didn't notice until my pump pickup started getting some bubbles on the screen.

Patience is a virtue in this hobby. I rushed with my first setup and ended up losing all of the livestock in my tank except a couple of red legged hermits. I know it's hard to resist the urge to get it done quick, but it's also hard to flush a cute little Maroon Clownfish named Squirrel that you had come to love.

[salty55]

i agree with zltfuz. a 30 gallon is way too small for any kind of tang. i wouldn't put anything in the tank until it fully cycles. snails and other inverts are extremely sensitive to high nitrates. you will just find yourself with a tank full of dead critters in a day or two. just cut way back on your'e lighting. especially if you have t-5's or metal halides, do weekly waterchanges, and if necassary actually take the rock out that has the hair aglae on it and scrub it in new saltwater to keep the hair algae at a minimum. after you have no ammonia or nitrites and nitritates are as low as possible, preferibly under 20 ppm, then add a cleanup crew. if you are wanting a fish that eats hair algae some people have had good luck with a lawnmower blenny. i had one that would eat. but, that was just my luck. just try not to let the hair algae get a good hold in your'e tank. it's one of the hardest things to get rid of in my oppinion.

[fatdaddy]

My tang would rather starve then eat hair algae. Besides, it's iffy if a Tang would survive in that nutrient soup at the moment. Don't go there.

Clean up crew usually implies hermits, turbo snails, & narcissus snails, etc. After your ammonia and nitrates go to zero, you can also try a fighting conch. Go easy on the hermits. They tend to become pain later as some learn how to slay snails for food, fun, and shells.

I let my 100g lay fallow for six months after a move, and now I just have a mated pair of tomatoes and their anemone. Slow, but sure wins the day.

[xian]

Others have suggested it but you are going to want some of the agressive grazing snails. My top three suggestions are Astreas Turbos and Trochus. I've also had good luck with nerite and cerith snails. I stock my snail population high. You could put 20 snails in that tank and I think you'd see a difference.

FWIW Nassarius snails are carnivorous scavengers. They eat lots of food that settles into the sand but no algae.

[fatdaddy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10238952#post10238952 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xian
FWIW Nassarius snails are carnivorous scavengers. They eat lots of food that settles into the sand but no algae.

Thanks for the correction.

[xian]

Not really a correction, they certainly help keep the tank clean.

I once took in an ailing clam from a really unhealthy system. The clam was already dying when I put it in my tank and the nassarius were on it in seconds. It looked like night of the living dead. The next day the shell was picked clean. Spooky.

[marduc]

I love the night of the living dead reference for the nassarius. It is always a blast to watch them rising up out from under the sand at the first whiff of food, it is like a horde of zombies rising out of the sand, and I refer to them as zombie snails for my not-so reef literate frineds who come over :)

Cabbage, some good advice already givin here.. definately stay away form the tang, go slow and easy, don't sweat the early algea blooms, just stay on top of them, keep up with the water changes (purity is paramount!), and snails are the way to go for clean up crews.. try to shy away form the hermits for the aforementioned reasons (unless you want to buy more snails every 6 months or so).

And a definitive NO! on the tang suggestion :D

[oh monti !!!!!]

Everyone has agreed that it is ok to put snails in right now? I mean i dont want to go ahead and get some and then turn around and everyone say that they meant in the future. Im going to have my water tested beforehand to make sure my levels are ok. And change some water. But do i need to wait for my levels to be perfect to put the snails in or is that what they are for? (to make my perams good)?? Clear it out for me. Lol im retarded!

-Sven

[oh monti !!!!!]

On that last post...im on a friend at work's name.

[xian]

Hmm...Instead of having your water tested get some test kits. You should be testing the water yourself. Start with Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate, and pH Eventually you're going to want Ca Kh and Phosphate test kits as well

Snails will be fine as long as the Nitrite and Ammonia are cycled out, but I'd say the algae growth is showing signs that it is near completion.

Marduk: I've got that same monti, what color light are you keeping it under?

[marduc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10239971#post10239971 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xian
Hmm...Instead of having your water tested get some test kits. You should be testing the water yourself. Start with Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate, and pH Eventually you're going to want Ca Kh and Phosphate test kits as well

Snails will be fine as long as the Nitrite and Ammonia are cycled out, but I'd say the algae growth is showing signs that it is near completion.

Marduk: I've got that same monti, what color light are you keeping it under?

agreed on the above post, you will especially want to test to make sure ammonia/trites don't build up with the snails in there.. but they will be safe if those are in check. just keep salt water on hand to do a water change if your readings creep up a tad..

xian.. that monti is under T-5 lighting, about 2/3s the way up the tank, and before I cut him way back.. he got huge on me! too huge. now i just have (2) 1.5" square pieces of him left, but provided I keep the zoas encroaching on him at bay he will be back in a hurry, it grows out quickly!

[mr.maroonsalty]

imo do the inverts, I don't like crabs they'll kill off too many potential benificials, however, they can do a good cleaning job, and some use them in full force and it looks like a subway mugging should a snail ever fall from the glass, and they'll never see any babies for long if they (the snails) reproduce. When things are looking good in a couple weeks try an easy softy if you're going that route. Keep stocking corals little by little and far down the road months down the road IMO when you can't wait any longer add a fish or two. If you have MAJANO get rid of them now when you can!!!

[cabbage0709]

So i looked at a few pictures of MAJANO and these things dont look anything like them. Their tentacles are slim until the very end where there are white dots on them. They have mouths that i can see clearly. They are all white...when they close up they are like little pink bubbles. They seem to enjoy the dark a lot more than the light because when i turn it on they close up almost immediately. Any suggestions on what this might be?


Also...
I have something new in my tank. They look like little white ants. They are accumulating in the corners and back of my tank. They are fast and ant like...but about 1/4 the size of a normal ant. They remind me of fleas kinda but what the hell are these things???? Help!

-Sven

[fatdaddy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10246591#post10246591 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cabbage0709
I have something new in my tank. They look like little white ants.

Probably isopods. They are a good thing. Fish like to feed on them, so it's a good thing to have as they will help keep the tank clean.

[Wett Hands]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10246591#post10246591 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cabbage0709
Also...
I have something new in my tank. They look like little white ants. They are accumulating in the corners and back of my tank. They are fast and ant like...but about 1/4 the size of a normal ant. They remind me of fleas kinda but what the hell are these things???? Help!

-Sven

YAY pods!!! There a good thing ;) (If they are what i think they are... )

[xian]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10240535#post10240535 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by marduc
xian.. that monti is under T-5 lighting, about 2/3s the way up the tank, and before I cut him way back.. he got huge on me! too huge. now i just have (2) 1.5" square pieces of him left, but provided I keep the zoas encroaching on him at bay he will be back in a hurry, it grows out quickly!

Dang, why does everything look better under T5's...I need to get a 14K bulb back in my tank...


Cabbage, it seems like you're on the right track. Get those kits! I wouldn't sweat the Anemone, it may be an aptasia or a relative, maybe even a star or cup coral. Hard to tell without a picture.

[tgfrench]