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View Full Version : Green stuff on glass- ID needed please!


latrecia4life
09/10/2007, 10:13 PM
I don't know what it is or how to remove it. I know it is a type of algae, but I can't even scrape it off the glass and don't know how to prevent it. It has been making a mess of my tank. Does anyone know how I can prevent this from growing all over the glass? Even my magnetic cleaner wont clean it off.


Also I spent three hours last night moving rock around to clean my back side of the glass, with the algae all over it (cleanable kind). I think I need some more of a cleaning crew. I only have a couple horseshoe crabs, a sand sifting star fish, a few snails and a few crabs in shells (hermits- small?), and that's about it.
My sand doesn't stay clean either, it gets a layer of green along the top and I wans told not to sift it and stir everything up.

What do I need to do to gget rid of the hard algae or rpevent it?

How about the algae all over the sides of the tank that makes a mess.

What about for the sand?

I only have a 55g.

Any help is appreciated!!!

latrecia4life
09/10/2007, 10:16 PM
sorry here are the pics of the hard algae on tank....

big glob that wont scrape off
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e252/latrecia4life/IMG_1086.jpg


Along top of the glass and on edges is its favorite place to grow.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e252/latrecia4life/IMG_1085.jpg

BangkokMatt
09/10/2007, 10:20 PM
Get a scraper and physically scrape it off. It will be hard work.
To help prevent it use a phosphate remover in your sump or in a high flow area of your outside of your main display (such as the trickle filter if you have one)

latrecia4life
09/10/2007, 10:27 PM
Ok thanks for the advise. The only thing is I try to scrape it off and it just wont come off!

Percula9
09/10/2007, 10:41 PM
If your tank is glass take a razor blade and scrape it off. Check nitrates and phosphate levels, these fuel algae growth. Shorten the light cycle.

BangkokMatt
09/10/2007, 10:48 PM
It could be an idea to shorten your lighting times. How long do you have them on.
About the scraping, sorry, but your simply not scraping hard enough. Don't use the scraper on a pole. Take the blade off the end and get your hand in the tank. It will come off

latrecia4life
09/10/2007, 11:08 PM
ok i will use the scraper without the blade. I have the blue light come on at 10:30 and rhe white one at 11:30 and white one off at 11:30 and blue light off at 12:30...is this too long?

I had the levels and all tested at my LFS and they said it was all perfectfo! I will try scraping and shortening light cycle..Thanks guys

BangkokMatt
09/10/2007, 11:14 PM
Don't take the blade off. Just remove it from the long handle so you can apply more pressure.
Your lights are on for a long time. I would aim for about 8-9 hours of white light. Less if you don't have corals. 1 hour each side of blue is fine.

schutzstaffel
09/11/2007, 12:17 AM
He means take the blade off and hold the blade in your hand to scrape. Don't use the pole, you can apply more pressure if you hold the blade in your hand.

BangkokMatt
09/11/2007, 01:16 AM
Yes, thats what I mean. Sorry if I was unclear

latrecia4life
09/11/2007, 08:15 AM
oh no i understood what you meant...i will also adjust my lighting time too...is there a clean up crew that i should have for this tank? I really dont know the difference between all the different types of snails and such but i will find them.

rlee81indy
09/11/2007, 08:52 AM
Not to hijack your thread but I have been checking out homes in spring hill (prices are low for fl.) is it a nice place? I grew up outside of orlando and now im in indiana....I miss lovebug season....joking

Jay_1966
09/11/2007, 08:55 AM
Coles is in your neck of the woods and they can get what you need. Don't know that I would go to them for advice on anything though. They are in Brookesville.

JC_UF_ITK
09/11/2007, 09:12 AM
As for the sand, try some nassarius snails. They (along with a sand sifting star) did wonders for my sand.

BangkokMatt
09/11/2007, 06:18 PM
The only clean up crew to help the hardcore green algae is an urchin but I would only recommend those to experienced reef keepers. I'm afraid its hard manual scraping to get it off.
The algae is very common. You are not experiencing anything unusual.

Aquarist007
09/11/2007, 06:27 PM
the algae is probably due to increased organic compounds in water.
running the phosban reactor was a good idea mentioned above

I run a second reactor with carbon in it---this way the water is forced through the medium rather then around it so it is much more effective at removing dissolved organic compounds.

feeding---feed less---check frozen foods---they should be rinsed thoroughly with r/0 water---buy a little brine shrimp net--that does nicely.

low flow areas-----direct a power head across the substrate
lightly turkey baste rock and substrate---get the doc's back into the water column where they can be filtered out.


a couple of questions:
are you using r/o water?
how often are your water changes
what kind of filtration system do you have?

latrecia4life
09/11/2007, 07:07 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10742270#post10742270 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rlee81indy
Not to hijack your thread but I have been checking out homes in spring hill (prices are low for fl.) is it a nice place? I grew up outside of orlando and now im in indiana....I miss lovebug season....joking


Actually I just bought my irst home here in Spring Hill, prices are awesome and VERY nice town.

Thanks guys for all the help!!!

latrecia4life
09/11/2007, 07:11 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10746204#post10746204 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
the algae is probably due to increased organic compounds in water.
running the phosban reactor was a good idea mentioned above

I run a second reactor with carbon in it---this way the water is forced through the medium rather then around it so it is much more effective at removing dissolved organic compounds.

feeding---feed less---check frozen foods---they should be rinsed thoroughly with r/0 water---buy a little brine shrimp net--that does nicely.

low flow areas-----direct a power head across the substrate
lightly turkey baste rock and substrate---get the doc's back into the water column where they can be filtered out.


a couple of questions:
are you using r/o water?
how often are your water changes
what kind of filtration system do you have?

ok well I am new,so I dont know what a reactor is. nor substrate (coral??) and doc's??

No I am not using RO water, just distilled water from store, adding gallon a day approximately.

Water changes every month

Filtration system is a white sock with a protien skimmer

JC_UF_ITK
09/12/2007, 06:14 AM
May I ask why you should rinse frozen food with r/o water? I usually just break a block in half and put it in the tank.

NanoReefWanabe
09/12/2007, 06:53 AM
the green on the glass is coraline algae...real PITA to get off too...hand held scraper works wonders like mentioned..

the hair algae it a biotch to get rid of...i had to take my rocks out and physically remove it with a SS wire brush..and a tooth brush..i had a pail of tank water at my side so i could rinse the rock off as i went..

although the LFS says your water is good i would yourself a bunch of test kits and check yourself....there is something off...in my case my calcium and magnesium were low...your tank wont likely show any phosphate because the hair algae is sucking it up so quickly as it grows..

as for frozen food rincing...i bel;ieve that the food is frozen with something that shouldnt go into your tank but dont remember what it is..rinsing it will eliminate that....also rinsing it will get rid of all the really fine stuff in the frozen food that isnt readily available to your fish..however filter feeding corals and fan worms would likely appreciate the fine stuff..(if you defrost a cube into a cup of tank water and then suck it into a turkey baster to target feed mushroom, anemones etc.. you will see the white cloud of fine stuff i am talking about...dropping in a frozen cube may not show this clearly..

a reactor is just a chamber that holds a medium (either phosban, carbon, sulfur, zeolite, etc..) different mediums remove different compounds and chemical impurities in the water as the tanks water is forced through it with a pump...

DOC's...not sure either what the abbreviation stands for but i assume he is refering to detritus (poop) and other particulate matter (mostly organic, shed skin/scales, loose sand, food particles, die off etc..)

Substrate = sand bed, crushed coral, aragonite, oolite, basically what ever you have on the bottom of your tank..if your tank is a bare bottom it is essentially without a particulate substrate...some substrates like aragonite and oolite will help buffer PH, all of the above substrate will eventually colonize with benificail bacteria that will help reduce chemicals in your water..(sand sifting star will eat these bacterias and beneficial fauna though...)

if your buying distilled water you may as well just buy RO/di water instead...your tank will love you for it...do you have a TDS meter (total dissolved solids) to check your water with?

a gallon a day eh? that is some good evap, what kinda lights and pumps you running in your system?

LOL you have a sump then? i assume that is where your white sock is..(is this a "X" micron filer sock or a tube sock?)
what kind of skimmate are you producing?

Aquarist007
09/12/2007, 07:27 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10746564#post10746564 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by latrecia4life
ok well I am new,so I dont know what a reactor is. nor substrate (coral??) and doc's??

No I am not using RO water, just distilled water from store, adding gallon a day approximately.

Water changes every month

Filtration system is a white sock with a protien skimmer

my apologies for using reef jargon--but you'll get used to it here :)

a phosban reactor is a hang on canister that you run phosban in. it acts like a filter only it removed phosphate.
because there cost is not that expensive some people run two of them--in the other they put carbon--which removes some DOC's

here's a picture:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11586&Ntt=phosban+reactor&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

Doc's = dissolved organic compounds. At high levels they cause the water to go cloudy and fuel bacteria such as cyano and algae like you have.
The prime removal of doc's are done by your protein skimmer.

Particularily it is the phosphates and nitrates that are the fuel for algae growth. Phosphates are produced when fish break down the food they eat and or the food is broken down that is left over.
this is why reefers suggest that the best way to contro phosphates is by not feeding too much.

Nitrates are produced as a result of the nitrogen cycle---fish produce ammonia--ammonia is broken down to nitrates by aerobic bacteria that live close to the surface of live rock and your sand bed----nitrates are broken down by anerobic bacteria that live deeper in the rock and sand bed.

The reason you rinse frozen food is that it contains nitrates and phosphates that are absorbed from the raising tanks before being flash frozen.

keep asking the questions--this is how we all learn together :smokin:

Aquarist007
09/12/2007, 07:35 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10749234#post10749234 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NanoReefWanabe
the green on the glass is coraline algae...real PITA to get off too...hand held scraper works wonders like mentioned..

the hair algae it a biotch to get rid of...i had to take my rocks out and physically remove it with a SS wire brush..and a tooth brush..i had a pail of tank water at my side so i could rinse the rock off as i went..

although the LFS says your water is good i would yourself a bunch of test kits and check yourself....there is something off...in my case my calcium and magnesium were low...your tank wont likely show any phosphate because the hair algae is sucking it up so quickly as it grows..

as for frozen food rincing...i bel;ieve that the food is frozen with something that shouldnt go into your tank but dont remember what it is..rinsing it will eliminate that....also rinsing it will get rid of all the really fine stuff in the frozen food that isnt readily available to your fish..however filter feeding corals and fan worms would likely appreciate the fine stuff..(if you defrost a cube into a cup of tank water and then suck it into a turkey baster to target feed mushroom, anemones etc.. you will see the white cloud of fine stuff i am talking about...dropping in a frozen cube may not show this clearly..

a reactor is just a chamber that holds a medium (either phosban, carbon, sulfur, zeolite, etc..) different mediums remove different compounds and chemical impurities in the water as the tanks water is forced through it with a pump...

DOC's...not sure either what the abbreviation stands for but i assume he is refering to detritus (poop) and other particulate matter (mostly organic, shed skin/scales, loose sand, food particles, die off etc..)

Substrate = sand bed, crushed coral, aragonite, oolite, basically what ever you have on the bottom of your tank..if your tank is a bare bottom it is essentially without a particulate substrate...some substrates like aragonite and oolite will help buffer PH, all of the above substrate will eventually colonize with benificail bacteria that will help reduce chemicals in your water..(sand sifting star will eat these bacterias and beneficial fauna though...)

if your buying distilled water you may as well just buy RO/di water instead...your tank will love you for it...do you have a TDS meter (total dissolved solids) to check your water with?

a gallon a day eh? that is some good evap, what kinda lights and pumps you running in your system?

LOL you have a sump then? i assume that is where your white sock is..(is this a "X" micron filer sock or a tube sock?)
what kind of skimmate are you producing?

thanks for explaining my use of reef jargon ;)

...just one point of clarification---I believe corraline algae is a form of red algae-- and appears pink on the glass etc.

kevinohio
09/12/2007, 08:03 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10749058#post10749058 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JC_UF_ITK
May I ask why you should rinse frozen food with r/o water? I usually just break a block in half and put it in the tank.

Rinsing it takes out some of the stuff you dont want. It will help to put in less phosphates and nitrates in your tank.
I dont know all the specifics as to why, I just know that the frozen food is higher in organics, and rinsing it helps lower them.
I also soak in zoecon after rinsing it, It makes the food even better for the fish,.

Mavrk
09/12/2007, 08:56 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10749448#post10749448 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by capn_hylinur
thanks for explaining my use of reef jargon ;)

...just one point of clarification---I believe corraline algae is a form of red algae-- and appears pink on the glass etc.

Coralline algae comes in a variety of colors including green, pink, white, purple, and red.

That being said, the picture does not really look like coralline algae to me, but it is hard to tell.

Aquarist007
09/12/2007, 09:31 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10749936#post10749936 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Mavrk
Coralline algae comes in a variety of colors including green, pink, white, purple, and red.

That being said, the picture does not really look like coralline algae to me, but it is hard to tell.

thanks mavrk---- interesting to note
I actually thought that was corraline algae on his tank either--but not because of the colour.
I have a tough layer of very hard rough algae around the very top of my tank----just haven't bothered with it----didn't realize that it was corraline :)

Mavrk
09/12/2007, 08:22 PM
I have a lot of green coralline on some of my rocks. It is hard to tell what is coralline and what is not. If you want to see, take some of it out and mix it with some vinegar. If it bubbles then it is coralline. I am curious of the results if you guys try this.