How to keep frag rack free of algae?

[Nanook]

I recently started a frag tank and the bottom is a piece of black acrylic with lots of holes drilled in it for frag plugs. Tank has been up a couple months just about and the acrylic is collecting hair algaes of all varieties. Tank is 30x30x12 and frag rack is about 3" off the bottom.

I put a dozen cerith snails and some smaller reproducing snails in there, so it is too soon to say what they will do. Flow is very good with two Tunze 6045's and a 3/4" Seaswirl with plenty of flow. Lighting is two 250 SE Phoenix bulbs.

I am hesitant to add a fish because he might jump and there isn't a ton of swimming room with only 9" of height. I am also reluctant to add larger snails like Turbos and Trochus because they will most likely knock over my frag plugs. Any thoughts?

[Glazner]

I keep a small Scopas tang in my frag tank. Algae is his job...

[Mikeeeee]

Get a Tang they graze all day for ALGE and I never know one to jump out of water or hermit crabs...

[Johnny C]

+1. A small Zebrasoma spp. would likely work wonders; I know that my Red Sea Sailfin does. IME after awhile the racks tend to stop growing algae, providing parameters are within an acceptable range.

[jeff@zina.com]

Find and cure the source of nutrients for the algae. A fuge with chaeto can help, or any number of nutrient export options exist. Tangs are tough because they need such a large tank area, some blennies may be better choices.

Jeff

[badguitarist]

100% agree with the above post. have you checked water parameters lately (nitrate, phosphate, silicates, etc.)? what about your RO or DI unit, what is the TDS on that? ctenocheatus tangs are great at algae control but again do get large so it depends on your tank size if one will work well or not. Some people claim mithrax crabs work well for hair algae I have never had great success with them in that regard.

[Nanook]

Tank parameters are excellent:) I think I will just wait it out and manually clean the racks for now.

[firebirdude]

I think most every snail will avoid hair algae once it's long enough that you can tell it's "hair algae." Blennies and certain crabs may pick at it, but I think most of those will still avoid the long stuff.

[Islander84]

Nerite snails are small and work great on smaller or softer algae. And if dwarf blueleg hermits can reach it they work good also. A small lawn mower blenny

[pendraig]

A small lawn mower blenny

+1 on the lawnmower blenny (Salarias fasciatus). I started out with a "small" one, and it's now rather large. It and my "small" yellow tang (zebrasoma flavescens) keep my DT algae-free even though I have moderately high nitrates (15-20ppm). Last week, I bought 5 frags with some 1-2mm tall algae growing on the tiles. Gone the next day! The tang and blenny were still picking on the tiles hoping for algae to reappear. BTW, I made sure that the blenny ate flakes/pellet food at the LFS before buying it in case the algae growth did not match its appetite.

[firebirdude]

My experience with lawnmower blennies has been hit and miss. Some mow down hair algae. Others don't seem to touch it. Again like I said, it seems to come down to length. Once it gets more than about 1/4 inch, not many things will touch it. (tangs aside)

[returnofsid]

Tank parameters are excellent:) I think I will just wait it out and manually clean the racks for now.

Hate to argue, especially with a Mod...lol...however, if your parameters are excellent, you shouldn't be seeing much algae growth.

You could have nitrates/phosphates that aren't registering on a test kit, because the algae is consuming them.

[Nanook]

Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback:) Nitrate is just over 10, so that could be contributing considering it is a newer frag tank with new frag rack. Phosphate is .05-.06, so that is a touch higher than I normally run as well, but still pretty low. I will get those numbers in better check and manually clean the four frag racks every few days to keep it at bay.

[Nanook]

Just took out each custom frag rack and scrubbed them in the sink one by one:) Now, the frag tank is all new again, just took about 30 minutes:D I guess I was just being lazy:rollface: Got to love GEO ingenuity:D He built four separate frag racks with a larger hole in the center so I could grab them out easier. So, I just put frags from one rack to the others and cleaned them to brand new.

[seanathen]

Nice! Let's see a pic of the frag tanks all cleaned!

[dendronepthya]

I like to have extra frag racks that I would rotate in on occasion. I would take the old ones and soak them in vinegar.

[Nanook]

I like to have extra frag racks that I would rotate in on occasion. I would take the old ones and soak them in vinegar.

Great idea:) I will consult GEO again:D

[whatcaneyedo]

No frag rack = no algae problem for me. Everything sits on the bottom strapped to my own DIY disks. Nitrate and phosphate are also undetectable with conventional test kits. I got rid of the last few little patches of bryopsis in my display tank several months ago with the Kent Tech M treatment.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh109/whatcaneyedo/IMG_7324.jpg

[Strider85]

I found a few threads on using Krylon Fusion to keep algae off frag racks, and I have to say it worked extremely well. I was worried about the introduction of chemicals, but the thread suggested waiting one week before putting it in the tank and that's what I did.