2 problems

[Steven0000]

i have a 12g nano
with a 18w pc on it

well i have some alge and it is growing and fast
i have 4 hermits 2 nassirus snails and a bumble bee
what can i do to get rid of my alge?
buy more hermits/snails?

here are my params
PH - 8.4
Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Temp - 79F

and i have 2 different types of xenia sitting about 4 inches apart and not touching anything

they were both doing good for the first 2 weeks
now one is shrunken up and the other has grown
i do not have a skimmer
i noticed flatworms on the xenia that is shrunken
could that be it?
if not then what is it?

please help

thanks
Steven.

[Steven0000]

anyone?

[outy]

flatworm could be eating the decay my zenia liked colder water

algea could be lighting could be nutrients

are you using ro/di water? how are your phosphates? good circulation in the tank ? how old are the light bulbs?

[Steven0000]

well i saw flat worms when it was completley fine

yes i am using ro/di water and idk about phosphates
and very good circulation
bulbs are brand new

[outy]

hows your water changes coming

[Steven0000]

i do about 3 gallons every week

[theop]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7656040#post7656040 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Steven0000
i have a 12g nano
with a 18w pc on it

well i have some alge and it is growing and fast

Could you be more specific about what type of algae? Pictures would be good.

Also, how long has your tank been set up? Any fish? Any live rock?

It could be diatoms, cyanobacteria, or actual algae. The solution will depend on what you have.

Also, I seriously doubt that 18W over a 12g tank will be enough light to keep anything, including xenia. Nanocube DX's are 12g and have 48W of light and that is still considered low (but enough to keep some corals).

[Steven0000]

no im sorry it was a 24w and the xenia was fine and there was nothing wrong with it and the other xenia is still doing fine

im not sure what alge i have but here is a few pics

<img src="http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL617/3951265/10941748/162173617.jpg">
<img src="http://pic15.picturetrail.com/VOL617/3951265/10941748/162173621.jpg">

[NCreefwannabe]

looks like HA. you say you have plenty of flow. you need to test for nitrates. your likely overfeeding.

[Steven0000]

my nitrates are zero
i feed every other day

anyway to get rid of it?

[MegaPods]

it usually just goes away on its own.

[Sk8r]

You have a new tank. You should have one snail per gallon, to keep algae under control. And try to feed stuff like cyclopeeze, in the frozen form, which doesn't have phosphates like flake food does---phosphates feed algae, and they're hard to test for, because the phosphate gets bound up in the algae. YOur fish will like it.
Test your alkalinity if you can: should be 8.3-11, calcium 400-450. Get those two in balance and that will help your xenia grow. Try to stabilize all your readings: corals don't like rapid change at all. YOur xenia may also be fighting each other a bit. I have 2 adjacent colonies and if one is out, the other may look annoyed.

Acclimate your snails as if they were fish.

[Steven0000]

so your saying i should get 12 snails?
i already have 4 hermits and 2 nassirus and a bumble bee
what kind of snails? turbo?

[Marinemom]

Astrea snails do a great job on algae and do not get all that big.

Marinemom

[nathan_unsane]

Cerith Snails and Mexican hermit crabs if your having red slime algae....

[Steven0000]

i think its hair alge

[NCreefwannabe]

forget astreas, they flip over and they die... get trochus snails, they can turn themselves back over. and mine mow down everything. they walk on the sand, glass, rocks. just try to keep a few of each in there. I have 4 trochus snails and 6 hermits that keep my 55 gallon spotless.

[Steven0000]

but how do you know that it is the snails and hermits keeping it clean?
maybe there is no alge to begin with

[NCreefwannabe]

no i had algae, and they took it out. I have no fish anymore until 2 weeks from now. but I add selcon and flake to the tank every 2 days just so they dont starve.

I try to keep algae lol.

[swabby1214]

^