Types of Algae to expect in new aquarium

[Michael]

Perhaps one of the more experienced reefers can explain what algae to expect in an algae bloom. I've read here that a new aqarium will go through an algae bloom (maybe after 4 months)and then the problem will correct itself (assuming all water parameters are correct).
--How long will this normal bloom last for?
--What algae should one expect to get...hair ?, bubble?, slim? all of them?
--how long does the cycle last for before you should do something?

www.garf.org suggests buying the snails/reef critters to handle the problem.

Thanks for the feedback.

Michael

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Michael

Perhaps one of the more experienced reefers can explain what algae to expect in an algae bloom. I've read here that a new aqarium will go through an algae bloom (maybe after 4 months)and then the problem will correct itself (assuming all water parameters are correct).
--How long will this normal bloom last for?
--What algae should one expect to get...hair ?, bubble?, slim? all of them?
--how long does the cycle last for before you should do something?

www.garf.org suggests buying the snails/reef critters to handle the problem.

Thanks for the feedback.

Michael

Once your rock cures and the tank is cycled, definitely add reef-safe snails and perhaps even hermit crabs. The astrea snails we have keep fuzzy green algae off the rock. Wouldn't do without them in any cycled reef.

Slim algae, aka cyanobacteria, can appear anytime in a reef. I found a little red cyano on the sandbed nearest the window in our 42 hex just this morning. Turkey basted the sandbed and all the rock to get the detritus up into the water column and into the foams we have in the 802 prefilter and in the Whisper filter (a puny thing we had on hand used only to provide more movement at the water's surface). Once the tank clears, I remove the foams and clean all the crud out of them in tap then RO water. Today, they'll be filthy

Our not-yet cycled 3 week old 2.5 nano has grey cyano on rock and sandbed for the past week. I've been following the same turkey basting method detailed above on this tank too.

Bubble algae is a different matter. It may or may not appear. I treat it with radical measures by rubbing CLR with a q-tip on the affected portions of rock, then rinsing the rock like crazy afterward so no CLR gets back into the tank. Have recently done this in our 7 gal nano with no ill effect, but I rinsed the living heck out of that rock with RO water before it went back into the tank. Just popping the bubble algae seems to make it spread throughout the tank, so I don't recommend doing that. Don't know of any critters that'll eat it either.

HTH.

[Michael]

Thanks for the tips.
My bubble algae is mostly on my capulera. I fould that by using a small air line, I could suck the devils out without bursting them.

-My concern is with my sandbed which is turning black, and hairy. (color of hair is black). Not quite sure what to do with it since turkey blasting it doesn't help much.

-I think I need some sand stirring animals (my brittle star stays in one place...not sifting much). Or maybe a thicker sandbed.

-Guess I'll call Jason when he gets back from vacation tomorrow.

Michael

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Michael

-My concern is with my sandbed which is turning black, and hairy. (color of hair is black). Not quite sure what to do with it since turkey blasting it doesn't help much.Michael

Let me know what he says about the hairy sandbed because that's what's going on in my 2.5 gal, only it's grey. I stir the top layer of sand, then baste the rock and sandbed. Some, but not all, of the hairy slimy stuff gets sucked into the AC Mini foam which I clean after the dust settles. Sometimes I baste twice a day I think if I'm persistant enough I'll lick the stuff. It's worked before on red cyano, so I'm hopeful it'll work with this time too.

Also, in the 2.5 gal, I do 50% water changes weekly or semi-weekly depending on how ticked off I am at the stuff. I'm going to do a quick basting of the rock right away. When I get back from my afternoon appointments, I'll clean the foam.

[Michael]

Originally Posted by Beverly

Let me know what he says about the hairy sandbed because that's what's going on in my 2.5 gal, only it's grey. I stir the top layer of sand, then baste the rock and sandbed.

Well...this is what he suggested for my situation:
For slime algae you want fighting conches, nassarious snails. The snails go through the sand and clean it up. He also said spaghetti worms for the sand bed and some live sand to seed it would be a good idea.

Michael

[Beverly]

Originally Posted by Michael

Well...this is what he suggested for my situation:
For slime algae you want fighting conches, nassarious snails. The snails go through the sand and clean it up. He also said spaghetti worms for the sand bed and some live sand to seed it would be a good idea.Michael

Have a feeling the fighting conches are large and won't be suitable four our tiny tanks. I've got astreas in all our reefs from local suppliers, and none have nassarious. But I could get nassarious snails MO from J&L

I'll look into it. Thanks for the info

[Scorpion]

how do i get rid of green hair algae? i have green algae in pacthes, and they are growing pretty long. our nassarius snails and hermits are not eating the algae... or it's too much for them to handle.

we have a 33 gal FO tank.

should we have like 30 hermits and 30 snails too keep up with the algae problem?

[Trevor Robertson]

Originally Posted by Scorpion

how do i get rid of green hair algae? i have green algae in pacthes, and they are growing pretty long. our nassarius snails and hermits are not eating the algae... or it's too much for them to handle.

we have a 33 gal FO tank.

should we have like 30 hermits and 30 snails too keep up with the algae problem?

In my experiance the best way to get rid of hair algae is to pull it out by hand and try to get as much as you can so that it does not grow back.

Good luck

[Scorpion]

Originally Posted by Trevor Robertson

In my experiance the best way to get rid of hair algae is to pull it out by hand and try to get as much as you can so that it does not grow back.

Good luck

OMG!

well... i have a long day tomorrow.

[Bartman]

I have two patches of hair algae which I pull periodically by hand as it gets long enought to grip. It has begun to adapt though as a small third patch has developed.......on the shell of one of my Astraea snails.