Myka vs Valonia Round 672

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Drock169

In addition, even though your phos are undectable, most likely the PO4 is being absorbed by the valonia first, valonia is excellent at scavenging PO4 in low nutrient systems. Honestly I would use a combination of manual removal for large ones in a separate container and a lot of emerald crabs for the small ones.

Ya, I'm quite aware of the phosphate reading being pretty much useless. My tank is fairly low nutrient, has been from day 1. I don't have any other nuisance algaes. Coralline algae has never really grown much in my tank. My rocks are mostly white. I'm hoping the higher Kelvin lighting may help with this as well. It doesn't have enough food in it for even a Peppermint or Cleaner shrimp to survive long-term. Nutrients are well addressed in my tank. The only other thing I could do is upgrade the skimmer. Current just have a Remora.

I've been looking for Emerald Crabs for probably 6 months, and haven't been able to locate any. They seem to be REALLY hit or miss though as to whether they will eat Valonia (do a search for the poll I made). Some people say hermit eat Valonia, but most people say they only eat hair algae. As a rule, I don't keep crabs of any kind in my tanks because I like my snails more.

So here's what's in the tank (and how long):

1 True Perc (1.5 years)
2 Bangaii Cardinals (1 year)
1 Kole Tang (1 day)

3 Astrea coelata (almost 2 years; original snails, never lost one)
1 Black Cerith (almost 2 years; original snail, had 3 of them)
3 Nassarius (1.5 years)
2 Ring Cowries (1+ year)
1 Brittle star (1+ year)
1 Margarita (6-8 months)

Critters that have died (and how long they lived). They weren't all in there at the same time:

1 Peppermint shrimp (1 year)
1 Orange Lip Conch (~8 months)
3 Ring Cowries (<1 month)
2 Black Cerith (6 months, and 1 year)
8-10 Nassarius (3-6 months). 3-4 were eaten by a Hermit crab I had, so the hermit was banned.
4 Margaritas (1 week-6 months). They fall on their backs, and die.

[banditpowdercoat]

Thats what's happened to all my margarita's I had a bunch, 10 I think. Now I dunno, 2? I would try to attach the ones I seen on their backs to the glass, but cant catch them all I guess.

The Brittle star, why don't you like them? I'm going to l;ook for a Conch, like your reccomendation in my Algae thread. But allways keeping eyes open for better stand stirrers to get rid of the junk.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

Thats what's happened to all my margarita's I had a bunch, 10 I think. Now I dunno, 2? I would try to attach the ones I seen on their backs to the glass, but cant catch them all I guess.

The Brittle star, why don't you like them? I'm going to l;ook for a Conch, like your reccomendation in my Algae thread. But allways keeping eyes open for better stand stirrers to get rid of the junk.

I flip my Margaritas over if I see them, but they don't have to be on their backs very long to die. It's funny, my Astreas can be on their back for days and still survive. They aren't the usual type of Astrea though.

Ya, the Conch didn't make it in my tank. Since he did survive so long I assume he starved. My tank was just too small for him.

I don't like brittle stars because they creep me out!! No other reason.

Originally Posted by Okguy

Hey Myka, after reading that you are using a 6000k bulb, my immediate thought is that the bulb is probably one of the culprits. I have a 6000k bulb in my fuge and bubble algae is always present (I think it would be a more serious problem if I removed all the cheato). I don't have any bubble algae in my DT where I use a much higher K bulb.

If your looking for a cheap skimmer improvement, instead of an upgrade. Use a stronger pump. I have a Mag5 hooked to my Remora and the performance increase was rather impressive.


HTH

Kevin

Hey Kevin, thanks for posting. That's good to know about the Kelvin making a difference in your tank. Albeit we all know that sometimes "things" don't follow the rules. I am thinking that it should make a difference though.

I have a cracked Remora Pro laying around that has a Mag 5 on it. I have been meaning to put it on my Remora, and haven't gotten around to it yet...but it's so big and ugly!!!

Originally Posted by Trigger Man

How is your Cal and Dkh readings at? For Coraline to grow you have to have a bit of it in your tank already, if not you need to get a bit of it in there first.

Calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium are spot on since the very beginning. My live rock came with coralline on it, and there had always been some coralline in the tank, it just doesn't grow much. The rocks are mostly white.

Calcium 415-425 ppm
Alkalinity 8-10 dKH
Magnesium 1325-1375 ppm

[Okguy]

Originally Posted by Myka

Hey Kevin, thanks for posting. That's good to know about the Kelvin making a difference in your tank. Albeit we all know that sometimes "things" don't follow the rules. I am thinking that it should make a difference though.

Believe me I'm not exactly the one who follows the 'rules' when it comes to reef keeping. But when things start to go sideways I stray back more to the rules. After battling Algae in my tank, I came across this article Anthony Calfo.

"Most desirable aquatic plants, corals and algae fare best in light within the range of 6500 to 10,000 Kelvin. Undesirable algae and very shallow species are supported by warmer colors (below 6500K). Many lamps are known to stray toward this lower end of the Kelvin scale as they age, and may be evidenced by an increase in nuisance algae growth in the aquarium."

After swapping to higher K bulbs my DT was back to normal (well sort of ).


Here is the link to the full article
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marcanopies.htm

Originally Posted by Myka

I have a cracked Remora Pro laying around that has a Mag 5 on it. I have been meaning to put it on my Remora, and haven't gotten around to it yet...but it's so big and ugly!!!

I actually siliconed my Mag 5 up and have it running the remora outside the tank. That way I don't have to see the ugly thing and it keeps the unwanted heat out of the tank. If you have space behind the tank, it might be worth looking into.

I agree with you on the hermits by the way. I'd only try them as a last resort too.

Good luck,

Kevin

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Okguy

Believe me I'm not exactly the one who follows the 'rules' when it comes to reef keeping. But when things start to go sideways I stray back more to the rules. After battling Algae in my tank, I came across this article Anthony Calfo.

"Most desirable aquatic plants, corals and algae fare best in light within the range of 6500 to 10,000 Kelvin. Undesirable algae and very shallow species are supported by warmer colors (below 6500K). Many lamps are known to stray toward this lower end of the Kelvin scale as they age, and may be evidenced by an increase in nuisance algae growth in the aquarium."

After swapping to higher K bulbs my DT was back to normal (well sort of ).


Here is the link to the full article
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marcanopies.htm




I actually siliconed my Mag 5 up and have it running the remora outside the tank. That way I don't have to see the ugly thing and it keeps the unwanted heat out of the tank. If you have space behind the tank, it might be worth looking into.

I agree with you on the hermits by the way. I'd only try them as a last resort too.

Good luck,

Kevin

Thanks for the link! I have known about the lower Kelvin increasing algaes, but I always figured I could work around it because my corals like the lower Kelvin. Time to throw in the towl on that one.

Good idea on the Mag 5. Got a pic? Did you just silicone some tubing or something?

[Okguy]

sorry no pic... I can try and get one when I get home, but I don't think it will show up very well. I just used the hosing you can buy for the Fluval 304. It fits on the the remora perfectly.

[Delphinus]

FWIW .. I am dealing with a TERRIBLE valonia infestation in my 20g right now. What seems to have stemmed the tide is an introduction of 3 or 4 emerald crabs and a green urchin. I have a green urchin in another tank and that tank is valonia free (although it has hermits so I wasn't 100% on whether it was urchin or combination urchin/hermits to thank for that).

Anyhow, about 6 weeks on, I'm noticing significantly less valonia. The bigger ones don't go away but I am able to remove those manually (or the urchin uses them to decorate himself).

I'm not 100% sure of the latin id on the urchin but this has been one of my favourite algae controlling purchases I've ever made (so much so that I now have 2. ). He does wonders for filamentous algae too. Not sure if he'd go after caulerpa too, but I should see if I can find a caulerpa infested rock that I could try an experiment on.

Anyhow since I can't give you an id to help you if you want to find one, here's a picture:


If you see one of these, try it. Only thing as a decorator urchin, be prepared to have to glue down EVERYTHING in your tank that you don't want rearranged. Zoanthid frags are a favourite...

PS. I'm also eating my words from the past that I've never had emerald crabs deal with valonia. I do have them now and they are indeed doing their job (I can see them). The problem is that one crab is probably only good for removing so many valonias in a time period .. and so if the valonia can replace themselves faster than the crab can eat them, you have a problem. With the case of my 20g, it seemed that I needed a good 3 or 4 before the tide was turned.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

FWIW .. I am dealing with a TERRIBLE valonia infestation in my 20g right now. What seems to have stemmed the tide is an introduction of 3 or 4 emerald crabs and a green urchin.

I am still battling hair algae and some pockets of valonia. The display portion of my tank is about 25G. I added one emerald crab about 4 weeks ago. He has doubled in size since then but I have not noticed him eating valonia yet, that was the job he was hired for. Maybe I will add another emerald crab.


But I do have two urchins who look like this:




They keep the algae to a minimum on the back side of the rocks but rarely come to the front where the algae is the worst. Maybe if they get hungry enough or I keep the lights off for a few days they will work on the front of the rocks.

I have peeled a few of the larger algae bubbles off by hand.

I am thinking of getting a sea hare to help out with the hair algae, I have read somewhere that some people have seen them eat valonia as well.

[Marlin65]

Your coraline will do better under the higher K as well.
I have algae (hair) in my main tank, but nothing in my fuge. (had to take all the algae eater out)
Same K bulbs but one is a DE and one is a SE. Par is much higher on the DE almost 3x so that can contribute as well. I have always found it strange that I don't have any algae under the SE bulb and so much under my DE at least it is just on my Koralines and frag rack.

[Keri]

I think magaritas are actually supposed to be kept in cooler temps so they don't live as long in our setups