Alage,alage,alage HELP

[nano-man]

So now that i've just bought a emerald crab "she's doing great" and eating the red hair alage and other stuff. How's a guy to get rid of the red grape/bubble type,and the brown stuff?

[DanG]

emerald crabs should also go after bubble algae.

[nano-man]

Thanks,for the reasurance.Still what about the stuff man???! I've added carbon to the filter,looking GOOD But the brown

[WWWD]

Thanks,for the reasurance.Still what about the stuff man???! I've added carbon to the filter,looking GOOD But the brown

the brown stuff sounds like diatoms, they are common when setting up a new tank. they will go away with time, make sure you ro/di water for your makeup.

[nano-man]

Thanks, for the info sorry for the late reply. Work'in and no play'in. By the way how long could this take?

[defiant1]

remove the phosphates and the algae will disappear

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Some forms of algae, such as dinos, are not eatten by critters that we can purchase. So, you may have to siphon the algae away. Algae thrive on nitrates and phosphates. They use them as food. By reducing (to very low levels) or eliminately both, the algae will naturally die and skimmed away.

- Victor.

[nano-man]

So,you say get rid of the phsofate and nitrate .........and then? ....I follow the yellow brick road? Where do the phos come from ?,I know the nitrates more than likely from over feeding.

[DanG]

What kind of water do you use?

[reeferaddict]

Phosphates AND nitrates come from everything we put in our tanks, starting with make up water. Tap water can contain both, the food we feed our fish & corals will contain phosphates, and the dying and decay of food and organisms is another source. Try feeding less, using RO/DI water, and use Kalk for a calcium supplement as it precipitates phosphates. Heavy skimming will reduce dissolved organic compounds, (DOC), and therefore reduce both as well... hope this helps. :biggrin:

Oh ya... be patient... remove as much as you can harvest by hand, siphoning etc... if your lights are old and shifted in spectrum that can cause a bloom as well... also algae doesn't like to grow in areas of high flow... there's really no "one" answer... it's a combination of conditions...

[reefburnaby]

Hi Nano-man,

Nitrates and phosphates are a fact of life in reefs. Phosphates usually come from food and our replacement water. Nitrates are usually byproducts from fish waste and uneatten food.

So...its a given that we have nitrates and phosphates in our tanks. The goal is how do we remove it? Well...algae does a great job, but nobody wants an algae reef tank. That's why we have skimmers, refugiums, activate carbon, DSBs, denitrifiers and water changes. Their purpose is to remove these waste products from our tanks.

Is this for your 8 gallon tank?

- Victor.

[nano-man]

Thanks for all the info, It's a 2gal tank and pushing the limits on live stock,(the kids Love nemo..... :smile: o'yah and the crabs too)Well it seems that (am I going to jinks myself??)the brown's down I repeat the brown's down. It's only taken 6ish months. Less food I think the bigest problem is that indirect sun light (diffrent spectrume) and the water,I read somewhere that most water has some kind of alge .Some other info that was given to me was that keep using the moutain spring water.It was ozonated. Now I use distilled with supplements. The 1gal has'nt seen any brown.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

2 gallon -- since your tank is so small, the best way to export nitrates, nutrients and phosphates is with water changes. The best way to fix it is to get some better quality water and do a couple of 25% to 50% water changes. Distilled water isn't good enough. You'll need RO or RO/DI water (reverse osmosis). You can usually buy those at a local super market. I am not sure where you live, but we can usually get RO water from superstore, save-on-foods and safeway.

The indirect sunlight isn't as bad as one might think. It just makes problems show up faster.

Be sure to get a quality test kit for nitrates (hagen ones don't work) so that you can monitor your levels and ensure that algae doesn't have food to grow.

- Victor.