Contamination Via Used Equipment

[AJ_77]

If I bought a powerhead from someone who had hair algae problems, would I necessarily be bringing home his problem?

The powerhead in question was out of water for a number (?) of days. I saw the coraline on it and thought it may seed my new tank, right? Every little bit helps...

But this greenish fuzz developed instead in a day so I yanked the PH back out, scrubbed it off and threw it in the garage.

Could it seed my tank in an unwanted fashion?

AJ

[Canadian Man]

Alan
I dont know a whole lot about algae except it is a extremely durable species of Plant?(correct term)
Anyway it may contribute if there is leftovers that are dried on. i know you can purchase dry moss, sprinkle it on damp soil and you have a new bed of moss in time.

[MitchM]

Alan,
Just as a regular maintenance procedure, you should scrub the heck out of the powerhead while it is out of the water. If you want corralline, I've got tons and we can scrape as much as you want off my 180g on Saturday. - OR we can swap similar sizes of LR, too.

Mitch

[Delphinus]

Hair algae is going to find its way into your tank one way or the other. I probably would clean the powerhead a little, but I wouldn't be freaked out if any hair algae makes its way into the tank ... Personally if my tanks were so sterile such that the algae spores aren't there, I'd be suprised if anything could live (like you said: "Biodiversity now!" :D ) ... I'd rather just have conditions that don't promote the excessive growth of the nuisance algaes. But a little bit here or there doesn't bother me (maybe I'm weird?)

I dunno .. does any of this make any sense? I guess what I'm saying is clean it off a little but don't sweat the hair algae. If you're tank is ripe for it, it will grow anyways. If your tank isn't ripe for it then it's not going to do anything.

I don't think I've cleaned the outside of my powerheads in years. Once in a while I'll clean out the strainer, the impeller housing and the impeller itself and such ... but the outside I leave as-is. I have one powerhead that has been running for 4 years now (except for power failures and cleaning and etc.), and it is so encrusted with stuff that it literally looks like a chunk of liverock that spits out water. But it works fine ... I get a kick out of my pink/purple powerhead actually ... :D

Now, there are other things though. If a person had an ick problem for example ... I'd not throw that powerhead into a tank with ick-prone fish like tangs ... or if there were .. I dunno .. those mutant mushrooms or aiptasia or other pesty things (flatworms?) then yeah, give that thing a good scrubbing.

Unfortunately, your tank is new. You're going to have a hair algae bloom, and a cyano bloom, and other stuff ... unfortunately it's all part of the natural tank maturing process! Anything goes before the six-month mark. After six months and anything like that is tank-management ... but before that, it's nothing personal, it's all just part of the path towards equilibrium...

Jeepers I go on, don't I? Babble babble babble ... does any of this help? Probably not... Sorry.

[ 26 April 2002, 09:44: Message edited by: delphinus ]

[AJ_77]

Thanks Mitch, the coraline offer sounds good, but I would be ripping you off to trade you for my rock. It's ex-live Caribbean rock that is needing some seeding. Nice reef rock, sure, but not "live" in the same sense as yours.

I'm not saying I would refuse a trade ;) , but it wouldn't seem fair.

My tank is less than a month old. Used a DSB from another tear-down, so the sand bed is OK, and hopefully seeding the LR.

AJ

[Dez]

Alan....

When I brought back my 6" clam and other corals and rock from Calgary, the person that owned it before had a ton of hair algae all over her rock and corals and I wasn't sure if some of the corals were going to make it because it was overridden with hair algae...she had a little bit of desireable algae (bristle)... But I put it in my tank anyway and my lightiing isn't the greatest...I think it's like 4000k 400 watt metal halide with actinics, but I used a gel to boost the colour temperature. I was worried that the hair algae would grow like crazy. I physically ripped out as much as I could but it was impossible. But within a week, all the hair algae was gone (from my tang and clean up crew - snails and crabs)...they all jumped on the new rock right away and took care of it. So I wouldn't worry about a bit of hair algae on the PH. Hope this input helps..

des

[Delphinus]

Also .. coraline will grow as long as you have good Ca and Alk values. Ok, so it won't unless you have some to begin with, but any chunk of live rock, or shells or CC (or a PH ;) ) or anything that has it on it will seed your tank.

So don't toss out that PH. If nothing else use it to mix SW (or ... I'll take it off your hands if you really wanna throw it out? ;) )

cheers

[AJ_77]

Thanks for the input, guys! No, I won't toss it, it's going back in the tank to keep some flow along the back wall and through a stand of rock. Might try the rubber snake/tubing thing, who knows? ;)

Your positive experiences are reassuring. And Tony - I enjoy reading your babble. Most helpful indeed. smile.gif

Alan

[ 26 April 2002, 09:58: Message edited by: AJ_77 ]

[Delphinus]

OMG -- I just noticed I said "If YOU'RE tank is ... " :eek: :eek: :eek:

What was I thinking! I am now a grammar fugitive!

;)

[Delphinus]

Hmmm. Pesty ... Pesky ... yeah you could be correct. Or .. maybe I just coined a new term! Yeah, that's it! :D

[Bob I]

Well Tony although your spelling is usually impeccable, I am not sure about the PESTY thing. I usually say PESKY, but it is possible I am wrong. I am an immigrant after all. :D