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11-24-2004, 06:24 PM
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#1 (permalink)
| | Spaghetti Worm
Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Denver, CO,Colorado
Posts: 178
Karma: 10
 |  Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
Hey all, I've got quite the algae going on in my tank right now - my substrate is brown, my rocks are brown, I've got some green hair algae in a few spots and on the rocks and even a bit of red "slime" algae (it looks like at least). I had a bout with my nitrates not too long ago and I'm wondering if all this might be because of that (the algae feeding off the nitrates). My nitrate levels have gone down (holding around the 20 ppm range now), but I still have lots of algae. My tank is still fairly new (like 3 months old - cycled after about 2). Could this still be the "normal algae cycle"? Should I be worried about it? Thought about buying a lawnmower blenny to try and combat it, but not sure if that's enough of if I should worry about it. Thoughts?
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55 gal glass tank, 2 power heads, wet/dry filter, protein skimmer, 50 lbs live rock, pair of tomato clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 coral beauty angel, 1 six line wrasse, 1 peppermint shrimp, 1 skunk cleaner shrimp, 12 assorted snails (astrea/turbo), 15 assorted hermit crabs, green bubble tip anemone, red mushrooms, yellow polyps, 1 green leather, green star polyps, yellow toadstool | 
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11-24-2004, 06:39 PM
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#2 (permalink)
| | Spaghetti Worm
Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Denver, CO,Colorado
Posts: 178
Karma: 10
| Re: Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
Pictures | |
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11-24-2004, 06:43 PM
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#3 (permalink)
| | Spaghetti Worm
Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Denver, CO,Colorado
Posts: 178
Karma: 10
| Re: Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
and another pic:
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11-24-2004, 06:52 PM
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#4 (permalink)
| | 3reef Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Melbourne, VIC,Victoria
Posts: 2,261
| Re: Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
OK,
Here come Mr Unpopular :-)
IMHO, you are still in the initial algae cycle and you can expect some more for sure. I certainly would not buy a lawnmower blenny just for the sake of the algae. If you like to fish then get it for that reason, buying a fish to rid yourself of a temporary problem can only lead to disappointment.
Right now, I would be using a turkey baster to move the sand around a little and get that algae into the water column where it can be skimmed out, either that or just remove it some other way. Also get a toothbrush, or something similar and go around the rocks and loosen any hair algae. This is what I have been doing with my tank ( 3 months old ) and ALL the hair algae is GONE ( I'm posting some pics tonight to update the original thread ).
Good luck and keep at it as eventually ( or sooner ) it will disappear :-)
John
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Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so...Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it! | |
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11-24-2004, 06:52 PM
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#5 (permalink)
| | Gigas Clam
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 853
Karma: 122
| Re: Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
How deep is your sand? Is it deep enough? It needs to be 4 inches or more to work properly. I think the algae you are having is perfectly normal with the age of your tank. Do you have a refugium? With this the algae in the refugium will use up all the nutrients in your water before the algae in your main tank can use the nutrients to grow. I think that the red slime algae is pretty normal stuff for a new tank. But the experts here may disagree. I am about 6 or 7 months into mine and am battling the algae big-time.
Jay
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60 Gal Acrylic, 30 Gal Acrylic, 55 Gal Glass.
Remora skimmers, 440 Watts VHO URI's. Mag canister for carbon. 90 Pounds liverock, 100 pounds live sand DSB, Flame Angel, Coral Beauty, Clown Percula, Royal Gramma, Domino Damsel. Pulsing Xenia, Devils Hand Leather, Frogspawns, Torches, Hammers, Fox Corals, Gorgonias, Various Zoanuthus, Favietes, Toxic Green Star Polyps. Candy Cane corals, Purple Indica. | |
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11-24-2004, 06:56 PM
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#7 (permalink)
| | Gigas Clam
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 853
Karma: 122
| Re: Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
JohnO:
Why are you MR Unpopular?  | |
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11-24-2004, 07:11 PM
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#8 (permalink)
| | 3reef Moderator
Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Melbourne, VIC,Victoria
Posts: 2,261
| Re: Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
Jay,
Inside joke, if I told ya we would have to kill ya :-)
John | |
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11-24-2004, 07:32 PM
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#9 (permalink)
| | Gigas Clam
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 853
Karma: 122
| Re: Which came first the nitrate or the algae?
See everyone after Sunday. Leaving on good old Amtrak at 5:50AM to Vancouver WA for the holiday.
Have a great holiday and God Bless!
Jay
gotta get up at 3:30.....YIKES I better crash | |
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