Algae removal

Discussion in 'Algae' started by oldfishkeeper, Aug 1, 2015.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

Do you have to scrub your rocks?

  1. Yes

    2 vote(s)
    28.6%
  2. No

    5 vote(s)
    71.4%
  1. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2012
    Messages:
    7,660
    Location:
    Cincinnati
    I'm just curious how many of us need to do this? If so, what do you use? and if not, what do you attribute this success to?
     
  2. Click Here!

  3. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

    Joined:
    May 28, 2011
    Messages:
    4,874
    Location:
    USA
    To be honest Mindy, even when I had an algae "problem", I refused to scrub my rocks. The real problem here is the mentality that algae is bad- it is not. It feeds on the excess nutrients that would otherwise cause serious water quality issues, and it provides a food source for your herbivores/omnivores and CuC. If you have excess microalgae growth, then you have a nutrient export problem that needs to be addressed properly for long-term success. I've seen many tanks crash after the aquarist scrubbed their rocks to remove algae...
     
    Swisswiss and Vinnyboombatz like this.
  4. Vinnyboombatz

    Vinnyboombatz Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2010
    Messages:
    6,344
    Location:
    Dunnellon, Florida
    Mr. B is very wise. I do however like to gently blow (syringe) detritus build up off the rocks from time to time.
     
    Mr. Bill likes this.
  5. Va Reef

    Va Reef Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2010
    Messages:
    3,627
    Location:
    Chesapeake, Va
    Yeah I always tell people, algae isn't necessarily bad, as long as you eliminate the cause of the algae, it'll eventually go away on its own, while safely eliminating the nutrients fueling its growth.

    The only algae I would actively remove would be bubble algae, I hear that stuff is nasty.
     
    mdbostwick and Mr. Bill like this.
  6. Mr. Bill

    Mr. Bill Native Floridian

    Joined:
    May 28, 2011
    Messages:
    4,874
    Location:
    USA
    Yes, this, as well as lightly vacuuming the surface of your sand and rocks while removing water for a water change will help greatly with nutrient control. :)
     
  7. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Messages:
    3,817
    Location:
    Cocoa, Florida
    I run bio pellets, GFO and carbon. About every 5 months I give the rocks a good scrub that have coral growing on them.
     
  8. Click Here!

  9. zesty

    zesty Sailfin Tang

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2013
    Messages:
    1,715
    Location:
    Greenfield, WI
    this... it's what I don't want to hear, but it's the (hang your head) truth. haha! I'm dealing with a little cyano. I knew I was adding more nutrients, I had done more aggressive water changes, but I also recently threw on some GFO.

    That being said, if you have some rocks that you can grab and scrub. I'd do that at water change time and then fight it both ways! :D

    You could always up your CUC, just don't want to add too much and then it/them starve after eating everything (so to speak).

    Hope you get some headway! :)
     
  10. Corailline

    Corailline Super Moderator

    Joined:
    Sep 8, 2010
    Messages:
    19,652
    Location:
    It is a dry heat, yeah right !
    Nope, it's really not effective in the long run. That intervention is too invasive for me.

    Chitons, urchins, snails, abalone, some hermits....Control of nutrients, phosban, phosgard...lower bioload.
     
  11. AnotherMike

    AnotherMike Fire Worm

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2015
    Messages:
    171
    Location:
    Massachusetts
    I've actually never had typical algae problems, but I have had some doozys. First I had bryopsis break out in my frag tank. That I treated with tek M and very careful Manual removal. I was very pleased that I was able to control it very very quickly. Second I had (have) lobophora (Google that one). Bryopsis made me nervous, lobo terrified me...and still does. Manual is not an option and To date the only thing that has worked on it was a blonde naso tang. He was able to control it, but not eliminate it. Sadly, my other tangs harassed him to his demise and the lobo is spreading again. . The scary thing with lobo is it will grow on top of my acros and kill them.

    Cyano is the only thing I would actively remove from my tank and rocks. I've had that in the past and I would use a turkey Baster to blast it then suck it out. Otherwise, I look to the root of the issue and address it.