orange algae

ive got a 55L tank , i dunno how many gallons that is??
ive nearly completed the nitrite cycle , i had 2 blue chromis , but one died ( bullied to death and a few other little things) but on my live rock some sort of orange algae has formed , it its covering some of the other stuff growin on it aswell
the main thing thats got me a bit worried is that its turnin my gravel an orangey brown colour , makin it look kinda burnt.
any advice or info would be great
thanx

 

Re:  orange algae

if your near the end of your cycle it could be your diatom alge starting every tank will go through this. it actually takes about 6 mths for a tank to mature and it will go through several different things to get there and alge stages are one of them. you have to go through the bad to get to the good thats why patience is needed in this hobby. the diatom is brown and can have a orange tint to it so thats probably what u got.

here is an alge control page to check out
http://www.reeftank.com/html/reeftank_algae_control.html

and heres a fairly good pic of how it covers everything
http://www.geocities.com/roundbayreef/reefday6_1.jpg]

it only takes a few minits to become a member go ahead and join up :thumbsup1: ;D :thumbsup1:

 

Re:  orange algae

thanx heaps
im takin my water to get tested at my local aquarium on the weekend, to c if ive fully completed the cycle , any suggestions for nice lookin fish that dont cost to much an wont die suddenly , lol , ill probly get another chromis to go with my existing one , but any other suggestions ?? i like royal grammas they look cool , they easy to keep ?

 

Re:  orange algae

yes get another chromis they do not do well singuly. royal grammas are nice but keep 1/tank. for other fish that arnt to much money get a pair of percs, just about any type of gobi, or pair of gobies, firefish, cardinals, some blennys. all are good hardy fish and not to bad on the wallet

 

Re:  orange algae

i ended up gettin a clownfish
hes pretty cool
for the first day the chromis went nuts , kept pickin on him , an cornerin him , the chromis still gets aggresive , but not as much anymore
should i b worried bout that ??
my tank is 3 ft long an bout bout a ft n a half by a foot n a half , how many fish u reckon i could have ?

 

Re:  orange algae

That sounds like a 40 breeder tank. You could keep 4-6 fish in there if you have good filtration.

I think Karla's reccomendations are right on. I would probably get a royal gramma and a few chromis' and a goby or blenny.

I wouldn't worry about the fighting. The chromis should mellow out, especially if you get more chromis'.

Obviously don't buy them all at once. Spread them out over time to let your tank catch up. :thumbsup2:

 

Re:  orange algae

Royal Grammas can be kept in groups(IMO), but in a 40g I'd stick with 1. I've had 4 in a 100g w/ zero problems and the same with 3 in my 55g. They aren't as aggressive as people seem to think. They(both tanks housing multiples) were more concerned with the algae blenny than each other. They do require many overhangs, caves and holes to hide in. I had 1 create a "nest" out of various macro's he harvested through out the tank. He or she did daily maintance on it, and defended it to the death (against hermits, snails, crabs and algea blenny). It never came had a partner, it just liked to have something to do, I guess.

 

Re:  orange algae

thanx for the advice
i have to get some more lr b4 i do anything else
is it ok to put a whole heap in at once ? it wont affect the ph or anything like that will it ?? the only prob with lr is it costs a fucken shitload an stinx aswell, bout $20 a kg and makes me room stink for about a week afterwards like a sewrage plant , lol , the gf dont like it to much,lol

 

Re:  orange algae

stranz

i wouldnt worry about your chromis being aggressive to long. i didnt take notice before u said you had a blue chromis they can be a bit more pushy than the greens but it should back off. fish that are in the tank first seem to have to show that its there tank. when i put my pair of clowns in the female was super nasty i thought id have to take them back it lasted about a week now shes the calmest thing in there. she nipped and chased every other fish i had. and when i added my last few fish my tang took over as the boss and chased them for about 3 days then backed off. also adding another chromis may help they will stick together like glue and pay more attention to each other then the other fish. this is how my 1st pair of greens are never seperated.

as Gresham mentioned the alge blennys or lawnmowers are very cool fish and do well as a single. you may have to add to there diet i had to with mine. when the alge he was eatin started to dwindle he started gettin skinny. but i tried dried nori and alge disc and he took right to them and fattened up again. a lot of times they need supplimnets for there diet not just the alge in the tank alone. but very cool fish

thegrasshopper do u have any fish in your tank? if so DONT put your new rock in the tank. get a plastic container from walmart like tupperware and cure your rock seperatly in that. if you dont have livestock then you can put it in the tank it will cause a huge ammonia spike so if you got fish use the plastic container idea. then which ever you put your rock in test the ammonia and nitrites until there gone then its safe to continue with your tank

 

Re:  orange algae

im the same person-grasshopper\stranz , i jus became a memeber thats all.
the live rock i buy is already a special tank at the local aquarium. does that still mean i have to cure it seperatly in the tuppaware containers ???? i think it may already be cured.

my clown an chromis get along nicely now . i freaked out a bit wen they first started fighting , so i jus recaptured the clown an left him in the bag in the tank for awhile , the chromis was very curious an soon lost interest.