Algae Control

[mwechsler]

Hey- Looking to control Cyanobacteria/red slime algae growth in my 46 gallon bowfront FOWLR. I have been using Chemi-clean once a month before I do a water change, but the red slime comes back within 1 week after I dose. I don't want to do more frequent water changes than once a month.

Does anyone have any advice on how to control cyano other than by using Chemi-Clean. I also don't have a skimmer on my tank. I'm using 2 Emperor 280s and 1 marineland Powerhead for filtration and circulation.

I change the carbon pads once a month, and rinse them well once a week with a high pressure garden hose to keep them clean.

Also, I only feed my fish every-other day and supplement with Nori.
Thanks,
Mike

[mwechsler]

I'm using RO water - Ozarka brand bought from HEB that specifies on the label that it is filtered using reverse osmosis. Maybe there are other minerals in the Ozarka water that may be causing excess algal growth?

[mwechsler]

Sure thing...

SPG=1.0022
PH=8.3
Temp=78
45 lbs of live rock
1 medium blue tang
1 medium foxface
1 large bi-color dwarf angel
2 true percs
1 firefish
Treat with 1 capful of Kent Liquid Reactor Mon, Wd, and Fri. Only
Treat with 1 capful of Kent Coral Vite once a week on Sunday's

Feed 1 cube of either Misys, Formula Two, and Blood Worms (alternating on every other day)
Feed 1 3x3 inch piece of Nori broken up into pieces every day

The cyano just covers sections of the sand bed, which is about 2-3" of live sand.

[mwechsler]

Oceanic 46 gallon bowfront. Set up for 7 months.

[mwechsler]

No, I don't.

Can you recommend a decent but cheap hang on back skimmer (brand/model, etc?) I hardly have any real estate on the back of my tank, and would prefer not to set up a sump. Thanks.

[robertpower3]

I personally don't use filter pads but if I did I certainly would not rinse them with tap water. Use your r.o. water to rinse them. I would also add a few more power heads or maybe a closed loop to increase circulation. Alos a skimmer would be good idea since you have quite a few fish.

[mwechsler]

Good advice Robert. I like the idea of getting another power head. As for getting a skimmer, I was told by my LFS that I really don't need one, which seems to be very controversial and contrary to most folks' opinion. The opinion against using a skimmer is based on the fact that skimmers remove both the bad and the good nutrients.

[TAXMAN]

Joshua. Im gonna bring some of my water to the meeting if you dont mind. So we can test it. My R/O was messing up so I just ran it throught the sediment, Ammonia and D/I for the original fill. Now I am topping of with R/O. I jsut want to see that it's working well or not. :)

[Pizazz]

I had a cyano problem and was getting ready to use chemi clean, but siphoned out what I could and fortified my clean-up crew. I had a sandsifting star in there, but it has seemed on the slacker side. I moved one from another tank, added some nacarius snails, a large orange sandsifting snail, a few fighting conches ... tank seems happier and cyano is gone. I would also recommend a good skimmer.

I also added some GARF Hermit Crabs but know this may be a little controversial. They are suppose to be controlling hair algae - not resolved yet, but have been life savers with other types of algae.

[matt]

Skimmer=good
LFS advice to not use one=bad

I think Josh has given you great advice on this. You can also check out Ron Shimek's column on reefcentral; there are a few posts in which he discusses cyano at length. Basically, you should do as many of the following things as possible:

1. Check top off water quality as Josh said, make sure TDS is low, like 10ppm
2. Try to grow macroalgae in a refugium
3. Develop a functioning deep sand bed filled with live critters that will process the waste in your tank; this means not having any significant sand bed predators like large hermits, sifting stars and gobies, etc.
4. Use a good skimmer. At a miminum I'd think about either the remora pro or the prizm pro; there may be other hang-on skimmers comparable. Anything smaller probably won't really work. Much better would be to have a decent size sump skimmer; this would also allow you to set up the refugium. If you're a DIY kind of guy, you can build a humongous airstone skimmer that will really clean up your water, but drive you crazy unless you can figure out a way to get quiet air flow into it.

It is possible to sustain a tank without a skimmer, but usually the people that succeed at that have other nutrient export systems at work, and a reef tank with a complimentary bio-diversity that allows for food/waste processing at a variety of levels. Even with all that, it's more demanding to balance a tank without a skimmer.

Good luck!

[Instar]

I would knock off the blood worms and go to frozen brine shrimp. Blood worms, mysis and formula 2 are all very rich foods. The fish can use some of whats in the brine and its not so rich in nutrients. Also, don't shred the nori, attach it to a rock or clip in one piece. That way little pieces are less likely to get stuck behind a rock and not get eaten. You could use some critters in there for clean up. Little mexican blue legged hermits will really consume cyano. Reeftopia has them for a good price. I have tanks full of goldstripped maroons at the rate of 1 fish per gallon without skimmers and with only 10 very small astrea snails and no cyano so I will have to agree with your LFS on the skimmer. But, perhaps my O2 level is higher than yours. Good R/O water, good brand of salt and R/O for top off water should not create excessive algae. Its been reported that the bottled water from HEB is high on TDS. Are you sure the Ozarka is R/O? Double distilled isn't good. It will be interesting to see what that bottle tests out on Saturday.

BTW, sand sifting stars will not hurt the sand bed. They consume algae and detritus by ejecting their stomach linings and then absorbing nutrients. That method is too slow to catch any of the fauna in there. When they are moving, they aren't feeding.

[Instar]

I just realized that you said you feed your fish every other day. They are starving unless your tank grows a lot of things for them to eat. Feed them frozen brine on the off days, preferably 2x a day. Coral fish don't have digestive systems like a snake. If you have an off the shelf lighting and hood system with a box filter, and live rock, you got nutrients, not enough circulation and poor light quality. Perfect for growing cyano. A 7 month old tank is still in the algae blooming cycles anyway. You may be able to get rid of the cyano for a little while, but, live rock, live sand are part of a bigger picture that goes with refugiums, custom lighting, skimmers and all kinds of cleanup critters.