Purple and green beard like stuff in my nano reef tank?!?

[marinebeginner]

Ok, all you smart people out there. I have found two patches of beard like stuff(that is about as technical a term as I can think of 8) ) growing in the 7gal. nano, I bought for my grandmother. She was not keeping up with topping off . The salt was 1.028, the ph 8.2. I don't have a kit for the alkalinity yet. So, wed. we got cyno-bacteria and more green hair algae. So, I topped off the water, added chemi-clean on wed. and did a 20% water change today. Well, today when I went over I noticed another patch of this beard or wirey like stuff in green. I had seen some of it on Wed. but it is deep purple color. At first I thought is was hair algae( the green one), but when I tried to pull it out, it was wire like and broke in tiny peices. The roots I couldn't get off and most of the wires or bristle things are still there.

The zena( I think, light barely pink almost nude color soft coral, that looks like a little tree), is looking a little weak. I think the tank might need more circulation, however it already has one power head and it is only 7gal ! Maybe, everything is just recovering from the salt fluctuation. When I left today, after the water change, it was at 1.024. I didn't want to change it to fast, but didn't want to leave with it so high either.

My grandmother will now top off the water everyday when she feeds the fish with some containers I left for her. I just left RO h2o w/ a little buffer in it. The buffer contains trace minerals and Ca+. Is that enough Ca+ for the 3 corals? Should I add Ca+ for the corals? I was nervous about adding Ca+ in such a little tank. The directions read 1tsp for 60gal!! So, I just left the buffer!

Thank you, in advance for all the help I always get on this web site!

[GaryP]

The wirey stuff sounds like bryopsis, but I'm having a hard time with your description of it being purple. I'm wondering if you have a lot of actinic lighting and it just looks purple. Bryopsis is a green algae. Not a problem unless it goes crazy on you, but it is more than capable of doing that. Its overtaking one of our members tank right now and choking out corals. It is very difficult to control.

The Xenia are probably in shock be cause of all the things you have done to the tank. I would just watch them and see how they do. How much light do you have in your tank? Xenia are primarily photosyntheic and don't really feed like some other corals.

As for adding calcium for your corals that would depend on what corals you have. Fish also need calcium. It serves as a feeeding stimulant.

I think you are confusing some terms here. I doubt that your "buffer" contains calcium. Buffer and Calcium Additives are sold as a two part product, such as B-Ionic. Here's the rule of thumb, never add something that you can't test for. I would suggest you invest in a calcium test kit before starting a supplement program for calcium. Chances are that your tank will need a buffer (alkalinity) supplement more than calcium. Also, be careful of those "trace elements" they have a tendency to build up to toxic levels, especially in a nano. I would never suggest going blindly along, only basing your program on the suggestions on a product label. No two tanks are alike and no two tanks have the same demand for supplements.

The thing about a nano is that they require weekly water changes because of their small volume and limited filtration. A Nano should require very little in the way of supplements because of this regular water change schedule unless you have some fast growing hard corals. Few off the shelf nanos are designed for hard corals, mostly fish, a few inverts, and some soft corals with low light needs such as some mushrooms.

In general I would rarely suggest a nano to a new reefer. They may seem simple, but as you are finding out, they are in reality more complicated to maintain than a much larger tank.

HTH,
Gary

[Instar]

I don't beleive there could be a case where anyone would convince me to add anything like trace elements or any buffer/calcium to a nano. Its too easy to mess it up royally and much too easy just to keep the balance with small water changes. Trace element historically have also included things that would harm a nano sized tank because they are in too high a concetration to still be considered traces. 1.028 is really not a big deal at all. Its the fast change that hurts. Last shipment of hundreds of animals I got from one collector was at 1.029 and they were all fine in that.

[marinebeginner]

Thank you, guys!! Ok, I am not really going off labels. I bought the nano already established from a very successful reefer, who promised I should be able to keep this going with little trouble. I think the most trouble I have had is when I go into the fish store and they start telling me all these things I ought to be doing!! Anyway, the regimen he gave me was: water change every two weeks, with a tad of Ca+ added to that, daily feeding and occaisional water top offs with RO water mixed with drops that remove chlorine in the Ro water. When I went to buy the RO water the fish store said NO you don't need to add those drops you need to add this buffer! The "buffer" supposedly raises Ph because the ph in RO water is so low. On the back of the " buffer" bottle it says this is a safe product that will not raise your ph over 8.3 even if you add too much! Then it says it is made up of trace minerals and Ca+. So, after reading the Ca+ bottle's direction and that I was afraid to add the Ca+!! Plus, the previous owner kept a little white block that releases trace minerals. I still have that in there. The only change we made is when he moved the tank to my Grandmother's he added a more powerful light in a retro kit that he had bought and another clown and cleaner shrimp. So, the inhabitants are : 3 soft corals (unknown names), a patch of green mushrooms, a tomato clown, a "Nemo" clown, cleaner shrimp, snails and 2 hermit crabs. Everyone, looks great!
Anyway, this is my first tank and it is harder, because I am trying to do it from across town! My grandmother is really smart though. Anyway, after we get a routine going I think we will be alright!
I just found all these new things and haven't known what to do. I know some new things might come up from the new light. I should probably just do what the other guy did. I am so releived about the salt! I thought it absolutely had to be 1.020

[GaryP]

I try to keep my salinity in the 1.025-1.026 range.

My best advice, unless you are really sure of who you are talking to at an LFS don't listen. There are only about 3 LFS guys I would trust in SA.
Remember that their idea of solving a problem is often to sell you something. Sometimes the best solution is to do nothing. I would stop using the blocks by the way and just go with weekly water changes.

An RO unit takes out the chlorine. You don't need to add dechlor drops. It won't hurt anything, but it doesn't help either.

I'm surprised that you able to keep a Tomato and an oscellaris together in the same tank. Tomatos are very aggressive and will usually kill any other clowns, especially in a small tank.

Gary

[marinebeginner]

THANK YOU!!!! Interesting that you say that about the clowns because, again everyone at the LFS said Oh they will be fine! However, they fought quite a bit at first and the tomato clown still trys to chase the Nemo. My grandmother sits at the tank and plays referee! Now the tomato clown doesn't hurt him at all and even when he goes to chase he looks to see if my grandmother is there!! All she does is put the green net by the tank and I guess he knows it is to catch fish! You know what else is crazy, you probably won't believe me, but the cleaner shrimp will also referee!!! He grabs the clown when he comes and chases Nemo! We think they are buds because we put them in together! Being in constant pain, the tank has been a wonderful distraction for my grandmother! She loves playing referee! She talks like they are her kids fussing!

[JimD]

The algae you decsribed sounds more like turf algae, brillo algae or velcro like algae. It can be a real pain! Do a google search or search RC for a pic, If thats it, we'll go from there. lol, Tell gramma we at MAAST wish her a merry Christmas! :-)

[GaryP]

What LFS are you going to? I might want to suggest a new one.

Gary

[marinebeginner]

OK, I COULDN'T FIND PICS OF THE ALGAE, BUT IT IS GETTING WORSE AND SOUNDS LIKE TURF ALGAE AND CYNOBACTERIA AND SOME UNIDENTIFIEDS. LIKE A GREEN RUBBER LOOKING PLANT THAT IS SMOOTH AND LOOKS ALMOST LIKE IT IS BLOWN UP. GOOD OR BAD?

THE TOMATO CLOWN IS TERRORIZING THE "NEMO" CLOWN SO NOW NEMO IS GOING TO HAVE TO GET A NEW HOME. ANYONE WANT HIM? YOU CAN HAVE HIM FOR SOME FREE ADVICE AND A LOOK AT OUR TANK! MY GRANDMOTHER HAS BEEN GREAT ABOUT KEEPING THE WATER LEVEL UP AND I HAVE DONE WATER CHANGES. I MAY HAVE TO TAKE THE TANK FROM HER AND THAT WOULD BE SAD :( I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO.

AS OF TODAY, EVERYONE LOOKS HEALTHY AND IS ALIVE. I AM JUST AFRAID THE ALGAE WILL TAKE OVER AND USE UP ALL THE NUTRIENTS THAT THE CORAL NEED.

[RobertG]

OK, I COULDN'T FIND PICS OF THE ALGAE, BUT IT IS GETTING WORSE AND SOUNDS LIKE TURF ALGAE AND CYNOBACTERIA AND SOME UNIDENTIFIEDS. LIKE A GREEN RUBBER LOOKING PLANT THAT IS SMOOTH AND LOOKS ALMOST LIKE IT IS BLOWN UP. GOOD OR BAD?

THE TOMATO CLOWN IS TERRORIZING THE "NEMO" CLOWN SO NOW NEMO IS GOING TO HAVE TO GET A NEW HOME. ANYONE WANT HIM? YOU CAN HAVE HIM FOR SOME FREE ADVICE AND A LOOK AT OUR TANK! MY GRANDMOTHER HAS BEEN GREAT ABOUT KEEPING THE WATER LEVEL UP AND I HAVE DONE WATER CHANGES. I MAY HAVE TO TAKE THE TANK FROM HER AND THAT WOULD BE SAD :( I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO.

AS OF TODAY, EVERYONE LOOKS HEALTHY AND IS ALIVE. I AM JUST AFRAID THE ALGAE WILL TAKE OVER AND USE UP ALL THE NUTRIENTS THAT THE CORAL NEED.

Whats up with the all caps? It hurts the eyes, & seems like your yelling at us.

Good Luck with the algae.

[JimD]

Ok, Ill do a little groundwork for you, spend some time here; www.saltcorner.com/sections/guest/algaepage/algaepage.htm See if you can find something similar to what you have. Make sure you look at all the photos, theres quite a few so be patient.

[marinebeginner]

Bryopsis plumosa
Valonia utricularis 2
These are the only two that look similiar.
I did a 25% water change, scooped out a bunch of algae and rearranged the live rock! I also, gave the tomato clown to petland. I will see if it makes a difference. The cyno bacteria was back. Also, our cleaner shrimp literally disappeared!!

[C.Mydas]

You might consider cleaning up the bad algaes and then putting in some good algaes. The 'good algaes' would use the nutrients your bad ones are using and hopefully limit their growth. I recommend lettuce algae, and my personal favorite red grape sea kelp. Don't let anyone talk you into any of the caulerpa's they are extremely invasive and will cause a lot of problems for you. (You have to keep them trimmed so they don't go Asexual and cloud up your tank, I've got some in my nano and it takes trimming ever day).

Also make sure your Grandma isn't overfeeding, the decaying extra food will create problems with your water chemistry....leading to algae among other things.

Good luck.