Fighting the nasty neon green slime....

[Mr Cob]

So, I have decreased feeding....purchased some more turbo snails and recently decided to try something new: DSB.

So, I'm slowly adding 80 pounds of new sand over the next month. Tonight I added 20 pounds to the front left side. Next week I will add 20 pounds to the front right and so forth until all 80 pounds has been added. I'm hoping this will increase my filtration and aide in combating this stuff.

I also have some cleanup crew to assist on it's way.

You can see the new sand on the left side and what it looked like before on the right side.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2747/4516282861_980bc09d16.jpg

I really like the look of a DSB:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4070/4516286925_f69af14fe8.jpg

Another shot...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2705/4516925770_b3355b2537.jpg

[StevenSeas]

is it the green strain of cyano bacteria? If so then fighting conches will eat cyano

[Mr Cob]

yep (you can see it in the last shot of the acans....just look above them a bit on the rocks)...and that's good to know about the conch. So, they will eat it off the rocks too? I thought they only fed in the sand???

I also picked up a lawnmower blenny too this past weekend.

[StevenSeas]

no they will only stay on the sand bed for the most part, but im not sure but queen conches go on the rock... can check bout eatin cyano

[Mr Cob]

You can really see it in this shot:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/4516909380_eff53ab36e_o.jpg

[StevenSeas]

ya gotcha, I know fighting conches will eat it on the sand bed, they are slow movers but will eat it as well as brown diatom algae, and detrius. They say maybe 1 per 2 sq feet so u could prob get away w/2 or 3 in ur setup

[Mr Cob]

Great info...I had not thought about adding those. Adding them to my list right now :)

Appreciate the chime in.

[StevenSeas]

no problem thats what this place if for right, helping other marine aquarist lol ;)

[Europhyllia]

I have 3 fighting conchs in my 125 and they are really fun. We like to watch them. They don't do anything for my cyano but are very cute. :)
As usual I am my own best herbivore. lol. I blow it off to pieces and that seems to help more than any little nibbling by snails could do.
I am pro DSB myself - one of the reasons I want to go to a deeper tank while everybody is going towards shallow. When I (if I) get my 210 there will be sand plentiful in it so lighting won't change much because even the lower sitting corals won't be that much further from the light than they are now.
Good Luck with the green slime!

[Mr Cob]

THX Karin. Is this the same stuff you've been playing with?

[StevenSeas]

so here is a lil info from ORA on Queen conches

In aquariums they are good algae grazers that will climb up onto the rock and glass to find algae to eat. They will help control macroalgae growth that can be problematic in well lit reef tanks. The growth rate is relatively slow, however Queen Conch do reach a size of about 12 inches and can out-grow an aquarium.

Queen Conch have been found to be very helpful in controlling algaes such as cyanobacteria (Blue-green algae). They can help fill an aquarium niche that very few other herbivorous mollusks will. ORA™ markets the Queen Conch at about 1 inch size, so they are perfectly suited to aquarium life.

[Europhyllia]

Yes looks the same - like cyano only bright green instead of red.

[Europhyllia]

What? They eat macro? Get me 5 of the 6" ones!!!

[StevenSeas]

yes they eat macro, what kind exactly i am having a hard time finding out. Also as far as cyano goes it comes in many a color red is just the most common in sw, in fw it tends to be green.

[Mr Cob]

NICE...Need to find out if anyone gets those local.

[StevenSeas]

we (pollys) will when we do another ORA order, might be next week? Randy might chime in w/ our ordering order?(rotation?) if not then ill just call and wake his butt up and ask him lol...

[Mr Cob]

I'll create a new thread for you both to respond to....in the "Ask a MAASt Sponsor" forum.

[StevenSeas]

k good call.... my bad

[Mr Cob]

no problem....I asked....but you just responded before I created the new thread in the correct forum.

[justahobby]

Rob, What kelving lighting are your running? Also what is your flow like? I ask because I never had it in my tank until last week. Found it in my fuge after DOC dosing which spurs cyano. I've always gotten a little purple slime after a vodka dosing. This was my first exp. with the green. It didn't turn up until after I increased the lighting (pink CFL) and added a lot of flow. You could try messing w/ those two variables since they appear directly linked to mine.

Karin, I am having really good luck with lettuce nudis eating my caulerpa. I was having to place them on it every day (sometimes twice daily) but they seem to be seeking it out on their own now. I had to leave my big seio turned off. Don't want them getting chopped up, plus the can't hold on as well as a snail.

[Europhyllia]

Karin, I am having really good luck with lettuce nudis eating my caulerpa. I was having to place them on it every day (sometimes twice daily) but they seem to be seeking it out on their own now. I had to leave my big seio turned off. Don't want them getting chopped up, plus the can't hold on as well as a snail.
That's really weird. Everything I read said the lettuce nudis eat only bryopsis. I actually have a lettuce nudi. It's very cute but I would need about 80 of them to take care of my caulerpa! lol I've never seen it eat anything other than the fine stuff but I'll watch it and see what it does!

[justahobby]

Hmm, everything you read? My algae must be delicious lol. I watched one of them plow through some GHA too. I agree you need a lot for major control. I got two that way I could monitor their health closely and I'm ok with it taking longer than a couple weeks...

[Europhyllia]

Guess I didn't go down far enough the internet:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2004/invert.htm

[justahobby]

Great link, I haven't read that one. Sorry Rob, last one i promise.

[allan]

Interesting Rob... I have the same problem with the green cyano on a frag of blue freeze zoas and purple tip acro frag... :D

[saabtech]

i have a very simmiler green slime that all started with my first kryptonite candycane frag plug. it was very isolated (one 1 inch spot) and now i have about four 1 to 3 inch spots.

i think it is Dinoflagellates

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=49716

[saabtech]

just had a great idea of elimination without removing the rock.....
will perform experiment and report back with information may take several days.

[saabtech]

ok. experiment phase one is complete. here is what i did to kill the green snot and i hope that you will be able to fight yours with success. (looks exactly like yours)

some 10 yrs ago i remembered a PBS documentary concerning nuisance algae blooms of the coast of California. i remembered them attempting to battle it with large plastic sheets and covering the algae and injecting something under the plastic and killing off the algae. well this thread got me thinking. upon researching the dinoflagellates and other algae i decided that then things they need most i can control. (light and phosphates).
so i got a media bag and filled it with sea chems phosgaurd media. and placed the bag over the bloom and left it there for 4 days. removed it and seems to have killed it all. now i will move the media bag to the next bloom and kill it.
hope that works for you also.

[saabtech]

moved the media bag to another bloom (the second largest one) and finished the cycle on it. it has killed the bloom (this one only took 2 days) and now i only have 3 very small blooms to deal with (less than 1 inch in dia each)
sure hope something like this will work for other people

any comments or questions would be great.....

[StevenSeas]

maybe a control like something to just cover the other patches w/o the phos absorber. Might just be the lack of light....would be a cheaper solution

[Mr Cob]

^very interesting. Wonder if it was from the lack of light as suggested above...?

[clone]

hey Rob I started reading and got tired quick. Ive dealt with this stuff before, are you running a phosban reactor? If not I would recomend it. Im not to sure on the stuff but I dont think its so much a bacteria, but more of a algee/semi bactiera thats feed by amonia and phosphates. I could be wrong but just my experince.