Algae

[JG67]

I apologize in advance for my naivete, but I am a new aquarium owner. I have a 70 gallon corner tank in my office being maintained by a third party. There is the begining of green algae present on the rear and sides of the tank (which are masked off in black). In many of the tanks I have seen in aquariums, these areas (generally the back of the tanks) are left in this condition and they tend to turn green-black-purple. Is this the norm or is it appropriate to scrape this off?

 

[Frogspawn]

how new is the tank? is this saltwater or fresh water? how long has it been set up? is there LR in the tank? what kinda filtration are you running if any? do you have fish? if so how many and what kind? do you have any inverts? and do you know any water specs? only ask this cause i dont know if this could be coraline alage like what your talking about or could be green alage typically found when cycling a new aquarium.

 

[JG67]

70 gallon tank is two weeks old, saltwater, with four fish (2 clown, 2 cardinal) 3 inverts, and about 70 lbs of LR. Protein skimmer in 20 gallon sump is below. I have installed blue and white lights (sorry for the laymen terms). As I indicated above, many of the overflows I have seen in aquarium stores along with the rear glass tend to be covered in this dark algae (as well as much of the submersed equipment. Its not the most attractive, but if its normal, I guess it will just disappear in my head as I get used to it.

 

[Frogspawn]

i think you mentioned this set up is going to be matained by a third party? is this third party a business or just a family friend? i am wondering why they didnt explain the time it takes to cycle a new aquarium weather its FW or SW.

your aquarium is going to smell and look like crap for a while. at least mind did. a cycle is going to take place. theres alot of great reading on this web site that explains what a cycle is and why its so important that we dont disturb it while its working. if you want a good looking tank this has to be done. and the good news is your on your way to completing this task. the alage you are seing is most likey green is it not? this will happen do to the raise in ammo. so you will see you ammo. peak. and fall as the natrites begin to peak. and then fall just like the ammo. this is due to the natrates raising. the whole process took me about 2-3 months to complete. some tanks complete this task in record time. others dont fair to good and take forever. (hince me!) dont rush this process. the only thing you get out of rushing your cycling process is a empty bank account.

now the bad news. you mention you have 4 fish and inverts. i dont like using fish to cycle a new tank. but others dont see anything wrong with it. again theres alot of good reading here to also show you how to cycle a new tank with out fish. ok, back to the 4 fish. i am sad to say you will most likey loose your fish when your ammo. peaks. its so stressfull on anything that inhabits your aquarium. if they don't die they will want to! now, i am not saying they will die either beacuse i once cycled my very first tank with a damsel. and that little fart was the toughest SOB i ever seen. such a bully them damsels are. lol

my suggestion is if you want to keep them do PWC every other day 10% and try to keep your ammo as low as possible. the cycle will still take place with out peaking but it will just take alot longer then normal. or you can remover them all together and read up on the shrimp methed of cycleing your tank. i cant remember if you said you had LR. if so thats all you need if it was uncured LR. once the cycle is complete then add your inverts to clean up the mess. they do a great job at it!

try to keep your lights out. that only causes alage blooms and just keep doing PWC's you may be ok.

BTW do you have any friends that have a stable and mature SW tank? if so go steal a cup full of their sand or Crushed coral and stick it in you sand bed or filtration system. that will also greatly increase yous cycle time.

just my 2 cents.. hope this helps. i am sure others will chime in.

good luck!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

If the tank is being maintained by a third party that knows what they're doing, then it's possible the rock was fully cured and never out of water, they used live sand, and it was ready to go the day they set it up. No different than moving a tank. So I wouldn't start thinking gloom and doom.

If the third party is a professional outfit, then I wouldn't go monkeying with what they've done. You have a contract with them and if you change something (even if it was for the better) you might end up with the whole thing in your lap... and a bill.

If the third party is a friend doing it on the side, then I'd run by the info Frogspawn gave you by them to be sure they're aware of all this. If not, then you're going to have "issues."

For what it's worth, green hairy algae really isn't a "normal" part of cycling. Rust-colored "dust", or diatoms are normal, as is a buildup of coraline algae. Coraline can start out green, but is hard stuff that flakes off.

 

[JG67]

Thanks for the info folks. Third party is a professional service. The LR was cured as was the sand. I will talk to them about the algae, but I believe it is coraline based on the photos I have seen online.

 

[johnmaloney]

They should have that cleaned. It is not hard to get that stuff off, I just throw in snails and I have never had (unwanted) algae in my tank, and I don't even own a mag-float. You should get somebody else to take care of it. If it is just going to be neglected, you can do that yourself for free. The pros have to keep it sparkling.

 

[ccCapt]

........I just throw in snails and I have never had (unwanted) algae in my tank, and I don't even own a mag-float....

Interesting. I have never seen a tank that didn't need to have the front glass cleaned. You must have magic glass How about a pic of this tank that never had the glass cleaned.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Interesting. I have never seen a tank that didn't need to have the front glass cleaned. You must have magic glass How about a pic of this tank that never had the glass cleaned.

He didn't say he never cleaned his glass... just that he doesn't own a mag float!

Regarding just "throwing in snails", I believe the original poster is talking about coraline algae. Maybe my snails are lazy, but I've never seen them mess with my coraline. (Good thing... they'd be "rehomed" if that was the case!) But maybe the wondersnails sold at your place in your signature line aren't as lazy as mine.

 

[roka64]

Two weeks is kind of soon to be seeing coraline algae, even with cured LR. This sounds more like an algae (possibly diatom) bloom. Is it on the sand and rocks as well? How hard is it to scrape off?

 

[johnmaloney]

I have some pics of my newest macro tank here:
Florida Nano-Macro Tank - Nano-Reef.com Forums

Just get snails that clean glass.

My point is this, if you hired a pool guy, and your pool was covered in algae, wouldn't you get a new pool guy? Algae is an easy problem to handle, if your paying someone to maintain your tank they should keep it clean.

 

[JG67]

Two weeks is kind of soon to be seeing coraline algae, even with cured LR. This sounds more like an algae (possibly diatom) bloom. Is it on the sand and rocks as well? How hard is it to scrape off?

Since the rocks were cured, it is hard to tell. Sand looks slightly green and the algae is just starting on the side walls, but just lightly. I haven't tried to scrape it off (I am away from my office on a biz trip), but will check it out when I get home. This might just be green algae. Is it common to have any algae on the back and side glass or are they supposed to remain crystal clear? I will post a photo in a day or two.

 

[JG67]

I have some pics of my newest macro tank here:
Florida Nano-Macro Tank - Nano-Reef.com Forums

Just get snails that clean glass.

My point is this, if you hired a pool guy, and your pool was covered in algae, wouldn't you get a new pool guy? Algae is an easy problem to handle, if your paying someone to maintain your tank they should keep it clean.

I agree about a pool, but i am trying to gauge whether it is reasonable for me to require the maintenance company keep all the glass free of algae or whether some is common. Since I am new to aquariums, i am out of my element.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I have to clean my glass every couple days with a mag float. You'll get a slight brown or green "haze" on the glass. In my experience, I believe this is normal. Even with snails. Takes about 2 minutes to clean the glass.