What will work in place of live rock?

[arizona reefer]

just a option, if you dont like the live rock you could get a sump and keep the ugly live rock in it. you would still be getting all the benifits of live rock but with out the look you dont like in your tank. what im afaid of though is that no matter what you put into your tank, with out something to get rid of the algae you will have it growing on the new tank items.

 

[wazuph2o]

I would have to agree with the others here about the amount of lighting. I have a 265 watt coralife compact fluorescent fixture on my tank. I can literally see the coralline algae growing by the week.

Well i always thought that you needed a reef tank to put a lights of that wattage in the tank. My tank is just fish only. Wouldnt that light cause stress on my puffer and other fish since they arent in a reef aquarium?

here are some pics of the tank + algae,

bad

http://www.angelfire.com/scary/wazuph2o/2picture002.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/scary/wazuph2o/2picture001.jpg
http://www.angelfire.com/scary/wazuph2o/2picture005.jpg

 

[darb2]

I could only see one pic. But it looks like a bad case of hair algae I would go for an urchin to help keep it grazed. The puffer shouldn't mess with it

 

[wazuph2o]

I could only see one pic. But it looks like a bad case of hair algae I would go for an urchin to help keep it grazed. The puffer shouldn't mess with it

ok the pictures havent been working so i tried another hosting serivce

http://usera.imagecave.com/wazuph2o/tank/

This should work. Also Even w/o the hair algae the rock has lost its red/purple coloring. What can be causing the hair algae and how do i stop it. What are my other options besides buying an urchin. Also i have heard that using seachem reef or something like that, it will help my lr regain the good coraline algae within 4 months. Is this true? If so, should i wait untill this bad algae goes away before adding the seachem. I do not want to add the algae covered LR to the new tank untill it has been fully ridden of it.

 

[Fluff]

What type of water are you using? I used to have hair algae so bad you couldn't even see the rocks. I had urchins, crabs, snails and nudibraches in there to help but they barely made a dent in it. My tap water is high in nitrates which didn't help. I bought a RO/DI unit and within a month the hair algae was gone. I belive the hair algae killed alot of my coralline as well but it's coming back and looking great. HTH

 

[lando]

Testing for phosphate would be a good idea. Then RO/DI water for top-offs and changes. How old are the bulbs in your current fixture?

 

[Nitrate]

After making sure your water is right, get a pincushion urchin. I got one a couple weeks ago and he eats 3 times as much as both of my long spined urchins combined. He will eventually eat all the hair algae and then he will start eating coralline, but you wont have to worry about nuisance algae anymore.

 

[saberry]

I could only see one pic. But it looks like a bad case of hair algae I would go for an urchin to help keep it grazed. The puffer shouldn't mess with it

ok the pictures havent been working so i tried another hosting serivce

http://usera.imagecave.com/wazuph2o/tank/

This should work. Also Even w/o the hair algae the rock has lost its red/purple coloring. What can be causing the hair algae and how do i stop it. What are my other options besides buying an urchin. Also i have heard that using seachem reef or something like that, it will help my lr regain the good coraline algae within 4 months. Is this true? If so, should i wait untill this bad algae goes away before adding the seachem. I do not want to add the algae covered LR to the new tank untill it has been fully ridden of it.

No wonder you think lr is ugly. I haven't had this problem (yet), but I can tell you that that is not how lr is supposed to look. Look through some of the pictures in the photo gallery and I'll bet you'll change your mind about lr.

 

[HoopsGuru]

Hair algae like that isn't normal. I wouldn't experiment with cleaners, because that doesn't eliminate the problem. You have an abundance of nutrients, are you using tapwater? Also, some puffers have urchin's on their natural menus...they could end up being a snack like everything else even though you'd think the spines would be intimidating. IMO, improving the water quality will go far in eliminating the hair algae while promoting better conditions for desirable algaes.

As far as lighting, you can upgrade the lighting without going to all out "reef lighting". PC's are a nice enhancement, and should not bother the puffer. Some folks have said they grow coralline with NO lighting, I have never been able to.

 

[wazuph2o]

well i am going 2nite to get my water tested by an expert water tester I told you that LR was ugly After i get my results i will then take this to a new level as some have you described, RO, urchins. lighting. I will review each one of your posts and will decide what actian to take after the results

 

[lando]

Sounds good. Let us know what ou find out. Hopefully you can get some answers.

 

[indy]

I can see why you think LR is ugly. Getting your water in check will help, as will upgrading your lights. I'm also guessing you have really low water flow. What kind of pumps are you using?

 

[wazuph2o]

I can see why you think LR is ugly. Getting your water in check will help, as will upgrading your lights.

I have always thought the lights in the tank didnt matter as long as it wasnt a reef tank. What kinds of lights do you guys suggest? The LFS was closed up early 2nite for some odd reason So i will have to go tomorrow. Also, i am faced with sort of a dilema here. I have this new 240 gallon tank waiting out in my garage but i dont want to put all of this algae covered LR in there thinking that it might ruin the new tank. So i was planning to treat it in the 75 gallon and once it got better then i would put it in the 240 gallon and set that tank up. But now i might be better off just buying new rock if it is going to take new light fixtures for the 75 gallon which would cost hundreds of dollars and i will be moving to a new tank in a month or so. So i might be just better off throwing all the LR out and buying new LR for the 240 if i need to buy light fixtures and all this stuff for the 75 which would only be used for a month. I hope there is around this though. Thanks

 

[darb2]

If yur tank is relatively new, then algae bloom is normal.

So i might be just better off throwing all the LR out and buying new LR for the 240

Without any sort of algae eater, the new live rock will turn out to look like the old stuff.
What are the dimensions of the 240? There must be a way to use lights from the 75 (probably 4') on the larger tank. Even if you buy a light for the 240 and temporairly mount it pendant style.
I also did not see any mention of power heads. You should have 10 times the tank volume for water flow.

 

[frshwaterfinatc]

IME horseshoe crabs are very good at keeping hair algae at bay, and they're kind of unusual and fun to watch. If you have at least 2 in of sand or fine crushed coral you can get a few of them...

 

[wazuph2o]

IME horseshoe crabs are very good at keeping hair algae at bay, and they're kind of unusual and fun to watch. If you have at least 2 in of sand or fine crushed coral you can get a few of them...

i do have 1 maxi jet 900 powerhead in the tank and with the fluval circulating back into the tank and the little bit of help from the emperor circulating water back into the tank, i think water circulation is OK. I can use my current lights from my 75 on the new tank but people are talking about buying new light fixtures for the 75. New light bulbs wouldnt be that bad but fixtures is a whole other story. I have been reading up about this hair algae and learned that nudibranches are excellent hair algae cleaners. Although if i buy them will my puffer eat it and will it make the puffer sick if he does? I think i will buy 1 nudibranch and see if he lasts a couple of days and if he does then i will buy some more. Although i highly doubt that all of those nudibranches can eat all of that hair algae. Ive come to the conclusion that i also dont want to setup the new tank untill i find out what went wrong with the LR in the 75 so i dont have the same problem. Hmmmm Horshoe crabs, nudibranches,......how long are they going to last with my always hungry and never full puffer.

 

[darb2]

What are the dimensions of the 240? There must be a way to use lights from the 75 (probably 4') on the larger tank. Even if you buy a light for the 240 and temporairly mount it pendant style

ny point was to buy a new fixture that will work on both.

 

[wazuph2o]

so i should just buy a fixture that fits the 240 perfectly but will be huge on the 75. I need to buy a fixture for the 240 anywayz

 

[Nitrate]

IME horseshoe crabs are very good at keeping hair algae at bay, and they're kind of unusual and fun to watch. If you have at least 2 in of sand or fine crushed coral you can get a few of them...

I tried adding a Horshoe to my tank and my puffer went straight for it. I had to beat him off with a stick and get the Horshoe out as quickly as possible. He obviously recognized it as food and wasnt going to take no for an answer. It might be worth a try, but be prepared to get the Horshoe back out in a hurry.

 

[lando]

YA, I think a horseshoe would be taost. They do not make great tank additions anyways. They have a tendency to stir up the substrate a bit too much.