FOWLR and a major algea problem

[FeedingFrenzy20]

i have a 125 gallon tank with a 50 gallon refugium. Before i added the fuge i was having some problems with high nitrates. they have since went down and i am having a problem with my live rocks and back glass of the tank are covered in green sorta like hair algea. however i have a foxface and it doesnt eat the algea and it doesnt seem to be goign away with the lower nitrates. i also have no coraline algeas growing and my tank has been running for nearly a month. any ideas how to get rid of the nast algea that makes my tank look bad and how to induce growth of coraline algea

 

[JPloman]

Hair algae is not bad, its just a bit annoying to look at. I have it all over my tank, but I like it. My lawn mower fish eats it and seems very happy about it. I would suggest doing some algae harvesting (scrap it off) and get a lawn mower fish.

 

[FeedingFrenzy20]

i have scrapped it off and only made a difference for a couple of days to a week at the most. that was the point of buying the foxface but he doesnt pay much attention to it. not sure a lawnmower fish would go well in my tank because i have some rather large fish. however i was planning on getting some sort of tang in hope that it would help with controlling this.

 

[tmcpeek]

have you tested for phosphates? What kind of water are you using.

As for coraline, how is your calcium?

 

[seaham358]

Coraline algae can take months to start, and if your cal and alk are not in balance then it will grow even slower if at all. You need to do a search on coraline algae in this fourm there is a ton of info in other posts.
HA is a PITA. Test for phosphates and let up know what the reading is. Also if HA is covering the LR the CA may not grow.

 

[FeedingFrenzy20]

i use premixed saltwater made with RO water and regular RO water to top the tank off. never tested phosephates, calcium, or alk. if those are out of wack what should i do to get them in check and help the coraline algea grow. i was thinking of buying like 20 lbs of lr from Liverocks.com to help spark the growth because most rocks i bought from the lfs didnt have much covering.

 

[malkore]

Well, you'd have to test Ca and Alk, and then use a 2-part system to bring both into better ranges, while keeping them in proper balance.

Be careful adding live rock. LR.com stuff is usually cured, but sometimes its not. I'd add it to a quarantine tank/bucket, with a powerhead and heater, and run it for a week, testing ammo, nitrite and nitrate.

 

[seaham358]

If you want to get the HA in check you need to have the water tested for phosphates, silicates you may want to test for this also.
Cal and alk are a must test for if you want coralline to grow. If you have no corals to use calcium then it may not be to far off as long as you do regular water changes to replace nutrients.

 

[aquafreak]

...a lawnmower blenny will eat it like crazy... may take some time but he is voracious. ...thought this might help.

 

[FeedingFrenzy20]

do they get very big because he would be in a tank with 2 sharks, a ray, and a large porcupine puffer amoung other fish.

 

[Jonathan G.]

is a 125 big enough to house them even? i know rays get pretty big, and my friend had a about 4 sharks in a 125 and he said it was too much for the bio load since they were such messy eaters.

 

[seaham358]

You have all that in a 125 8O 8O, I thought I was over loaded.....
You have a HUGH bio load in a 125..... What are your nitrates at?
Adding another fish is just going to make matters worse.....
Did you get the test kits yet? Give us some water parameters....
Nitrate, phosphate

 

[FeedingFrenzy20]

i have not got the tests yet because i am at school right now and my mom is takin care of the tank. i have a 50 gallon refugium as well. i did have problems with nitrates however now have a protien skimmer and it is lowering them. when i was at the lfs this weekend they tested it and said my parameters were just fine.

 

[seaham358]

The LFS saying its fine....... we have all heard that.... I would not trust most LFS to tell me what is fine...... Did they give you any numbers??? What is fine to them probably is not fine to most of us.
Buy some test kits, salifert make grat easy to use kits...
A 50 gal fuge is great but does not help with having large species in the 125... They are all messy eaters and leave al lot of waste behind... How big are the sharks? sharks are cool.....
Skimmers is good.... What kind of a clean up crew do you have in that tank. Can't imagine much with a large PP puffer...

 

[FeedingFrenzy20]

i have some snails but no real scavengers. the banded cat shark is 12-16 inches long and the coral cat shark is 12-14. i do have a test kit at home that i use and everything looks good except for the nitrates that are around 40 and on their way down because they used to be off the charts at one point everything else looks good to me. possibly thinkin of investing in a second skimmer. plus i have 2 fluval 404 filters and a 304 filter working on the tank as well.

i trust the guys at my lfs they are really great help have gotten to know the owner and a couple of guys that work there so they are really good help.