Brown algae driving us crazy!

[bpeitzke]

We have a 36-gal FOWLR tank with 4 fish - 5" green speckled puffer, 4" maroon clown, 3.5" yellow tang & 1.5" zebra damsel, no inverts. Lots of LR and some dead corals. Fish have been thriving. We feed 1/3 cube of frozen angel food (main ingredient is marine sponge as I understand it), & a pinch of marine fish flakes nightly, and every other night put some seaweed on a clip for the tang (and damsel picks at it a little).

Our problem is the rampant brown algae. it covers everything rapidly, and we have to clean tank walls 2x/week. We've started using RO water from dispensers at local market, changing 5-7 gal/week. NH3, NO2 & ph all OK, keeping salinity in 1.023-1.025 range, tank ~ 81 degrees. We have 3 24" fluorescent lights that we keep on ~ 6:30am-10:30pm. I've tested nitrates (NO3?) and they are moderate ~= 15ppm IIRC. Don't have a way to test phosphates - is there a kit for that? The protein skimmer is filling its catch cannister a lot faster than it used to.

Appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Hara]

You have a pretty heavy bioload for such a small tank and you are feeding daily. This will add the nutrients that the undesireable diatoms and algaes feed on. You also are running your lights alot longer than I would recommend. There is a test for phosphates.

To remedy your situation, I would make the following suggestions.
Feed every other day
Lights on from 8:0 am to 9:00 pm (adjust it for your viewing convenience if needed)
Up the water changes to 30% per week until the problem is resolved.

Hope this helps.

 

[melosu58]

Advice dont get any better than that.

 

[Konrade]

Water changes can actually help algae. The new water replaces the nutrients that the algae is feeding off of. They help also just a little tip. But I agree with everything said by hara. Wait awhile and see if the algae dies off on it's own.

 

[bpeitzke]

That sounds like good advice, but I'm having trouble selling the concept of feeding every other day. Our fish feed so enthusiastically, and devour everything within a few seconds.

Wife & daughter are afraid the fish would starve.

 

[melosu58]

my fish are ok after 8 yrs of every other day.They will be Ok

 

[bpeitzke]

Feeding schedule, effect on brown algae

That's useful ammo, and I will use it.

I just worry about the puffer getting hungry and going after other fish. I know that's what my wife & daughter will say. He's been cool with them for a long time, but he has attacked other fish. When we first got him he killed a clownfish - we think he was starving from being underfed at the LFS. More recently he killed a blenny, a goby, and a dragonet. We think he just looks at those bottom-dweller fish as food.

 

[pike]

How is the flow in your tank? Do you have any power heads moving water around in the tank?
If you do not, then I would suggest two, one at either end of the tank. Something in the 100gph to 150gph. Top of the tank pointing down across the tank and sand bed. This has helped with my algae problems.
With a higher flow rate algae can't "stick" long enough to grow.

 

[bpeitzke]

We have two PH's but I don't know their flow rate. The filter return also generates current.

The brown algae settles on top surfaces of everything. I can sweep it off with current from a vigorous hand sweep, but I don't think it's practical to have enough constant current to keep it off the rocks etc - tank would be like a washing machine & fish couldn't take it nonstop, IMO.

 

[cmor1701d]

Studies have shown that fish live longer and are healthier (as are most species) on a 30% reduced diet. It would seem that hunger is a good thing. Sad truth is that it does not seem to hold true for humans, though I'm sure it would help with the weight loss.

I feed the tank every 2-3 days.

 

[TheRealFF]

cmor, it does apply to human. Fat peoples don't live long

bpeit, ur keeping a fish that killed that many of ur fishes?! IMO, u should keep aggressive fishes with that puffer or it's life in hell for the other peaceful fishes

 

[bpeitzke]

OK, it's been several weeks and it's time for an update.

We have started feeding every other day, probably averaging 4 days/week now. We've also started not turning on the lights except for the evening time when we are in the living room and want to enjoy the tank. About 2 weeks ago we noticed a marked improvement - it went from going totally brown 3 days after a water change, to 2 weeks and only a little of it. Much better. I think the food load was the root of the problem, but my wife and daughter are skeptical and worrying that puffer will get too hungry and start going after the other fish. Our whole aquarium would be easier to maintain if we didn't have him as he eats more than all the other fish put together. And of course we can't have any inverts or bottom fish. But puffer is our oldest fish, the one who's survived all our learning problems (we got him before we knew about marine fish habits), and I don't think I could ever convince them to get rid of him. So we cope as best we can.

Thanks for your advice, Hara, it's been very helpful.

 

[tecwzrd]

Please reduce your fish load or upgrade to a 75+ gal tank. Keeping 14” of fish in a 37 gal is too much IMO even with frequent large PWC.

Your Green Spotted Puffer is large enough to survive in a marine tank but still does better with a lower sg closer to 1.020. Feeding your puffer every other day is too much for its size. You should feed every 3-4 days for their health and offer larger food offerings along with hard-shelled offerings to keep its teeth trimmed. Puffers are pretty aggressive towards anything that will fit in its’ mouth and is best kept to a species only tank.

Your yellow tang should have a 2” strip of nori (seaweed) clipped every day. The clown and damsel should be fine with every other day feedings.

 

[bpeitzke]

I hear you, but it's a battle to convince my wife & daughter. They got contrary advice from people at LFS and are paranoid that if puffer doesn't get fed every day he'll attack the other fish. I realize it's dangerous keeping this species of puffer with other fish, but we're stuck with him - long history there. BTW he seems very healthy.

We've been putting seaweed on a clip every other day, and the tang is thriving - good color and active. The others nip at it once in a while too. Of course I have to locate it under a dead coral and block all openings to keep puffer away from it, leaving a thin opening that tang can get through but puffer cannot.

I'm trying to convince them to stick with this every other day feeding schedule. The fish seem fine with it, and the tank looks much better.

Oh, and I've been wanting to get a larger tank for a long time. Trouble is, the next width size, 48", won't fit in our area, so it would need to be a custom tank - expensive. I've done some calculations and figure I could get a 90-gal tank in this area, but we aren't ready to spend a lot on a custom tank. We'll have to make due with what we have for now. We really enjoy this aquarium and the fish.

Oh BTW I wonder whether puffer would eat an anemone. The LFS has several types and the clownfish love them. Our clown is pretty big now, almost 4", and has lived several years without an anemone. Don't know whether he'd take to one or not. It would be nice to try one if puffer would leave it alone.

Thanks again for your good advice.

Regards,

- Bob

 

[tecwzrd]

If you don’t reduce the bio-load the puffer will for you as it reaches full adult hood & becomes more aggressive to its tank mates. I wouldn’t recommend adding an anemone to the tank. Also in case you missed it I linked to a good green spotted puffer article.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/BrackishSubWebIndex/gspsart.htm

 

[bpeitzke]

I had missed that link; just read it. This will be very helpful in my campaign to convince wife & daughter on best way to handle our GSP.

We must have been lucky and gotten a very hardy puffer. We got him shortly after we'd converted our tank to SW, after a few months with only damsels. When we got him his belly was concave, and he killed our 1st clownfish, b/c he was starving. I think that event caused us to overreact on the overfeeding side. He's grown a lot in our tank, probably 5" now. We were really SW novices when we got him, but now that he's been through so much with us, he's like family. We had a bad episode a couple of years ago, NH3 & NO2 spiked from chronic overfeeding and all our other fish died. He was very sick too, but survived. I put him in a quarantine tank while I totally redid the main tank, then put him back into it and got a couple of other fish. That's when we learned the value of LR as well as not to overfeed so much. I think we've still been overfeeding, by doing it daily, even though amounts were half what we'd done before. He doesn't bother our other fish much, they swim right past him all the time. We see an occasional fin nip. Sadly he immediately goes after bottom fish like gobies and blennies, so we can't keep them at all.

One thing that I think helps our fish thrive in such a small tank is that we have lots of LR and dead corals, so the fish have a lot of hiding places and interesting mazes to swim through. Watching them they seem to enjoy going in & out & around all the rocks.

This article will wife & daughter realize that going back to daily feeding would be wrong. Apparently our puffer will eventually get more aggressive at which time our only option would be return to LFS, as we don't have room for another tank, let alone the time to maintain two.

Thanks again.

Regards,

- Bob

 

[tecwzrd]

Any slow moving fish will be a target but your clown being an adult will probably be fine. You shouldn’t have to return it since it’s only going to grow to 6”. Just keep up with a strict pwc schedule and clean your filters weekly and you should be fine.

Feeding larger portions of raw shrimp, crab, squid, clams, SW fish twice a week is best for his diet. If you soak them in Kent Garlic Extreme, Selcon, & Zoe it will help keep him healthy.

As you know it’s not that hard to spot an underfed fish since its belly was concaved when you first got it. I’m glad he made it through your learning experience and considering how long they live you should enjoy it for many years to come.

 

[bpeitzke]

Thanks, tecwzrd.

Yeah, the clown & tang (yellow) aren't having any trouble with puffer, other than tang has a nip mark on her dorsal fin. She doesn't avoid puffer though. She's pretty large, not as long as clown but taller, appears about same size. Our little zebra damsel has no trouble either, prob too fast for puffer, though he's never shown any aggression toward it either.

I think I'll suggest getting some frozen shrimp in shell at nearest Trader Joe's, and feeding that to puffer. I'm trying to encourage team to read your article on puffers. Be nice if we'd all row in the same direction.

I think our puffer has quit growing. His belly isn't as fat as it was say a year ago, but it is convex. He seems happy.

 

[bpeitzke]

BTW, tecwzrd, does that Kent Garlic Extreme have any benefits other than encouraging fish to feed? That's the last problem we'd have, esp with puffer who is always ravenous. Now soaking in Zoe vitamins, we do that.

Thx,

- Bob

 

[tecwzrd]

The garlic also helps ward off infection and keeps their immune system at peak. I only add 1-2 drops per feeding. Also IME any leftover food is more quickly found by my clean up crew (shrimp/hermit/snails) and therefore I also feel it’s worth adding to keep leftover food from fouling up the tank.