algea in sand issue

[RocketSeason]

Hey!

alrighty, i have a ton of nasty green and red algea taking over my sand. any ideas how to stop this? more snails? shorter days? turn the sand over a bit? massive water change?

-Matt

 

[Brad]

Some of that is probably unavoidable in a sand bed. Your suggestions are all good. There are some snails that do a good job because they eat algae and also bury themselves in the sand....I can't remember what they are called, however.

 

[lando]

Hey Matt...I am sure you know what to do. Vac it off, water changes and test for PO4. Keep us posted...Lando

 

[sirfishmaster]

try getting some nassurius snails they dig under the sand...also maybe a sand sifting star...i have added both after a similar experience and have had whit sand ever since.....



doug

 

[RocketSeason]

i have 5 nassurius snails in there now. I will probibly add a dozen more...

I have shortened the days and that seems to stop the growth. I was gone for the holidays, but now that I am back I can do a serious water change.

no way to test for PO4 yet (no one in my area carries a testing kit.)

Do I really want to vaccum up the sand?

 

[JG]

I've had the same issue in a nano tank. I ordered chemi-clean - seems to be working.

JG

 

[lando]

I am not a fan of adding anything to my reef, but I used Chemi=clean as a last resort for my cyno. It worked great! Wish I would have done it sooner. Still very important to get to the root of the problem to resolve it completely.

 

[PiscesLou]

Chemi-clean for overall tank , goby for sand, snails for LR and glass.

 

[flanque]

Is this chemi-clean safe for inverts like corals and anenomes? Where can I purchase this?

 

[flanque]

I have red algae on my rocks in various places, in patches on the fine sand bed and also purple algae on my fine sand bed.

I think I identified the problem to be a home-made plastic mesh to cover my outgoing hose for my filter (since an anenome died after getting stuck on it). I used to get within a day almost the entire sand bed covered in a deep purple algae which I could pick up in large pieces (it broke away if I wasn't gentle). After removing the home-made plastic mesh the algae is probably 85% gone so all I do now is just shift the sand around. I think this has let pieces of the algae go around the tank and it's growing from there still.

I hope that chemi-clean will fix the problem. I purchased this red algae removing solution but I didn't read the label fully before purchase as it was not safe with corals.

Refer to my signature for what I have in my tank. Chemi-clean sounds the best for this problem. Am I correct?

 

[RocketSeason]

I hate the idea of adding a chemical like that though.

I am going to try the large water change and snail trick first.

 

[lando]

Chemi-clean is safe for all of your inverts.

 

[PiscesLou]

I hate the idea of adding a chemical like that though.

I felt the same way...it took about two weeks of nothing happening and Lando , to convinced me to use it.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=38937&highlight=cyano

I used it get a "head start" on the cyano..did a big water change and got an orange spotted goby for the sand(sand stays white all the time now) and thursday will buy snails for LR and glass HTH

 

[RocketSeason]

what goby would be good to add then?

if Lando says it ok. then it must be ok.

 

[PiscesLou]

Ive got an orange spotted goby, but any sandsifting goby should work. I also have a sandsifting starfish but the goby covers allot more area...the only negative with the goby is that it might move sand where you might not want at.

 

[swissfish]

Yep, the goby made my live rock unstable by building himself a litle cave. I just need to stay ahead of him.
Do I have to feed that litle fellow with something special or are the left overs good enough? (brine shrimp and pellets).

 

[lando]

Rocket...I generally subscribe to the same "don't add any chemicals to the tank" philosophy as you. I was at wits ends with my cyno problem. I figured out it was a PO4 issue with my source water. I changed the filters and membraine in my RO/DI unit and the PO4 issue was solved. I tried to manage my cycno with water changes after that but it never seemed to go away. As a last resort, I tried Chemi-Clean (suggested by my LFS) and it worked great! Within 48 hours no more cycno. I did start to have another small outbreak about a week later so I dosed it again. I have not seen a bit of cyno for weeks now. As I mentioned earlier, Chemi-Clean is only a band-aid, not a cure. It is still important to find the source of your problem in order to correct it long-term. Certainly try water changes and see if that works first. If, after a couple of weeks, you see no progress take the next step. Good luck in the battle...Lando

 

[RocketSeason]

I purchased 10 nassarius snails tonight. we will see what happens.

thanks for the help!!!

 

[flanque]

Regarding those gobies... I have been told by several LFS that it's very difficult to keep these as they need a lot of food, and if the sand doesn't have it they just die off.

I was particularly interested in the golden head gobies.

Is this true?