Dealing with Green Hair Algae and Cyanobacteria and lots of questions for my Saltwater tank.

[SMSREEF]

Appreciate it, sure will. If I'm not having trouble with oils at my surface is it needed or should I still get it? What are the benefits of it?

Thanks.

It will help break the surface tension and get rid of surface scum. Just keep it in mind for when you have an issue.
Since all my tanks that don’t have a sump or AIO with overflow section have ended up needing it, I am a bit biased.

 

[SMSREEF]

Can I make one more suggestion. Don’t dip your rocks in peroxide. It will kill not only the algae but the bacteria too. You need that.

I would start with a tooth brush and rinse in saltwater. Your algae is not bad enough for a nuclear option yet.

if you need to use peroxide, it is best used a spot treatment or just superficially where the algae is. @brandon429 has written novels about this and will have some great insight and suggestions.

 

[Ibby]

Can I make one more suggestion. Don’t dip your rocks in peroxide. It will kill not only the algae but the bacteria too. You need that.

I would start with a tooth brush and rinse in saltwater. Your algae is not bad enough for a nuclear option yet.

if you need to use peroxide, it is best used a spot treatment or just superficially where the algae is. @brandon429 has written novels about this and will have some great insight and suggestions.

I do bi weekly water changes 20% so I'll use a tooth brush and rinse it with the tank water that I'm about to dispose correct? When I remove most of the algae is a CUC needed or should I see if it grows back quickly?

Thanks.

 

[KrisReef]

Welcome to Reef@Reef!
The tank looks nice and well on its way. Lots of helpful advice on going forward has already been given. Brandon's threads are interesting and helpful and reading those should help improve your understanding as to what is going on as your tank exists and "matures."

Only thing that jumps out at me for your tank is that the filtration and water changes should be fine for two small fish in your 10 gallon tank. The normal desire is to add a small blenny, and then a firefish, followed with a small Bangii cardinal (or two), an perhaps a goby + shrimp pair to the little tank.

i would encourage you to be very careful if you want to add more fish because the tank is pretty full with a pair of clowns. All fish need space to dwell and a 10 gallon is a very small body of water for fish that normally live in an ocean. Filtration and water changes can keep them healthy but those efforts do nothing for the small living situation.

Not to discourage you, I just think you will be wanting a bigger tank soon (the typical trajectory in this hobby, per my own observations) and you will have better luck keeping what you now have healthy by not crowding more life into the tank. More snails and a few hermit crabs might help with algae but they all use oxygen.

HTH

 

[Ibby]

Welcome to Reef@Reef!
The tank looks nice and well on its way. Lots of helpful advice on going forward has already been given. Brandon's threads are interesting and helpful and reading those should help improve your understanding as to what is going on as your tank exists and "matures."

Only thing that jumps out at me for your tank is that the filtration and water changes should be fine for two small fish in your 10 gallon tank. The normal desire is to add a small blenny, and then a firefish, followed with a small Bangii cardinal (or two), an perhaps a goby + shrimp pair to the little tank.

i would encourage you to be very careful if you want to add more fish because the tank is pretty full with a pair of clowns. All fish need space to dwell and a 10 gallon is a very small body of water for fish that normally live in an ocean. Filtration and water changes can keep them healthy but those efforts do nothing for the small living situation.

Not to discourage you, I just think you will be wanting a bigger tank soon (the typical trajectory in this hobby, per my own observations) and you will have better luck keeping what you now have healthy by not crowding more life into the tank. More snails and a few hermit crabs might help with algae but they all use oxygen.

HTH

Thanks for the info. I actually have a 20 gallon tank so I should be fine with adding the fish you listed above correct? You probably just misread but I have a standard 20 gallon tank. I heard from lots I could put several amount of small fish that go well with clowns. Don’t plan on upgrading for another 2-3 years till I move from my home and get a bigger tank.

As for water changes, I know everyone has their own ways but how often do you change yours?

 

[KrisReef]

Thanks for the info. I actually have a 20 gallon tank so I should be fine with adding the fish you listed above correct? You probably just misread but I have a standard 20 gallon tank. I heard from lots I could put several amount of small fish that go well with clowns. Don’t plan on upgrading for another 2-3 years till I move from my home and get a bigger tank.

As for water changes, I know everyone has their own ways but how often do you change yours?

I have a bigger system with a skimmer, sump with live rock and a filter sock for filtration. I change water every now and again but can get away with that since the nitrates and phosphates are fairly close to self managing without water changes. I have a calcium reactor for adding minerals and test to keep up with major elements.

20 is 4 times bigger than a 10 when it comes to having fish. The fish I noted are smaller popular kinds and i was just trying to encourage you to figure out how many you can have before the fish are over crowded. Figure out what you want to add and how much you can add before you buy any more so you end up with what you really want.

i was in a store a few weeks back that had a harlequin tusk (that I really wanted to buy) not because I was planning on adding a tusk (I had thought about this) but because the fish at the store needed to be in a bigger tank (it was in a ~20) and because the trigger fish in the tank was chewing it's tail off! The store had ich, and the tusk's caudal fin was 2/3 missing and the tusk looked too far gone to survive in my main tank or in the clown tank I currently have. All that to say, if I had a space for the tusk I would have bought that fish as a rescue from the store where it was doomed.
For that decision I also had to factor in my home system's health which is ok but not so good that I could risk adding a sick fish and not possibly kill some of the fish in my already crowded tanks with the disruption of adding a super stressed fish that would possibly fight with the other fish I have. Bringing sickness and territory battles home was not fair to the fish I already have.

Be thoughtful and your fish will thrive. HTH.

 

[SMSREEF]

so I'll use a tooth brush and rinse it with the tank water that I'm about to dispose correct?

Correct.

When I remove most of the algae is a CUC needed or should I see if it grows back quickly?

A CUC will help keep it under control once you get rid of the long stuff. Snails will keep it from growing back too badly. But if you get long stuff again, you will need to remove it by hand.

a really cool snail is the trochus snail. They can flip themselves back over if they fall off the glass or rock. And they may even make baby snails for you. I just got really excited today to see about 15 little baby trochus in my 60 cube.
I also like astrea snails, they are real work horses, but you need to babysit them if you have sand because they can’t flip back over themselves.

 

[Ibby]

Correct.


A CUC will help keep it under control once you get rid of the long stuff. Snails will keep it from growing back too badly. But if you get long stuff again, you will need to remove it by hand.

a really cool snail is the trochus snail. They can flip themselves back over if they fall off the glass or rock. And they may even make baby snails for you. I just got really excited today to see about 15 little baby trochus in my 60 cube.
I also like astrea snails, they are real work horses, but you need to babysit them if you have sand because they can’t flip back over themselves.

I don’t plan on QT CUC and hope for the best but when I decide to get fish, can you please briefly just let me know what I need for a QT tank, is a 10 gallon sufficient , etc ?

Also when my water evaporates and I need to top it off with water again, I know RODI water is advised but can distilled be used or stick to RODI?

Thanks for all the help.

 

[SMSREEF]

I don’t plan on QT CUC and hope for the best but when I decide to get fish, can you please briefly just let me know what I need for a QT tank, is a 10 gallon sufficient , etc ?

That’s exactly what I use. A 10 gallon.

a great thread on quarantine is this one.

My Current QT Process

UPDATE, 10/9/22: For those looking for quarantine information, our current process is kept updated on the first page of this thread (post any questions at the end of the thread). https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/ Thanks, Jay Hemdal I am frequently...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Ibby]

I don’t plan on QT CUC and hope for the best but when I decide to get fish, can you please briefly just let me know what I need for a QT tank, is a 10 gallon sufficient , etc ?

That’s exactly what I use. A 10 gallon.

a great thread on quarantine is this one.

My Current QT Process

UPDATE, 10/9/22: For those looking for quarantine information, our current process is kept updated on the first page of this thread (post any questions at the end of the thread). https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/ Thanks, Jay Hemdal I am frequently...

www.reef2reef.com

Not sure if you saw my edit since I did it 5 mins after I apologize but distilled or RODI water?

 

[SMSREEF]

Distilled is expensive Per gallon, but works just fine if you don’t have an RODI.
Does your LFS (one you trust) make RODI water you can buy?

 

[Ibby]

Distilled is expensive Per gallon, but works just fine if you don’t have an RODI.
Does your LFS (one you trust) make RODI water you can buy?

Yes $1 per gallon but I’m going to have to go to home depot and go get 5 gallon buckets so I can go fill up at least two so I don’t have to be going back and forth. There’s like $60-$400 RODI systems you can just install right to your sink faucet right?

 

[SMSREEF]

Yes $1 per gallon but I’m going to have to go to home depot and go get 5 gallon buckets so I can go fill up at least two so I don’t have to be going back and forth. There’s like $60-$400 RODI systems you can just install right to your sink faucet right?

Yes. Check out BRS and the other websites. You are close to Black Friday so I would use distilled till then and get an awesome deal later.
they were 25% off last year and that’s when I got mine.