New tank avoiding algae

[briansandle]

Hi everyone, I am going to be setting up my first tank soon, it is only going to have fish in for a while so I am trying to avoid algae so the tank always looks good. Is there anyway to avoid any algae ? Or ways of minimising it

 

[The_Paradox]

Keep nitrate and phosphorus in check, but a new tank is going to put you through an ugly phase of some kind.

 

[Evil1]

Unfortunately algae blooms are going to happen no matter what you do. It’s part of tank maturing. My advice is to let it do its thing. Don’t go crazy with water changes or adding chemicals to keep it in check. It will only prolong the process. Be patient as it will take time to get to the maturity stage but you won’t be disappointed.

 

[litsoh]

Seed the tank with copepods as well, I've had patches of algae grow in and get taken out by the pods in no time

 

[Yang’s Blue Paradise]

Add plenty of clean-up crews and you'll keep it minimal. Replenish them overtime as well.

 

[briansandle]

Add plenty of clean-up crews and you'll keep it minimal. Replenish them overtime as well.

Could you give me the best CUC for a WB 20 pls

 

[Yang’s Blue Paradise]

I currently have a 15-gallon tank can recommend what I have.

1 Tiger sand conch: will keep your sand bed clean
1 Mexican turbo snail: eats green hair algae
3 Astera snail: eat algae the turbo snail can't get to since they're smaller
2 Nassarius snail: will eat food on the sand bed

I also have a tuxedo sea urchin because I like them. I wouldn't recommend early on cause they need a decent amount of food. You can supplement by adding more turbo snails. I personally avoid hermit crabs because they will kill the snails for their shells.

The biggest tip is to go SLOW and add more if you need to supplement more, if they starve and die you will end up with more algae. Additionally, during water changes get an old toothbrush and scrub some parts down. Being diligent will take you a long way.

An additional tip when acclimating the snails for the snail get a toothbrush and scrub their shells for algae and aiptasia.

 

[KrisReef]

Hi everyone, I am going to be setting up my first tank soon, it is only going to have fish in for a while so I am trying to avoid algae so the tank always looks good. Is there anyway to avoid any algae ? Or ways of minimising it

Don't run the lights all the time or longer than 8 hours, set the tank up where it doesn't get sun light and algae won't grow much at all.

 

[CasperOe]

Keep the lights off for the first three months!

 

[briansandle]

Keep the lights off for the first three months!

Even with the fish in ?

 

[Yang’s Blue Paradise]

Don't run the lights all the time or longer than 8 hours, set the tank up where it doesn't get sun light and algae won't grow much at all.

I totally agree fish don't necessarily need lights so you can have shorter photoperiods to avoid more algae growth. But once you add corals a longer photoperiods will let them grow faster.

 

[Midrats]

Don't use dry rock if you want to minimize the ugly phase. You might just skip it all together

 

[Yang’s Blue Paradise]

As for the dry rock vs wet rock debate I would research on your own to see the pros and cons on both side

 

[Yang’s Blue Paradise]

What a coincidence I see you live in Somerset I'm in the next town over at Flemington. You live pretty close to Reefco Aquarium I get all my clean-up crews from there.

 

[briansandle]

What a coincidence I see you live in Somerset I'm in the next town over at Flemington. You live pretty close to Reefco Aquarium I get all my clean-up crews from there.

I will definetly check it out. Just out of curiosity how did you know I live in Somerset, I don’t remeber writing it anywhere

 

[CasperOe]

What a coincidence I see you live in Somerset I'm in the next town over at Flemington. You live pretty close to Reefco Aquarium I get all my clean-up crews from there.

.... never heard of the English "New Jersey" :grinning-face-with-sweat: but we know nothing about what's going on "south of the wall" up here in Scotland :D

 

[Yang’s Blue Paradise]

Below your username there is a location which states it

 

[PotatoPig]

Even with the fish in ?

Most fish are fine under room lighting, algae mostly won’t grow under it - the PAR is around 0.5 to 1.

When you put aquarium lights on it though expect algae to come in soon enough, this is normal, you’ll just have to address it by measures appropriate to whatever species you are dealing with (nutrient control, clean up crew, flow adjustment, manual removal)

 

[Evil1]

I’m not one for not running lights at all even with Fowlr tanks as an algae control method. I would think once you put the light back on the mother of all blooms would occur. I would limit light in the beginning and ramp up to comfort zone over time. Let the tank do its thing.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hi everyone, I am going to be setting up my first tank soon, it is only going to have fish in for a while so I am trying to avoid algae so the tank always looks good. Is there anyway to avoid any algae ? Or ways of minimising it

Nope. There isn't any way to avoid at least 6 months of ugliness.