New Tank - I dont want hair algea…

[hsnydn]

Hello,
I have 1.5 years of 10G experience, got some experience about corals, placement, chemistry and unfortunately hair algea too!

Recently i set up my new 50 G tank with internal bio filtration and HOB protein skimmer. I want to start carefully without even transferring any algea from my old tank. Total 2 months of cycling finished, 2 clown fishes added 3 weeks back, and carefully fed only with enough amount. The problem is the nitrate level, 100 ppm!
I see one post says that; if nitrite is still above zero, nitrate level may be at extreme level, i dont know if anyone experienced this.
At the moment, I already added some corraline algea by scraping from stright clean surfaces and started for lighting at 10% level.
My target was to start less lighting, coraline algea to grow and accordingly to add corals.
I am stucked on what to do with this nitrate level. I am afraid if algea takes over the place. Nopox may help, but i am not sure to use it at this stage. Can This low lighting trigger hair algea or any other kind of algea?
What actions you would do at this point?

 

[brandon429]

Here is a 100% guarantee on how to run that tank with no algae or invasions of any type:

don’t test for nor adjust nitrate and phosphate, I realize that’s what the masses do, but they go from GHA to dinos to cyano in a cycle

do your feeding and change some degree of water weekly not bi weekly

change your entire mindset into nano-specific controls, don’t follow rules made for large tanks.

access: your rocks don’t sit in the tank day by day as you alter the water to starve algae that will be coming soon. That’s what the masses do who cycle between invasions


what you do is lift out a rock set it on the counter and use a knife point, not a brush, to surgically detach and lift out the algae

rinse off, put peroxide on the spot that formerly had algae then set rock back in tank, algae work is external surgery vs internal, internally all you do is feed the tank and change water, don’t mess with testing param in the small nano

when cyano happens, look up any of the 100+ rip clean threads to see how we take apart a nano, wash it out, put it back uninvaded


no dosers or tank meds to buy

no testing beyond temp and salinity

lower your light levels and run them hardly any whites, deeper blues and don’t turn up power for a while, nanos don’t need all the heavy lighting power the big tanks need and this will all work as a plan to keep that nano uninvaded

we simply do opposite of what the masses do for the nano reef win

 

[brandon429]

Most people will tell you the filters you run aren’t helping, that they catch waste and cause nitrate


we don’t care, you aren’t testing for nitrate in this plan so if you ran six filters the plan would still work. Look how we just shifted your responsibility compared to the masses:

the masses=I have algae problems. Forum responses—Blame=external, not my fault, external locus of control runs my tank (the sunlight it gets or the nitrate or the phosphate or the filters I run, I’m reacting as best I can, what doser can I buy and hope it works?)


our method, you’re responsible for your reefs quality= if you have an algae rock you could have fixed but didn’t, that’s a lot like simply refusing to mow your lawn. Neighbors know you could fix it, if you wanted to, if you were the determinant of your lawns status vs blaming sunlight, nutrients in the dirt that grow grass etc

if you have cyano its because you want some. Any rip clean thread shows how easy cyano is to fix in two hours within a nano reef. Internal locus of control, nothing to blame a bad looking tank on is a surefire way to run that nano very clean and packed in corals.

if you want to be algae free, you can be 100% if you just shift who is responsible for your tanks destiny

you’ll be busy doing surgery on rocks and cleaning sand for a couple years till it matures. I own a non invaded pico reef that is sixteen years old and isn’t allowed to have an invasion. It tries to, occasionally, but me locating and running rip clean threads is not hard to do. My reef is not permitted to get invaded, so it doesn’t.

this way only works on nanos lol you’re lucky that’s not a 150 or you’d be winging it, with the masses lol

the reason you’re not testing for nitrite, nitrate etc:

your tank is post cycled we don’t need to know those params

unless you have Hanna digital meters, anything you’re reading will just test at some other level on a non digital kit, the levels the masses react to aren’t even accurate…source, any nitrate test kit comparison post.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Fastest way to reduce nitrates = large water change.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Starting with all dry rock, you WILL get algae... It's just part of the process.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Most people will tell you the filters you run aren’t helping, that they catch waste and cause nitrate


we don’t care, you aren’t testing for nitrate in this plan so if you ran six filters the plan would still work. Look how we just shifted your responsibility compared to the masses:

the masses=I have algae problems. Forum responses—Blame=external, not my fault, external locus of control runs my tank (the sunlight it gets or the nitrate or the phosphate or the filters I run, I’m reacting as best I can, what doser can I buy and hope it works?)


our method, you’re responsible for your reefs quality= if you have an algae rock you could have fixed but didn’t, that’s a lot like simply refusing to mow your lawn. Neighbors know you could fix it, if you wanted to, if you were the determinant of your lawns status vs blaming sunlight, nutrients in the dirt that grow grass etc

if you have cyano its because you want some. Any rip clean thread shows how easy cyano is to fix in two hours within a nano reef. Internal locus of control, nothing to blame a bad looking tank on is a surefire way to run that nano very clean and packed in corals.

if you want to be algae free, you can be 100% if you just shift who is responsible for your tanks destiny

you’ll be busy doing surgery on rocks and cleaning sand for a couple years till it matures. I own a non invaded pico reef that is sixteen years old and isn’t allowed to have an invasion. It tries to, occasionally, but me locating and running rip clean threads is not hard to do. My reef is not permitted to get invaded, so it doesn’t.

this way only works on nanos lol you’re lucky that’s not a 150 or you’d be winging it, with the masses lol

the reason you’re not testing for nitrite, nitrate etc:

your tank is post cycled we don’t need to know those params

unless you have Hanna digital meters, anything you’re reading will just test at some other level on a non digital kit, the levels the masses react to aren’t even accurate…source, any nitrate test kit comparison post.

I can't even decipher this post, and from what I can tell, it does nothing to answer the OP's question.

Why are you throwing in all this nonsense???

 

[hsnydn]

Starting with all dry rock, you WILL get algae... It's just part of the process

I am worried how to control Green hair algea. İn my previous experience gha started slowly but never reduced, actually increased more.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I am worried how to control Green hair algea. İn my previous experience gha started slowly but never reduced, actually increased more.

Algae control is best achieved with a good cuc. Get some snails and/or fish that eat algae.

 

[Treefer32]

Nutrients have to be consumed. I think of it as if you add a bunch of fertilizer to anything something will eventually grow in it. Same with our tanks. Fish poop and food waste equals fertilizer eventually through the nitrogen cycle. For smaller tanks the easiest way to remove nitrates is water changes. 50 gallon tank - 25% water change weekly, means you'll maintain 75 nitrates instead of 100. Larger changes will reduce that further.

If you want a more natural way to maintain lower nitrates, then there's many options. Everything from a Refugium, Chaeto grow out chamber, to the more expensive Algae turf scrubber. I prefer the ATS, over Chaeto, but there's some nice Chaeto grow out chambers now that would work very well. Cost may be a factor for those as well.

For mechanical filtration, skimmers work, and add oxygen to the water for the inhabitants.

A reef mat or filter socks help keep the water polished and if changed every 2-3 days will reduce the chance of nitrates getting worse.

A more advanced option would be to carbon dose to raise bacteria levels that consume nitrates. This something that requires more testing and more advanced care taking.

That said, the tank looks relatively new. Bacteria colonies are still being established. I'd wait a couple months (testing nitrates at least weekly) to identify the trend. They may be rising now, but I'm willing to bet money they'll start going down over time.

There's many ways to tackle this. I will tell you that I started my 340 gallon display with an algae turf scrubber. I've not had any hair algae outbreaks. I had a Briopsis outbreak that I got rid of in a 2 week period with reeflux and it never came back.

My phosphates have been as high as .5 and nitrates as high as 40-50 and I never had hair algae in my display. I feed heavy as my fish are pigs. I try to keep phosphates between .01 and .1 and nitrates 15-30 using ATS, vodka dosing, reefmat, and skimmer. For smaller tanks, I would just do a scrubber or refugium of some type and the filtration you already have if you keep it clean.

 

[hsnydn]

I dont have space for refugium. Does coraline algea consumes the nutritions as same as macro algea. What if i start to dose coraline to incrase corraline grow?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

That said, the tank looks relatively new. Bacteria colonies are still being established. I'd wait a couple months (testing nitrates at least weekly) to identify the trend. They may be rising now, but I'm willing to bet money they'll start going down over time.

100% agree with this ^^
New tanks need time to mature and most will have an "algae cycle" (aka "the uglies"). Trying to avoid algae completely at the beginning will usually result in an ugly stage later on, so it's better to let it happen early. The coralline will help, but other algaes will develop and then disappear as still other types outcompete them for nutrients.

A more advanced option would be to carbon dose to raise bacteria levels that consume nitrates. This something that requires more testing and more advanced care taking.

As mentioned, this is an option best used AFTER the tank/system matures and stabilizes.

Also, once you add coral, it will consume the same nutrients that algae uses, so this will help balance the tank even more.

Good luck, and keep asking questions!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I dont have space for refugium. Does coraline algea consumes the nutritions as same as macro algea. What if i start to dose coraline to incrase corraline grow?

You can't actually "dose" coralline... The stuff in the bottles is just calcium, magnesium, etc. At this stage, your water changes will provide all these elements and I wouldn't waste $$ on adding more through dosing.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I dont have space for refugium. Does coraline algea consumes the nutritions as same as macro algea. What if i start to dose coraline to incrase corraline grow?

And coralline does not consume nutrients the same way other algaes do... But when it starts to grow on the rocks, then other algae can't easily grow there. So in this way, it can help control/reduce algae on your rocks, etc.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I dont have space for refugium. Does coraline algea consumes the nutritions as same as macro algea. What if i start to dose coraline to incrase corraline grow?

Can you use one of the back chambers for a refugium?

 

[flyingscampi]

I think of GHA as free food. It only grows in my tank where the hermit crab can't get at it.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I think of GHA as free food. It only grows in my tank where the hermit crab can't get at it.

Adding snails/crabs will definitely help control GHA!

 

[hsnydn]

You can't actually "dose" coralline... The stuff in the bottles is just calcium, magnesium, etc. At this stage, your water changes will provide all these elements and I wouldn't waste $$ on adding more through dosing.

I didnt know this, i was asking my self how they keep coralline algea in bottle alive! Thanks

 

[hsnydn]

I think of GHA as free food. It only grows in my tank where the hermit crab can't get at it.

I have an hermit crap, it is so strong, and removes the frags, make them upside down and eat what ever it could find. But this makes me frustrated. İt looks doesnt like the taste of long GHA.

 

[EricR]

I didnt know this, i was asking my self how they keep coralline algea in bottle alive! Thanks

ARC Reef sells coralline spores that they cultivate/bottle/ship and then you have to use it within a couple of weeks. (You don't need it but it's also not that expensive).

Coralline can get into your tank from many sources, like live rock, snail shells, etc,,, but it does have to be introduced somehow.

*bit of a tangent from the GHA question but just FYI

 

[hsnydn]

T

Can you use one of the back chambers for a refugium?

My tank is Juwel lido200, basically a freshwater tank. İt has built in filter,removed all sponges and filled it with seachem matrix and similar staff. The only way is to empty and use that space. Not sure if the rocks will be enough for bio filtration. Actually rocks are aquaforest branded, it has tiny holes on the surface and inside of the rock. İf the refugium is only about cage for moss and a light, i may think about it.