Ok, since the thread "starting my saltwater tank" I have been succesful in creating a stable and healthy environment for a couple marine species found off the California coast.

But I have had trouble recently with algae. It is a thin layer of orange-like algae that has grown on all the walls of the tank and on the inside chamber of my SeaClone protein skimmer. Can I just scrape it off with an algae scraper? Or is there a reason its growing on my tank? Its getting hard to see the tank with it blurring up the glass!

thanks,

~Michael

I'm unfamiliar with orange algae, but any algae can be scraped off and siphoned out in a water change. Some types of snails will eat the algae and keep your tank clean, too. Perhaps someone familiar with the California sea life could recommend some algae eaters for you.

Nancy

i had a similar problem but with bubble algea try a clean up crew ( a bunch of snails and hermits, and mabe a sea star that should clean up your tank in a few weeks and keep it that way until you get an octopus to eat them.

Behold!!! The moon snail! Tremble in fear at the all consuming destroyer of algae! To simply look upon the beast is to see the death of all aquatic plantlife! Revel in its glory as your eyes burn within their sockets and your mind screams out in chorus with your mouth at the site of that which should not be seen.
Oh wait... No no sorry they eat clams. But you might try some sea hares. They are especially good with hair algae.
So yeah... I hear they are native to calif. Id get one if I were you. Good luck with algae.
-Nick

Check your phosphate levels...you may need to do some water changing when you start to see matting algaes, especially the red/orange varieties.

But you might try some sea hares. They are especially good with hair algae.
So yeah... I hear they are native to calif. Id get one if I were you.

Yeah, I see sea hares a lot around Laguna, so I bet they're pretty common down by you. They're pretty big, though, and I have no idea what they eat... There are also those little black turban snails that live around tidepools on the whole CA coast... but again, I don't know what these eat, just that they're common, and fit in your theme for "local intertidal life."

Yeah, I see sea hares a lot around Laguna, so I bet they're pretty common down by you. They're pretty big, though, and I have no idea what they eat... There are also those little black turban snails that live around tidepools on the whole CA coast... but again, I don't know what these eat, just that they're common, and fit in your theme for "local intertidal life."

Seahares are extremely usefull for eating unwanted algae, but watch out they will also eat the wanted macro algae too. What kind are there in califorinia? I had an eared sea hare and it got HUGE. What kind of tank of tank does marineboy have?

an 18 gallon running on the berlin system with 6 pieces of live rock and assorted southern california inertidal life. (sculpins, hermits, minnows, and so forth)

do you think that a bat star could solve the problem? I see turban snails all the time and small sea hares to but the sea hares release there digestive system when they are threatened so I think they may mess up the tank. I was thinking of adding a bat star very soon anyway but I thought that all sea stars eat mussels and other bi-valves...

~Michael

Originally posted by marineboydo you think that a bat star could solve the problem? I see turban snails all the time and small sea hares to but the sea hares release there digestive system when they are threatened so I think they may mess up the tank. I was thinking of adding a bat star very soon anyway but I thought that all sea stars eat mussels and other bi-valves...

Bat stars usually eat stuff they find on the bottom of the ocean, I can't remember if they eat algae, but they might...

Turban snails will probably help with the algae problem.

Sea hares (Aplysia californica) release purple ink, and sea cucumbers release their "guts". Sea hares may be ok, but they are pretty delicate and if they die, they will affect your water chemistry. I wouldn't recommend them unless you can get your tank temperature 68 or under...

Sea cucumbers eat detritus, and are more delicate than sea hares, so I wouldn't recommend them for your tank either, plus they don't eat algae.

Not all sea stars eat bivalves...

Good luck, it is probably related to your tank cycling and remember some algae is good.

Bat stars usually eat stuff they find on the bottom of the ocean, I can't remember if they eat algae, but they might...

Turban snails will probably help with the algae problem.

Sea hares (Aplysia californica) release purple ink, and sea cucumbers release their "guts". Sea hares may be ok, but they are pretty delicate and if they die, they will affect your water chemistry. I wouldn't recommend them unless you can get your tank temperature 68 or under...

Sea cucumbers eat detritus, and are more delicate than sea hares, so I wouldn't recommend them for your tank either, plus they don't eat algae.

Not all sea stars eat bivalves...

Good luck, it is probably related to your tank cycling and remember some algae is good.


Bat stars do eat algae, as well as other stars and worms. Ive always wanted a sea star in my aquarium, but they are hard to find here. Are they abundant in your tidepools? Also sea hares really arent that fragile or at least the ones I keep. Yesterday I had one really messed up by my filter but it recovered pretty good. However I found out that californian sea hares can grow up to 16 inches! So im not sure if they would fit your tank.

many species in my tank will eventually grow to big but I will just release them at that point. I come by sea stars pretty often since I know where to look.

bad/good news, im being forced to buy a chiller in this heat wave...I found the tank at 82 degrees one afternoon when I was out for only a couple hours. I rushed to chill it down and was lucky to suffer no losses.
But im not going to wait and let it happen again.

~Michael

Michael,

Have you tried setting up a fan over the open top of the aquarium? Try that a while before shelling out big bucks for a chiller.

1 gallon of water evaporating = 7000 BTU of cooling

Its to hard to angle a fan over the tank with having it fall into the drink...

chiller sounds needed to and freezing all this stuff every day just to cool off the tank for a little is becoming tiring...

Look for a fan that has a clip so you can mount it to the rim of the tank.

A couple weeks ago we had a big heatwave here. I checked the temp one afternoon and it was 86 degrees! I ran to Walmart, put two small (30 watt) fans on the tank, and it was under 80 by the time I went to bed. Now that's fast! The fans were $8 each. A chiller would have been hundreds (and really noisy!).

Dan

I use a 10 dollar wallmart fan.. drops 75 gallon volume 4-5 degrees.

Youll probably want some auto-top off though for evaporation

Also, the algae you are mentioning may be diatoms..Which is a normal part of the cycling process and takes a while to burn out. can you describe it more? Is it just a thin layer or is it sludgey or hair?

its a thick orange sludgy substance thats all over the walls of the tank. scrubbing and getting replacement water sounds a little much so I think I will just get a bat star and a fan.

(sorry for repost so late I was on vacation for a while)

it may be a form of cyano bacteria, i have had the orangish red variety

phosphate level????

Sounds like some type of cyano... You may need more flow and yes, check phosphate levels. You can always add a phosphate reactor.. Two little fishes makes one for 30 something dollars and you just add a small powerhead.

Sounds like some type of cyano... You may need more flow and yes, check phosphate levels. You can always add a phosphate reactor.. Two little fishes makes one for 30 something dollars and you just add a small powerhead.

I didn't get this post in time so I just decided to scrub it and then give a 50% water change like nancy said earlier. When I got back from vacation the algae had only gotten worse so I rushed to get rid of it. The problem was the protein skimmers' collection cup wasn't screwed on right so all the filtered waste was just going right back in to the tank. The algae got into the protein skimmer though so I couldn't scrub all the rest of it away because not all the parts can be reached. I dont know what I can do to get rid of it though. Will it just go away on its own or can something be done? The tank is fine though but I just dont want any more of it coming back :smile:

As Greg suggested it might be the level of phosphate or silicates in your water that is 'feeding' the algae.

Will your LFS test a sample if you take it in?

cheers

ok, Phosphate levels were fine so it must have been just a natural part of the cycle.

something strange though: this morning I woke up and looked in the corner were the protein skimmer is and found in the top left corner a bundled mass of bright green or yellow string was forming. It almost was like sphagetti and it was a little soft to. I removed it because I didn't know if it would harm the tank but then I realized, could it have been a kelp base forming? thanks for your help.

~Michael

Do you have a sea hare in your tank? If so, it could have been eggs...

Hi, I have 6 saltwater tanks, and I have ran across the..arg.. red algae a couple of times- especially in a fairly new tank. Here's what I do when that happens. After scraping it I do a 25% water change, I add some dwarf blue leg hermit crabs and some snails- the little sand sifting snails love grazing on it- nassarius obsoleta I think they are called. Turbo snails do good on rocks and glass. I then turn the lights off one hour sooner than normal for two weeks or so and I cut my feeding down by half for that time. If I see some layers forming on the substrate I stir it up just a bit. I do water changes each week then for the next two weeks- of course after I have scrubbed the tank. I know it sounds like a little work but in about 2 weeks the cycle will be broken for that algae and it seems to balance itself then. I usually dont have a problem then. The only other thing I could suggest is a UV sterilizer to reduce algae blooms, but you would still have to scrub the tank to get the algae free moving to get zapped once it goes through the UV sterilizer. I've also have cucumbers help with stirring the substrate, they dont eat algae but they do a good job at stirring the sand which helps alot. I've found them to be very hardy and inexpensive. Good luck!

yeah I have a small sea hare.

NOOOO, I destroyed its eggs! Next time ill post before I act! I knew they were fertilized to because I saw two other sea hares surrounding that one when it was in the ocean.

Sea hares are hermaphrodites (both male and female) and they sometimes mate in groups. The eggs may not have made it in your tank, but maybe she will lay some more...

thats a releif, but now I feel bad about disrupting the breeding group and the ecosystem.