brown algae in sand

[repoman1]

not really an emergency but im having a problem with brown algae in my sand and on glass. It started about a 10 days ago. I did a water change, about 1/3 of water. Checked my water for everything and its ok. the glass really doesnt bother me but the sand does because its hard to clean. Im new to this so please dont mind me if i seem alittle slow. once i did the water change and sucked most of the algae from the sand it was good for about 5 days and over night it came back fast while the lights were out. any help would be great. thanks


24g nano
one nemo and one dory.
cleaner shrimp.
sand sifting star
9 snails
1 brittle star
and a bunch of soft corals
77 degree's
no skimmer because it wont fit

 

[mnat]

If you can get a cell phone pic up of it that would make it easier to identify. Considering you are new it is probably diatoms which is generally a very common problem with a new tank setup and will burn off with time.

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news but here goes. You really need to take dory out of your tank ASAP. That fish is going to get way way way way way to big for a 24g nano and it is going to cause havok to your overall system and probably wind up dead. Also, you want to get rid of the sand sifting star as well. Your tank is brand new so there is nothing in the sand to feed the starfish and it is going to starve. Even if you had a 24g setup for a very long time it would still mow through your sandbed and still starve. Also, it kind of takes the life out of live sand which defeats the purpose.

Where are you located and what stores are you going to?

 

[repoman1]

ok here's the deal, Im from rockaway, north nj, if ya dont know it. I buy most of my stuff from a guy that sells out of his house in parsippany. Very extensive inventory of frags,fish and all types of corals. He has more inventory then most stores ive been. anyway, ive been taking his advise about whats in my tank. I let him know about the algae and he told me to get the star and snails, he also suggested a cucumber which he didnt have in stock. dory is smaller then a quarter and i was planning on trading her when and if she got to big. Your making me feel bad about starving my star because i like him. Im new to this and get all kinds of different opinions, but your opinion id lean towards because your not trying sell me anything, ya know.

 

[mnat]

When I started in the hobby it was when my wife was in law school and we were down in Camden NJ. We went to a local LFS down there that sold us a ton of stuff that we had no business having in our tanks but we were not members here or on any website at the time and we should have done our research. The reason I ask that question about the LFS is I am never trying to put a business down, it is just we all try to steer people towards stores that we have had good relationships with and will not just try to sell you on anything.

As far as the star goes, it is a very very common thing that people do. I would say sand sifting stars are probably one of the most sold animals in this hobby that really don't belong in this hobby at all, probably followed by mandarins. The advice he gave you was correct, they will clean up your sand bed, however once they are done with it there is nothing left for them to eat. Also the fact that they make your live sand not live anymore is counter intuitive. The thing is you can get a bunch of nassarius snails and others inverts that will do just as good of job of cleaning your sand bed and won't be detrimental to it.

As far as dory goes, just be careful. There are plenty of people who have the same plan of moving or selling fish into a bigger tank when they get too big. Unfortunately this really does not happen. Blue tangs are notorius ich magnets in this hobby which can be very bad for your tank. They need a more specialized diet with plenty of algae and they eat like little pigs. The problem with that is since you are adding a lot of food and they are pooping a lot they can foul your water very quickly (especially in a 24g). The last part is they will get more aggressive as they get bigger which is bad for nemo and any other fish you want to put in there.

My intention is never to try and make anyone feel bad, trust me reef boards are littered with posts about this sort of thing because is happens over and over. You are not the first one and you will certainly not be the last one. We are all here to help each other to have successful reef tanks and have as much fun with them as possible. We are all trying to learn from our mistakes and point others in the right direction so they don't commit the same and have to go through the heartache we went through.

 

[ultracorals]

Just curious as to what type of filtration you are using. Mike is right on with the diatoms. Give it a chance and they will go away as your tank matures. All new tanks go through different algae outbreaks. I. Agree on ditching the star fish.

 

[repoman1]

thanks for all the info, its amazing the info on the forums as compared to what people tell you in the stores. thanks again

btw ultracorals, I have the nano cube, typical triple sponge's in the first chamber then water flows to the next chamber to a large bag of
API Ammo-Carb Activated Filter Carbon & Ammonia Remover, then to the third chamber to pump into tank. what do you guys think about the API Ammo-Carb Activated Filter Carbon & Ammonia Remover?

 

[adesimone1]

I would change it out for chemi pure elite. A better product IMHO.

 

[mfisher2112]

I would change it out for chemi pure elite. A better product IMHO.

+1 to that. Not a fan of API's stuff as far as Saltwater goes. Definitely give the Chemipure a try, or Clear FX Pro if you can get ahold of that.

But the diatoms won't go away with water changes. You have to just let the tank settle for a bit. Once they have run through the "food" source that is fueling them, they will vanish. It's part of the process in a new tank. Let it settle for a bit. Sometimes, early on, too many water changes too often can actually just prolong the situation.

 

[thirty5]

How old is the tank? I only had diatoms when my tank first cycled. There are other questions on why you have the algae?

What are water parameters?

While a CUC can help control algae outbreaks, it is more important to try to figure out why you are getting it. If it is a new tank then it is just a cycling issue. But if you already have fish in the tank I am assuming that it is already cycled.