Vivid Aquariums' Reef Hobby Forums | Q & A Saltwater Fish, Coral, Invertebrates, and Aquarium Supplies

Overfeeding

Thu, 17 May 2012 20:18:31 GMT

How often should I feed the following items:

Fish (2 clowns, puffer, wrasse, angel, dwarf palette tang, 2 shrimp, 2 stars) all are under 3 inches except the stars.

BTA
LPS
SPS
Zoa
sponges
assortment of small decorator crabs

I feed everyone once per day with roto or oyster feast, some phyto. Once a week I substitute the feast with fresh shrimp, oyster or mysis.

I think I must be overfeeding because green algae is becoming a problem. My tests are all good.

I have had a palette tang and diamond goby go missing. The tang has just vanished. The goby could be in the back hiding but haven't seen him in days. No spikes in tests to indicate they are decomposing anywhere.

Forum: Reef Chat

starting a new tank

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:49:42 GMT

I just wanted your thought on what I will need to do to move my existing 55 gallon tank, up and running for 2 years now, (just fish, live rock and sand) into a 125 gallon tank. The obvious will be more water to be made by RO/DI but is there something I am missing or forgetting to do / need to do for the flip.

-or- should I leave well enough alone and start a new in the 125???

Thanks.

Leo

Forum: Saltwater Fish Chat

Lowest cost and easiest way to eliminate green hair, bubble, turf and slime algae from your aquarium (hopefully permanently).

Mon, 14 May 2012 22:39:17 GMT

Lowest cost and easiest way to eliminate green hair, bubble, turf and slime algae from your aquarium (hopefully permanently).

This new test version of the algae scrubber is much easier to build than the waterfall version (the Mega Powerful one), and is perfect for nano's. This new scrubber has never been posted before May 2012. It works in both freshwater and saltwater.

If you are like most aquatic hobbyists, nuisance algae is an ongoing problem. You try to feed your livestock, and the next thing you know, you get algae. You've already tried many fixes; some work but are expensive; some kind of work but you're not sure; and some just don't work at all.

Think about what is happening: Your aquarium is accumulating nutrients (nitrate and phosphate) because of the food you feed. Algae eat nitrate and phosphate to grow, so the algae are having a great time growing in your water because they are eating all your nutrients! What to do?

Well think about this: In order to grow, algae must be provided with nitrate and phosphate. So why can't you just use the algae to consume all the nitrate and phosphate? The answer: You can! How? With a simple device you build called an Upflow Algae Scrubber. It's simple, cheap, and you can make a small one in just a few minutes with parts you probably already have. I'll be posting more complex versions later, but here are some pics of the most basic design that you can use for testing:

(will be updated periodically)

An "algae scrubber" is a simple filter that actually grows algae in the filter, so that the algae do not grow in other parts of your aquarium. Simply put, the conditions for algae growth inside the filter are better than the conditions in the rest of your aquarium; thus the algae grow in the filter instead of your aquarium, and then you just remove the algae from the filter and throw the algae away. But in order for the algae to grow in the filter, the algae need to consume nitrate and phosphate; so guess where the nitrate and phosphate come from? Your water!

If you stop and think about it, algae always grow in certain spots, and not in others. This is because some of the three growing conditions (light, flow, nutrients) are better in some parts of your water than they are in others. An "upflow algae scrubber" simply optimizes these conditions, and does so at a place where the algae can be easily removed and thrown away. And once the nitrate and phosphate have been removed from your water, all other nuisance algae such as green hair, bubble, turf and slime, will have a hard time staying alive.

So where have these filters been all this time, and why haven't you heard of them if they work so well? Well the original waterfall version (the Mega Powerful thread posted in August 2008) was hard to build, and was not really for sale anywhere; so unless you liked to build things from scratch, you had no choice but to buy some other kind of filter. All the filter really needed to do was to create good growing conditions (light, flow, nutrients) for the algae, by flowing the water across a piece of rough material, so that the algae would grow on the material instead of somewhere else in the aquarium. The waterfall algae scrubber did grow lots of algae in the filter, and it removed lots of algae from aquariums: Over 1,000 people built their own waterfall algae scrubbers, and reported their results on various forums during a 4 year period; almost all of them wiped out their nuisance algae within 8 weeks, and many did so in 4 weeks. And on other forums that I never posted on, an estimated 10,000 people built their own waterfall algae scrubbers with similar results.

A little over a year ago in April 2011, another idea came along: Instead of letting the water flow down a screen like a waterfall, how about you let the water flow up the screen using air bubbles? Why? Because as good as waterfall algae scrubbers are, they still need a place for the water to drain "down" to. This means that you need to have a sump below the aquarium, or you need to have the scrubber up above the aquarium. This is not easy, and is very difficult for a nano aquarium which usually has no sump below it, and no room above it. Also, the waterfall version requires it to be out of the water (in the air), which takes up extra space. The new "upflow" version, however, can be placed inside the aquarium, so that it takes up no extra space at all, and it needs no external plumbing or water pumps at all. Only air bubbles.

The Upflow Algae Scrubber (UAS) provides the best growing conditions for algae in your tank: Air bubbles provide rapid turbulent flow; Strong lighting provides the light; and the nutrients that are already in your water provide the nitrate and phosphate. All that's needed is a place for the algae to attach to, and that is provided by the roughed-up plastic screen. Thus the algae start growing on the screen because the flow and lighting are stronger there than they are in the rest of your aquarium; nitrate and phosphate are consumed in the process. This causes algae to start disappearing from your aquarium and start re-appearing on the scrubber screen, so that you can throw the algae away every week or two.

The most basic way to set up an Upflow Algae Scrubber, especially in small aquariums, is just to put some air bubbles beneath a vertical screen. If inside an aquarium, you just put a light on the outside of the glass, so that it shines inside to the screen. And if you want better performance (which means better filtering), just add a reflector to give the screen some light on both sides. The screen is best made with 7-mesh cross stitch plastic canvas that you get at sewing or craft stores, or online. Also, don't forget to rough up the screen with a sharp object like a hole saw; the screen should be so rough that the screen holes are almost filled in with all the little pieces of plastic that you roughed up.

One thing to remember is that an Upflow Algae Scrubber (or any algae scrubber) will not cause more algae to grow in your aquarium. Instead, the algae will disappear from your aquarium, and will start to grow on the scrubber screen instead. You then just remove the screen and scrape the algae off. And here's a surprise: Watch out for your fish or snails eating your filter! There's nothing tastier than live green algae, so your fish or snails may keep your screen from getting very thick. The simple solution is to just put some mesh or netting around it.

There are a couple of requirements that have been learned since August 2008 which will get you started quicker. The size of the Upflow Algae Scrubber that is needed is based on how much you feed, and not how much water you have, because the nutrients that cause algae to grow come from the food you feed. The following updated picture has size guidelines:

(will be updated periodically; if picture cuts off, open in new window)

And the following updated picture has examples:

(will be updated periodically; if picture cuts off, open in new window)

So build a UAS and post your pictures!

Forum: Beginner's Corner

Can you ID this Zoo?

Mon, 14 May 2012 15:57:19 GMT

Forum: Reef Chat

translate my lighting

Sun, 13 May 2012 21:57:30 GMT

I hear alot about the kinds of lighting people have. Mine r 10,000k or 2 65w daylight and 2 aquitic bulbs with the moonlight bulbs lso. So when I but what kind of lights I hve, what do I put? Is that enough for a 55 gal. tank to hve a bright blue clam? Nice coral? Just wondering.

Forum: Beginner's Corner

Hello Folks

Sun, 13 May 2012 02:21:36 GMT

I've been in this hobby for over 4 years. It is very addicting, as I'm sure some of you know. It is just something that intrigues me about this hobby, is how you can receive various types of fish from all over and have them survive in the home aquarium.

Reefguy

Forum: Member Introductions

feather duster

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:11:51 GMT

Why is my feather duster getting shorter? I have it close to the water flow but in the sand. Should I move it up? I'm putting in marine snow about 3 times a week, is there something else I should add? I have a reef tank and everything else seems to be fine nd my test seem fine. Nitrates a little high maybe about 10. I have had it up and going for about3 1/2 months now.

Forum: Beginner's Corner

Zoanthids not opening

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:19:08 GMT

Question on Zoanthids. I bought three frags here about 9 days ago. Two were quite small, the Radioactive Zoanthids and Hulk Zoanthids. After acclimation and dipping in revive I put them in the DT and left the lights off till the next day. All three opened the next day and seemed to do well. About 5 or 6 days later the smaller two now appeared shrunken and no longer open. The larger frag, Eagle Eye Zoanthids, seems to be doing just fine. Before going into more details I can stop here and ask if this is normal?

Tank setup details are in my sig. Tested water when I put them in. 0 on everything including Nitrate and Phosphate, Calcium was at 420, Mag 1440. SG 1.025, Temp 79. Run the lights 9 hours, with the blues on 11 hours. Have 5 fish that I feed three times a day, sometimes just twice. Not adding anything like Marine Snow just yet, so maybe that's it.

In the same purchase I also got three mushrooms, Kenya tree, Xenia, and a couple other softies and they all look wonderful. As you can probably tell these are my first corals. Overall I think they're doing great, just hoping the tiny frags can pull through. Thanks!!

Forum: Beginner's Corner

65gal build

Tue, 08 May 2012 05:14:55 GMT

Hi guys I have a quick question for you I'm starting up a 65 gal tank that I have had for a couple years I took down this tank because I ran out of space. I'm ready to start up again but my question is I have a hang on the back over flow. Is that ok to have when building a reef tank or should I save up money and get a tank with a built in overflow any advice would be really appreciated

Forum: Beginner's Corner

hospital tank questios

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:44:53 GMT

I am thinking of putting some live rock in my hospital tank now that I've concluded the copper treatment. I'm thinking it might give the fish some natural food, especially the goby and mandarin. good idea, bad idea? the rock is cured from my local lfs. Or am I risking unnecessarily bringing some new disease into the tank.

also, my clown still flash against objects. if the velvet is gone and there's no sign of ick, what else could it be?

jeff

Forum: Saltwater Fish Chat

Moving to my new 75 g tank

Sun, 06 May 2012 15:41:52 GMT

Within the month I will be moving to my new 75 g tank from a 38 g. I have two damsels, a sailfin tang, and a pajama cardinal as of now. All of them have been in the tank for more than 4 months. I am planing on having a deep sand bed and dead rock as well as my current live rock which is about 40 pounds. How long should I wait after set up with just dead rock and sand to put fish and corals in? Also I was wondering how and in what order should i put my fish in. I am planning on giving the damsels and cardinal away before the transition. Should I keep the current tank running the way it is for the tang until the new tank is cycled or should I do something else?

Thanks for any suggestions

Forum: Reef Chat

One cloudy eye

Sat, 05 May 2012 03:31:16 GMT

My flame angel has one cloudy eye tonight. Any ideas what it could be? No other spots on any fish.

Forum: Saltwater Fish Chat

BTA newbie questions

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:21:49 GMT

How does a BTA split? Top to bottom, bottom to top, growing a bud out from the foot or what?

Mine's been acting a bit strange last couple of days (though that's nothing new) but I notice some change at the base of his stem. Normally that disappears smoothly into a hole under the rock, but there appears to be some raggedy growth off to one side that could almost be another foot, if that's how they do it.

It's pretty large, ten inches or more across when fully expanded.

Thanks in advance.

John

Forum: Clownfish and Anemones

water flow

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 02:49:02 GMT

hey guys! i was wondering what kind of waterflow i need in my tank. it is a 72 gallon bow front. i have lps and sps in the tank. could i get away with one powerhead? or should i be using two? also if u could tell how to use a wavemaker if i went with two powerheads? thx ahead of time!!

Forum: Beginner's Corner

water changes cover Cal. and Alk. needs of LPS

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:03:16 GMT

Planning on going with a primarily soft 50 gallon coral reef. If I added just one or two LPS, what are the odds that a 5% water change each week would meet their calcium and alkalinity needs and I would not have to get into supplements?

Forum: Reef Chat