It'll probably go away on it own eventually. When I pluck out a sprouting of the stuff, it doesn't seem to be growing back in the same place. I bet if you harvested it that it would help make it disappear. Handy harvesting tip: when siphoning out water during a water change, use a 1/4"-3/8" i.d. vinyl hose, and hold it underwater in the tank near its end so you can use a finger to cap the hose off. Allow the algae strands to get sucked into the hose down to their base, then tightly cap the hose with your finger, pinching the strands in the hose, and pull to pluck them free from the rock. Then uncap the hose and the strands get siphoned down into the bucket. Works pretty good for hair algae too. It doesn't get it down to the rock surface like scrubbing would, but I've seen hermits go after fresh trimmed hair algae that they wouldn't touch beforehand, and they'll then clean it down to the rock. At least in my case.
270g Starphire build thread (pic intensive) (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter morty
- Start date
It'll probably go away on it own eventually. When I pluck out a sprouting of the stuff, it doesn't seem to be growing back in the same place. I bet if you harvested it that it would help make it disappear. Handy harvesting tip: when siphoning out water during a water change, use a 1/4"-3/8" i.d. vinyl hose, and hold it underwater in the tank near its end so you can use a finger to cap the hose off. Allow the algae strands to get sucked into the hose down to their base, then tightly cap the hose with your finger, pinching the strands in the hose, and pull to pluck them free from the rock. Then uncap the hose and the strands get siphoned down into the bucket. Works pretty good for hair algae too. It doesn't get it down to the rock surface like scrubbing would, but I've seen hermits go after fresh trimmed hair algae that they wouldn't touch beforehand, and they'll then clean it down to the rock. At least in my case.
I used my Magnum 350 with the micron filter & like morty described use vinyl tubing when scrubbing the macro algae & hair algae problem I have. the macro hasnt come back & the hair algae hasnt spread....but its driving me crazy.
Dhummel
Senior Member
Morty,Here are a few more progress photos. The tank still has a healthy growth of hair algae, but more and more bare rock is re-emerging and I'm now seeing the rock starting to color up with pink and blue-purple coralline algae.
Here is a rock that shows some coverage of the darker blue coralline algae on the right. It had previously been completely the bleached white look seen on the left.
Here is another rock showing how it is coloring up. There is another kind of algae that is spread around in the tank - it's on the lower-left of this rock. It's greyish green and fluffy. It has no structural strength at all. It's like it's made of nothing. It doesn't need to be plucked or scrubbed, just getting a siphon hose near it simply sucks it out, which is nice.
This is another bryopsis-looking algae, kind of similar to one from a previous post, except it does not seem to branch. It is only located in a couple patches in the tank.
The mermaids' wineglass algae has continued to spread around the tank, here's kind of a little garden of it.
This is another calcifying algae that has appeared (middle, scallop-shaped). Also all around it is the short brown hair algae that seems to be the main non-coralline algae remaining.
But the brown hair algae seems to be disappearing. The bare patches of rock in this photo were recently covered with it. This makes me wonder what is consuming it, because it's not like it's falling off and going down the drains, or dissolving. It's more like something is consuming it. Would some sort of pods eat it at night? Like amphipods? (I have noticed the hawkfish hunting around in the rocks a lot more, picking something off for food.)
This was something I forgot to post before. It seems to be some kind of small polyped encrusting coral that survived the cooking period over the past year. If anyone knows what it is I'd be curious to hear. It's in a couple patches on this particular rock. Hope it survives.
This is an alien eye echino I got from David G. It's beginning to encrust onto the rock I glued it to.
Here are some orange mouth zoas from David, starting to rapidly take over this rock. I'm glad I glued them to a smaller rock, so if they really take off I can move the rock out into the sand to keep them from taking over. There's an open spot near the back of the colony where I killed an aiptasia with Joe's Juice, so I'll probably have to deal with more of them in the future. I also have spotted a few red flatworms here and there. I'm sure they came in on another rock I put in the tank.
This is the same acro I posted before, still seems to be doing pretty good.
This is a purple mouthed monti I also got from David. It's growth pattern is interesting. It seems to be growing down before starts to grow upward. The whitish area in the lower left as well as everything below the lit-up lower ridge is new growth, but I haven't yet seen to top of the frag grow taller very much.
Here is an aquacultured pink birds' nest I got from LiveAquaria. I think it has about doubled in size. In the foreground two branches have stitched themselves together. I can see why it's called birds' nest, because the inner area of the frag is more hollow, while the outside branches seem to be weaving together.
Here's the most recent full tank shot. The left end of the tank looks pretty barren, but I have a bunch of frags (still) in quarantine that I will begin to put in place once a little more of the hair algae is gone. Also not many vertebrate occupants -- the purple firefish pair are visible towards the middle, and the flame hawk is the little red patch at the right end of the tank. Good luck finding the lawn mower blenny.And my purple tang is still waiting it out in the refugium, once I get a better idea of what other tangs to add with it at the same time. (btw - Any more opinions/ideas out there on this?)
as looking at this view of your tank, can i ask what you used for the directional exits into the tank ? i would like to do that for my ocean motion wave maker.
Those are omni-flex nozzles (the 3 joint version) also sold by Oceans Motions. The seem a little pricey for what you get, but there's not much else out there that will do what they do in a 1-1/2" pipe size.
Dhummel
Senior Member
i didn't realyze you were running a OM, or are you just using the nozels ? thank for the hint.
Dhummel
Senior Member
great thank you..sweet setup by the way, i just finished my 110
Morty, did u use Eco Rocks to start your LR? Just curious because I hope I don't end up having those weird funky algae growth...
Dhummel
Senior Member
morty,
i just went into the OM site to get a price on the flex nozels. do you remember what they might cost.
thanks much
i just went into the OM site to get a price on the flex nozels. do you remember what they might cost.
thanks much
Dhummel
Senior Member
thanks jon,
WOW there spendy!!
thinki might pass, it would cost me about $80.00 for all 4.
WOW there spendy!!
thinki might pass, it would cost me about $80.00 for all 4.
Could you consider loc lines with some adaptation..not sure if it will save u $$$$
Dhummel
Senior Member
excellent idea i'll have to check tomorrow.
thank you.
thank you.
No I used mostly LR I got from Reefer Madness and cooked for about a year, and also some LR I had cooking in SW literally for 6-7 years. I think getting various algae is inevitable even if starting with dry rock, because it will come in on frags and other things you buy for the tank. Personally I would prefer starting with LR to get the "algae cycle" over with early on, because again I believe it is inevitable. And there's sometimes good and interesting stuff that comes with LR.
However, that said, there are lots of bad things that come on LR too, but in general they are larger organisms like mantis shrimp that are not impossible to screen out if done properly.
I considered loc-line until I did a little more investigation into the degree that flow is dragged down by pipe size restriction. That's why I decided to bite the bullet and go with the largest pipe size that OM makes for their 4-way, and also use their largest nozzles, which was 1-1/2" for both. I really think it paid dividends in the end because I now have good water movement rushing around the tank. In hindsight I realize if I had gone with smaller piping I would now either be tearing it all out and replacing it or be buying Tunzes to make up for the need for more flow. Of course in the end it's all about budget (good water movement doesn't seem to come cheap), but if there would be a way to install large piping and temporarily use cheaper PVC fittings as nozzles until it's feasable to buy nicer ones, that's what I would recommend.
Dhummel
Senior Member
i was thinking of that last night with trying to fit like 2 45s together and make something similar to direct flow other the straight across the top, right now i just have 90s going into the tank for flow at different directions across the top, the water flow if unbelieveable though, with the pump not even at full throttle, i have it set up so i can have a relief line back into the sump so i can open the pump more.
thank you for the hints
thank you for the hints
brandon l
Senior Member
Morty,
As mentioned before, I don't know how or why I missed this thread before. But, wow. I love the design of the entire setup. Envy! I now know how I want to design my hood. I've been struggling with the "typical canopy" look. Yours almost looks like an exhaust hood design you see in many kitchens these days. Being able to get the lights up and out of the way and have a sloped opening really make the access to the tank much simpler.
I also am impressed with your candid display of the algae as it runs its course in your setup. I think many people have algae anxiety and don't even want to show their system to anyone else until that has cleared up. Your pictures could go a long way for newbs like myself to have the patience it takes and the interest to watch what is going on in our new systems as the mature to the point that most of us see after the initial "ugly" stage has run its course. Thanks for all of your information and pics!
As mentioned before, I don't know how or why I missed this thread before. But, wow. I love the design of the entire setup. Envy! I now know how I want to design my hood. I've been struggling with the "typical canopy" look. Yours almost looks like an exhaust hood design you see in many kitchens these days. Being able to get the lights up and out of the way and have a sloped opening really make the access to the tank much simpler.
I also am impressed with your candid display of the algae as it runs its course in your setup. I think many people have algae anxiety and don't even want to show their system to anyone else until that has cleared up. Your pictures could go a long way for newbs like myself to have the patience it takes and the interest to watch what is going on in our new systems as the mature to the point that most of us see after the initial "ugly" stage has run its course. Thanks for all of your information and pics!
Thanks Brandon
Like I mentioned earlier, I had a 180g setup about 10 years ago and I did a horses#!t job of designing the hood for that one. So this one was going to be all about easy access. And it was important to me to be able to get the lights out of the way. With this design I pretty much have to use MHs, because with the tapered canopy I can't use full length flourescents. (Although I suppose I could use multiple 36" T5 bulbs if I ever wanted to go all T5. But I really like the shimmer lines that MHs give.)
Funny you should mention the algae photos. A short while ago I was reluctant to post any photos because of the how everything looked, plus there just isn't much stocked in the tank yet. But a couple different people encouraged me to post whatever I could show, because it could be interesting to look back on later (assuming the thread doesn't go away and barring disaster etc.). And after all, it IS a 'build thread'. It's to show how I chose to do things, get feedback/suggestions, show mistakes, and offer my advice if anyone wants. So I decided to keep shooting pics periodically to keep this more like a photo journal. I appreciate the kind comments and I will try to keep things current!
Like I mentioned earlier, I had a 180g setup about 10 years ago and I did a horses#!t job of designing the hood for that one. So this one was going to be all about easy access. And it was important to me to be able to get the lights out of the way. With this design I pretty much have to use MHs, because with the tapered canopy I can't use full length flourescents. (Although I suppose I could use multiple 36" T5 bulbs if I ever wanted to go all T5. But I really like the shimmer lines that MHs give.)
Funny you should mention the algae photos.
A short while ago I was reluctant to post any photos because of the how everything looked, plus there just isn't much stocked in the tank yet. But a couple different people encouraged me to post whatever I could show, because it could be interesting to look back on later (assuming the thread doesn't go away and barring disaster etc.). And after all, it IS a 'build thread'. It's to show how I chose to do things, get feedback/suggestions, show mistakes, and offer my advice if anyone wants. So I decided to keep shooting pics periodically to keep this more like a photo journal. I appreciate the kind comments and I will try to keep things current!