Say hello to my little friend!

[TravisBTravis]

woowoo. his name is Amstel!! ME Travis

Anyway nice forum here aaaanndd HELLLLLO.

Recently set up my fifth tank, well i had five alltogether through the years. This time i swear it will ONLY be FOWLR, just bc i dont want to be tied down to a specific photoperiod AND to avoid heat and hair algae.

Well it isnt working 100% as planned but not so bad either, but the red (cyano)...guess it's cyanobacteria, or maybe not but it is RED HAIR ALGAE looking.

My tank:

40 gallon
fiji rock (had it from old tank)
Red Sea Berlin HOT skimmer (skims like crazy)
1 thats right (one) Domino Damsel (pic)
TroopicMarin salt

What i did was use this live bacteria (Fritz-Zyme) and supposedly "live" bagged sand, none of this was around when i left hobby 10 years ago. Uhhh but not much else has changed.

I also used the premixed water (cant remember the brand) for about 15 gallons of it and i kind of think that may have contributed to algae problem. If anyone has an opinion on this feel free to let me know.

I know everyone say "one fish wont cycle a tank" but this tank afaik has cycled, been up for 5 mo's and Damsel is doing better than ever...plus he likes being alone too and eats like no tomorrow.

The way i am going to deal with red algae is to do a few water changes (i slacked) and maybe change the lighting or rather just try differant bulb type. Right now i use bulbs that came with this fixture -http://www.aquabuys.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=satellite_2x 96_36&Category_Code=d2&Product_Count=34 and not using the blue light only the one daylight which looks more yellow without blue light on.

Also i read here to try this stuff -http://www.aquatichouse.com/Suppleme...chemiclean.asp.

Thats it for now. Good Day

[Woodstock]

Welcome to Reef Sanctuary~~ I like dominoes also but like you said they are aggressive and like their own space

Have you ever considered a phosban reactor for your algae problems?

[lcstorc]

Welcome to RS! Lots of friendly helpful people here.
if you have cyano check your phosphates. That has always been the cause of mine. Phosban has worked well to clear it up, but I will never again use one of the red slime remover products. It messed up my skimmer for weeks.
Hope all goes well and enjoy your new tank.
Oh and welcome back to the hobby.

[Gina]

Welcome to RS!
If you use the Chemi-Clean, make sure you follow the directions to the letter.
Turn your skimmer off and make sure you are providing plenty of O2 while you are treating.
Treat the tank for 2 days then follow up with a 20% water change.

When you turn the skimmer on it will be working overtime for about a day.
If you have a sump, that would work out great otherwise you will be cleaning your skimmer cup every couple of minutes.

You could also set up a Phosphate Reactor like mentioned above.
Test your tank water and the water you use to make fresh salt water for Phosphates.
Try to siphon off as much of the cyano as possible and increase your water flow. Check to see if you have any dead spots in your tank.

Hope some of this info helps you get on the right track.
Again, Welcome!

[TravisBTravis]

Its nice to get back into it. I cant seem to find any corraline covered rock here in New York so it looks like I am stuck with what i have for now as the rock i used was dry so not much hope for corraline.

I went to LFS and looked at their rock, which was all "base" rock and the guy told me it will grow even if none was present...how does that happen?

Thanks for the heads up on phosphate removers. TBH i really dont mind no corraline but hate the thought of hair algae growing on it instead, as shown in the picture it was bleach white and looked great.

- Thats coffee

[TravisBTravis]

OK 2 votes for phosphate reactor, I'll look into phoshate reactor. Even though i never seen one.

[Gina]

Here's one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Phosphate-Reactor-Kent_W0QQitemZ7761706932QQihZ018QQcategoryZ20758QQ ssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Also, check out our Sponsors and see what type they carry!

[billyr98]

Welcome to RS~~

[ghostwolf]

Welcome to RS and back to this great hobby.

Lin

[TravisBTravis]

I tested for phosphate and low range levels are undetectable, according to my test kit (aquarium solutions) they are zero.

If i had corraline covered rock the red algae would hardly be noticeable with only a small amount on the sand and glass. But on the bare rock it starts to grow and gets long and hairy....scrubbing rock every few weeks is not an option.

Hmmm guess guess bare rock in sw tank will allways be a problem.

[Craig Manoukian]

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

[Rougiem]

: to the Sanctuary!

Cheers!

[MarbleShark]

Welcome....

As far as Dominos.. I thought he was cool until I added other fish and then it went nuts and killed a Blue Chromis and took the eyes out of a Three Striped Damsel that it had been living peacefully with for a while before I caught the little bugger. It also terrorized the new fish I put in there.. I did think it was a little amusing watching this little Domino chase a Dwarf Flame Angel around the tank.

Be careful if you add other fish.

[Masika]

Greetings & welcome to rs!