Sorry, but another tedious "is this bad" algae pic

[southfla]

So the tank seems to be nearing the end of it's first cycle, and I'm going through some of my first algae blooms. Got the diatom stuff figured out, but after reading all the scare-stories 'bout bryopsis (sp?) and hair algae, this new stuff that's all over my tank has got me concerned....So here it is:

(LOL, just noticed all the copepods from my LR hehe...and people pay for em!)

This just normal "break-in" first cycle bloom stuff, or stuff I should be worried about? I use ro/di water, so I shouldn't have a phosphate problem. I'm cycling the tank w/REALLY uncured MI LR from Jeff's, and only ran lights ~4 hours/day until yesterday. All my ammonia/nitrite levels tested 0 after being off the charts, so I started a normal light cycle yesterday and WOW, that algae popped up ALL over, on rocks, glass (looks kinda like little trees), sand etc...

I'm not adding anything to the water but fresh ro/di for makeup. The RO/DI is a brand new 4-stage Tornado....

Thanks for the help (again)
ja

Setup:
55 gallon w/corner overflow
20 gallon sump (12 g water)
70 lbs. MI LR from Jeff's
120 lbs. Nature's Ocean sand
(2) MaxiJet 1200 powerheads for tank current
Rio 2500 return to full length spray bar(soon to be replaced w/mag950)
100 g venturi skimmer/Rio 2500 (soon to be replaced w/mag700)
WON titanium heater & grounding probe
Kalk drip
(2) 96W PC 10,00K/actinic bulbs
(1) 30W 6,000K/Actinic NO

no critters yet...

[ December 26, 2001: Message edited by: southfla ]

[ December 26, 2001: Message edited by: southfla ]</p>

 

[WWiley]

The algae on the rocks looks like bryopsis.

I wish you luck. I have not been able to beat it in two years.

WW

 

[esmithiii]

Ditto.

Ernie

 

[Paul A. Ifkovits]

It is still early, but I appear to have beaten my bryopsis infestation rather quickly and easily. Steps are listed below;
1) Regular water changes (weekly)
2) clean skimmer twice/week
3) lowered temp (slowly) to 78 degrees
4) cut back feeding - including no frozen food, no DT's phytoplankton, fed flake in VERY small portions. (I am not suggesting you starve the fish)
5) "fried" exisiting bryopsis patches with a hot kalk paste applied with a syringe. I would apply very carefully at night right before the lights went out. I turned off all powerheads and throttled back my return pump (do not want this stuff flying around the tank). Next morning I sucked it back out with the dead algae.
6) cut back photoperiod from 11.5 hours to 10 hours.

It has been almost 10 days and there is no sign of its return. I did repeat the kalk applications 3 total times. It could still return, but it looks really good so far.

I know what caused my infestation. My tank is new (converted from a 75 about 8 months ago) and included a new deep sand bed. In an attempt to get the bed up and healthy, I was greatly overfeeding the tank. This included frozen, flake, DT's, and fresh seafood. I suspect scaling the feeding back played as important a role as any of the other steps listed above. However, once the algae is establised, this stuff can survive (and spread) on very little nutrients. That is why I decided to try the kalk paste.
One more point. If you are feeding your tank, you have some phosphate present. The algae is very good at utilizing phosphate and therefore may not be detectable when tested.
I recommend you read Dr. Shimeks new book, "sand bed secrets". The section on the feed web is excellent and clearly describes this process/relationship.
Paul

[ December 27, 2001: Message edited by: Paul A. Ifkovits ]</p>
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