Neptune Aquatics

Tank needs help RSR250

Twisted

Twisted

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So I’ve been super busy with life and I’ve let my dad pretty much just feed the tank and do some water changes once in a while and I’m finally ready to fix the tank if all of its algae. What should I start with doing I’m guessing the phosphate and nitrate are super high because of all of the algae. Thanks all help is appreciated.
 

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Looks like green hair algae, which is usually not too tough to deal with. Multiple ways to deal with it.

What I’d do is just manually (with your hands or other grabbing tools) pull out as much of the algae as you can. You are just debulking it and making it easier for clean up crew to eat, doesn’t have to be perfect. Then add some herbivores, fish if you can, plus snails and urchins. Lots of herbivores like to eat GHA. In my experience Mexican turbo snails and tuxedo urchins are the best, but there are plenty of other good options.

At the same time, test your nitrates and phosphates. They may not be too high since the algae is consuming them. They often get imbalanced (high phosphate with low nitrate or vice versa) over time if you haven’t been paying attention to them. You can specifically remove the high one (like with GFO) or supplement the low one (if it’s near zero). And/or just do water changes.
 
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Add a Zebrasoma or Bristletooth type of tang, they'll devour that GHA in no time.
Fluconazole works wonders as well if you want to go the chemical route. Should take care of it within 2 weeks. Then do a 50% water change. It'll be safe for the softie corals and clowns you currently have.
 
SupraSaltyReefer said:
Add a Zebrasoma or Bristletooth type of tang, they'll devour that GHA in no time.
Fluconazole works wonders as well if you want to go the chemical route. Should take care of it within 2 weeks. Then do a 50% water change. It'll be safe for the softie corals and clowns you currently have.
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I’d go bristletooth (tomini or kole ideally) over zebrasoma every time for hair algae.
I’d also go blackout for 3 days after manual removal over fluconazole, but I just don’t like the chemical route. Not saying it won’t work
 
Coral reefer said:
I’d go bristletooth (tomini or kole ideally) over zebrasoma every time for hair algae.
I’d also go blackout for 3 days after manual removal over fluconazole, but I just don’t like the chemical route. Not saying it won’t work
Click to expand...
I’ve had a tomini tang and he didn’t do much and now I have a baby Gem tang and he also doesn’t do much. I noticed that my Clean up crew dies pretty fast does it maybe mean there is copper or something leaching into my tank ?
 
If it’s long hair algae. They won’t eat it. You just gotta keep up on your husbandry and not feed so much. Plus if your aquarium is young. It will go thru phases.
 
Twisted said:
It’s like 4 years old but it’s been ignored for a while
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Oh. It’s not young. Yeah I’m a fan of the black urchin. The others die after a while. The black one is the one that people were giving away. I think they come from the gulf on live rock. I don’t see them in stores. But then I don’t look for them very often. Either way. Hair algae isn’t difficult. Yours doesn’t look too bad.
 
These two urchins ate long hair algae (faster if they have no other types of favorable aglae or favorable fresh shorter lengths present, I assume). I don't know the name of these urchins though? Holler if you know the ID, please!

IMG_5073.jpeg
 
SupraSaltyReefer said:
Add a Zebrasoma or Bristletooth type of tang, they'll devour that GHA in no time.
Fluconazole works wonders as well if you want to go the chemical route. Should take care of it within 2 weeks. Then do a 50% water change. It'll be safe for the softie corals and clowns you currently have.
Click to expand...

I've never had fluconazole work on anything other than bryopsis, even with 2 to 3 times the recommended dosage.
 
Patio said:
These two urchins ate long hair algae (faster if they have no other types of favorable aglae or favorable fresh shorter lengths present, I assume). I don't know the name of these urchins though? Holler if you know the ID, please!

View attachment 47888
Click to expand...

Looks like pincushions.

www.algaebarn.com

Pincushion Urchins (Lytechinus variegatus): The Algae Destroyers

No matter who you are, how skilled you are as an aquarist, how diligent you are at cleaning your tank, how little you feed or how advanced your filter
www.algaebarn.com www.algaebarn.com
 
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