Hey,
I am 3 mos into keeping a folr 72 gal bow front tank. I was going along fine until ich reared its ugly head and killed 5 of my 7 fish. Well, learned a valuable lesson and purchased a qt tank. My hippo tang 'Doc' and six line wrasse 'Popeye' are recovering nicely with copper treatments.
ALL new fish will now be quarantined before going into the show tank. My first question regards algae growth in my show tank. Water is crystal clear but there is brownish algae blooming on the live rock as well as some green little plants/leaf like things and green and dark red velvet like algae. Is this ok? If not what can I do about it?
My second question is about uv light filters. I want to purchase one for my show tank but not sure what type. I am considering the 3x Turbotwist by Coral life and the other is the Gamma UV filter. Any preference or advice on either of these or any others on the market....Sorry for the long post but thanks for reading.
Brian

Brian,
The stuff you are seeing in your display sounds a few different kinds of algae/bacteria. Leaving the tank fallow (while the fish are in QT) for a few weeks should starve out most of these. Are you using RO/DI water and how much are you feeding?

Thanks,
Yup, using R/O water with conditioners. Not feeding anything in my tank now as it is running fallow. That is why I am considering a UV sterilization system. The plants look pretty cool actually...little green leaf things. The other stuff is just weird.

what type of water flow do you have ?? i have noticed that getting flow to the areas where the bacteria is thriving will keep it from being able to settle there and help it to get sucked out by the skimmer.

Brian,

You may continue to have problems with Doc getting ich. Tangs are ich magnets and it tends to pop up whenever they get stressed. I think that the 72 bowfront is 48" long and that is not a lot of swimming room for these guys.

In order for the algae to grow there must be nutrients available. Do you have inverts in the tank? Are you feeding them? Either way while you have the tank fallow I would consider doing a series of water changes in order to reduce the nutrients and nip the algae while the tank is empty.

Brian,
You may continue to have problems with Doc getting ich. Tangs are ich magnets and it tends to pop up whenever they get stressed. I think that the 72 bowfront is 48" long and that is not a lot of swimming room for these guys.


i can not believe that i missed that !!

i agree with Carmie 100%, i would trade him in on something more suitable for a tank your size.

Hey Bobby,
I have the recommended pump for this size tank purchased at LFS. The return outlet is only at the top of tank...perhaps I should get a multi nozzle return system. Not sure if I am using correct lingo but hopefully you know what I am referring to .

do you have any powerheads in the tank ?? i would add at least 2 large flow powerheads.

Hi Carmie,
I was aware that my tank size is not suitable for a hippo tang. Doc is a juvenile and only about two inches. I am considering a larger tank down the road once I have some more experience under my belt. The answer to your other question is no to inverts or anything else say for the rock and live sand....Oh one other fact I left out that may be key....I have the water temp at 86 degrees to kill off the ich. Could the high water temp be augmenting the algae?

Powerheads....no I don't have any of those. I will look into adding these to my tank....thanks.

the higher water temp is not necessary, leave it at a normal range. You said you are using RO with conditioners.,, what are you adding? Other than salt mix for water changes, you should not be adding anything to your water unless you know what you are doing.

Kordon tap water conditioner....I add a half teaspoon per five gallons of RO water. Apparently I should not be doing this. I will lower the water temp to 78, Thanks

I am not familiar with the Kordon product, but I really dont think you need it. A properly functioning RO/DI unit will remove all the harmful nutrients/chemicals from the water you need to worry about.

i agree with poppin_fresh, no need for the conditioner.

I have stopped using the conditioner. I have purchase a uv filter and a powerhead so hopefully the ich and algae problems will be lessened. I know having a bue tang leaves the door open for ich but based on what I have read on this site and other advice I will take my chances with the uv light and a qt tank.
Brian

Brian,

The algae you are seeing are diatoms (rusty brown powder), cyano (red film) and some macro algae (green leafy) growing on the live rock. All normal occurances in a new, cycling tank. The macro will be fine. The tang will probably eat it.

Three months into a new system, your tank is really finishing off on a cycle. You should really have been adding fish only at this point. But you'll have to slow down, step back, and start again, slowly. The 7 fish stressed from the water conditions (the presence of these algae prove that the tank is unstable at this time), got ich and succumbed because your system wasn't ready for them yet. I'm not being harsh, just letting you know, "it is what it is". Believe me, I'm not some "I told you so" kind of guy. I'm very "newbie friendly"

Don't bring any more friends home for Doc and Popeye for a while now. When you do, add one at a time, and wait for a few weeks for the system to adjust to that new bioload before adding more. Quarantine them first. I have a bunch of small tanks and sponge filters kicking around. If you want one, free, it is yours. Get your fish from a reputable LFS. Tropical Isle in Framingham is a good spot. As is Aqua Addicts in NH, Skiptons in Boston, I could go on and on. What I'm trying to say is that I've found, with all the good marine LFS up here, the "BIG CONSUMER PET STORES" seem to have little interest, low quality product and staffing (they all work for the LFS).

Continue to use the RO/DI water. No conditioners. Perform a few water changes until the cyano and diatoms Increase the flow in the tank to keep the cyano and diatoms from rearing their ugly head. Feed ONLY what your two fish can consume in a few minutes and stock up on a "clean up crew" consisting of turbo snails, hermit crabs, etc.

Where in this great state do you live? I could put you in touch with a "reef guru" to help you on your way. I'm in Marlborough myself. Consider joining "Boston Reefers Society" Boston Reefers - Welcome! (http://www.bostonreefers.org) They are a great group of hobbyists who will help you immensely on your way along this great hobby. They are one of the oldest and largest marine aquarium clubs in the US.

Finally, welcome to TR. Stay put here and ask away. You can't go wrong. There are a bunch of knowledgable folks here ready to help you.

Dave

Hey Dave,
Thanks for taking the time to reply. I appreciate the valuable info you passed along. I had been contemplating getting a salt water aquarium for years. I finally did a few months ago and any patience I once had went by the wayside. I did let my tank cycle for a month then went with some damsels first then traded them in for clowns, the wrasse, tang and angel fish. I didn't know the tank needed a few months to really establish itself. Wow...no wonder the algae and ich problems. Anyway, I live in Methuen and use Seaworld in Salem NH as my main LFS. I have been to Aqua Addicts in Salem a couple of times and they are great ( actually purchased a fire red shrimp there only to have it die a week later). I will look into the Boston Reefers site for sure...thanks for the invite. I did purchase my coral beauty and wrasse from a pet chain store (don't want to get into trouble by naming it so you can make a guess). I think that is where the ich came from....was told they don't q/t their fish..just sell em as soon as they get em. Up to the customer to q/t is their belief I assume.
As an aside to all this...I did have my water tested at SeaWorld and they said all parameters were fine and there was no sign of ich go figure???? ...I was using this reef safe or supposedly reef safe ich treament at the time but all it did was turn the water brown and stress out the fish even more. Not sure if that is what killed them or the ich. The guy at Aqua Addicts didn't seem convinced ich was the problem. Only Doc had white spots and the others died once I began using this herbal treatement for the ich. All in all it was a valuable and hard earned lesson. I can deal with the tiral and error thing but don't want the fish to suffer..so i need to slow things down as you said.
Thanks for the offer on the tanks and the other thing although I am not sure what your refering to but that's ok. lol.
Going to get some tank cleaners this week. Figure a sand sifting star and a couple of hermit crabs...would like to get another fire red shrimp but am not sure after what happened to the first one. Still can't figure that one out...supposedly ich doesn't affect them?
Again thanks Dave and sorry for the long reply.
Brian

Keep up the good fight. The "other thing" is a simple, air driven, sponge filter we use in QT tanks.

DO NOT get a sand sifting star. Most of our systems are far too small, and do not contain the proper sand beds to keep them happy. Better to get hermit crabs, and turbo snails to clean rock and glass, and nassarius snails to clean the sand and move the top layer around a bit. Some sand sifting gobies can do the same.

Dave

I took your advice and passed on the sand sifting star. They guy at the LFS said pretty much the same thing...they need a LOT of sand. I picked up two peppermint shrimp and five tiny hermit crabs....they are already going to town on the algae growing on the live rock.
Happy to report Doc and Popeye still doing great in the q/t tank. Begining to believe they are pretty content staying right where they are. Didn't think my 72 gal bow would end up being used for just a couple of shrimp and five hermit crabs....lol. UV sterilizer and powerhead due in Thursday so that will be good to get them hooked up. Thanks again...
Brian

Keep checking in... there's no such thing as a stupid question... but for the one not asked.

D

I did have my water tested at SeaWorld and they said all parameters were fine and there was no sign of ich go figure????

How could they tell that? Ich is only free swimming in one stage (out of 4) and only for 24 hours.

i was wondering the same thing !!??

Actually, it was my wife who went up to have the water tested and misunderstood the LFS worker when he said everything looked good. I asked someone afterwards and he told me ich can not be found by testing. Thanks for pointing that out. Much to learn with this hobby.
Set up my gamma 15 watt uv filter yesterday. Excited about this and hope it is effective against ich.

So do you guys recommend a UV sterilizer on all reef tanks?? and what excatly do they do?

Jenn, a UV sterilizer kills things like algae spores, parasites and germs that come into contact with it. This is good. They also can kill things like pods that come into contact with it and this is not good. But many people use them successfully. Personally I just bought one. I have not hooked it up yet so I don't have a valid opinion.

Thanks CarmieJo!

Do they work with keeping fish diseases out of your tank?? I heard they did. We are thinking about getting on for our FOLR 65 long tank.

Good or Bad idea??

They will kill free swimming parasites that they come into contact with.

Cool well thats good to know! Thanks Carmie!

Just remember that they are "non-discriminatory", meaning, they will kill first stage larva of isopods, amphipods, mysid etc. too. This may not be a problem for you, in a mature reef tank, with refugia. But, for smaller systems, and those that require heavy pod populations (i.e. for mandarins, sygnathids) you may end up causing a downturn on the populations of these critters.

Just like everything in life, there are pros and cons that need to be discussed and thought of before making the decision. Personally, I didn't use one on my seahorse tanks, just for the purpose listed above. However, I do plan on using one on the new 56 column (Reef) that I'm setting up.

Dave

Cool Thanks, are they good for a FOLR tank??

They sure can be. They will help with algae or parasites, anything smallish and "water-borne". D