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?
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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.
__________________ Bobby
"I FORMERLY glued animals to rocks" NO TANK RIGHT NOW, but you never know when I might throw one together !! I have everything I need but the time!!
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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.
__________________ Bobby
"I FORMERLY glued animals to rocks" NO TANK RIGHT NOW, but you never know when I might throw one together !! I have everything I need but the time!!
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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 .
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?
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 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
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 w
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