derbesia algae outbreak

Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue actinic/10000K), two
MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One sailfin
tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip anemones (was
one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a red-legged
hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure MPDI-25) once a
week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable phosphates, 1 ppm
nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for about two
months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just comes back.
It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of the live
rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd rather not
take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I follow to
get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water through
a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the algae in
the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the algae
will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?), making the
situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water changes, but
am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

Dave

Are you referring to hair algae?

Todd

I'm not sure whether people call it beard or hair algae. I looked it up in
my copy of volume one of "The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium." Dense green mats
of very fine strands, about one to two inches in length. If I can find a
picture on the Web, I'll post the URL.

- thanks
Dave

"TW" wrote in message
...


Dave

Are you referring to hair algae?

Todd

You can set up a bucket in front of the tank, and take a container with holes in
the base. Fill it up with cotton batting, and use your pump method to suck out
all you want. The batting will trap all the filth, and you can safely add the
water back to your tank.

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue actinic/10000K), two
MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One sailfin
tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip anemones (was
one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a red-legged
hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure MPDI-25) once a
week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable phosphates, 1 ppm
nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for about two
months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just comes back.
It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of the live
rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd rather not
take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I follow to
get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water through
a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the algae in
the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the algae
will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?), making the
situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water changes, but
am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Hi Marc;

That was the idea with the fine mesh bag I mentioned, but it seems to me I
read somewhere that unless an extremely fine filter was used, algae cells
will be put back into the water, in suspension, and the problem will get
worse. My impression was that something like ordinary filter floss/cotton
batting/etc. wouldn't be sufficient. Maybe this isn't correct ....

thanks;

- dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
You can set up a bucket in front of the tank, and take a container with
holes in
the base. Fill it up with cotton batting, and use your pump method to
suck out
all you want. The batting will trap all the filth, and you can safely add
the
water back to your tank.

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue actinic/10000K),
two
MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One
sailfin
tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip anemones
(was
one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a
red-legged
hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure MPDI-25)
once a
week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable phosphates, 1
ppm
nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for about
two
months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just comes
back.
It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of the
live
rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd rather
not
take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I follow
to
get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water
through
a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the algae
in
the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the
algae
will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?), making
the
situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water changes,
but
am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Dave

First you have to find the source of the problem. In most cases the
cause is too much nutrient in the water. You are probably like most of
us and are overfeeding. Your tank will survive with surprisingly little
food. In my case I cut food in half. My tank did not skip a beat.
Make sure your skimmer is working optimally. Be very careful what you
are adding to the tank. Could it be a source of nutrients?
How old are your light bulbs? Old bulbs can accelerate a algae problem.
You might look at reducing the time your lights are on. Make sure you
have good water movement in your tank without dead spots. When you do
water changes use the water that you are removing from the tank to scrub
off affected rocks. Use a stiff nylon brush and really scrub the rock
clean. If you pull it offf it will just grow back. Use a second
bucket to rinse the just scrubbed rock off and then return it to your
tank. This will really help to get the upper hand. Dump the buckets.
Use R/O water in your top ups and water changes.

Be patient. Hair algae can be very persistant. It took me many months
to finally get rid of it.

Todd

Dave wrote:

Hi Marc;

That was the idea with the fine mesh bag I mentioned, but it seems to me I
read somewhere that unless an extremely fine filter was used, algae cells
will be put back into the water, in suspension, and the problem will get
worse. My impression was that something like ordinary filter floss/cotton
batting/etc. wouldn't be sufficient. Maybe this isn't correct ....

thanks;

- dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...


You can set up a bucket in front of the tank, and take a container with


holes in


the base. Fill it up with cotton batting, and use your pump method to


suck out


all you want. The batting will trap all the filth, and you can safely add


the


water back to your tank.

Marc


Dave wrote:



Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue actinic/10000K),


two


MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One


sailfin


tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip anemones


(was


one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a


red-legged


hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure MPDI-25)


once a


week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable phosphates, 1


ppm


nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for about


two


months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just comes


back.


It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of the


live


rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd rather


not


take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I follow


to


get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water


through


a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the algae


in


the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the


algae


will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?), making


the


situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water changes,


but


am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.


--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

If you prefer to just vacuum it out and replace it with freshly made up
sal****er, that is a better alternative, because you are sure to avoid adding
any spores into your tank. Hopefully you are using RO/DI?

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi Marc;

That was the idea with the fine mesh bag I mentioned, but it seems to me I
read somewhere that unless an extremely fine filter was used, algae cells
will be put back into the water, in suspension, and the problem will get
worse. My impression was that something like ordinary filter floss/cotton
batting/etc. wouldn't be sufficient. Maybe this isn't correct ....

thanks;

- dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
You can set up a bucket in front of the tank, and take a container with
holes in
the base. Fill it up with cotton batting, and use your pump method to
suck out
all you want. The batting will trap all the filth, and you can safely add
the
water back to your tank.

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue actinic/10000K),
two
MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One
sailfin
tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip anemones
(was
one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a
red-legged
hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure MPDI-25)
once a
week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable phosphates, 1
ppm
nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for about
two
months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just comes
back.
It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of the
live
rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd rather
not
take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I follow
to
get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water
through
a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the algae
in
the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the
algae
will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?), making
the
situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water changes,
but
am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com



--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Hi Todd;

Very little of the food I put in the tank even hits the bottom. If you've seen tangs eat, you know what I mean. ;-) In addition, I have undetectable nitrates ... the one ppm I mentioned before is even a stretch (I think I forced myself to see a bit of blue, because I couldn't imagine my nitrates could be zero ;-).

Light bulbs are only a few months old. Skimmer is working fine, as far as I can tell. As I mentioned, my rocks are anchored down in my tank with PVC frames and ties, though I suppose I could take them out and scrub them, ay caramba.

Dump the buckets?

As I already said, I use RO/DI water for all water changes.

Thanks;

- Dave
"TW" wrote in message ...
Dave

First you have to find the source of the problem. In most cases the cause is too much nutrient in the water. You are probably like most of us and are overfeeding. Your tank will survive with surprisingly little food. In my case I cut food in half. My tank did not skip a beat. Make sure your skimmer is working optimally. Be very careful what you are adding to the tank. Could it be a source of nutrients?
How old are your light bulbs? Old bulbs can accelerate a algae problem. You might look at reducing the time your lights are on. Make sure you have good water movement in your tank without dead spots. When you do water changes use the water that you are removing from the tank to scrub off affected rocks. Use a stiff nylon brush and really scrub the rock clean. If you pull it offf it will just grow back. Use a second bucket to rinse the just scrubbed rock off and then return it to your tank. This will really help to get the upper hand. Dump the buckets. Use R/O water in your top ups and water changes.

Be patient. Hair algae can be very persistant. It took me many months to finally get rid of it.

Todd

Dave wrote:

Hi Marc;

That was the idea with the fine mesh bag I mentioned, but it seems to me I
read somewhere that unless an extremely fine filter was used, algae cells
will be put back into the water, in suspension, and the problem will get
worse. My impression was that something like ordinary filter floss/cotton
batting/etc. wouldn't be sufficient. Maybe this isn't correct ....

thanks;

- dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
You can set up a bucket in front of the tank, and take a container with
holes in
the base. Fill it up with cotton batting, and use your pump method to
suck out
all you want. The batting will trap all the filth, and you can safely add
the
water back to your tank.

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue actinic/10000K),
two
MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One
sailfin
tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip anemones
(was
one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a
red-legged
hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure MPDI-25)
once a
week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable phosphates, 1
ppm
nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for about
two
months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just comes
back.
It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of the
live
rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd rather
not
take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I follow
to
get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water
through
a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the algae
in
the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the
algae
will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?), making
the
situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water changes,
but
am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.
--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

Hi Marc;

Yes, but as I said before, I'm concerned that increasing the frequency of my
water changes will stress the fish. What do you think ... should this be a
concern?

And as I said before, I'm using RO/DI, from a Spectrapure unit.

- thanks again;
Dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
If you prefer to just vacuum it out and replace it with freshly made up
sal****er, that is a better alternative, because you are sure to avoid
adding
any spores into your tank. Hopefully you are using RO/DI?

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi Marc;

That was the idea with the fine mesh bag I mentioned, but it seems to me
I
read somewhere that unless an extremely fine filter was used, algae
cells
will be put back into the water, in suspension, and the problem will get
worse. My impression was that something like ordinary filter
floss/cotton
batting/etc. wouldn't be sufficient. Maybe this isn't correct ....

thanks;

- dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
You can set up a bucket in front of the tank, and take a container
with
holes in
the base. Fill it up with cotton batting, and use your pump method to
suck out
all you want. The batting will trap all the filth, and you can safely
add
the
water back to your tank.

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora
HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue
actinic/10000K),
two
MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One
sailfin
tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip
anemones
(was
one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a
red-legged
hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure
MPDI-25)
once a
week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable
phosphates, 1
ppm
nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for
about
two
months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap
Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia
algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just
comes
back.
It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of
the
live
rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd
rather
not
take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I
follow
to
get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water
through
a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the
algae
in
the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the
algae
will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?),
making
the
situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water
changes,
but
am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com



--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

If your salinity and temperature match (or is within 1 degree Fahrenheit),
water changes shouldn't stress the tank's inhabitants too much. How often are
you estimating?

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi Marc;

Yes, but as I said before, I'm concerned that increasing the frequency of my
water changes will stress the fish. What do you think ... should this be a
concern?

And as I said before, I'm using RO/DI, from a Spectrapure unit.

- thanks again;
Dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
If you prefer to just vacuum it out and replace it with freshly made up
sal****er, that is a better alternative, because you are sure to avoid
adding
any spores into your tank. Hopefully you are using RO/DI?

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi Marc;

That was the idea with the fine mesh bag I mentioned, but it seems to me
I
read somewhere that unless an extremely fine filter was used, algae
cells
will be put back into the water, in suspension, and the problem will get
worse. My impression was that something like ordinary filter
floss/cotton
batting/etc. wouldn't be sufficient. Maybe this isn't correct ....

thanks;

- dave

"Marc Levenson" wrote in message
...
You can set up a bucket in front of the tank, and take a container
with
holes in
the base. Fill it up with cotton batting, and use your pump method to
suck out
all you want. The batting will trap all the filth, and you can safely
add
the
water back to your tank.

Marc


Dave wrote:

Hi folks;

I've had my marine tank set up for about six months. 55gal, Remora
HOB
skimmer, 67 lbs live rock, 260w lighting (50/50 blue
actinic/10000K),
two
MaxiJet 1200 powerheads, two inch aragonite reef sand layer. One
sailfin
tang, one maroon clownfish, one engineer goby, two bubbletip
anemones
(was
one anemone until it split last week). Five turbo snails and a
red-legged
hermit crab. 5% water changes with RO/DI water (Spectrapure
MPDI-25)
once a
week. Temp 76-79F, pH 7.9-8.2, s.g. 1.025. No detectable
phosphates, 1
ppm
nitrate (Salifert kits). I've been using the Spectrapure unit for
about
two
months; before that I was using an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Tap
Water
Filter.

Over the last month or so I've had real troubles with derbesia
algae. I
suction as much as I can out with my water changes, but it just
comes
back.
It's growing along the back glass and is covering at least 80% of
the
live
rock surface. Now it appears to be growing in places on the sand.

My live rock is anchored down with PVC piping and ties, so I'd
rather
not
take it out to scrub it by hand. What course of action should I
follow
to
get rid of the derbesia?

I've been thinking about using a waterpump and suctioning the water
through
a fine mesh media bag and back into the tank, in order to trap the
algae
in
the bag and remove it, but have been told that small amounts of the
algae
will get back into the tank in the form of smaller particles (?),
making
the
situation worse.

I've also considered increasing the frequency of my water changes,
suctioning out the algae as I've doing during my weekly water
changes,
but
am concerned about stressing the fish.

Any advice? Thanks in advance.

--
Personal Page:
http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com



--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com



--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com