Algae question

[jacko]

About a month and a half ago, I bought a beautiful blue maxima about 2". He's doing great ! super growth, and a huge mantle ! Even lived through my tank toxification saga ...

Anyway, since buying him, I have been using DTs for the first time. And the excess nutrients in the water have caused massive blooms of green algae. This algae looks exactly like Cyano except for the color (thick mat on sand and rocks, bubbles emerge, thick & gross, peels off).

Any ID ? Do any organisms eat this stuff? It is mostly in the Fuge where I have very little water flow. Should I put a powerhead in the sump to create some current? How much flow do you all have in your fuge?

 

[marco67]

I remember the pics Jack he is a good looking clam.
Glad to hear he made it through the bombing, as far as your algae goes I would suggest first eliminate the excess nutrients. A great way to do this is to give your little guy DTs baths outside the tank once a week or 3 times every 2 weeks. Second I would not discourage the algae in the refuge only in the main tank: flow, siphoning etc.. With the source of the excess eliminated, and the remaining being used up in the refuge. The algae will very quickly go away in the main tank and soon die off in the refuge and sump.

 

[wrassefan]

You can try a fighting conch...it might help. I agree that you need to reduce the nutrients (are you skimming??). A powerhead might help a bit if the flow is very slow in the fuge.

 

[Moe_K]

I think Marc hit the nail on the head.
Good luck, Jack!

 

[jacko]

cool, thanks. I will give him his baths outside the tank, from now on. That is the same frequency that I have been using.

Yes, I skim -- with a bakpak. And I have noticed that I get very little skimmate when I run carbon. I think the carbon removes the hydrophobes and surfactants that make the skimmate. I may have more algae, therefore, when I run carbon, which is probably opposite of expectation.

I may put a small powerhead in the sump just to get some flow. It is really just a trickle.