Green algae scum

TMartinez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
761
1
0
Mandarin, Fl
So I mentioned in a previous post about some green algae that was starting to form on the glass. Well I wasn't able to clean it off the glass night. This afternoon when I got home fromthe amount pretty much quadrupled... Tons on the glass and sand. Ideas? Can I leave my actinic lights off for a few days?
 

calpoly12

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2010
476
0
0
32
Paso Robles, CA
Well if you have corals, thats a bad idea. I would personally run the lights for a shorter cycle instead of turning them off completely. What are your water parameters?
 

TMartinez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
761
1
0
Mandarin, Fl
I don't have corals, just whatever is coming off my LR. I cleaned off the walls and took a gravel vacuum to the sand to get some of it up. Because this sent a bunch of particles into the water, I did a 10% water change. Anything else i can do?
 

calpoly12

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2010
476
0
0
32
Paso Robles, CA
That is pretty much it. I have heard you need a decent amount of light for live rock, but in my experience it only needs an hour or two a day of intense light. If this were me, I would do a 3 hour max light cycle. I have some "hard" green algae on my tank but I have some turbo snails that clean it up. Do you have a clean up crew? Also how long has your tank been set up? Ill be on here for a while also so I can respond asap to help ya out
 

TMartinez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
761
1
0
Mandarin, Fl
Tank has been up for a little over a week. I spotted two small snails that came on the LR and i purchased a peppermint shrip but that is all the cleanup crew i have.

I'm also a little concerned about my clown. He seemed very stressed when all the algae went into the tank so I pulled him out for a while till the stuff settled. Now that he is back in the tank he's sitting on the sand. His fins are moving and he's not breathing heavy or anything. He'll swim up and inch or twon then come back down... Over stressed? What to do?
 

TMartinez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
761
1
0
Mandarin, Fl
I removed my damsel from the tank because he kept nipping at the clown. ANything else I can do to de-stress him?

I have my whitle lights on and my actinics off for now. Should I go ahead and run the standard water tests?
 

calpoly12

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2010
476
0
0
32
Paso Robles, CA
I had this happen about a month after my 8g biocube was set up. I added a clown and he started to do that. I did a big water change two days in a row and he slowly improved. Ya your tank has been set up for only a little bit and your technically not supposed to do a water change for a while, but I would just do a water change. To be honest it may of been to early for a clown. I go with a chromie for my first fish. They are hardy and cheap. The best advice I can give you are to test your water, do a water change, and wait. Worst case is you loose the clown. I hope it all works out and Ill do the best I can to walk through this situation with you. Don't become discouraged if you loose a fish, it happens every hour in the wild. Your tank will become everything you want it to be as long as your diligent and stick to it. :)
 

calpoly12

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 10, 2010
476
0
0
32
Paso Robles, CA
TMartinez;4899777; said:
I removed my damsel from the tank because he kept nipping at the clown. ANything else I can do to de-stress him?

I have my whitle lights on and my actinics off for now. Should I go ahead and run the standard water tests?
Just saw this, good call on the damsel they can be aggressive. Ya run the test for sure and tell me your results:D
 

TMartinez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
761
1
0
Mandarin, Fl
The tank has been setup for 9 days total. I have 20 lbs "live"sand and 20 lbs of live rock. so my lfs said within 48 hrs I could get a fish. I got the damsel because they are cheap and hardy. He was fine for 5 days so I picked up my clownfish on thurs. He seemed fine until I started kicking up all the algae. The damsel had nipped at him before when I first put him in but seemed to stop. After the algae cleaning and i reintroduced the clown he started nipping at the clown again. I figure the mix of stressors was getting to him...

I am awaiting test results now

I really appreciate you helping me out
 

TMartinez

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 27, 2010
761
1
0
Mandarin, Fl
Test results:

pH: 7.8
Ammonia: .025 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store