Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 20110808 - Its been a very busy number of months for me and unfortunately maintenance on my tanks(especially this one) took a bit of a back seat. Now I have a renewed desire to get back at it since summer is pretty much going to end soon. After months of removing clumps of the below growths I decided to leave it to grow and see what happens. I still dont know what to do about what this stuff is and still am not really sure what each of the growths is. If anyone can help me identify this stuff and tell me whether its good or bad that would be great. I guess its all bad and I think its about time to try and cure those live rock or replace them unless someone has a better idea. This stuff is growing out of the joint between the elbow and the spray bar and has spread to another chunk of live rock too. I had been fighting bubble algae for the first couple months... this is the only spot left in the tank My fish havent seemed to mind too much. Quite happy with the sump setup, I have very slow evaporation and the skimmer doesnt take out too much liquid each week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Also found this guy in my sump... can anyone identify the snail? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Nice work! Looks good! The snail looks like a fancy nassarius'...is it a snail inside or a hermit crab? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Its a snail. Its a pretty cool looking shell its got and its cruising around the sump. wasnt sure if I should put it in the display portion of the tank or not but I will probably move it up there next time I see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Most of that growth is macroalgae, it's growing bc of elevated nitrates and/or phosphates. You have some options: either remove it manually (see if anyone in town is looking for some macros), thus removing the NO3/PO4 from your system; or, get a (bigger) clean up crew thy will eat it (however, their waste will still containthe nutrients). The other option is to move some to your sump and try to grow it down there instead of in the display. Or, remove the nutrients with WCs and/or more equipment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 I think the Macro looks nice in the tank...I would keep it in there. My tank doesn't have any! It looks so bare but i'm not about to decorate it with corals either;) Lots of people just throw it in their sump...it's a good alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 hmm... macro algae eh... I have been been a little lax with my water changes so I guess the nutrient levels woulda been getting up there... top it all off I had issues with my skimmer not working so I am sure that contributed to it as well. I might swap that front rock with one I have in my sump. I have a LED light bar set up on the underside of my cabinet which I hope provides enough light to the sump area. Do macros require lots of light? Also, I never did solve what someone identified as hydroids on that larger back rock. Not really sure what I can do to get rid of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted August 10, 2011 Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Notice where most of that algae is growing? It likes the light in the middle of the tank - if you have similar lighting in the sump, it should stay there. Otherwise, it'll just grow where the best environment is. The only thing that would be different between your tank and sump would be lighting. Maybe do a search on algae scrubbers - should be in the DIY Section of the forums (I think MFK is where I saw it first). If you can fit it in your sump, it might be one way to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted August 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 10, 2011 Yes that makes sense.... I should know by now that algae likes light... I will have to rig up something a bit more powerful I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted September 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 20110905 Some snail on crab action. Not sure how it happened but the snail which was on its back/shell was stuck to the back of the blue leg hermit which was yelling obscenities out the window trying to make it let go. Comical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted September 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 20110914 Now with 10 Gallon sump! sumped out Close up. The plan now is to move the macro algae growths into the sump and start looking into putting in some corals. Time for more research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted September 18, 2011 Report Share Posted September 18, 2011 :thumbs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted September 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 20110930 Quick update after moving the macro algae to the sump using red and blue LED grow light panel to see how the macro algae will grow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted September 30, 2011 Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 nice setup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted September 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2011 Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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