I do love that song from The Clash! Unfortunately, this topic is about algae, which is every saltwater tank owner's nemisis (go ahead and listen to the song while you're reading!).
It all started with a dark, brown coating all over my live rock. My LFS guy and everyone I spoke with on the forums at Reef Santuary and Michigan Reefers all say that this is normal and not to worry. Right. Easier said than done!
So, I followed their advice. My LFS guy even brought over 10 hermit crabs to help with clean up of the algae. Many of the forums discuss the outbreak of diatoms and that it's just a matter of time before they either die off, get eaten, or the tank matures to the point where there is a better balance of silicates and other nutrients in the tank.
Yesterday, I noticed that the algae has mutated and become stringy and hairy! Ick! Of course, I ran back to the forums. Again, the forums agree: it's normal. Chill out. Stop stressing, you freak!
Okay. (breathe)
Still, it's so much easier to tolerate the ugliness when someone's holding your hand through it. As Donkey said in the movie Shrek, "I think I need a hug."
If you have dealt with the algae tank-cycle crisis before, please comment!
I woke up this morning, turned on the tank lights and BOOM! Brown algae all over my liverock. I immediately contacted Patrick from Amazon Stingrays and he promised to bring in the clean up crew: red and blue legged hermit crabs!
These guys love to feast on algae and other stuff in the substrate, like uneaten fish food. I never thought that I would be so fascinated by these little guys, but they are too cool to watch! So far, I have 10 in the tank. I'll keep adding more as I need more things cleaned.
Please meet my first two percula clownfish: Marlin and Coral. Here's a YouTube video of them in action:
I chose the name Coral instead of Nemo because it was so tragic what happened to poor Coral. This way, Marlin and Coral will truly have a chance to be together. And if they do have kids, I'll name one of them Nemo.
Their chosen territory is right next to the overflow. Though every once in a while, they will venture out and play in the currents and swim headon into the return.
As I was walking past the tank this morning, I noticed something sticking to the back glass. I turned on the lights and sure enough: two starfish! I had no clue which kind they were or if they needed to be immediately removed. A few minutes searching on Google taught me that these are Asterina starfish and for the most part are harmless algae eaters.
After years of asking and hoping and proving my skills in keeping fish alive, I was finally able to purchase my first saltwater tank. It's a 90 gallon fish-only-with-live-rock (fowlr) tank for now (not sure if I'll get into corals just yet). No fish yet. I'm practicing the fine art of patience. I'm also waiting for the dust to settle and make sure all systems are functioning and no pipes are leaking! I'll keep you posted as this project progresses.
That's Patrick - the owner of Amazon Stingrays - who is plumbing my tank.
Aqua UV 15 Watt Classic Sterilizer hanging over the refugium and Rio Hyperflow 20 submersible pump.
This is how it looked once the setup was complete. The cloudiness is due to tons of substrate floating around. It will settle in a few days.
That's a Bashsea refugium you see there - 30 gallons - 30x14x16.
