Swamp Tank

Recently I came home to find that my tank was completely cloudy and looks green. It literally looks like a swap, right now i can barely see see my fish unless they are towards the front of the tank. I've only had my tank up for a few months now. I assume I have an algae bloom but really not sure what it is. I don't see any macroalgae. I am going to limit my lights to 6 hrs a day. What else can I do to so my fish don't have to live in a swamp?
Thanks,
Dena

 

any pics?

 

i will try to post some tomorrow.....

 

This is a pic of it! lol Link to FB Dena! I said do lights, add urchins, limpets, GFO!

 

Thanks Andy!! P.S. You thought it could be Bryopsis but when i google images I don't see anything but macroalgae.....also if that is what it is I read that increasing Mg is a quick way to get rid of it....

 

Bryopsis is a genus of algae that can have many different types of morphology. This is a picture of what people in the aquarium trade commonly reffer to as bryopsis. Is it the appropriate id? IDK it may actually be Derbesia;

Derbesia again a genus with many different species with diff morphologies;

Nitzschia or other types of Diatoms;


My guess is that there's a variety of different types of algae in there! A single discipline should alleviate most of them.

 

i think i started gettting some of the the bryopsis what causes it and how do you take care of it??

 

Bryopsis is fueled by proteinaceous organic deposits and is really the sign of a localized bacterial die off. A succession of different microbial process are really at work here, bacteria are eating dying bacteria, producing organic waste, and co2. Really this process can be described for almost all benthic algal blooms, the key differences in each case are; what type of algal filaments exist in the system, what are the major microbial players, what is the concentration of other nutrients, phytoplankton, etc. in the system, and what is the redox or total aerobic bacterial/plankton load (hell I guess you might well wonder about the anaerobic communities too!). In reality, there is no easy answer for these situations as to what causes them in a very discrete way. But a few things can be said; it's a natural microbial succession that occurs when establishing many tanks, some rocks are predisposed to this condition, and excess nutrients (nitrates, phosphates, silicates) will only fuel their growth.

It's also important to consider that the amount of bioavailable nitrogen (NH3, NO2, and NO3), silicates and phosphates, may not be measurable with a common water sample because it is bound. Bacteria/plankton (bacterioplankton) have fast generation times and the level of these components may well fluctuate significantly on an hourly basis! However, they typically will not fluctuate into and out of measurable levels, that is grossly. The bottom line is, if you test and these nutrients aren't considerably elevated despite an algal outbreak, rest assured, these components are available throughout the system, and you should treat the tank as if it has an elevated level of nitrates/phosphates.

Water changes are not always the best solution, salt mix contains a variety of inorganic and organic compounds that will also enhance the growth of fleshy algae, nevertheless some water changing is warranted. A better approach is to utilize strong skimming, GFO for phosphate removal, and you might well benefit from dosing bacterial additives like microbacter 7 or probio, etc. (although that last part is speculative on my part).

In addition to treating the systemic root of the problem as described above, you can treat the symptoms (the algae) with grazers of all kinds; limpets, chitons, snails (ceriths, nassarius, asteras, turbos, etc), urchins, tangs etc. Although recognize that no single species will eat every algae, and no algae is eaten by every species. This approach to controlling the problem is haphazard and hit or miss at best. Without treating the systemic cause, you will get no where in defeating the algae at large.

It's a multidisciplinary approach that requires time and patience unfortunately. But you will prevail. In fact, sometimes if you just do what I did when I first got into the hobby some 10 years ago, it will just go away on its own.....after 2 years. lol Yeah 2 years! But I was naive and lazy.....not much has changed really!

There are a few "occult" methods to curing algae out there, you will read dozens of them. There's a lot of SNAKE OIL for sale too. If they work, they probably incorporate some of the mechanisms I've described above for maintaining water quality/bacterial communities. One odd solution I've come across is the Magnesium treatment, over time, many in the community have some to speculate that Tech M Magnesium (which is recommended in this methodology) has a small amount of copper in it, and that is likely what causes the death of the algae bloom. It seems to work in some cases, but it avoids the practical maintenance and expendable materials you should be using long term anyways; GFO, GAC, Skimming, and water changes. Probiotic systems are a whole other story, but that's all for now folks!

I'm here for additional questions!
Andy

 

I also would like to add that increasing alk (that is carbonate hardness) for prolonged periods can have an impact on fleshy algae. It is recommended in many sources of literature. In this approach, you will want to employ the elements discussed above, while also increasing carbonate hardness to around 11-12dKh. (higher is very bad....Dena!) lol

 

Thanks Andy! I have already changed my lights to 6 hrs and I am going to water change and add gfo today.