lots of questions

[blennyluv]

hi
i have an algae problem that would could scare anyone. i got new lights, just compact flourescent, 260 watts all together. i can clean the algae (brown) and by the end of the day it is covering everything, my rocks, decos and my cc at the bottom. i have just ordered a 50 lot of snails, and a lopezi tang, have a lawn mower that is not going to make it, so ordered another. also a pincushion urchin. when i scrape it off everything the water is brown for awhile. yikes. my tank was really beautiful until this happened. ready to go back to my pathetic lights, but now i have 2 anemones that would not be too happy about that. any othe suggestions??? my water parameters are all good, never tested for phosphates tho. if your phosphates are off, what do you do then??? i do 10 % water changes once or twice a week. and the lopezi tang, is it going to get huge on me?? cannot find any info anywhere. my tank is 55 gallon, hope it will be happy
oh yeah, has anyone ever seen a yellow clown goby being hosted by an anemone?? mine is. weird
thanks everyone

You need to test for phosphates and silicates. I would bet your problem lies with in the two of them.

Are you using RO/DI water?? if not, the water changes could just be fueling your algae.

btw, are you still running the UG Filter??

[FishinInTheDark]

I agree with Travis. It sounds like diatom algae, which most snails and fish won't touch. You have to starve it by cutting back on lighting and nutrients.

The Lopezi will get to 43 cm (21 in) according to fishbase.org. You'll need to supplement his diet heavily and find it a new home relatively quickly.

Gobies don't understand that anemones are predators. They frequently become an anemone's dinner.

Good luck to ya!

[blennyluv]

hi, yes i am still running the ug filter. what a memory you have!! i want to take it out, yes i am using ro water. i put a cut to fit pad that is suppose to kill phosphates in my power filter, my snails are doing a pretty good job, especially on the rock. my lawnmower is small, doesn't seem to need alot to eat. now my water is a little cloudy. could my ug filter be not working right? my water all checks out ok, nitrates still at 20, but ph 8.2 and all else is 0. would it be really badly stressful for my fish if i took half my rock out and just sorta slipped the plates out from under the coral (the ug system) did a good water change, put sponges on my powerheads and added a canister? or would that be really gross with the stuff that is under there?
help guys, this really sucks, i had a beautiful tank, now it just looks crappy all the time
by the way, got a long fin fairy wrasse instead of the tang. hes really cool

[Doctor_Reef]

There is no easy way to remove the UG filters...And removing rock will stress the fish some.... I would still remove the UG as it will be better for your system in the long run!!

Are you running a protien skimmer??? If you aren't you might consider getting one... A skimmer will remove undisolved organics from the system before they enter the nitrogen cycle and will remove a lot of the food sorce for this unwanted algee!!!

The cloudy water is most likely a algae bloom. Did you ever test for phosphates and silicates?? Run some fresh carbon and it should help clear it up.

I "think" your UG Filter is working against you. UG filters are no longer used because they tend to cause more problems than anything. You could remove the tubes coming out of the UG and fill in the holes. This will basically give you a Pentum (sp) system but with using CC.

IMO I would set a plan to swap the UG and CC for sand when you are able.

[blennyluv]

hi
i have not tested for phos and sils cuz the shop here does nothave kits. i think i am going to the big city (a 3 hour drive) on sunday and i wil lhit pet smart for some things. i do plan on doing the big swap this summer. i am going to slowly get my stuff as live sand is a bit pricey. can you use partly washed sand from the sand and gravel company???? i think the ug filter is working against me too. it would not be that hard to take the plates out, there are 4 small ones, but i know there is alot of "yuk" under them. someone said that the plenum that way can mess things up too. i mean, i can move those plates out in a couple of hours. what do you think?

[Doctor_Reef]

I would.... JMO :)

Me too...

[gman0526]

Me three... :-D

[Sugar Magnolia]

The longer you leave them in place the more 'yuk" there will be trapped under there. More yuk = unhappy tank. ;)

[blennyluv]

ok, so i am going to make a bunch of salt water, take a bunch of my rock and all my decor out, pop the pumps and skimmer off the tubes, then i am going to very very carefully take out the ug plates, after i get them all out, i am going to use my vac to clean the coral. as good as i can. i am not going to take my fish out for this, i think they will be all right. and all of you think this will be ok??? then i am going to get a canister on sunday for my tank. and what of the yuk under the plates???? is it going to be a disaster???? this does not sound like fun. but anything for the health of my fishies.
thanks!!

[Doctor_Reef]

Try to vac as much of the yuk out as possible then let it settle out again and you may be supprized and not have that much under there... I was supprized when I converted from a FO to Reef in my 125 I pulled them out and there really wasn't that much yuk!!! The bacteria did it's job!!!! :)

[gman0526]

You could take a bucket fill it up with tank water drop a powerhead a heater and place your fish in there while you're taking the plates out and the tank settles a little.

[blennyluv]

i am really trying to avoid taking the fish out. it seems so stressful for them to be netted. i will if i absolutely have to, but i am thinking i may not have to if i do this slowly. ok, well, its looking like this will be my monday project!!! :-D
hey, another question, in one of my rocks i have a critter, it only comes out under the moon lights so i cannot get a good look at it. it has a nice little hole it lives in, it sticks about a1/4 inch of itself out, and sits there for awhile, then a half inch and suddenly out it comes, i have seen at least 4 inches of it, it shoots out kinda like a frog tongue, then retreats back to its hole, sometimes its like the end of it comes back and the head, i think its the head, is a dark color, its kinda tan, looks a bit like an earth worm in many respects. scared the !#$%*#@ out of me the first time it came out. really weird little critter. i watched it for quite a while last night, thought i would try to find out what i have here.
thanks all

[cich1]

a bristle worm or maybe a peanut worm?

[blennyluv]

thats what i was thinking. are they good or bad? i heard peanut worms are fat and slow. so this may be a bristle worm. its kinda cool.
any places you know of that i can research?

[blennyluv]

hi again, well, i got the undergravel filter out, yeah!!! what a pain. but anyway, i got a rena xp2 canister filter, pumps 300 gph, still have my skimmer and my power filter and 2 power heads in there. the canister has a jet too, my lta looks a little ragged around the edges, he was buried when i was trying to take those plates out, so i had to lift his plate up and let the coral slide off him, and take him out, anemones and snails were the only thing that came out. do i have look out for my tank to go through some kind of cycle now???
do lta's not have a very bad sting or what, seems my fish are always stealing his food.
is there another name for a dot dash goby, hes the best little fish, had him a month and thought he was a goner, never saw him, then he came out at night and i didn't see him again for another couple weeks, now he charges out at feeding time and gobbles down pellet, what an awesome little fish, fast as all get out, would never want to try and catch him!!!
thanks for the info everyone!

[gman0526]

Just do regular tests and water changes you should be fine. Congrats on your acomplishment and let's see some pics of thet tank and the little goby!!!