Is this a bad thing?

[babyg2.0]

I feel like this is way too much algae as it is an eye sore but I've also heard to leave it alone. I am doing water changes at about 20% weekly and topping off when needed (clearly, I need to lol). My parameters are all normal levels, although I'm not sure about calc/alk since I don't have anything to test them with, however, this tank has no corals so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. The only livestock are the two clowns as shown. I have a classic HoB filter with carbon and lava rock that I threw into a cheese cloth just sitting in the filter.

Ammonia: 0.25ppm (although today is water change day)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Temp: 78°F

Please let me know what you think! Thank you!! [emoji16]

 

[babyg2.0]

I feel like this is way too much algae as it is an eye sore but I've also heard to leave it alone. I am doing water changes at about 20% weekly and topping off when needed (clearly, I need to lol). My parameters are all normal levels, although I'm not sure about calc/alk since I don't have anything to test them with, however, this tank has no corals so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. The only livestock are the two clowns as shown. I have a classic HoB filter with carbon and lava rock that I threw into a cheese cloth just sitting in the filter.

Ammonia: 0.25ppm (although today is water change day)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Temp: 78°F

Please let me know what you think! Thank you!! [emoji16]

I forgot the picture lol!

 

[jrwoltman]

Ammonia should always be at zero and unless you want the whole structure covered in it, I would work on eradicating it.

 

[babyg2.0]

Ammonia should always be at zero and unless you want the whole structure covered in it, I would work on eradicating it.

I check my params every day and they're always at zero. They usually only go up to .25 on the day of water changes. I've tried almost everything to get rid of this algae and it always comes back

 

[jrwoltman]

Snails would help.

 

[babyg2.0]

Snails would help.

I have such a huge fear that they will escape

 

[jrwoltman]

I have such a huge fear that they will escape

Escape? To where? How?

 

[babyg2.0]

Escape? To where? How?

Lol! Every snail I've had ends up escaping the tank and on the outside totally confused. I have had a lid on each of the tanks and they still escape! Maybe I just have bad luck

 

[Hans-Werner]

Buy some turbo snails. They stay in the water and are quite easy to care for. Some even lay their spat on rocks and propagate.

 

[Forsaken77]

I feel like this is way too much algae as it is an eye sore but I've also heard to leave it alone. I am doing water changes at about 20% weekly and topping off when needed (clearly, I need to lol). My parameters are all normal levels, although I'm not sure about calc/alk since I don't have anything to test them with, however, this tank has no corals so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. The only livestock are the two clowns as shown. I have a classic HoB filter with carbon and lava rock that I threw into a cheese cloth just sitting in the filter.

Ammonia: 0.25ppm (although today is water change day)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Temp: 78°F

Please let me know what you think! Thank you!! [emoji16]

It's your fish! They're confused why they're in a freshwater environment, lol. J/K

 

[Hans-Werner]

... I think it is mangrove roots ...

 

[Katrina71]

Snail diversity has been very good for our little tank.

 

[babyg2.0]

Lol! My sg is at 1.023 and for such a small tank, I've done a pretty great job of keeping it stable. (It never goes .002 out of range). I did a water change at about midnight (night owl I know) and the ammonia is at 0. I also did go out and get a pair of snails. I'm going to be honest, I don't remember exactly what they're called, then again, I haven't slept in over 24 hours.[emoji16][emoji16] I believe one is a Margherita something something? I only remember margherita because I made a decent joke about it lol! And the other is an Astreas or however you spell it, you get the idea. The algae is going away but I will probably go out again once my lfs opens and get a few more! They're so darn cute!

 

[Katrina71]

Bumble bee snails are cute too.

 

[babyg2.0]

I'm not really into snails so I've never heard of them but I will definitely do some early morning research while I sip some coffee! Thank you all so much for your help!!!

 

[Katrina71]

Did I really just say a snail was cute? Lol. I'm such a nerd.

 

[GHsaltie]

How old is the tank? I ask because what you have looks like normal diatoms from a new tank. The margarita snails are actually a cold water species and I expect you won't get much more than 4-6 months out of it. The astreas are good algae eaters but they are unable to right themselves if they fall off the glass or rock so you will have to flip them over. The bumble bee snails are actually in the whelk family and so they are predators that feed on flesh such as the microfauna in the sand bed, rather than algae. And speaking of which, you might want to do some remodeling of your tank, such as replacing the gravel with sand, removing that lava rock (can contain heavy metals that leach back into the water) and adding some good live rock in the tank. The live rock is going to provide the majority of your filtration as well as give you areas to place your coral.

 

[babyg2.0]

How old is the tank? I ask because what you have looks like normal diatoms from a new tank. The margarita snails are actually a cold water species and I expect you won't get much more than 4-6 months out of it. The astreas are good algae eaters but they are unable to right themselves if they fall off the glass or rock so you will have to flip them over. The bumble bee snails are actually in the whelk family and so they are predators that feed on flesh such as the microfauna in the sand bed, rather than algae. And speaking of which, you might want to do some remodeling of your tank, such as replacing the gravel with sand, removing that lava rock (can contain heavy metals that leach back into the water) and adding some good live rock in the tank. The live rock is going to provide the majority of your filtration as well as give you areas to place your coral.

I am actually going out today because these clowns are moving into a 20 long. My goldfish need a bigger tank and will be getting the 20 for now. This tank is almost 2 years old. If the margherita species is not for this tank I will take it back. I don't want it to die [emoji24]. And my Astreas has fallen over a bunch of times but it's so cute about it and we all flip him over from time to time. The whole family loves him lol. Since I'm moving them to a 20 long in the near future, they're getting all new things. The new tank will have a sump, sand, and already cultured live rock from a good old friend of my dad's. They've had their tank running for decades so I'll assume the rock is pretty cultured lol!

 

[5altkreep]

I would use caution letting the whole family stick their hands in the tank. Lotions, soaps, cleaning supplies etc can spell bad news for your tank

 

[babyg2.0]

I would use caution letting the whole family stick their hands in the tank. Lotions, soaps, cleaning supplies etc can spell bad news for your tank

Trust me, they all know. We had a horrifying incident with fish soap a year or so ago. Never again. That's the only time my dark side came out lol