My ever coninuing questions thread...

So if the wrasse doesnt make an appearance soon what could be anohter fishy replacement? I was thinking of some sort of fish that will graze, if not feast on this hair algae. I saw in another post that someone was going to get an algae blenny or some kind of goby? Is there anything else effective in eating this hair algae? No stores around here within a few hours drive has a sea hare...
 
I was just looking at all the fish on saltwaterfish.com and noticed the yellow tang is a voracious algae eater. They have one at the LFS, but its on the bigger side, id rather find a smaller one and not have to worry about his size for a while in my aquarium... Otherwise they have algae blennies at the LFS too. What do you guys think? The tang is a really bright awesome fish, the blenny is cute in his own way, but I kinda like the tang.
 
Yeah, I think he will fit better, and now that im only going to upgrade to a 55 next fall he the tang would be cramped for longer than I originally anticipated... Unless I upgrade to a 75 or so when I move. I kept that 55 in my basement I got for 9$ and figured when I take everything out to move it, might as well move it into a tank 5 gallons bigger as long as I have it. with a 75 gallon I shouldnt have to worry about weight limitations in a house should I? I'm pretty sure the LFS has 2 or so lawnmower blennys, the owner wasnt there and there was the lady working that isnt even allowed to sell saltwater fish. Ill stop in tomorrow if my wrasse doesnt show up by then :(
 
If I'm moving and everything you think its not worth it to just transfer over to the 55? I know it would be a hassle, thats why i'm not doing it now or anything, but when I move I was thinking about just taking everything out and moving it all, and instead of lugging along the dirty 50 gallon just putting everything in the 55 I could have already set up when I go get the fish and stuff. I really like the look of the 55 compared to the 50, it seems so much taller than a few inches...
 
Oh, and has anyone else ever had their 6-line disappear on them for a while and reappear? I'm thinking 2 days for him to be MIA is a long time... Ive never not seen him right away when the lights came on before.
 
Ohhh if you are moving anyways, then it won't make a difference to switch to the 55. I thought you were going to move everything over just because you had that tank sitting around.

Two days is not a long time for a fish to be MIA. Give it a week or so.
 
Alright, ill give him a bit more time to show up. Anyone know what kind of chemicals lady bugs secrete when they are scared? Cause if you grab these stupid asian lady beatles that are infesting Wisconsin (not sure about the rest of the country) they smell nasty and its hard to get the smell off. Every few days I have to clean every filter in my tank and get all the stupid lady bugs out. At least 10 a day I'd have to say meet their demise trying to get at my lights only to end up in the water, and then in the overflow to decompose and break apart... Could that be a source of my algae problem? I have a ton of cheato in my fuge, I have that bag of phosphate remover in my HOB filter and the algae is still getting worse! I tested my nitrates and they are next to nothing yet... Everything else is normal. Does the hair algae and Cheato in my fuge absorb nitrates as well as phosphates? Cause since I got it I cant even get nitrates to register... Ive been doing water changes anyway, but is it common for the reef master test kits with the droppers to be inacurate? I was reading nitrates before, but It doesnt even turn from pure yellow anymore and i'm doing everything the same. And If I go pick up an algae blenny tomorrow will he eat this this hair algae? Its starting to get "out of control" now. How fast and how much can those little guys consume?
 
Lol, my friend sent me this video on MSN. That poor 15" bass in a small tank... Hes been in there for a while I'm sure, hes trained to know when hes going to get fed...

bass eating a mouse!!

Couldnt this guy get in big trouble for keeping a fish like that? Or are the laws just against introducing living fish to other lakes/ponds/streams?
 
In order fo hair algae to grow you must have nitrates. I would try another test or take a sample of water to LFS and have them tes it. If you do decide to get a blenny I would only get one.
 
Yeah I figured 1 would work, even if it takes him a while to mow down this crap, at least I wont have to worry about supplementing algae for them to eat as much with just 1... I thought hair algae could grow from either nitrates or phosphates? And if it was growing so abundantly couldnt it be absorbing all the nitrates?
 
I dont have a phosphate test yet, the LFS doesnt have much for test equipment or anything, and if they do its super pricey. I havent gotten to foster and smith in a few weeks, but really should just for saving on the salt and test kits I wanna get soon... Right now I have a reef master test kit, includes, Nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and PH. I wanna get an alkalinity test and phosphate, and maybe a different calcium kit, because the Instant ocean one I got seems to be very random and give me really low readings even when I dose with the C-balance stuff.
About the algae blenny, you really dont think they will eat hair algae? Dang it... There goes my plan. From saltwaterfish.com they say "The Lawnmower is aptly named for its ability to mow down hair algae." Whats up with that?
 
Oh yeah forgot about the food and phosphate removal. I got some pouch of "phos-ban" or something like that. Cant see the container it came in, its wedged deep behind my sump holding up my skimmer resivoir I made so it doesn't get weighted down too far when it gets over full (because I made an overflow tube in the top in case the super skimmer goes crazy on me again) And also I got my fuge about half full of cheatomorpha for the last week or so now. I know cheato is supposed to be a good indicator of excess phosphates because it will grow rapidly if there are a bunch, and I cant tell for sure, but I'd think its growing quite a bit already? Its hard to tell though.
About the food, I feed frozen every other day and give them a little pinch of the flake food I have left, I know I know, flake food is going to create phosphates, but they eat it all so fast none ever gets halfway down the height of the tank...
Here is my fuge, pretty soon it will be completely engulfed in cheato...
Aquarium284.jpg
 
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Another thing yesterday night before the lights went out, I noticed some strange stuff hanging from my smallest clown again, not really like when I first got him, but way longer and white... I know this cant be a good sign... I tried snapping a few pics, here is the best one...
Aquarium279.jpg

I reached in to try to dislodge it and he was fine with that, it broke apart and came off instantly when I touched it... Should I look into just using my little 4 gallon tank I set up a while back with nothing in it as a QT and look into finding some copper tomorrow? The little guy seems to be doing fine, hes eating voraciously and acting like he always has... But I think its got to be some sort of parasite isnt it?
 
could just be poop. I have an idea. Leave your tank alone for a while!!! I know you are excited and all, but the more your f^&k around with it, the more likely your fish will stress out and die on you. Keep your hands out of the tank. It isn't like you listen well, but I will try it again. Let it sit. Don't add anymore fish to your system, especially if you just lost a fish. Please be patient - that means wait...(not sure if you had that English course yet in college).

-Doc
 
Hahaha, Doc, you crack me up!!! This is ADD boy we're talking about here!

Phosphate test kits are pretty much worthless, in my opinion. If you have algae, you have phosphates. And you can get a zero reading, but still have a phosphate problem since the algae is eating it all before it can register on the test kit.

Lawnmower blennies are really good for the film algae on the rocks and glass, but I've only heard of a couple that will actually eat hair algae. Instead of looking for animals to eat it, you need to get to the cause of your hair algae and address that. Which can take MONTHS!! Ask any of us that have had it (and we all have), it seems to show up overnight, but can take forever to get rid of.

As long as your clown is eating and acting fine, I'd leave him alone.
 
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