Sponsor Our Community
Go Back   The Reef Tank > Reef Discussion Forums > General Reef Discussion

General Reef Discussion In this forum we discuss issues related to keeping marine and reef aquariums in a friendly flame-free environment.


Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!

Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 01-13-2006, 10:20 PM   #1
DebsSisterFlo
the shutterbug mod!
 
DebsSisterFlo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: NE Wisconsin
Posts: 2,392
Images: 4

ok gang, need help, what do I do?


I have this rock, see... and it has a great natural outcropping of little polyps that are very pretty... problem is it has a bunch of other crap too!
Dark purple sponge stuff, hair algae, 2 balls of bubble algae, red sponge stuff (don't know if it's good or not) and don't forget the gorilla crab that I now hate because he ATE my one bumblebee snail!!!


I would just take that whole rock out and chuck it... if it wasn't for those little polyps! Is there any way that I can remove and salvage them, or should I just say goodbye to them and chuck the rock? It sure would be easier to just dispose of it and rid myself of lots of little nasties as you can see. Funny thing is that they're all on/in this one rock. Here's one more pic that I took where you can see the gorilla crab, and look on top! Just when I snapped the pic a little scooter head popped over the top! He wanted his picture taken! Oh, that mushroom I would keep too, he should come off easily enough???


Thanks for any input!
Registered Members don't see these ads. Register now it's free!
__________________
~Jessica~ last blog entry: Dec 2 '06
A lurking freshie with salty hands and memories
Quote:
You glue animals to rocks and keep them in glass houses, why would you need therapy , you seem fine to me
~Doug1
DebsSisterFlo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2006, 11:52 PM   #2
DebsSisterFlo
the shutterbug mod!
 
DebsSisterFlo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: NE Wisconsin
Posts: 2,392
Images: 4
alright now... *taps foot* I know you're out there!
__________________
~Jessica~ last blog entry: Dec 2 '06
A lurking freshie with salty hands and memories
Quote:
You glue animals to rocks and keep them in glass houses, why would you need therapy , you seem fine to me
~Doug1
DebsSisterFlo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-13-2006, 11:53 PM   #3
dobejazz
Duper Mod !
 
dobejazz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Illinois
Posts: 14,035
Images: 1309
Sorry Jess I don't know this will bump it up for others to see
__________________




Kelli
dobejazz is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 12:20 AM   #4
tdwyatt
senior member
 
tdwyatt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Walnut Grove, SC, USA
Posts: 13,638
Images: 3
two things:

tweezers and a magnifying glass.


Do it in a separate glass bowl, pull off all the crappy stuff, leave them in the bowl and rinse the finished rock in some clean ASW prior to replacing it in the tank.


You could also take a pair of wire cutters to the rock and chip off what you want to keep if it is separate from the rest of the stuff...
__________________
Tom <"))))>(
(TDWyatt)
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -Plato
tdwyatt is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 12:25 AM   #5
three90s&125sump
uber-stupid
 
three90s&125sump's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Biloxi, MS
Posts: 3,265
Yeah I have a couple rocks like that in my 40 that I have been doing it to. I have lots of bubble algae. Its a long process in my case but yours doesn't look that bad.

You may want to look at your photo period and nitrate/phosphate levels and maybe just increasing flow in that area will take care of it.
three90s&125sump is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 12:35 AM   #6
Claeth
Plankton
 
Claeth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ofallon Illinois
Posts: 41
Images: 17
I think you should just scrub that rock with a toothbrush in some trash water when you do a w/c and get a lawnmower blenny and an emerald crab to take care of the bubble algae and hair algae. Then treat your entire tank with Chemi-clean or red slime remover (watch your skimmer CLOSE) keep polyfilters in the tank to lower your phosphate levels, and replace the carbon after the first polyfilters turn green/brown
and your problem will be solved, guaranteed! Hope this helps. Lee Van Hoose Owner-Pristine Aquatics. www.pristineaquatics.biz
Claeth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 12:48 AM   #7
three90s&125sump
uber-stupid
 
three90s&125sump's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Biloxi, MS
Posts: 3,265
I've used that slime remover before and it does work. It makes your skimmer go crazy. I had to dump my cup (on a sea clone!!!!) every 20 mins for about 5 hours after I turned it back on. I think it makes the water get really viscous or something.

I would never use it again. I like to remove the cause not treat the effect.
three90s&125sump is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 01:07 AM   #8
Claeth
Plankton
 
Claeth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ofallon Illinois
Posts: 41
Images: 17
Chemi-clean does treat the problem, basically it is a gram positive anti-bacterial, and the red slime algae is really Cyanobacteria. The red "slime" you see is really just the waste product of the microscopic bacterias as they feed on your phosphates. Definitely doing water changes regularly would be a very good option as well. Dilution is the solution to the pollution.
Claeth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 02:40 AM   #9
DebsSisterFlo
the shutterbug mod!
 
DebsSisterFlo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: NE Wisconsin
Posts: 2,392
Images: 4
hmm... hmm... is there any way I could break the rock and try to just keep the piece that the little polyp things are on? How long can they survive out of the water if we were to take it outside and try busting it? I may just try that and if they don't make it then well I guess they don't make it? I WILL NOT put that **** crab into my seahorse tank!
Thanks so much for all of the replies gang!
__________________
~Jessica~ last blog entry: Dec 2 '06
A lurking freshie with salty hands and memories
Quote:
You glue animals to rocks and keep them in glass houses, why would you need therapy , you seem fine to me
~Doug1
DebsSisterFlo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 02:46 AM   #10
tdwyatt
senior member
 
tdwyatt's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Walnut Grove, SC, USA
Posts: 13,638
Images: 3
Quote:
Originally Posted by Claeth
Chemi-clean does treat the problem, basically it is a gram positive anti-bacterial, and the red slime algae is really Cyanobacteria. The red "slime" you see is really just the waste product of the microscopic bacterias as they feed on your phosphates.
uuuhhhh... no. You might want to read some information about what cyanobacteria are and what their biomass is composed of, there is a good review in the Graham and Wlcox "Algae" (Prentice Hall, 2000), that discusses in depth the role that cyanobacteria play in marine enviornments and the evolution of Cyanobacterial endosymbionts. Cyanobacteria are probably the basis of photosynthesis in almost ALL photoautotrophs as one of two original (potentially three) independent developents of endosymbiotic relationships in plants, algae, and some of the autotrophic protists (Google Lynn Margulis' work in endosymbiosis). It is their accessory pigments that accounts for the coloration of the "slime", usually muccoid coats for the cyanobacteria littered with the living and dead cells of the cyanobacterial colony. There can be any number of colors for the blue-green algae, ranging from black, purple, dark blue, aquablue, cyan, bright red, even yellow and bright green. As far as trying to eradicate them, unless you're planning on chlorine and/or boiling, they are unlikely to totally disappear from any marine enironment, as they have evolved to fill many unique niches, and have at least once been the only living organisms to survive the major extinctions occuring in the geological timeframe on Earth. The reason that we have an oxygen atmosphere now, and possibly the reason that the original endosymbiosis events occurred that evolved photoautotrophs (for cyanobacteria seeking to escape the "toxic" oxygen atmosphere they were creating by living inside some primative eukaryote) has been the growth and diversification of cyanobacterial organisms.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Claeth
Definitely doing water changes regularly would be a very good option as well. Dilution is the solution to the pollution.
Definitely true, The issue with cyanobacterial blooms is not the mere presence of the cyanobacterial organism, as every healthy marine biotope will have some form of cyanobacteria, they even account for the coloration and act as an endosymbiont for some symbiotic realationships with corals. The issue is usually some form of nutrient that is not being competed for adequately, or there is an insufficient herbivory for the autotrophs, or the photoperiod is too long, or there are not enough heterotrophic bacteria in the environment, or... or... or...

The point is there are many reasons that blooms occur in either algae or blue-green cyanobacteria populations (or for that matter, microorganisms in general): either lack of competition, excessive nutrients, increases in new real estate, absence of adequate grazing of the blooming organism, or prolonged photoperiods that cause conditions to become favorable for a sudden ramping up of the population densities for the organism in question. Killing the blooming organism often has unintended conseuences, as antibacterials are very indescriminate about which microorganisms they affect, whether it be the cyanobacterial organisms in bloom, some specie of endosymbiont other than dinoflagellates, the nitrifying bacteria on aerobic surfaces, or the denitrifying bacteria in the rock and sandbeds. This still leaves the primary cause of the bloom available to stimulate population growths in the other organisms not affected by the antibiotic in question, or the algaes or yeasts, fungi, etc . Even more problematic, the initial organism may bloom again if the dose or duration of the antimicrobial agent is insufficient, or if the organism is reintroduced into the system. This time, you've already used a little Darwinian selection to remove some of the competition, usually those members of the population most susceptable to the antibiotic, so what is left? Those strains of the organism that are most resistat to the antibiotic...





The use of antibiotics is not indicated in resolving issues with algae blooms, rather, the true nutrient or environmental causes of blooms need to be addressed, instead of applying a band-aid approach to resolving the symptoms.
__________________
Tom <"))))>(
(TDWyatt)
Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something. -Plato
tdwyatt is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 07:27 AM   #11
DebsSisterFlo
the shutterbug mod!
 
DebsSisterFlo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: NE Wisconsin
Posts: 2,392
Images: 4
*feels like a deer in headlights* I'll have to sleep and then come back and read that again!
I am going to shorten the time that the lights are on for a while, see if that helps things... as well as another water change and cutting back a bit on food. *goes to find a hammer and chisel*

So, any comments on those little polyp things? Can they survive a bit of fresh air? I think it's rock breaking day!!!
__________________
~Jessica~ last blog entry: Dec 2 '06
A lurking freshie with salty hands and memories
Quote:
You glue animals to rocks and keep them in glass houses, why would you need therapy , you seem fine to me
~Doug1
DebsSisterFlo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 07:30 AM   #12
three90s&125sump
uber-stupid
 
three90s&125sump's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Biloxi, MS
Posts: 3,265
Prolly a little 5 mins tops I would be more worried about the hammer vibrations from smashing the rock.

I don't think I would go busting up the rock. Just give it some TLC I think it will be ok.
three90s&125sump is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 08:08 AM   #13
Little Luey
Shark
 
Little Luey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Yuma, Arizona
Posts: 1,472
Images: 9
Do you have any snail?
If you could break the piece where the polyps are and then just pluck the HA by hand. But IMO you need to find the source of your algie problems, are you skiming? do you feed too much? how often do you do a water change? do you have bioballs or a biowheel?
__________________
55gal... BB of course!
Love the
Little Luey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 08:21 AM   #14
Casey
Eat more PIE
 
Casey's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Florida Panhandle
Posts: 18,603
Images: 111
I would break out my Swiss army knife pry them off and glue them with super glue gel to a small rock and cook that stinky rock for reuse later,more water changes wirh good water and heavy skimming.
__________________
Double your drive space. Delete Windows

Casey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-14-2006, 11:08 AM   #15
drsyme
Shark
 
drsyme's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: maryland
Posts: 1,019
Images: 14
I think you will find that good husbandry (frequent water changes, appropriate use of photperiod, control of nutrient levels by reducing nutrient import and or increasing nutrient export) and time is really all it takes to take care of most problems, especially blooms of anything.

I never add anything to the tank other than RO/DI, salt, and kalkwasser.
__________________
Founding Member of the
drsyme is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
algae bloom , algae blooms , bacterial bloom , bubble algae , denitrifying bacteria , emerald crab , gorilla crab , green algae , mower blenny , nitrifying bacteria , red slime , red slime algae , red slime remover , sea clone , slime algae

 
Similar Threads


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Sitemap:1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15