New With Questions

Hey Everyone, Great Site From What I've Read So Far. I Think This Is The Answer Place For Me. As Intro, I Have A 55 Gallon Tank That Has Been Up And Running Pretty Well For About A Year. I Plan On Introducing Corals As Soon As I Have Everything Under Control. I Currently Have An Emperor Hanging Filter, 2 Powerheads, And A Protien Skimmer. I Have About 65 Lbs Of Live Rock, One Large Emerald Crab, One Small. A Cleaner Shrimp, Several Hermits, And A Bunch Of Fish:cowfish,clownfish,blue Tang, Longnosed Yellow Butterfly, Goby, Firefish, Starburst Ara..., And A Spinystarfish. I Recently Purchased The Skimmer, And A New Lighting System. I'll Have To Get The Details On The Lighting, Four Curved Bulbes, 2 Blue And 2 White, All In Preparation For The Eventual Corals. I An Suddenly Being Seiged By A Purple, Hairy, And Very Bubbly(airbubbles) Algae. As Note, I Have Been Fighting Nitrates Since I've Started The Tank. Thanks For Any Help........

 

Well the first thing that scares me, is a spiny starfish...if you can post a picture that would be great .

As for the lighting, do you have pc lights? (is that what it looks like? http://www.marineandreef.com/products/SunPaqBulb.jpg)

As for the algae...that is probably due to the new lights...for the bubble algae...i would get 1 or 2 mexican turbo snails, they took care of the bubble algae for me...but the emerald crabs should nibble on them. The Turbos will also probably eat the hair algae 2...but its never a sure thing.

Welcome to 3Reef!

Post some pics of the tank, i would love to see it, i too have a 55 gal reef...and as we speak im uploading some update shots

 

I'll Get Some Pics Asap, The Family's Sleeping Right Now, But No That's Not The Light I Have

 

One Other Thing You Reminded Me Of, I Bought 2 Large Turbo Snails When I Got The Light, They Are Doing Well, But The Algae Is Doing Better1

 

Welcome!

You will have to watch that Long Nose BF as they are not reef safe and it will also out grow that size tank!

 

Not sure what this is so I don't know if it's reef safe

 

Stringy red algea with air bubbles in it sounds like Cyano Bacteria. This is a tough one to fight. Check out this thread on fighting it

http://www.3reef.com/forums/algae/cyanobacteria-3-parts-3-links-33062.html?highlight=Cyano

 

If its the red slime algae i know the perfect stuff its called "Red Slime Algae Remover" it will get rid of all red slime in a max of 2 days...i tried this stuff and it is great!

 

I Am Back, Thanks For All The Great Info. I Did Not Know The Long Nosed Wasn't Reef Safe, That's A Bummer. I Took Some Pics, If I Can Figure Out To Attach Them, I Will. Attn: Bruce, The Spiny Starfish Is A Cave Dweller, I Can Sometimes See His Tentacles Searching For Food, But Rarely Have I Seen Him As A Whole. He Was A Gift In A Fiji Rock I Bought! When I See Some Of Him, I'll Get A Pic.

 

Stillnewtome, you might want to buy a copy of the book "A Pocket Expert Guide Marine Fishes" by Scott W Michael, TFH Publications. Its a good reference for which fish are reef safe, level of care, feeding habits, etc. I find it an invaluable resource when deciding which fish to buy.

By the way, the Long Nose BF may be ok in the reef but generally all butterfly's are considered not reef safe. They may leave your corals alone for months and then one day they develope an appetite for them.