[TankU]

Grass has started growing in my tank a few months back. We have been keeping it pulled out and trying to keep it under control. It looks like it is beginning to grow quicker then what we can take care of. Some of this grass looks to be thin strands and some looks to have a broad leaf on it. Seems everyone I talk to says "have you got a tang"? Which I do. I have actually started an additional tank to allow me to remove the rocks that are heavily covered in this grass. Does anyone know of a means of controlling grasses in the tank or eliminating it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
TankU

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by TankU

Grass has started growing in my tank a few months back. We have been keeping it pulled out and trying to keep it under control. It looks like it is beginning to grow quicker then what we can take care of. Some of this grass looks to be thin strands and some looks to have a broad leaf on it. Seems everyone I talk to says "have you got a tang"? Which I do. I have actually started an additional tank to allow me to remove the rocks that are heavily covered in this grass. Does anyone know of a means of controlling grasses in the tank or eliminating it? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
TankU

Are you sure it is a sea grass? Sea grasses have roots that usually are buried under the substrate, fine silty sand preferably. Could you post a picture of what you got so we can look at it and see if it is indeed a sea grass.

[TankU]

I have never posted pictures on here before. I will try and get a good shot with the camera I have and try to post. This grass isn't in the sand, just on the rocks. It has also taken a liken to the glass behind a couple of rocks it is attached to.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by TankU

I have never posted pictures on here before. I will try and get a good shot with the camera I have and try to post. This grass isn't in the sand, just on the rocks. It has also taken a liken to the glass behind a couple of rocks it is attached to.

Most likely it is some type of algae and not the sea grass. Sea grasses have root structure much like the terrestrial grasses, and they are actually plants not algae. Try uploading your image into your gallery here and then just either add it to your post or provide a link to it in the gallery.

Looking forward to see what you got there.

[TankU]

I have placed pictures in the gallery under full tanks. Not really sure what I was doing but I am pretty sure they didn't go there. I took best shots i could. My wife was cleaning the grass / algae while I was mowing the yard so I didn't have much stuff left to take pictures of. Pictures aren't that good but please let me know what you think. Thanks again
TankU

[TankU]

I will try and send pics this way. Please forgive me, still learning. I noticed that many have a gallery. How does one start that?
TankU

[scubadude]

Its hard to tell from the pics but like Gene said it appears to be a form of algae instead of grass. Your first pic looks like it may be byropsis, you can do a search on the board for "byropsis" and see if any of the pictures match up to it. The other pics appear to just be a form of film algae, again its hard to pinpoint from the pics though.

[Ninong]

It's a nuisance alga, possibly Bryopsis or Derbesia -- I can't see well enough to make it out in your photos but that's because I can't see all that well to begin with.

Do an image google of both of those words and you will see lots of representative photos, including some from a September 2005 RHO article that apparently isn't available right now due to the software overall that Scott is presently engaged in on the board. Hopefully he will restore access to RHO soon.

[TankU]

Hey Guys,
Thanks a ton. There is now some relief in learning on how to cure and prevent this stuff. Went to google and looked at both bryopsis and derbesia. I have followed up with several other sites, doing some reading. I have seen everything from hippo tangs (which I have never had any luck with), sacoglossans, nudibranches, royal urchin and phosphates / nitrates. I will monitor my nitrates much closer. I read that top off waters can be a contributor. I have been topping off with RO/DI for the past 5 or months after purchasing a unit. I do partial changes @ 2 weeks (8 gallons) in a 55 gallon tank. I will get in front of this problem and WIN. If there are other suggestions I am still all ears.
Again thank you,
TankU

[FireEater]

Do a search on Green Hair Algae also.





These pics are the algae in my sump. I have it in my main tank but with the tangs, foxface, cleanup crews, you can't tell unless you were really looking for it.

It comes and goes in phases due to water quality. The reefs are covered in it but the fish keep it mowed down to where even there it's hardly noticeable.

Here it is in the 29g evil tank. Since it is also connected to the same sump. If you look at the darker shades over the lighter shade of green, that is where it is flowing from the power head.

It is so short because the urchin in the pic keeps it mowed down. That and the coralline he also eats.



My sump was getting over taken by it, but with a constant cleaning it is clearing up again. In my system, I see it as, if I can control it in the sump, whatever gets in the main tank is free food for the herbivores.

If it is Green Hair Algae you have, start HERE and work your way to other links. There are so many out there on this subject.

Stay on top of it and do not be discouraged by it.

[TankU]

FireEater,
Thanks for the feed back. My discouragement came from not really knowing what I had. This forum has been so much help in the past few years. I do more reading than posting, cause most of the answer I find are already here. That was a good article you had sent. You are absolutely correct. You guys have identified what it appears to be, gives me many avenues to research. I will continue to research and do what is best for the overall environment for my tank. The article hit home. I know my wife has done most of the pinch and remove, but did not use a container with water to rinse her hands. This is something we will start today. What do you think about the Phosphate Sponge?
TankU

[zhenya]

I will try and send pics this way. Please forgive me, still learning. I noticed that many have a gallery. How does one start that?

Here's a short tutorial on how to upload your images to the gallery.
How to post a pic?
If you still have trouble after that, please post again and I will try to go step by step again.

PS. If you intend to use phosphate removing media make sure it is ferric oxide type and not alumina, like the Phosguard. Stick with something like phosban, rowaphos and other ferric oxide media.

[FireEater]

For Phosphates I run a reactor. Click on the link in my signature and go down until you see the below sentence. Then click the HERE and HERE and you will see the reactors.

There are 2 Two Little Fishies Reactors, one with RowaPhos and the other with Purigen. These are plumbed into the return line and are gravity fed, HERE and HERE.

[TimH07]

Another good way to post pictures is to upload them at a site like photobucket.com

this way you can upload entire albums and store them online, and when you want to post on a site, you just click the image code and paste it in the text box like im typing now.

either way works, but with an image host site like that you can use the pic over and over on more than one site.

edit, just wanted to note its free to use that site

[Poseidon]

Originally Posted by TimH07

either way works, but with an image host site like that you can use the pic over and over on more than one site.

You can do that here too! I post stuff from my gallery here all over the place! Just use the link provided under your image.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

You can do that here too! I post stuff from my gallery here all over the place! Just use the link provided under your image.

The only place that may give you a hard time for posting images from our gallery is Reef Central. Only because they have a policy that you can't have a url in your signature or your images. Our gallery stamps, or at least it used to, "Reefland.com" on the images. It gives images some protection from being used by others without permission( read stealing).

[Poseidon]

Boy they sure are full of themselves over there! No wonder I only go there when I HAVE TO!

[TankU]

May be wrong place to keep discussing posting of pics. But I tried to do as Poseidon suggest and my stats say that I am full. Before I do something I should, how do i reduce the full status or increase amount of space needed?
TankU

[Poseidon]

Well, it looks like you loaded up the images straight from the camera.

Reefland - Reefland's Gallery - Search Results

Your images are all over 2MB in size, that is why you are full. Try and resize the images before you load them up. You want them to be 4x6 @ 72dpi or so, before loading them up.

Or you can get more space by becoming a premium member here, then the space is unlimited.

[Poseidon]

What software do you have to edit images with?