Algae

[foxmulder]

Hello!

I have an algae problem in my 40g reef tank (a lot of green hairy algae growing on my live rock). I keep removing the algae by hand but it grows back imediately.
Also the glass gets completly green in max. 2-3 days after i clean it.

I have no slime algae (ciano or diatoms).

I have zero PO4 and NO3 in my tank so this cannot be the problem.

I bought an algae blenny (salarias), but it won't eat the already grown algae and recently it seems to like the food I'm giving to the other fish more than the algae... so this didn't solv my problem either.

I have a good skimmer (designed for 100g), I have a "Nitratreductor" and a phosphate sponge. I am not feeding too much anyway.
The aquarium is not near a window or sunny place.

Could the lighting be the problem? I have a 4*24 T5 HO fixture with one actinic and three 10k lights. I run them for 11 hours a day.

What else could I try to get rid of this problem.

Thanks!

[Parrothead]

I've had this happen in the past, and it turned out to be phosphates, I've read and been told by some of the better reefers here that phosphate test kits are not the most accurate,

What are you using for water? Are you using ro/di or tap water?

[foxmulder]

I'm using RO water.

[Parrothead]

where is the liverock from?????

[foxmulder]

I don't know wher the LR is from.
I bought it from the LFS.

[Parrothead]

Take a water sample to the lfs, have them check it for phosphates, just in case your test kit is off, hair algea is generally a product of phos. or high nutrients.

[thomasR]

not a solution but i had the same thing, i used 2 big mexican turbo snails they cleaned alot of green grassy stuff out of my 45 gal. Like i said not the answer for the root problem, but it can help the visible part.

[metalhead]

I had a similar problem in one of my tanks that I believe was stemming from excess C02 from my Ca reactor. I cut back on the C02 bubble count going into the reactor and the algae cleared up over the next couple of weeks.

[Bloodydecks]

To manage the algae, get some Turbos and Astrea snails, as well as some red leg and blue leg hermits. I would suggest 3-5 Turbo's and 8-10 Astrea, and 20-25 crabs. Assuming your algae issue is growing at a fast rate.

Understand, that once the alage has been eaten, you may loose some of the snails and crabs due to there no longer being enough "food" for them...hopefully you will find a nice balance, and the can keep the problem manageable.


The next factor is to figure out what is causing the algae issues...most likely phosphates and silicates which can come from a number or sources. a few are food, additives, dead spots in the tank that collect detritus and debria, tap water, age of aquarium lights, brightness of the bulbs, amount of time lights are powered up etc......

Also, the warmer the water temp, the faster the algae will grow. If the tank is in the high 70's or 80's..this will grow algae much quicker.

Also, the age and maturity of your system plays a big factor. If its less then a year old, it could very well be going through a balancing period (I'm not talking about the nitrogen cycle that normally takes 4-6 weeks). As your tank ages, it will beging to "develop" into a more stable and balnced eco system (of course this is affected by your personal maintence procedures, which could be good our bad).

The algae you are seeing on the sides of the tanks is most likely live diatoms. If you are getting brown algae on your sand, this is the dead diatoms (the skeletons of the diatoms). This is normally contributed to silicates. Good water movement can help with this.

Good luck.

[Parrothead]

Hey Bloodydecks,

He is using RO water, and it's a hair algea problem he's fighting, a good sign of phosphates leaching from somewhere, very well could be his rock, especially if it's florida aquacultured rock, I believe his problem lies in the phosphates and nut. problem areas

P.S. Welcome to reeflands

[Bloodydecks]

thanks for the welcome. I agreeThe rocks could very well be the source. The snails and crabs should help keep it in check.

One way to to test the rock...take a small piece of the rock, about a golf ball size. Put in a towel, smash it into a pulp. Put it in a cup of RO water. mix it up really well. Let it settle for 24 hours. Then test it for phosphates. You should be able to read traces of P04 if the rock is saturated.

[Parrothead]

I think he really needs to test the phos. with another kit, his could be fried,

also Fox,

What do you have livestock wise in the tank as of now??????

[Steve McKay]

Nowhere in this thread have I read test results for PO4 or NO3,you can not presume that if you are using ro/di water that you don't have PO4 or NO3.RO/DI does not get out everything.If you are using sponges to reduce PO4 or NO3 then you have some,how much do you have?Give us some test results.If you are feeding with flake food this will not help either,switch to frozen food or at least cut back on the flake.I would recommend cutting you photoperiod back to 10 hours,if you don't have corals 8 hours.

[lori]

i agree with cutting back the lighting.2hrs arctic in day 6hrs all then 2hrs arctic again.nitrates and phosphates have a lot to do with hair algae growth.i,ve said this before that if you have a good amount of algae growing,sometimes readings will look good but in fact algae feeds on nitrates and phosphates and light.one good thing is the algae is probely soaking up the nitrates and all.bad thing its ugly.i just took care of this same problem with my tank 3 weeks ago.now its doing greatby the way hows it doing,i know its been a few days