need help getting rid of micro algea

[bongobrian]

I have an all out war in my tank between coraline algea and some nasty micro algea. The tank was doing so good for the past few weeks and I thought the coraline was going to actually overtake the micro but now it looks as though the pest algea is winning again and overtaking the coraline! crap crap CRAP!!!!! Can anyone tell me more tips on how to get rid of this stuff? I'm using only distilled and R/O water, regular water changes, I have about 20 snails and 4 crabs (for cleanup), I have several types of macro algeas growing, and I keep my skimmer cup very clean. This is so frustrating! the green stuff keeps wanting to come back and I don't know why. My coraline is growing soooo slow!! my calcium levels are up around 450-500. I can't get a very accurate reading from the red sea test kit (not a very good kit for calcium if you ask me). Alks are at 3.6 consistantly. I don't have excess food floating around and I think the amount of my trace elements is low. Does anyone have any idea why this micro algea wants to keep coming back? Also my nitrates are always around 20ppm and I can't get it down any more than that.

[ridetheducati]

Do you have a DSB? Will help with Nitrates

Do you export the Macro? Easier said than done... Export system must be greater than or equal to the import system.

Is the skimmer pulling deep dark material? Properly sized skimmer.

How old is your setup? If less than 18 months, be vigilant.

Distilled water is not pure enough. Make sure your RO unit is working optimally.

Do you drip kalk or using a reactor?

Keep the faith.

[bongobrian]

Thanks for the suggestions...

Not sure what you mean by "export the macro" maybe you could clarify a little bit.

My skimmer is a cpr bakpak2 on a 46 gallon tank. I have not seen any deep red material in the skimmer.

I do not have DSB, I didn't look into that before setting up this tank and now I wish I would have used sand instead of crushed coral.

I do not drip kalk or use a reactor, I add seachem reef advantage for calcium.

thanks for your help!

[bongobrian]

The tank is only about 3 months old... I know this tank is much too young to be growing coraline at the full rate. I just wasn't sure when I should start to see it growing. It does grow right now, but not fast enough to overtake the problem algea.

[ridetheducati]

Periodically removing macro from system lowers nutrients from reef.

Your skimmer should be setup to have a dark skimmate.

Just keep up the maintenance. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Coraline is competing with the micro; once the coraline gets the upper hand watch out, you will be removing it for the rest of your reefing life.

[bongobrian]

what is a dark skimmate? Does anyone know if a cpr bakpak2 is large enough for a 46 gal???

Most of my LR is from my old tank, which was neglected and I didn't know what I was doing, so all the rock was covered in micro algea. Now I am trying to bring it back to life and get coraline growing on the rocks. No easy task!!!!!

I was thinking of purchasing some new LR just to help seed the tank for coraline. I have two large chunks of fiji type 2 that I bought since I set up the new tank. Perhaps more of this rock will help the situation??? So far I havn't seen any micro growing on the new rocks. There is coraline growing underneath the micro algea on all of my old rocks. Whenever I scrape off the micro there are beautiful pink and purple colors!

[ridetheducati]

dark skimmate= stuff that collects in skimmer cup "mud like"

I am not familiar with your skimmer.

I would pull the rock and remove as much algea as possible. Are we talking peach fuzz or hair algae?

If its hair remove it.

If 50% or more of your rock is already covered with coraline. Purchasing more would not help.


Look for the root of the problem. Too much nutrients, not enough exporting.

Hope this helps!

[bongobrian]

Yes I have one of those cups on my skimmer and I clean lots of that mud-like waste every day. I keep the cup clean and it's constantly bubbling out protein.

The type of algea is the short green "fuzz" it's definitely not hair algea.

I was told not to scrub too much algea from the rocks because the algea right now is removing nitrates from the water.

I have less than 50% of my rock covered with coraline. Should I purchase more LR with coraline?

[bongobrian]

I just checked CPR's website and my skimmer is rated up to 60 gallons... so I'm assuming that it is adequate for my tank.

[ridetheducati]

If your skimmer is pulling dark skimmate on a daily basis your fine.

Remove the fuzz. Get more snails. You should have about 30-40 snails. Some say one snail per gallon. Manage your nitrates thru water changes and increasing nutrient exports.

Just get a couple of pounds of fully covered rock. A place in front of a power head.

Sit back and enjoy.

[bongobrian]

Thanks a lot for your advice! I think I'm going to go ahead and get more snails and LR.

Also, do you have pics of your tank that I can see?

[ridetheducati]

This picture is about a year old. My tank has changed drastically.

[bongobrian]

that's beautiful man... I hope I can get that much coraline to grow in my tank! nice xenia!

[ridetheducati]

thanks

Xenia is a pain in my neck.

Notice the rock the Xenia rest on. As of today the entire rock is covered with Xenia. I can not see one inch of rock underneath the Xenia. I am talking a 15" x 15" footprint. I toss several stalks every couple of weeks.