Algae Problem

[runningwild24]

I have been fighting an algae problem for several weeks now, and I don't know what else to do. I have tried a sea hare and Algeafix, neither seemed to do much good. None of my fish eat it (sometimes the tangs nibble, but it's not enough to help). My nitrates are at zero, and everything seems to be happy, but I'm afraid it will choke out my corals, plus it is quiet ugly. I have been hand picking it off, but does anyone know of something that would get rid of it? Thank You!

 

[Haulin Oates]

Algae Problem

What are your phosphates at? Can you tell us more about your system?

 

[xxHLTxx]

i got a longspine urchin, and man omg. i thought my lawnmower blenny did some work. no... that urchin cleaned a 75g that had 4 bad spots of algae and a whole back glass with thick coraline and green algae... my 75 is now spotless and the algae on the back glass is minimal to almost being able to see through it

 

[andynco]

Algae Problem

Vodka dose

 

[jahmic]

What type of algae do you have in the tank? Have you tried reducing photoperiod/replacing bulbs?

 

[Smiley]

Re: Algae Problem

Also what do you have for cuc? Trochus snails are by far the best algae eaters for snails. Also, what are you feeding?

Sent from my C771

 

[Munch]

I had a slight issue myself. I bumped up my CUC and added some Chem Pure Elite, and it's almost gone

 

[Campbell]

Algae Problem

+1 on trochus snails and photoperiod... I have seen no miracle treatment for algae besides good CUC, lighting, and phosphate control... There is rumor of some correlation between magnesium and algae growth but I have upped magnesium quite a bit to test it with little to no results so I am not 100% trusting of that route...

 

[Campbell]

Algae Problem

There is also plenty of videos and articles on cheap DIY algae scrubbers which seem to do a fantastic job...

 

[runningwild24]

I am mostly struggling with hair algae. My phosphates look to be somewhere between .25 and .5. I have a 90 gallon reef connected to a 20 gallon frag tank, all connected to a sump/refugium.

My lights are only about 4 months old. They are a mixture of blue, white, and a few green and red LEDs that my dad made for me. They are dimmable, on a sunrise, sunset schedule, that starts just with blues at about 7 am and ends (again just with blues) at around 8:30 pm. Is this too long? I start it so early because I like for the fish to be up and ready to eat before I have to leave for school.

All of my other chemicals (nitrate, ammonia, ph) are fine. Every day I feed about 1 chopped up cube of formula variety pack (It all gets eaten).

As for cuc, I have some hermits, turbo snails, and emerald crabs. I'll try to bump this up and add some trochus snails and a long spine urchin as soon as I can find some.

 

[DyM]

Snails are an important part of algae control. I buy 10-12 snails a year, since they don’t live that long, but keep the tank and sump really clean. My two cents on how to deal with algae: (a) lower po4 and No3 with whatever popular product or method you want. Your PO4 is really high, as it should be .03 (b) manually remove as much as you can every 3-4 days. (c) buy a large amount of snails - especially those large turbo's. (d) make sure your lights if T5, VHO, or metal halide don’t have old bulbs. If they are 10months old, replace them all. (e) make sure you have plenty of flow in the display. Good strong flow is good for corals, and helps ensure algae does not establish. That worked for me. My sump and display are %100 clear of GHA, or any other type of algae.

 

[Walter White]

Are you sure PO4 is .25 - .5? that is extremely high and if you do have phosphates that high that would certainly be an issue. Not too mention if you have significant algae issues it can actually mask po4 issues so it is likely that po4 is even higher than your test kit is reading.

 

[reef dummy]

Algae Problem

Are you sure PO4 is .25 - .5? that is extremely high and if you do have phosphates that high that would certainly be an issue. Not too mention if you have significant algae issues it can actually mask po4 issues so it is likely that po4 is even higher than your test kit is reading.

+1, I'd have a jungle not a reef with po4 that high. I have a hard enough time with algae and my Hanna checker shows 0 phosphates.

 

[bush8984]

I've always had good luck fighting hair algea by bumping my mag to around 1500. Found this tends to stunt the growth a lot and give my cuc a fighting chance. Had my 30 frag tank with about an 1" of hair algea on all 4 sides. Mag was super low so I raised to 1500 and only added an emerald and a few snails and it was demolished in about a week and a half. Just my .02 from experience. I keep my mag in the 1400 range now and never an issue with any kind of algea and barely wipe the diatoms off the tank but once a week