aggressive algae

[hollmank]

Can someone tell me how to slow down my algae growth? It grows more on the bottom of the tank than anywhere else. I also cant keep my hermits alive, I buy 10 and after a couple days nothing but empty shells. Please advise and thanks. Ken

 

[yosemite sam]

What does the algae look like? What are your water parameters, including specific gravity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, calcium, alkalinity, and PH? How old and how big is the tank? Are you using RO/DI or tap water? What lighting do you have? What other equipment? What inverts/fish/corals are in the tank?

 

[hollmank]

tank size is 125 gl the algae is mostly red and some green water test is ok but nitrates is usually alittle high, I dont have ro water I have well water, the tank was used when I bought it, the lighting I am not sure but 2 are blue 2 are white

 

[yosemite sam]

It sounds like you have cyanno, usually called red slime. What are the actual numbers from the test kits? Have you tested the well water? You need to know what kind of lighting you have, and how old the bulbs are.

 

[hollmank]

the bulbs are at least 3 to 4 years old, my test kit does not have numers is has a color chart, what do you reccomend for a new test kit and bulbs?

 

[yosemite sam]

You definitely need new bulbs. As for what kind, read the following link to figure out what you have, and perhaps what you want to get:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/170123/saltwater-aquariums-101-lighting
Good test kits are spendy ($15-20 per kit), but good test kits are a 'must have' if you want to be successful. I use (as do many others on the board) Salifert test kits.

 

[hollmank]

I can buy a under the counter RO water system, would that make a big difference since I use well water which is also filtered through a water softner?

 

[yosemite sam]

What is the brand? Yes, a good RO or RO/DI water filter is another one of the 'must haves' in the hobby.

 

[hollmank]

Star water systems its under $200.00

 

[yosemite sam]

I'm not familiar with that brand, do you have a picture, or can you describe how it works? If you look at other systems online, an RO filter usually has 3 chambers, a prefilter with some sort of synthetic material, a carbon filter, and the RO membrane. If it's something similar, it's probably ok. Also, what's the gallon's per day (GPD) rating of the filter?
Here's an example from this site: https://www.saltwaterfish.com/

 

[hollmank]

It looks like what you described but I will have to research it further to sees the gpd. what should I look for in gpd. and the test Salifert Silicate Test Kit, this is what was on the saltwater fish web site in exception to individual test kits for copper, nitrate, etc. so would this be the kit I should buy.

 

[yosemite sam]

You need to definitely to test for Specific gravity (preferably with a refractometer), and ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH, alkalinity, and calcium (with test kits). Silica is not a 'must have' test kit.
As for the gpd, for your tank, 50 gpd is probably ok.

 

[hollmank]

okay i need to get busy finding this stuff, thanks for all your help, very much, I am new at this and I am at the point to giving up which I dont want to. so thanks again for all you help. Ken

 

[yosemite sam]

While you're shopping, you might want to get a few books to help. A couple of really good ones are The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robbert Fenner, and The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paletta.