Algae growth

[szwalla]

Hello,
I recently purchased a used 55G salt water tank. I was able get the nitrates/ammonia all but gone. I did notice a little algae in the crushed coral but was told that was alright. My problem that I have now is, I bought like 30#s of live rock and was told to leave the Smart light on 8 to 10 hours a day. Now the algae has gotten worse and makes the tank look bad. There is what I consider a lot in there. Is there any way I can eliminate it without hurting the fish/rocks?
Thanks, :hilarious

 

[szwalla]

I was told the only way to stop growth of algae is to use RO (reverse osmosis) water. Is that correct? Should I still remove the crushed coral and replace it with new coral or sand?

 

[larrynews]

i use ro water and still have a hair algae problem....but the ro has helped with many other things...i have never used crushed coral but the things i have read on the site most people do not like it and change over to sand....

 

[bkc978]

I am by no means an expert, but if you read some of my other posts you will see that i have a CC bottom, and have been dealing with algea on it becuase a year ago almost all my fish died (ich from a new fish - no QT), i got lazy, and haven;t been keeping up with my water changes. I have started my tank going again, however, and have been working at getting rid of the algea that has been accumulating.
From my experience, the bext things that kept my algae under control when my tank was in use was the following:
#1 regular water changes with filtered water: I didn;t use an RO filter, i used a tap water filter, and only added good quality salt - I always got and maintained a great Ph - never needed any other chemicals - the great thing about these is that they are simple to use and also tell you when they need to be replaced (filter media changes color as it becomes used) - here is the manufacturer website
http://aquariumpharm.com/
#2 Snails and crabs (cleaner crew) - look at the descriptions on swf for some snails and crabs - look for ones that are described as good algea eaters (turbo,atrea, scarlet hermit, etc) - especially for your particular type of algea
#3 if you have a CC bottom - vacuum the gravel. I am not sure how often you have to do it - but I usually did it as I did my water changes, but from what I read here maybe I did it too often (weekly 10%, or biweekly 20%).
peronsally - I am tired of all the work involved and understand sand to be a much better and easier to maintain substrate - so before i restock my tank I am switching my CC bottom to sand.
Also - FYI - I only had fish and some inverts - no LR/corals, etc - if you plan on keeping some of the more sensitive animals, maybe an expert can pipe in and say that RO would be better, or the filter I recommend is good enough

 

[carshark]

all of the things that BKC978 was true but forgot one simple detail.......your nitrates cant be gone if you are getting brown diatoms...get your nitrates down before you venture into switching everything around.....also!!!! how long was it before you put fish in this used tank? did it cycle completely? you could be experiencing nitrate spikes from cycles...and yes a clean up crew helps tremendously!!!!!!!! if you dont have much live rock like you said 30lbs., you might wanna start with like 10 red legged hermits, about 5-10 astrea and a couple turboes this will aid dramatically, as well as more live rock.. (oh yeah how long did your LR cure?) make sure for heaven's sake you cycle your live rock.....
long story boring i had the same problem, i was strictly FO with no live rock (mistake), and after adding a clean up crew, 20-30 lbs. LR (to start), the brown slight algae forms on my substrate( crushed coral (40lbs) and fine grade sand(50 lbs.) ) went away!
If you are experiencing troubles with your algae after that or if your nitrates are high, mix your salts( make sure no silicates), go down to your local grocery store and buy gallons of RO water, after you get containers refills cost about 39 cents a gallon....(or you could buy a RO unit and install it... saves time and really nice to have all around( which is next on my list along with a UV sterilizer) dont worry i dont have corals, my water is very good but im just anal.....and do some weekly water changes, until your nitrates go down.....
umm also what about water movement???? powerheads etc..??

 

[szwalla]

I do powerheads that came with the tank....they are just blowing or whatever. The guy stated that I could hook them up to under gravel filters but warned that they are bad and attract bacteria. The tank came with an emporer 400. I added a Fluva 304 to go with it.