Algae here...Algae there..DO I NEED IT ?

[weatherman]

I have written several threads over the last several days and was NOW wondering if algae is BAD for your Coral Reef tank?
My 155 gallon is doing great, but I do see algae on some of the live rocks and a few pieces of coral....even though they are still opening up! But it does concern me as some 'hair' algae is getting thick in a few areas....
My water perameters are near perfect and I leave the lights on for around 8-10 hours (timer). BUT, the algae is a concern....should it be? As I said, the tank looks GREAT, but would look better without the algae in some locations.
I have NO fish in the tank...yet, anyway.
Thanks for a reply...

 

[watertite]

:happyfish If you don't want the algae get a uv sterilzer. ******has a really good one. For your tank get the larger uv rating. I got a 9watt for my 55 and the nusance algae is gone and I have a cleaning crew getting the rest. If you are using tap water change to Real Ocean Water and that should do it. Made by Catalina water company. Phosphates zero ph 8.3 That is the sure fire way to get rid of algae.
Warning linking to other store sites is against the forum rules DO not post links like this.

 

[lvmtn2day]

I had algae on the sand and on the glass. I changed the filter (foam) and the alge stoped growing. When was the last time you changed your filter media?

 

[anonome]

Originally Posted by weatherman
I have written several threads over the last several days and was NOW wondering if algae is BAD for your Coral Reef tank?
My 155 gallon is doing great, but I do see algae on some of the live rocks and a few pieces of coral....even though they are still opening up! But it does concern me as some 'hair' algae is getting thick in a few areas....
My water perameters are near perfect and I leave the lights on for around 8-10 hours (timer). BUT, the algae is a concern....should it be? As I said, the tank looks GREAT, but would look better without the algae in some locations.
I have NO fish in the tank...yet, anyway.
Thanks for a reply...
Since the tank has no fish, when the time comes if you add a herbivore of somesort, believe me the hair algae will disappear. Have you tested the phosphate level of the tank? This is probably the cause if it is high. Since it is in a few areas as the tank ages this should disappear on its own. (if the phosphate level is decent) FYI: Lawnmower blenny's are wonders at the stuff.

 

[weatherman]

Hate to put a uv sterilizer in there. I've heard bad stories about this killing 'good bacteria' in your tank. SInce the corals are doing fantastic, I would hate to do something different to 'change' the system....
Foam filter were cleaned just a couple of days ago. I have a service that comes out twice a week for this. They told me that the water 'parameters' are fine, HOWEVER I did not ask them IF they checked the phosphates.
Thanks for everyones advice....
I DO have a nice uv sterilizer. Does anyone else put it in their CORAL REEF TANK?

 

[anonome]

I run a 3x twist on my coral tank 4 days a week. This tank is over a year old, though was a change over from a smaller system without one. I haven't seen any difference in the coral, pod population, or fish behavior to make me feel this was a bad decision. I just run it for "safety". I have no nuisance algae and my sand is like it was when I put it in. Very clean. This I saw in the first week of running it. Completely got rid of the diatoms and algae on the sand and glass. Knock on wood no outbreaks of any kind. I honestly don't think I would run a system without it....but you will get all kinds of answers to this question. The jury is still out on whether they are good or bad for a reef system. I have mostly softies, LPS coral, one very large rose bubble tip anenome. All are doing nicely, and thriving. Until I have a problem, and know it is from the UV, the UV stays on. Just my 2 cents. :happyfish

 

[watertite]

I forgot to mention earlier that tap water was also the culprit. My town has high phosphate tap and I used one of those declorinators but it was still really bad. You should see even my sand looks good now. I just threw in a couple of Astrea Turbos in to take care of the small amount that is left on the back wall. They went to work right away. I realized I keep putting
algae in the tank everyday in the form of sea veggies to feed my purple tang. The stuff would grow but the uv keeps it in check.

 

[sepulatian]

It depends on the water source. I would test the tapwater. I use tap myself, but my water is pure.

 

[marine]

As for the hair algae, you can just pull it off. As for the other algae in the tank, i got a hold of these snails that were and inch to 2 inches long (shell). Those did wonders. As they went across the glass that was covered w/ algae, they wipe it CLEAN. It's amazing. The little snails don't do that. I have 4 of those in my 45g reef. I found mine in one of my lfs.
I feel any additives to remove algae is more detrimental than beneficial to your tank. Algae looks bad, but other than for looks, are a natural occuring phenomenon. I would just take the little extra time to remove it physically for the benefit of the tank.